Spring clean your life!

Often with the New Year comes the desire to organise your life. While it’s not quite the new season yet, people tend to refer to it as spring cleaning, where you get rid of junk from your home, you know, that stuff you haven’t touched for years. Giving everything a deep clean, proper elbow grease required, to bring the sparkle back to your kitchen cabinets, or perhaps using the idea of New Year’s resolutions to improve your health and fitness. These can all be seen as spring cleaning various parts of your life. But what about your finances?

Decluttering your house can often be overwhelming. Knowing where to start can cause delay but, once you’ve worked your way through the mess, find some key items to sell. Use Facebook marketplace, eBay or one of the free-to-sell apps to make money from the clutter you no longer want. You’d be surprised what sells too! I’ve previously sold a broken vacuum cleaner and a knackered TV – that’s £50 I never thought I’d make!

While we’re discussing decluttering, what about decluttering your mind? Things like detoxing from tech, and cutting back on the amount of clothes in your wardrobe can really can help spring clean your soul. Banning mobile phones from the bedroom can help you get a better night’s sleep, being positive instead of negative can work wonders for wellbeing and opting for a capsule wardrobe removes a daily decision.

Things like detoxing from tech, and cutting back on the amount of clothes in your wardrobe can really can help spring clean your soul.

Spring cleaning needn’t be limited to your house – tidy everywhere you spend time: your office desk, your car, maybe even the shed or garage. Spruce everything up, work in a non-distracting environment that will help you find your things quicker and easier – what’s there not to love about that?

Use the New Year to assess your bank account. Take a look at the direct debits that roll out your account every month and double check that you aren’t paying for something which you don’t use. Did you really mean to sign up to that magazine subscription which costs £6 a month? Take the opportunity to start saving towards something, set budgets (check out this great budgeting app), cut back on spending and perhaps start saving for next Christmas. Be sure to maximise your tax-free savings before the new tax year, too!

Perhaps now is the time to try and clean your relationships, as well. It’s hard to see, but some relationships are toxic. Put time and effort into the ones that do you good – often we spend time trying to fix relationships that are beyond help, so focus on the positives instead. Your wellbeing is more important that being part of something which, effectively, is just harming you.

It’s hard to see, but some relationships are toxic. Put time and effort into the ones that do you good…

You can also spring clean your hobbies and where you spend your time. Maybe you need to figure out a better work/life balance and put more into the life side of that equation? Rediscover your love for guitar playing or oil painting and actually make time for it.

Partnering the New Year with the desire to get fit is a common one. Health and fitness don’t have to cost – going for a run is free! Consider cutting out the gym and pounding the pavements instead. Getting a workout buddy can help keep you motivated and gives you someone to be accountable to. There are also lots of apps out there that actually pay you to work out, so there are no excuses.

Hopefully this shows you that spring cleaning isn’t just about getting the bottle of polish and a cloth rag out from under the sink. Every aspect of your life can be spruced, swept and cleaned up.