According to a June 2025 survey by Achieve, only 43% of respondents expected their personal finances to improve by January 2026 and 15% thought they’d be in worse shape.
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If you’re not optimistic about your finances, this fall is a great time to get back on track before the busy (and expensive) holiday season arrives. You’ll also be able to set yourself up for a smoother transition into 2026.
In a YouTube video, money expert Rachel Cruze outlined these simple steps for a fall financial reset.
Get Back on Budget
Over the busy summer, you might have found that vacations, parties and other activities made you blow your budget. You may have also simply fallen out of the habit of tracking your expenses.
“Getting back on track and knowing where your paycheck is going is going to help you so much,” Cruze said.
Return to the habit of consistently budgeting and tracking your money. You can review your summer spending to figure out what happened and then plan to stick to your budgeted amounts moving forward. If you’re looking for a budgeting app to make this easier, Cruze suggested EveryDollar.
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Clean Up Your Line Items
When you check your budget, you’ll probably find that some expenses have changed since the summer or even the start of the year. Maybe you added a line item for your child’s overnight camp, which Care.com noted can sometimes cost thousands per week or increased your grocery budget due to frequent guests.
Besides updating these items, reconsider how your other expenses will look over the coming months. If you’ve noticed trends where you’ve consistently spent more or less on a certain expense and expect that to continue, take Cruze’s advice to clean up that line item so you have a realistic and accurate budget.
Reevaluate Your Goals
Cruze recommended looking at the goals you set for yourself at the start of the year in the areas of investing, spending and saving. You might find that you’re off track enough to need to update your plan and account for the fact that only four months remain in the year.
For example, if you planned on a $6,000 emergency fund but have only saved $2,000 so far, consider whether you can realistically increase your contributions enough to reach that goal by December. Otherwise, you might settle on a lower target for 2025, like $4,500.
“Maybe make it a little bit of a challenge for you, but don’t go through with a goal that you know is not going to happen,” Cruze explained. “That’s only defeating.”
Plan for Upcoming Expenses
With several big holidays ahead, now’s the time to start thinking about all the extra expenses you’ll need to save money for. These include things like Halloween costumes and candy, Thanksgiving dinner, gifts, decorations, New Year’s Eve parties and seasonal travel.
In a Ramsey Solutions blog post, Cruze recommended using a sinking fund to handle such irregular expenses more easily. Once you know the amount you need to save, you can divide it by the months until the expense arrives.
So, if you plan to spend $600 on holiday gifts in three months, you can add a budget line item of $200 per month and stash that cash in a high-yield savings account.
Identify and Revive Your Lost Routines
This last step involves looking at both your personal and financial routines. Cruze provided examples of needing to get her children’s bedtime back on track after they’ve stayed up late during the summer and plan her meals at home more consistently, rather than pay for pizza.
Your lost routines might include getting enough exercise, decluttering your home, reviewing your bank statements and tracking your expenses. Getting these back on track can help improve both your life and money.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Rachel Cruze: 5 Steps To Reset Your Finances This Fall
