Year in review: how to look back on your year and plan the next one

The short answer: a year in review is a short, honest look back at the last 12 months: what happened, what you're proud of, what was hard and where your time and money went. It takes about 90 minutes.

• You need: a notebook, your calendar, your photos and your bank statements
• Make a month-by-month timeline and answer the reflection questions
• Name your keep, stop and start
• Pick two or three goals for next year
• Next step: Plan it with the Annual Budget Spreadsheet ($6.99).

A year in review is a short, honest look back at the last 12 months: what happened, what you're proud of, what was hard, where your time and money went, and what you want to carry into next year. You can do a personal year in review in about 90 minutes with a notebook, your calendar, your photos and your bank statements. Answer a handful of end of year reflection questions, pull five or six money numbers, then turn what you learned into two or three goals for the year ahead.

Below you'll find a step-by-step method, a year in review template, 40 reflection questions, a money recap and a way to do it as a family. If you'd like the money part done for you, the Annual Budget Spreadsheet ($6.99) puts all 12 months on one screen, so next December's review takes minutes instead of an evening.

What a year in review is (and what it isn't)

A personal year in review is a reflection exercise, not a report card. It's different from a few things it gets confused with:

The order matters. Start with "What actually happened this year?" and you'll see what worked, what drained you and what you never got around to. Then the goals almost write themselves.

For year-end money tasks like expiring benefits and tax forms, use our end of year financial checklist. This page is about reflection.

How to do a year in review in 6 steps

Set aside one quiet block of time, or split it into two shorter sittings. Here's the order that works well:

1. Gather your memory joggers. Open your calendar, scroll your photos month by month, and pull up 12 months of bank and card statements. Together they show where your time went, what you enjoyed and what you valued.
2. Make a month-by-month timeline. Write one or two lines for each month: big events, trips, changes, hard weeks. Don't judge anything yet. Just get it on paper.
3. Answer the reflection questions. Pick 10 to 15 questions from the lists below. You don't need to answer all 40. Short answers count.
4. Do your money recap. Fill in the money table further down. This is where most people find their biggest surprise.
5. Name your keep, stop and start. List what you want to keep doing, what you want to stop, and what you want to start. Three of each is plenty.
6. Pick two or three goals for next year. Turn your "start" list into goals with a first step and a date. The 12 week year method turns them into a simple Q1 plan.

A simple year in review template

You don't need a fancy year in review journal. Copy these sections onto a few sheets of paper, a notes app or a blank page in your planner. Our free New Year's planner also includes a one-page "my year in review" sheet you can print.

40 end of year reflection questions

Choose the questions that fit your year. Skip anything that doesn't.

Looking back on the year

1. What were the three biggest things that happened this year?
2. What surprised me most?
3. Which month felt best, and why?
4. Which month was hardest, and what got me through it?
5. What did I spend the most time on?
6. What did I say yes to that I wish I'd said no to?
7. What did I keep putting off?

Proud moments and lessons

8. What am I most proud of this year?
9. What did I do this year that I couldn't have done last year?
10. What's one hard thing I got through?
11. What's the most important thing I learned?
12. What habit helped me most?
13. Where did I grow, even slowly?

People and gratitude

14. Who made my year better?
15. Who do I want to thank, and have I told them?
16. Which relationships do I want to put more time into?
17. Who did I help this year?
18. What's a kind thing someone did for me that I still think about?

Home and family

19. What made our home feel calm this year?
20. Which routines actually stuck?
21. Which traditions do we want to keep?
22. What did we spend money on that brought our family the most joy?
23. What part of running the house felt heaviest?
24. What could we share or hand off next year?

Health and energy

25. When did I feel most rested?
26. What drained my energy most often?
27. What helped me feel better on hard days?
28. What's one small health habit I want to keep?

Money

29. Did I spend this year's money on what matters most to me?
30. Which purchase am I happiest about?
31. Which purchase do I regret?
32. Did I have money set aside when something unexpected came up?
33. What money habit am I proud of?
34. Which bill or subscription isn't worth it anymore?

