Just like you tune-up your car, consider giving your finances a tune-up a few times a year.

Whether your goal is to pay off debt, build savings, or just spend more carefully, here are some tips to help you get started.

Evaluate Your Spending Habits

Review your spending habits over the previous few months, look for areas where you may be spending too much money and areas where you can cut back. Review recurring expenses like subscription services, cell service, and memberships and decide if you can eliminate some of those expenses or switch to something less expensive. Review expenses like entertainment and eating out and instead look for free or less expensive entertainment and meal options, even little changes can save money.

Review Your Budget

If you don’t have a budget setup, consider doing so, a budget helps keep you on track and shows you where your money is going and it builds a foundation for financial accountability and stability. Allocate money for all of your necessary monthly expenses like housing, utilities, groceries, and transportation while also setting aside money for savings, retirement and debt repayment.

Review Your Bills

Call your cable company, cell service provider and internet provider to negotiate a lower fee or obtain promotional offers or other discounts to reduce your monthly payment. With so much competition in the market service providers are often willing to work with you to reduce costs. Call your car and homeowners insurance companies to review your policies and find a better rate, shop around with different insurance companies if your current provider is too expensive or unwilling to negotiate a lower rate. If you don’t currently bundle your policies, consider doing so because you often receive a lower rate when bundling. If your credit score is poor take steps to raise it, you receive better rates on insurance and other services with a good credit score.

Automate Your Savings

Make savings a priority, setup automatic transfers from your checking to your savings, each time you get paid deposit a set amount into savings. You won’t have to remember to transfer the money and you will build wealth overtime. If you do not have an emergency account setup, make this part of the plan. You should have 3-6 months of income set aside for unexpected expenses.

Pick The Right Time to Buy

When you are considering making a purchase, take advantage of end of year or end of season sales. Spring, summer, winter and fall all come with their own discounts, for example you might get a better deal on a lawn mower or outdoor grill if you buy them in the fall when the summer season has ended. After holiday sales are the perfect time to stock up on items for next year, after Christmas you can get great deals on wrapping paper, greeting cards and holiday decorations.

Try DIY

You can save money by doing things yourself, if you pay for lawn service, cleaning service and minor household repairs consider doing those chores yourself. General home maintenance is something you can easily learn to do. YouTube is full of useful videos on almost every subject.

Pay As You Go

Credit card debt can be a problem for some, if you struggle to pay off your credit card each month make it a rule to pay for some expenses like groceries and gas with cash or a debit card instead which will hold you accountable and help you stick to your budget without accumulating additional debt.

Pay off Credit Card Debt

Credit card debt is often the most expensive type of debt. Make it a priority to pay it off.

Review Your Investment Mix

Review your retirement plan and other investment mix, depending on your age or how close you are to retirement and the standing of the current market you might need to adjust your holdings. If you have an employer sponsored retirement plan that offers a match, try to contribute the maximum amount so you are not leaving free money on the table.

Review Beneficiaries

Review the beneficiaries on your accounts, especially if you have had any recent changes such as a divorce, marriage, birth, adoption, or death. Make sure the designated beneficiaries on your financial accounts, insurance, retirement accounts and other holdings are up to date.