Liz Weston: 5 ways to simplify and reduce your money clutter

Professional organizers might define household clutter as a pile of unmade decisions. Money clutter is much the same. 

Those credit cards you no longer use but haven’t closed? That’s money clutter. So is the retirement account you left behind three jobs ago and the financial paperwork you keep but no longer need. Money clutter also can include broken systems that should be mended, such as a bill payment routine that leads to overdrafts or late fees. 

You can simplify your financial life by dealing with those long-delayed decisions now and streamlining how you manage your money going forward. Here are five tasks to consider. 

1. Consolidate accounts