Dollars and Sense: Put your financial house in order

Let the Labor Day holiday serve as a reminder to review your finances and begin planning for the coming winter.

Summer is winding to an end, and if vacation expenses took a larger chunk of cash than you estimated, develop a plan to get credit cards paid off in the next few months.

Start watching hardware-store sales flyers for items you know you’ll need for fall fix-it and winterizing projects. Carpenters and roofers have likely finished their lineup of summer work, and you might find some big discounts for work scheduled to be completed in the next month or so.

Review your paycheck deductions for the year and compare them to last year’s taxes. Has enough money been held out for taxes so far? Perhaps too much? If you’re giving an interest-free loan to the government all year by having too much taken out of your check, this is a good time to rethink that. Yes, it can be great to get a refund next year, but that refund can be bigger yet if you put the money into an interest-bearing account instead.

Prepare now to make an additional mortgage payment by the end of the year to increase the size of your interest deduction next April. Or go ahead and make the payment now, before holiday shopping diverts the extra cash.

How is your emergency fund? Do you have enough to keep you and your family going for six to nine months in the event of a job loss?

Don’t forget that “emergency” can include unexpected expenses such as car repair or medical expenses. If you don’t have as much put away as you’d like, take another look at your monthly budget.

If you’re looking for a house to buy, not only is it a buyer’s market in many parts of the country, but Labor Day often signals the point where sellers are suddenly willing to negotiate and drop their asking price.

This is especially true if you can offer a fast closing because you’re pre-approved and have a lender lined up. A fast closing allows the seller to buy another house, close on that one, and get settled in a new place before the holidays at the end of the year.