RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) – It’s wild to think tomorrow marks the halfway point of 2025. And while you might be coasting through this short holiday week, CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger says now’s the perfect time to consider giving your finances a checkup.
Jill Schlesinger: Mid-Year Finances 06/30/2025 | RSS.com
“A lot has happened and you may have reacted to some of those things that happened, maybe you didn’t, but I just think this is a perfect time of year to kind of take a deep breath and see where you stand, personally, with your finances,” said Schlesinger.
The important thing is to spend time on things that you can control. Schlesinger says the first place to start is to look at how the first six months have gone in terms of your spending.
“You know, it’s true, you’re right, a lot of people start the beginning of the year with great aspirations like being on a budget but sometimes life does happen to interfere with those plans,” said Schlesinger.
If you want to do this the way Schlesinger suggests, you should pull your credit card bills, bank statements, automatic subscriptions and more to maybe find some money there waiting for you. However, she’s not saying you have to stop spending money on subscriptions, but the average adult unfortunately spends over $1000 a year on them.
“I just know all of us spend probably some money on some subscription that you really don’t want, need or use anymore and maybe if you eliminate that you free things up a little bit so you can spend more freely, save or pay down some debt,” said Schlesinger.
While you’re looking at your bills it’s also a good time to look at some of the fees getting charged, especially junk fees. Last year, the Biden Administration enacted a ban on Junk Fees and the Trump Administration has kept many of those in place, but there is no CSPB to oversee the ban being upheld.
“So, who are you going to complain to? That’s the problem,” said Schlesinger. “That’s why I think it really does become important for us to fight these fees by viewing all of the categories where they pop-in.”
Schlesinger wants people looking through their bank statements and credit card fees. Are there any late payments being levied? Are there some strange hotel fees you don’t know about?
Remember, the important thing to do is to spend your time on the things that you can control and not on the things you can’t, especially when it comes to your finances.