Spring Cleaning

April 07, 2018

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Now that spring is here everything snaps back to life, including things around the house. We have you covered with this list of six essential spring cleaning tips from our podcast, and there is even one you can do from the couch!

Here are the six spring cleaning must-dos:

Remove Pet Hair

If you have a cat or dog, you know that as the seasons change they start to shed their winter coat. Cleaning hair off of your furniture can be tedious so to make it easier use rubber kitchen gloves or a new squeegee to remove the pet hair quickly. Make sure they are brand new so they don't dirty your furniture!

Clean the Microwave

The microwave is an easily forgotten place to clean, so spring is an excellent time to do it. The easiest way to do it is to squeeze half a lemon into a microwave safe bowl filled with water. Set your microwave for 3 minutes (or until the water boils). This steams the inside of the microwave and loosens any tough to remove food particles. Then, wipe your microwave down with a paper towel, it’s that easy!

Check Smoke and CO2 Detectors

This could be a lifesaver! Test the battery life in your smoke detectors and CO2 detectors. Press and hold the button until it beeps, (hint: use a dowel rod to avoid getting the ladder out) and also check the battery back-up in your CO2 detectors. You also want to check the smoke sensor on your smoke alarm by using testing chalk or blow out a match near it.

Organize Paperwork

If you’ve been letting essential documents stack up, it’s time to file those away or shred them. Not only does it help declutter the house it also protects against identity theft! It’s also time to rotate out those old tax documents and shred them if they’ve hit the period of limitations for an audit. You can find the IRS guide to tax documents here: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/how-long-should-i-keep-records

Clean-up Your Cell Phone

This is the one you can do from the couch! Just like in the physical world, our digital world can become cluttered. If you have any unused apps, it is best to uninstall them from your phone. This keeps access to your documents limited and out of date apps can become compromised to cyber-attacks. We also recommend updating your passwords and utilizing 2-factor authentication when possible.

Clean Your Closet

Much like your paperwork, the closet can end up being the “junk drawer” of clothes we no longer wear. The best way to combat this is to go through your closet and remove anything that is old or doesn’t fit, then put a process in place to continually remove unused clothing items.

The 2018 Trunk Challenge

We’d like to challenge all of our followers to fill up their trunk with items they can donate and take them to a local donation center! These unused items will not only be helpful to those in need and you may also receive a tax deduction for doing so! Before you drop your items off, take a picture of your car or truck filled with the items and post it on our Facebook page 2018 trunk challenge post!