I know that April 15th seems ages away, but now is a good time to check in on some financial things that will make preparing your taxes easier:

1. Check your withholding. If too much or too little is coming out of your pay check, file a new W-4 to make the necessary adjustment.
2. Check to make sure that your filing system is up-to-date. You should have files (electrinic or hard copy) for things such as extra income (whether it will be 1099'ed or not, charitiable contributions, estimated taxes paid, and other deductions, including union dues, taxes paid, mortgage interest, and the like. If you don't have a filing system, take advantage of a chilly or rainy autumn night to set one up. No one said that you can't set up files while drinking cocoa in front of a file.

In addition, here are some other financial things to check on:

1. How are you doing at reaching your savings goals (emergency, college, retirement,holiday, etc.)?
2. Are you meeting your charitable donation goals?
3. Is your insurance up to date and adequate?
4. Do you (and a trusted advisor) know where all of your accounts are?
5. Are there any bills that it is time to renegotiate? Sometimes, it's worth a phone call to a cell or cable company to get a better rate?

With more than two months left in the year, it's a good time to take a quick look at your finances to make sure that things are in order.