How do you close out the year and prepare for the new one? Specifically, what are the tasks you do and the tools you use to make the new year successful!
Here’s how you might prepare for the new year.
- Review the status of your goals and select new ones for the upcoming year.
- Evaluate your finances and create a budget for the new year.
- Fill in next year’s calendar and “To Do List” inside your organizer with key information such as goals, project steps, deadlines, due dates, birthdays, anniversaries, and vacation plans.
- Purge outdated paper and digital (computer) files and receipts.
I do all the above every year. The two things that have helped the most to streamline this process are my organizer software and an Excel spreadsheet I designed for creating a personal budget.
The organizer software allows me to enter things like project steps, due dates, and birthdays in the calendar or the “To Do List” once and have them repeated as far into the future as I want. I can also add reminder alarms and they will repeat as well. And the secure password organizer is a huge time saver. These are just a few of the cool features in this software.
The Excel spreadsheet has made creating an annual personal budget almost effortless. Being frugal, I’ve never had any problems managing money. But this spreadsheet has given me much greater visibility and control over my expenses. I know there are probably many budget apps out there, but I like being able to design one the fits my specific needs and style — simple. There are various versions of my personal budget spreadsheet in the article referenced below.
Happy New Year. 🙂