3 super simple hacks that can save you thousands effortlessly — but you need to do them before September ends

Here are three areas you can focus on to make the home stretch count.

Neglected accounts

Once you take a look at your finances, you might find there’s something on your to-do list that pertains to your accounts.

Perhaps you have cash sitting in an account that earns little or no interest, or an investment of yours has matured and you haven’t looked at how to reinvest. Or maybe you opened an account with a great promotional rate, but that rate has since ended and you’re now earning less than you could be.

It’s easy to fall behind on financial tasks like this, but leaving them incomplete could mean leaving money on the table.

You could also take some time to look over your retirement accounts as well. If you have changed jobs and haven’t kept track of your employer-sponsored retirement account, now is the time to track it down.

A recent study estimated that 31.9 million 401(k) accounts that collectively hold about $2.1 trillion in assets have been forgotten or left behind. Because 401(k)s typically come with fees — which, upon leaving your job, your employer could have stopped covering — a forgotten 401(k) could be costing you more than you realize.

If the fees for your old plan are reasonable, you might decide not to roll it over into your new employer’s 401(k), or into an IRA. But it’s important to evaluate how your old 401(k) is performing before you make any decisions.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration has search tools for abandoned plans, as well as a new retirement savings lost and found database.

Review your insurance

It’s no secret that insurance has gotten more expensive over the years.

A report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners found that from 2018 to 2024, average premiums rose by 18.3% in the Northeast, 24.7% in the Midwest, 26.5% in the Southeast and 43.3% in the West.

Check when your insurance is up for renewal and mark down a date in your calendar before the renewal that will give you time to shop around for a better deal. That goes for both home and auto insurance. Matt Brannon, a senior economic analyst at Insurify, told USA Today that shopping around for a better deal is “the most low-effort, high-reward way that people can save on car insurance costs.”

You can also look into whether raising your deductible would make sense if you’re struggling with auto insurance costs. Consumer Reports says raising your deductible from $500 to $1,000 could bring annual premiums down from 20% to 25% on average, which could be an average savings of $464 to $525 a year.

Budget overhaul

September is also the perfect time to look at your budget and take stock of where you’ve been landing for the first two-thirds of the year. Have you been staying on budget? Or perhaps struggling not to go over?