Expense Account, Mint
February is no longer the same. A mixture of rising incomes, home loans and spending-linked tax-saving options (such as school fees) make the Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Savings Certificate (NSC) investments more for continuation of the account rather than the need to get the Rs1 lakh 80C deduction. But the February habit is so strong that I find myself still fussing over investments at this time of the year, going through the routine of crediting the accounts and getting the passbooks updated. But where did they go? I left them right there in the green folder, has it chewed them up? Anybody who has moved them is so dead. Ha, there they are. When did the green folder become pink? And what’s this? My NSCs. Hello. These were dead three months ago—I need to make the trip to the post office. And, ah, that’s the cashless mediclaim card I was looking for. The scrabble for one set of papers leads to many other forgotten bits of paper and work. We all lead untidy lives—yes even the so-called experts—and need a periodic nudge to put things back in order again. And I take great solace from the story of Daniel Kahneman. But more of that later. This year I used the mental note firmly engrained in the minds of the Indian salaried that February means finances to do a financial housekeeping exercise. Five things to do this February.