I set some lofty goals this year that, in all honesty, I am not sure that we can accomplish. However, I like to set the bar high because even if I don’t accomplish ALL of the goals, at least I have achieved more than if I had not stretched myself.
Also, these goals can’t be completed in a month or two. Most of them will require all of 2013 to complete.
Here is how we did meeting our goals in January.
Financial
Save $3,300 for children to go to Japanese summer school by June 20th: No progress. While I have been making extra money, we have a long list of bills waiting to be paid including registration deposits for next school year, medical expenses, nearly $2,000 worth of car repairs needed including new tires, spark plugs changed, new brakes and brake fluid. Thus far all of my extra money has gone to chipping away at these expenses.
Save $7,000 for girls to go to Japanese school in the fall by September 1st: No progress. Of all my goals, this is the one I most worry that we won’t be able to accomplish.
Pay off my student loan: On target. The current balance is approximately $3,950 . Since my husband’s student loans are currently in deferment, I am only paying the accruing interest on those and the rest of what would be the remaining payment I am applying to my student loan.
Reduce our credit card balance to $5,000 (current balance is approximately $12,890): No progress. This goal has changed a bit. Another credit card that I was not using and had a zero balance offered 0% interest on balance transfers. I transferred the entire balance on this card because the card the balance was on was at 9.99% interest. I had a fee of $384 for the transfer, so my balance has actually gone up. The 0% APR expires in March, 2014, so I would like to have this paid off by then.
Maintain an emergency fund of $3,000: Accomplished this month.
Complete our wills: No progress.
Apply for another life insurance policy. No progress.
Make several necessary car repairs (to the tune of $2,000 or so dollars): No progress.
Personal
Read 24 books this year. On target. I am enjoying reading again so much! This month I have read 4 books, but I have only written a review about one so far, Eat, Pray, Love.
Watch 24 movies this year. On target. We watched two movies this month, but I have only reviewed one so far, The First Grader.
Lose 20% of my current body weight: On target. This month I lost an additional 4.4% of my body weight, so I only have 15.5% more to go!
Exercise at least 3 times a week: On target. However, now that I have lost so much weight, I think I need to also do some toning exercises.
Continue to follow my diet and heal my leaky gut. On target.
Work
Increase my freelance income by 50% over 2012: No progress. This month I earned exactly what I need to earn monthly to make what I made last year.
Check e-mail no more than 4 times a day: No progress. I am still failing miserably at this. Those of you who are disciplined and only check e-mail a few times a day, what is your secret?
Treat my blog like a business: On target. I have been commenting more, but I still need to work on the behind the scenes work. (I blog because I enjoy it, but I do want to get more disciplined about my writing on this blog. I also want to grow the number of visitors who come every month.) To do this, I plan to do some behind the scenes work such as cleaning up old blog posts, making them more Pinterest friendly, replacing bad pictures, and fixing dead links. I also plan to comment more on other blogs and reach out more to other bloggers.
Stick to a regular blog schedule: On target.
Do you set goals? If so, how are you doing on yours?
I shared this post at Money Saving Mom.
One thing that has helped me go online less is to keep a list of people I want/need to email or things I want/need to look up online. This is so every time I think of something, I don’t have to rush to the computer to do it. I instead can write it down, then when I have my “online” time, I work through the list. Hope this helps!
Thanks, Natalie. That would definitely make my time online more efficient.
No much progress, but it’s only January. Sorry to hear about your car troubles. I like the way you are tracking your goals.
Wow, you’re doing great with your weight loss!! I need to get serious about mine…I’d like to lose 20lbs by middle of May…doable if I get my butt in gear!
That’s a lot to take on all at once, so the fact that you have as many ‘On Target’ items as you do seems to be a great sign for your overall progress. Once you make some of those goals ‘routine’, then you’ll find the availability to apply effort toward those you haven’t been able to start yet. Keep up the great work.
I used to check my email all the time. Then I set a timer. When it goes off so does the computer. By the time my husband comes home and checks his it is bedtime for the 4 kids and then I am done for the night.
A timer might work for me, or blocking software like you use for teens. 🙂
I love that you have such thought out goals. You inspired me to lit.more thought amd effort into my goals for the year. It’s the first te I’ve written them out, much less shared them with the world. I appreciate the inspiration! It’s interesting to see how things are progressing with you. In fact, learning about your financial goals then yearly goals have turned me into a loyal reader. I look forward to the updates. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the kind words, Shanna. Glad to have you here!
Great job at accomplishing some of your goals. Keep up the good work.
I am with you with the emails. I don;’t go online until after lunch, but I am bad about it after that. Part of it is that I am on the computer for school. A catch 22.