It's time for a life audit

What you need to know to help you make it.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE     WED, SEP 1, 2021 Alicia Adamczyk is a senior money reporter at CNBC Make It, covering consumer issues, investing and digital financial communities. You can follow her on Twitter @AliciaAdamczyk. It's September, which, under normal circumstances, conjures the real "new" year for many, as students head back to school. This year, many kids will return to their classrooms, and workers who have been home for most of the coronavirus pandemic will venture back to offices.  We're not out of the woods from Covid yet. Still, with circumstances and routines changing for many, it can be a good time for that "fresh" start: to take a look at the bigger picture, check in on your finances and think through what your goals are going forward. One strategy I have turned to time and again is the life audit. I wrote about it for CNBC, and you can also read a blog post by Ximena Vengoechea, the original creator. Essentially, a life audit entails taking a night when you don't have anything else to do and listing out every single thing you can think of that you want to accomplish at some point in your life. That might be a promotion at your current job, or owning a house near the ocean, or even something less high stakes, like beating a certain video game.  I list my goals out on individual Post-it notes and stick them to a wall; you can also use a Word document, paper journal or some other system that works for you. Having everything written down can be, in my experience, clarifying about what's important to you and if you're already heading in the right direction or need to reroute.   But if it's too draining to think of the future right now, you can still take some time to consider what you want to accomplish before 2022, at least. That might be paying off some debt you've accrued, or taking on some new responsibilities at work. Maybe that's a new job entirely.   A few things I want to check off my financial to-do list before the end of the year: Schedule doctor appointments and get reimbursed for any subsequent medical expenses through my FSA (If you have one of these accounts, remember you can use your funds to cover sunscreen, menstrual products and over-the-counter medications like Tylenol and allergy relief.) Reevaluate my retirement, brokerage and liquid savings contributions to ensure they're in line with my goals When buying new goods, try to get them used or secondhand whenever possible Take stock of my finances each month so I can reset when necessary Some other ideas: Check your credit report for errors and your credit score to know where you stand Create a "care" budget for the rest of the year Institute some "no spend" rules for yourself to save a little extra money Start thinking about (and budgeting for) holiday gifts  And if those don't strike your fancy, here are 30 simple tasks CNBC Make It put together at the start of the coronavirus pandemic that can help you get a handle on your finances.   Once you have an idea of what you want to do, you can write out some concrete steps for making them happen.    What's part of your financial reset? Email me at alicia.adamczyk@nbcuni.com, I'd love to hear from you. Have a friend who might appreciate this type of content? Please forward it along! Sign up for our weekly, original newsletter that goes beyond CNBC's annual Disruptor 50 list, offering a closer look at private, venture-backed companies before they go public, and the founders who continue to innovate across every sector of the economy. Trending articles from CNBC Make It These 14- and 9-year-old siblings earn over $30,000 a month mining cryptocurrency A neuroscientist shares the 6 exercises she does every day to build resilience and mental strength Pandemic unemployment benefits end in September and states aren't extending them For 20 years, I helped high-net-worth clients build wealth: Here's my best advice for new investors You should keep your checking and savings accounts at different banks—here's why Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Digital Products   Feedback Terms of Service Privacy Policy   © 2021 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBC Universal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS