How to Spring Clean Your Finances
Spring cleaning isn’t just for your home — your finances can benefit from a seasonal refresh, too. Between the endless financial products, multiple accounts, and rising debt, it’s easy to let things pile up. But getting things in order now can save you time, stress, and money down the road.
And a chaotic financial life isn’t just an inconvenience — it can be costly. According to a recent survey by Payroll.org, 78% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and many are struggling to save or invest after covering their monthly expenses. On top of that, credit card debt just hit a record-high $1.21 trillion. Meanwhile, roughly one-fifth of Americans admit to “doom spending” — spending impulsively as a way to cope with financial stress or uncertainty.
Here’s how to spring clean your financial life and set yourself up for a smoother year ahead:
- Close unnecessary accounts. If you’ve got old bank accounts or credit cards collecting dust, consider shutting them down (while being mindful of credit score impacts). A streamlined financial setup makes tracking and managing your money far easier.
- Consolidate your money management system with an all-in-one platform. Juggling multiple apps for budgeting, tracking bills, and managing investments can lead to missed details and financial fatigue. Origin solves this, centralizing everything from net worth tracking and budgeting to equity monitoring, tax filing, estate planning, and a lot more.
- Save like it’s a habit. Investing a portion of your income is still just as important as ever, but with volatility back and uncertainty rising, many investors are opting for safety — the total assets held in money-market accounts surged to a record $7.4 trillion earlier this month. Interest rates remain relatively elevated while the Fed takes the scenic route on rate cuts — meaning some banks are offering 4% APY or more on high-yield savings — or even better, Origin's cash account currently offers a 4.53% yield on your idle savings.
- Check in on your student loans. The student loan system remains a chaotic mess in 2025. Some borrowers are making payments, some are still in forbearance, and some are left hanging, waiting on routes to forgiveness, which are now on a shaky footing at best. Plan for the most expensive outcome, and consider it a bonus if you end up with lower payments or forgiveness.
- Be strategic with debt. Credit card balances are at all-time highs, and interest rates remain steep. Prioritize paying off high-interest debt and avoid financing depreciating assets like cars and lifestyle purchases.
Maximize employer benefits. Your 401(k), HSA, and other workplace benefits offer some of the best tax advantages — take full advantage of them.
Answers to your questions
Yes. Origin offers partner access so you can manage your finances together at no additional cost. You’ll be able to filter transactions by member—making it easy to see which spending is yours and which belongs to your partner.
Yes. You can edit existing transactions and add new ones directly in Origin, so your records stay accurate and personalized.
Origin connects securely through trusted partners including Plaid, MX, and Mastercard.
Yes. Origin supports CSV uploads. You can upload a .csv file of your transactions, and we’ll import them into your account.
Yes. Your data is protected with bank-level security and advanced encryption. When you connect accounts through Origin, your login credentials are never shared with us. Instead, our partners generate secure tokens that let Origin access only the data you authorize—keeping your personal information private while enabling personalized insights.
Yes. You have full control to organize your spending in Origin. Transactions are automatically categorized by Origin, but you can always edit categories, add your own tags, and filter transactions however you like—so your spending reflects the way you actually manage money.
