Review your year: Assess finances

As part of my year-end routine, I spend a few journaling sessions from mid-November onwards reflecting on the year. This is episode #7 in the ‘Review your year’ series. The previous issues are here.

Money plays a crucial role in our well-being.

Yet, reflecting on your finances is not generally part of one's year-end reflections. I believe it is crucial because it can enable so many things.

I added this financial component three years ago.

My wife and I had bought a house and got married. She had just started a new job, while I was income-less while taking time off to support my dad. We still had student loans coming in, and money was tight.

When I did my year-end reflections, it was the biggest stress point affecting my sleep and productivity.

We made a plan to accelerate our earnings.

I took a high-paying job, we saved as much as we could, worked on side hustles, rented out our house for video productions, and made some tough lifestyle choices (like cancelling our gym membership and watching online videos at home instead).

Since then, our fortunes have swung. We are very comfortable now.

I quit my job earlier this year to focus full-time on our side hustle. I could not have done it without a proper plan.

Our monthly meeting to track our finances has become one of my favourite moments of the month.

Today’s "Year in Review” Prompts

Did you meet your savings or income goals this year? Why or why not?

Were there any unexpected financial wins or setbacks?

What financial habits served you well? Which ones do you need to change?

I’d love your feedback

What was your favourite prompt of the day? Is there any specific challenge you want prompts for? How can I improve the content of the newsletter? Reply this mail and let me know!