Spring Cleaning with LA Wealth Management

A Note from Laurie:

As a full-time business owner and mother of two young kids, staying organized, especially at home, can be a challenge. With Spring fast-approaching, the term “spring cleaning” seems a necessary, yet daunting task.  I found these tips helpful for spring cleaning – both for our homes and finances.  I hope you do too! Thank you again for your business!

MARTHA STEWART LIVING, APRIL 2007

There are few rites of spring more satisfying than the annual clean. For many people, however, the pleasure comes only after the work is finished. Your spring cleaning may never become effortless, but you can make the project more manageable --  and even enjoyable. This printable checklist offers an overview of everything you need to know -- including information on cleansers, stain removal, fabric care, and storage -- to zip through the process and arrive at a happy end.

After you read through the tips and techniques, tailor the list to your home and yard. Create a realistic schedule, keeping in mind that a single weekend won't suffice, as you'll need several days for more involved projects, such as shampooing carpets and organizing closets. Whether you prefer to proceed from the attic to the basement or start outdoors and wind your way inside, focus on one task at a time. And be sure to enlist the help of family members.

The information on this checklist was excerpted from "Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook" (Clarkson Potter/Publishers; 2006).

Throughout the House

The tips below outline basic techniques that will help you clean almost every surface (or object) in any room. The tasks on the next page are broken down by location, including outdoor spaces. The final page of this foldout focuses on window washing and upkeep, which is essential if you’re going to let the sun shine in on the bright days to come.

Wipe Walls and Ceilings: Use a vacuum to remove dust. Tackle stubborn surface grime, especially prevalent in kitchens, with a solvent-free degreaser (test it first in an inconspicuous area to ensure it won’t mar the surface).

Reseal Grout Lines: The cement-based material between wall, floor, and countertop tiles is extremely porous and stains easily. Protect it with a penetrating grout sealer; it’s best to apply it with a small foam brush.

Vacuum and Shampoo Rugs: Synthetic carpets and rugs with wa- terproof backings can be deep-cleaned with a rotary shampoo machine and a hot-water extraction machine. Rugs without backings, including Orientals, require professional cleaning.

Dust Books and Shelves: Take everything off the Shelves, and brush shelves and books with a feather dust- er. Use the dust-brush or crevice tool on a vacuum to reach into tight spots. Wipe the spines of leather-bound books with a clean, soft cloth.

Clean Upholstered Furnishings: Take cushions outside and gently beat them by hand to remove dust. If there are stains, check the pieces for care labels. Use a vacuum’s upholstery and crevice tools to clean under seat cushions.

Polish Metal Door and Window Hardware: Liquid polishes and polish-impregnated cloths work well for medi- um-tarnished surfaces; pastes and creams are for heavier work. If tarnish doesn’t come off, try a stronger product.

Dust Your Home Thoroughly: This includes hard-to-reach places, such as the tops of ceiling fans and window casings. Always work from the top of a room down, vacuuming the dust that settles on the floor. Avoid using dusting sprays.

Wax Wooden Furniture: Wipe surfaces with a soft cloth dampened with water and mild dishwashing liquid. Apply paste wax, such as Butch- er’s wax, a few feet at a time with a cotton rag folded into a square pad. Let wax dry; buff with a clean cloth.

Ensure Fire Safety: Change batteries in smoke detec- tors (this should be done twice a year), and make sure units are free of dust. Teach everyone in your household how to use a fire extinguisher, and review escape plans.

Wash Window Screens: Using warm water and a mild dishwashing liquid, scrub each screen with a brush; rinse thoroughly.

Clean Window Treatments: Many draperies and curtains are machine washable; check labels. Dry-clean fab- ric shades. Wipe wooden blinds with a damp cloth; warm water mixed with a mild dishwashing liquid is safe for metal and vinyl blinds.

Wax Non-Wood Floors: Vinyl and linoleum floors that have lost their shine should be waxed with a polish designed for these surfaces. Most stone and tile floors can be treated with either a paste or a liquid wax designed for the material.

