Spring Cleaning

Yep, it's that time of the year again and no matter how much I dislike it Spring Cleaning really does serve a purpose.

Last week we started by going through the toys. This was not an overly popular task but the girls helped and it really did go easier this year. While I put away the toys that got a reprieve for another year,  I sorted through the shoe cabinet and pulled out shoes that no longer fit. I hadn't gotten around to this last year so I actually had a full sack to pass along.

Today, while the girls played and watched cartoons - it's pouring rain right now - I went through my emails and deleted the random ones that had drifted along in my Inbox for months and months. I do this a few times a year and still I end up trashing a few hundred emails each time.

Why is this important? For me, it's partly peace of mind. I like to know where things are. Yes, I maximize the filing system that Yahoo allows and at most times I utilize all the folders allowed. The other reason it's good to go through your emails is that you might get a surprise - just like finding money in an old purse or pair of pants. And that's exactly what happened.

I'd done some online shopping a couple of years ago using Bing and gotten a series of cash back advantages. Last summer, they discontinued the Bing program but my account had trouble and it took a while to get it taken care of. In the meantime, I'd totally forgotten about it. The reason this is important is that all cashback requests from the Bing Cash Back program must be requested by July of 2011.

Sometimes spring cleaning really is beneficial to us. My cash back money wasn't a lot but it's now safely tucked away in my paypal account. Just in case you used the bing cash back program and haven't requested your payout - hop on over and take care of that before you lose your money.

So, how is your Spring Cleaning going? Have you found anything surprising along the way?