Spring is the perfect time to clean up your financial house as well as the one you live in.  With the IRS breathing down our necks, Congress has dubbed April Financial Literacy Month. It almost sounds funny in the middle of the country’s worst economic crisis. But there is help. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) says working moms are no different than others. Many of us could have a little extra money in each paycheck. According to NFCC’s Gail Cunningham, your objective is not to get an income tax refund and not to owe Uncle Sam either. Instead, by adjusting your W-4 withholding tax claims you can pocket the right amount of money each and every month. She says, your tax deductions should meet your tax liability.  “Why get $2,400 once per year when you could have an extra $200 each month?  You can change your W-4 at any time during the year, and should certainly adjust it if you’ve had a major life change such as a marriage, birth of a child, etc.” Four more quick tips for financial spring cleaning:

Check your credit report: Go to www.annualcreditreport.com and make sure there is no misinformation about your credit on there.  If there is, see step two.

Fix bad credit: If you are in heavy credit card debt, check on your interest rates on each account.  Call the credit provider and ask to decrease the interest rate.  Pay off the highest card first and don’t miss payments. Late fees are killers.

File your monthly bills: Have a file where all the bills go the minute they come in from the mailbox.  Open them promptly, mark the due date on the envelope and make sure you pay them on time.

Decrease the plastic you carry: Don’t carry multiple credit cards. Use the one with the lowest interest rate. If you use store cards, make sure you know the payment dates. Many of them carry very hefty late fees. As of April 10th, the NFCC will relaunch their helpful website http://www.debtadvice.org to help us get and keep our financial houses in order, even if Washington and Wall Street cannot manage to do it.