The New Year is upon us and people are making all sorts of resolutions and goals for the New Year. Goals to get in shape, try new things or even quit a bad habit. A good goal to keep in mind for 2015 is to keep an organized record of all your financial information. It may seem like a daunting task, but here are few ways you can stay on top of things this year.
- Budget. Maybe you haven’t evaluated your budget lately, or maybe you don’t even have a budget. The beginning of the year is a great time to ditch some services you don’t use or start saving more money. Also, set some clear expectations for monetary goals. For example, dedicate 30% of your income to housing expenses, 10% to savings and 20% to miscellaneous expenditures.
- Decide what to keep and what is junk. Obviously this will vary by household, but in general there are some documents you should/need to keep and some you can toss. The IRS suggests keeping tax records for about 7 years, so make sure you keep those on file if you need them. But go ahead and toss receipts, bills or pay stubs if you no longer have use for them.
- Taxes. This is perhaps most important aspect of being financially organized. Ideally, your receipts, mileage log and other documents should be organized every month. You should also keep a separate folder strictly for tax information.
We hope you found these tips helpful. Please leave a comment below if you have any tips of your own and check out our site: www.klpcpas.com for more information!
Cited source: http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2013/11/29/how-to-organize-your-finances-for-the-new-year