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The Clark Howard Podcast

04.29.26 Spring Financial To-Do List / This “Escape” Is Still a Money Trap

The Clark Howard Podcast

Clark Howard

Investing, Entrepreneurship, Business

4.65.2K Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2026

⏱️ 32 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Now is a good time for some financial spring cleaning. Take a close look at your bank statements to identify any "subscription creep" draining your wallet. Clark shares a pro-tip to simplify tracking expenses so you know exactly where your money is going every month. Also, a timeshare by any other name — like "vacation plan" — is still a timeshare. And they have seen a massive resurgence. Big-name hotel brands have revamped these contracts, offering "points" and flexibility instead of the old-school fixed week and location. Clark’s advice remains unchanged: don't let the lure of escapism turn into a permanent financial obligation you can't escape. Financial Spring Cleaning: Segment 1 Ask Clark: Segment 2 Timeshare Resurgence -Warning: Segment 3 Ask Clark: Segment 4 Mentioned on the show: 7 Ideas for Saving Money on Your Streaming TV Bill in 2026 How To Manage Your Monthly Subscriptions To Save Money 7 Types of Subscriptions You May Want To Cancel Today How To Get a Gym Membership for Practically Free - Clark Howard What Is Service Line Insurance and Do I Need It? - Clark Howard Why Vacation Clubs Are Even Worse Than Timeshares How To Sell, Cancel or Get Rid of Your Timeshare - Clark Howard 5 Money Tips To Know Before You Travel Abroad - Clark Howard Clark.com resources: Episode transcripts Community.Clark.com  /  Ask Clark Clark.com daily money newsletter Consumer Action Center Free Helpline: 636-492-5275 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:07.7

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0:18.8

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0:22.0

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0:22.8

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0:26.8

Get started at vanta.com slash calm.

0:34.7

It's my pleasure to welcome you here to the Clark Howard Show.

0:38.3

You know, our missions to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so that you make better financial decisions in your life.

0:48.9

Coming up later, time shares are hot again.

0:52.9

And I want to tell you what you got to know before you get word

0:57.7

in to that contract. Right now I'm going to talk about things that you and I ignore.

1:06.3

This is going to be weird, but I'm going to draw the analogy of spring cleaning.

1:12.8

In our family, we literally do spring cleaning.

1:17.4

We use this as a time where we go through stuff that we used through the cold weather time a year

1:25.4

and stuff more important. We never used through the season

1:30.7

and we get rid of it. If it's things we think we can sell, we sell. The things we think we should

1:36.8

donate, we donate. And my wife just sent me to UPS with a 17-pound box of clothes.

1:47.0

She's put for sale with a used clothing seller.

1:51.4

And it was funny, the guy at the UPS store and I were laughing

1:55.2

because the box was so big, we were sure it was a lot heavier than 17 pounds. But this is something we do. But you know what

2:04.2

we don't do? Maybe you never do spring cleaning. But you know what we don't do is we don't go

2:11.1

through our bills that I'm always talking about you doing and seeing what you're paying for that you don't even

...

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