Five things you need to get on top of

This month I am focussing on getting things done and making sure things are humming along nicely.

These are five things that I think everyone needs to get on top of. They are the things that don’t necesssarily appear urgent, but are important. The things that will mean saving money or safe guarding your health, or both, in the long run. None of them take a lot of time.

Consolidate your super

It took me forever to do this. I don’t know why. It makes no sense to pay fees on more than one super account (particularly as my super funds didn’t come with any industry benefits). Once I finally sat down and filled in the paperwork, it took about ten minutes. If you aren’t sure where all your super might be, you can use this government service to find it. If you are out of the corporate world at the moment, consider what effect that has on your super and what you can do bridge the gap. This is an excellent article on just that.

Make sure your health insurance works for you and your family

Recently my husband and I reviewed our health insurance. Not only where we still paying for pregnancy related services, but we realised we were covered for other things we were never going to use. We also moved to an insurance model where you could consolidate your extras spend under one umbrella – rather than having limits for separate services. It seemed like this big and overwhelming thing to look into, but in reality it just took an evening going through our options together and making a decision. If either you or your partner work for a large corporation, make sure you check whether they have a discount arrangement with any insurers. Many do.

Make that doctor/optometrist/dental/mole-check appointment

Okay, so no-one wants to get a pap smear, but it’s important. Make sure that all your health check-ups are up to date. Just pick up that phone and make an appointment. Last year I decided to do it ALL AT ONCE. Which nows means that my yearly reminders are arriving ALL AT ONCE. I am going to try to space them out a little bit so it’s not so intense.

Set up your online myGov account

Hands up who likes being on the phone with Centrelink (or any government social services department)? Anybody? If you set up your myGov account you can do nearly everything online. It’s not perfect – sometimes the site is down and it can be clunky. BUT it’s a heck of a lot less frustrating that dealing with Centrelink directly. Which may be part of a master plot to move us all online. If you haven’t already, you can set it up here.

Do your tax

Have you done your tax yet this year? Best get on that. If your tax is fairly simple, the online service is fantastic. All done with time to spare. As long as the site is up. There is always that.