Freshen up your finances after a long, cold winter

Jillian Kipling, financial planning coach, offers five ways to spring-clean your money matters, large and small

Are you wasting money without even being aware of it? Time to tidy up and streamline those neglected areas.

1. REDUCE YOUR BANK CHARGES

Do you know how much you are paying in bank charges? Go over your bank statements for the past six months and get an average of the fees you've paid. Then go online (or to your bank) and find out what their fee packages are. You can pay a set rate every month, which entitles you to free services. Find one that matches your usual transaction pattern and you could save R50 to R100 per month on fees.

2. REDUCE YOUR CREDIT CARD INTEREST

At the same time, find out what interest rate you are paying on your credit card (if you pay off the full amount spent every month it doesn't matter, because you don't pay interest). Chances are that when you applied for the credit card you practically had to beg for it, but maybe by now your credit rating has improved and you can negotiate a better interest rate. You have been using it responsibly, never falling behind on an instalment, haven't you?

3. CUT THE INTEREST RATE ON YOUR BOND

Similarly, if you have been an exemplary account holder with your credit card, bond and current account, now is the time to ask your bank for a better bond rate, too.

According to Adrian Goslett, CEO of RE/MAX SA: "Every 0.5% reduction in the interest rate on a home loan of R1-million represents an interest saving of more than R85000 on a 20-year bond".

4. VACUUM UP THE BARGAINS

At the beginning of every month, diarise expenses you know you will have such as birthdays, car services and so on. Set a budget and plan your purchases. This way you can shop around and get bargains or at least fair prices. If you make hasty, last-minute purchases, you tend to spend too much. If the event is top of mind, every sale you walk past is an opportunity to find a bargain gift.

The same can apply to Christmas gifts. Don't let it be a last-minute expensive trolley dash. Make a list of people who you usually buy for, set a budget (per person), then think of a gift to buy each person, couple or household.

Plan the gifts as early as September. That way the expense can be spread over four pay days instead of one. And again, make good use of sales.

5. SHAKE OUT THE MONEY BUGS

We all have little bugbears in our finances: unpaid traffic fines, tax returns that haven't been submitted or accounts that are in arrears. All of these attract further interest and penalties and if you ignore them, the financial consequences can become serious. If you really can't pay them all off, then at least contact the creditors and make arrangements with them to start a payment plan. You will be surprised at how relieved you will feel. Those worrisome financial items that niggle at your conscience will be aired out and fresh in no time.

I'll leave you with a sneaky little tip to plump up your cash reserves in the short term: transfer all of your surplus cash (after all bills are paid and the month's known expenses are catered for) into your savings account. Then when you splurge on those shoes or that wine, you actually have to decrease your savings, which will make you think twice.

• - Kipling is an acsis financial planning coach