Hello October! How to Prep Your Household for a Strong 4th Quarter Ending

We love to associate the month of October with all things fall and the holidays. Don’t get me wrong, while those things are fun and I love them as well, the reality is that the month of October is the start of the 4^th quarter. It presents the perfect opportunity to assess our goals and reflect on how the year has been going. This way you obtain a snapshot of where you are right now so that you can in-turn realign and re-work whatever to get as close as possible to your year-end goals.

Disclaimer: Please note that some of these points include financial items. I am not a financial guru or tax expert and these opinions are all mine. These points are a result of me obtaining my MBA in Finance and my previous life experiences. Consult with your tax specialist accordingly.

Evaluate those goals–Both family and personal

This year has been an unfathomable one. We all had plans that we set out to achieve -then came COVID. But a goal is still a goal and no matter how big or small, a goal is “still the result or achievement toward which effort is directed or aimed”. Re-assess, realign, and still make that effort toward whatever you had intended. You’ll be amazed and surprise yourself at what you’re still able to achieve during these times.

Take inventory of your current household income

Are you on target to hit your desired income for the year or have you exceeded it?  In fact, are you roughly on track to have paid the correct amount of taxes for the year? Whichever it is, do not rely on just that annual figure that you know you are getting paid because knowing where you are right now is important. Those additional streams of income and things like overtime all contribute to that base number. This will give you a better idea on whether or not you’d like to or even need to scale back, increase your contribution to a tax-deductible product or adjust your deductions. Following Dave Ramsey, I have learned over the years that your goal each year is to not owe Uncle Sam and that getting a large tax refund means that you’ve just been cheating yourself all year. Use the start of this month to plan accordingly.

Increase your 401k contribution-

If you are not nearing the annual contribution limit, gone ahead and increase your 401k contribution. This will especially benefit you, if you have gotten a raise this year or even have gotten a bonus. Not only are increasing the contribution to your future retirement, but you’re reducing your taxable income. It’s a win-win!

Take inventory of your pantry

Don’t judge me but I’m that family member that will quickly sign up to bring the drinks. To save some face, I’ll share that in previous years, I have always found myself two weeks out before any holiday, finally deciding that I’d like to contribute to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. What I often find is that everything is sold out by the time that I’ve decided to do so. Don’t be me and wait to the week before Thanksgiving. Do a brief inventory and stock up on those things that you may need now.

Go through your kids’ toys

With the holidays around the corner, we already know that we’ll be adding to that toy bin that they already can’t see the bottom of. Most of these toys they don’t even play with! Go through that toy bin and donate anything that is in good shape and throw out everything that isn’t.  

Create a holiday budget

With the future of this pandemic unclear, you may or may not want to go all out this holiday season. It’s more important now than ever that we create a holiday budget and try your best to stick to it! Interestingly enough, I’ve found that while discretionary income is at an all time low for most, now is the best time to spend. See retail operates in seasons, and the start of the pandemic left many stores closed for the rest of winter and spring resulting in them being behind in inventory 2 whole seasons. To try their best to recoup those losses, they have had sale after sale. So if you want to somewhat make this holiday season grand, set the budget and plan accordingly in order to take advantage of the many sales so that you are able to stay within budget.

What do you pan on reviewing at the start of the start of the 4th quarter?