7 tips for financial spring cleaning

By Vera Gibbons Published: Mar 12, 2015 2:11 p.m. ET

With spring rapidly approaching, it’s not only a great time to spruce up your home and organize your closets, but it’s also an ideal time to clean up your finances. Here are some ideas from some top consumer finance advisers:

Sweep away winter bills 

Here’s a scary statistic: Consumer Reports estimates that 7% of all shoppers go into a new holiday season carrying debt from the previous one. And it’s costly (To see the real cost of carrying a balance, try this calculator). You certainly don’t want to continue making payments on your holiday purchases for another 9 months. 

“Clearing away this debt in the spring will strengthen your finances and free you up to save money for the remainder of 2015,” says Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, founder, The Money Coach. 

Polish your budget 

We’re three months into 2015. How are you doing so far? Over budget? Under budget? Have you spent more, or less, than you planned to in certain areas? If you’re close to your expectations, great, but if you’ve veered off track for any reason – perhaps because there’s been a job switch, you had a baby, bought a new house, or there’s been another life change - it’s time to re-evaluate the situation, says consumer finance expert Andrea Woroch. “Your budget will need to be refreshed to meet current needs as well as short and long-term savings goals.”

Tidy up bad credit 

Have you been subject to high interest rates? Denied a loan altogether? Been unable to rent an apartment? If you’ve got bad credit, then you’re aware of these consequences. To improve your score, make your payments on time and avoid carrying large balances on your credit cards (keep your utilization rate — the amount you owe versus your total available credit — below 30%; ideally, use no more than 10%). 

But first: “Take an inventory of the information on your reports by claiming them,” says John Ulzheimer, President of Consumer Education at CreditSesame.com. You can do this for free, once every 12 months, at AnnualCreditReport.com. While derogatory information can remain on your report legally for 7 to 10 years as long as it’s accurate, says Ulzheimer, errors — like accounts that aren’t yours or inaccurate late payments — are common and should be disputed. After all, a report by the FTC found that one in four credit reports contain an error that might affect your credit score, which is the all-important numerical value (typically between 300 and 850) assigned to the information in your credit report.

Purge clutter 

If you’ve already filed your income taxes, shred statements, bills and other financial records and keep only the documents that are absolutely necessary, says Khalfani-Cox. As a rule of thumb, you want to hang onto tax records and supporting documents for seven years, and it might be easiest (and provide you with peace of mind) to keep hard copies of those (even though the IRS is ok with digital copies). But no need to hang onto paper records forever. “If you’re worried about something, just scan or make a digital copy of the record and then shred it.” 

Dust off unwanted items 

To boost your savings goals or earn extra money to help pay down debt, Woroch suggests selling unwanted gift cards — which we all have — on a site like Gift Card Granny where you can get up to 95 cents on the dollar in return; and recommends Thred Up for baby, kids and women’s clothing. As for old electronics, consider Gazelle and Nextworth, says Farnoosh Torabi, host of the daily podcast, “So Money,” on iTunes. “You’ll get a fast quote, a free shipping label and quick payment once the item’s mailed in and inspected.” And the payout is generous: Torabi herself recently got quoted $150 for her used 3rd Generation iPad on Gazelle.com.

Clean up accounts 

Are there brokerage accounts that can be consolidated? Bank accounts you rarely — if ever — use that should be closed? Old retirement accounts from previous employers that should be rolled over? After years of bill paying online, do you have a huge list of creditors you have to scroll through every time you make a payment? “Take a few minutes and delete the ones you know you’ll never be paying again,” says Jean Chatzky, author of “Money Rules.”

Straighten out spending

We all know that the key to financial freedom is to spend less than you earn. However, given how easy it’s become to spend (particularly given the growth in mobile payment systems like Apple Pay), and given the proliferation of ads, marketing schemes and various tactics that tempt us to buy more than we need, keeping spending in check is becoming increasingly challenging. It’s more important than ever that you control impulse shopping, says Woroch. How? “Eliminate triggers such as browsing favorite online shops, heading to the mall after work to ‘window shop,’ or buying something new when you’re feeling down to help boost your mood.” 

Vera Gibbons is a financial journalist. A former analyst with MSNBC who appeared regularly on the “Today Show,” Gibbons has written for numerous magazines including Inc., SmartMoney, Kiplinger’s, Real Simple, and All You. She recently hosted a series on Yahoo! called “Savvy Spender” and has just competed a personal finance insurance series for msn.com.