End of August is the time of year where I do most of my house cleaning. I don’t mean that literally, but more along the lines of finances, paperwork etc. Most of my memberships, subscriptions etc, are set to renew, and I take the time to look through everything and make sure that I still need them.
I think it’s a result of years of getting ready for school, and making sure that everything was in order before we went back to school shopping, so found new clubs, or sports to sign up for. I am late this year by about 3 weeks. Most of it has to do with the amount of travelling that I am doing, but since I have most of my things online, I could have easily gotten most of it done. I have instead spent my days trying new restaurants, visiting friends in different cities, or working till 2 am every night. I figure if I work 15 hour days 4 days a week, then I can take a long weekend without feeling guilty about it.
But I digress.
While most people go through they yearly goals, and bucket list items in December or Jan, I tend to do it in August. It correlates perfecting with the start of the new school year (not that it matters to me all that much anymore, but old habits die hard), and the pace of life picks up again. This is also the perfect time for me to go thru my wallet and purse. I carry an entire house in my purse, and sometimes it just needs to be dumped out. Also, I picked up a new purse and wallet that I’m in love with and will be posting pics soon. Yes, gentlemen, it will be a girly post. 
Here is my to-call/to-do list (aka house cleaning):
- Cable/Internet/Cellphone Companies.
My contracts expire in September (I did this on purpose since all the great deals come out for back to school season). I make sure to call them and see what offers they have. It helps that I have all of my services with the same company, and use that as leverage to score bigger discounts. I save on average of 20-40% depending on the product line. Yes, I recommit for a year, but that doesn’t matter to since I’ve been with the same company since 2002,and they have always treated me well.
- Gym memberships
I normally struggle with signing up for a gym membership since the deals come out right about now, or try and work out at home.
- Audit my makeup/ cleansing products.
I normally use the same products for my face, and buy them every 6months to a 1 year. They are all almost out, and since they each cost a pretty penny, I take a look at other options before spending $40 on moisturizer alone.
- Audit my closet.
I own A LOT of clothes. I tend to pick up items at the end of winter every year on sale, and promptly forget about them. I take this time to start re-aligning things in my closet so I know what items I have, and what, if any, I need to pick up.
- Credit check.
I know most people recommend doing one every 3 months, but I follow the semi-annually rule, and do one around this time of the year.
Do you have a back to school list that you complete every year? If so, whats on your list?
I WANT those booooooooooots! I have done my cleaning for fall but there is still so much organization left to do and with labor day approaching I feel pressure to finish it. Summer seemed so long this year, but fall is so close!
Summer flew by for me, but yes, fall is just around the corner.
I have the same back to school mindset too even though it doesn’t pertain to me anymore either. I like your idea…now if I can just find the time…
You’d be surprised at how saving money and shopping can motivate me enough to find the time.
I do too! I do an around-the-house project list that I’ll tackle the next several months. I love this time of year. I feel like I’m getting ready for fall excitement while trying to squeeze out one last lazy weekend. …not that I had a FIRST lazy weekend this year, but you get my point.
Hhaha, I do!
Those boots and that bag are SOOOO cute! I don’t really do anything, I’m extremely unorganized 🙂
I need a cute pair of brown boots. Those serve as an inspiration.
Wow, I am in love with the boots. I love its color.
It’s perfect for fall indeed!
Me too!
I like the idea of having annual or semi-annual triggers to revisit or review certain matters, as you’re suggesting. Otherwise, there are lots of things that we tend to just let run on auto-pilot, which means we may be spending money needlessly.
It works out for me.
I need to “cleanse” more than once a year, for sure. We do it in December/January, but so much stuff changes by mid summer, it’s definitely a great time to audit our life. I think it’s a great time as well because as fall rolls in, we’re home more and usually inside. Getting things in order removes some of the chaos 🙂
Thats what I’m thinking.
This is a good idea. I tend to review items whenever I feel like it. Which means some items go for a long time without being reviewed.
I used to do that too. I have to invent a timeline to make sure things got done.
Since my recent move to a new apartment I found out just how many clothes/shoes I have. Quite frankly it’s embarrassing! So I’ve been doing an audit of my closet as well as all my beauty products. I like your idea of using this time of year to re-evaluate everything and “clean house”. I’ll have to start doing that too!
I’m embarrassed everytime I clean my closet and find some questionable purchases.
hm.. august is end and now september begin..
I’m also like to cleaning my house at this month
You should get on that.
I love that you used the word “audit” when it came to your clothes/makeup. That’s my finance geek, I guess.
Our car insurance is always due in September, so this is the time of year I shop around for comparison offers. This year, it looks like we’ll be staying with our current insurer. It’s also the time of year that I sit down and look at my portfolio to make sure we’re seeing the types of returns we like and that our holdings are sufficiently diversified.
I haven’t done this at my house yet, but I helped my sister get into back-to-school mode — I found the stinky things in her refrigerator and got rid of them and did the dishes and started laundry — that helped a ton, and made us both ready for the transition!