Looking ahead

35. What do I want more of next year?
36. What do I want less of?
37. What's one thing I want to learn?
38. What would make next December feel different?
39. What's one goal I'd be proud to reach by this time next year?
40. If next year had one word, what would it be?

These work as new year reflection questions, too, so January is just as good a time to answer them.

Your money year in review

The money part isn't about guilt. It's about building next year's budget on real numbers instead of guesses. Pull these figures from your statements, pay stubs or budget:

For the net worth line, our guide on how to calculate net worth walks through it step by step.

Next, compare what you planned with what happened. Here's a hypothetical example of what that comparison can look like:

In this example, the overspending isn't random. It comes from costs that happen every year but never got a line in the budget, like holidays and car repairs. Those are perfect jobs for sinking funds, where you set aside a little each month for a cost you know is coming.

Pulling a year from statements takes a while, which is why I like keeping the whole year in one place. The Annual Budget Spreadsheet ($6.99) tracks every month side by side in Google Sheets or Excel, so the yearly totals are already there when December comes. You can see how it works in our annual budget template guide.

While you're looking at the year's money, it's also a good time to check your credit. According to the CFPB, you can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once a week at AnnualCreditReport.com.

How to do a family year in review

A year in review makes a lovely family tradition. Keep it light, especially with kids:

A few ideas to make it feel special:

• Read last year's answers out loud before writing this year's. It's often the best part.
• Write thank-you notes to two or three people who made your year better.
• Keep it all in one envelope or folder labeled with the year. The answers also give you a head start on a family Christmas letter.

That last one is close to my heart. I love giving and receiving cards, and I keep them. An envelope of answers, drawings and notes becomes a keepsake that means more every year.

For the money talk, our family budget meeting guide keeps it calm and short.

Turn your year in review into next year's plan

Your review is only useful if some of it changes next year. Use your keep, stop and start lists like this:

Then shape each "start" item into a goal you can check:

• Make it specific. "Save more" becomes "Save $1,000 for emergencies by June." Our SMART goals template helps with this.
• Give money goals a monthly number. Divide the goal by the months you have. The Sinking Funds Tracker ($4.99) does that math for up to 20 goals at once.
• Build the budget around the goals. Our guide on how to make a budget for the new year shows how to use this year's real numbers.
• Pick a check-in day. The CFPB recommends that savers regularly monitor their progress and celebrate their successes. A short monthly check-in, plus a quick mid-year review in June, keeps goals from fading.

For more ideas by life area, see our list of new year's resolutions and our guide on how to set financial goals. If you want something visual to keep your goals in front of you, try making a vision board.

When to do your year in review

The most popular time is the quiet stretch between Christmas and New Year's Day, but any time works:

School took me the long way, and I've learned that life rarely starts neatly on January 1. A review in February counts just the same.

Common year in review mistakes

• Only listing what went wrong. Balance every hard moment with something you're proud of.
• Skipping the money. Feelings about money and the actual numbers often don't match. Look at both.
• Setting too many goals. Two or three goals you keep beat ten you drop by February.
• Not saving it. Keep your review where you'll find it next December. Comparing years is where the real insight shows up.

Make next year's review the easiest one yet

The hardest part of a year in review is digging up 12 months of numbers. Fix that for next year by tracking as you go. The Annual Budget Spreadsheet ($6.99) shows every month and the year's totals on one screen. If you prefer paper, the Budget Planner Printable ($5.99) gives you 12 undated monthly pages you can start any month. And if you want the whole system, the Ultimate Budget Bundle ($19.99 instead of $46.42 for the items bought separately, save 57%) includes the annual, zero-based, paycheck, debt payoff, bill tracker and sinking funds spreadsheets plus two printables. Browse all our budget spreadsheets, planners and printables or bundles.

To me, a budget is stewardship, not a cage. A year in review shows how well your plans served the people and dreams you care about, so you can make room for more of them next year.

Want to go deeper? Use our thought provoking questions to talk through the year together.