Financial
- Pay extra $9K to mortgage. Amended. Given my decision to refinance and the wonderful results of my recent home appraisal, I’ve decided to change this goal. I haven’t decided what the new figure will be yet, but I’m thinking something more along the lines of $4-5K total. The remainder of the original goal will be directed to my student loans now that they are officially my highest interest debt.
- Save $5K in long-term savings. In progress. There was a bit of shake-up with this goal considering my decision to refinance my mortgage and book the Kilimanjaro trip but I am on track to meet this by the end of the year. Technically, I have saved $5,855 in the last 3 months but $5,080 of that was put towards my trips this year (Ireland & Kilimanjaro), meaning I’ve really only saved $775 towards this goal.
- Save $800/month for retirement. In progress. I have consistently saved $800 each month, and I hope to increase my contributions to $1K/month soon.
- Add $2K to Kilimanjaro fund. Completed in March, 2012 as I found an incredible travel deal and have already booked the entire trip for the fall!
Personal
- Complete The Goofy Challenge. Completed on January 8, 2012–39.3 miles run in 2 days!
- Run 25 miles/week. In progress. There were a few hiccups along the way with this goal (broken tailbone and being attacked by your own kitty, anyone?), but I’m now back to where I want to be in terms of weekly mileage. Now that spring is here, it will be even easier for me to fit the miles in because I tend to exercise more in nicer weather.
- Continue biking to work. In progress. Save as above although I’ve been riding to/from work everyday for the past few weeks minus last week’s kitty disaster.
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Take my grandmother on her dream trip to Ireland as a retirement present. Completed and in progress. After I put away this month’s $400 towards the trip’s spending money, I will have fully paid for the entire trip. I gave myself a ridiculous $1K cushion for spending considering how special this trip is (and that we’ll be doing a lot of driving and therefore need to pay for a lot of expensive gasoline!), but I certainly do not plan to spend that much (we leave on April 29th). Whatever is leftover will immediately be funneled over to operation Kilimanjaro.
- Buy a sweet camera. In progress. While I haven’t started saving for this purchase yet, I have reached out to my photog friends for advice. I’ve also done some extensive online research, so I feel like I’m close to at least deciding which camera I’ll be saving for!
- Complete Q&A; a day Project. In progress. There have certainly been days when I’ve forgotten to add the daily entry but overall I’ve kept up with this goal. I really love the reflection these daily questions are providing, and I’m finding myself more motivated to keep moving forward each time I review my answers thus far this year.
Blogging/Business
- Post 15 times per month or more. Pass. While I’d love for this “pass” to be in green, I did fall off the blogging wagon a bit in February, only posting 13 times in the month. However, I more than made up for it in March with 25 posts so I’m optimistic about the remainder of the year. My biggest struggle is keeping up with all of my various blogging responsibilities. Between all of my various responsibilities outside of work and my full-time job, I’m pretty stretched. The saving grace is that I’m doing what I love for all of these various side gigs, so it’s pretty easy for me to muster the motivation to keep going.
- Draft my business plan. Completed in January, 2012. Considering that all I planned to do this year was to draft my business plan, I feel I’ve pretty much blown this out of the water. I’ve already created my website and blog, solidified my hosting for the next 5 years, and have worked to build contacts and my portfolio. While it’s sort of crazy to take on another project given my already time-crunched schedule, I’m finding it comical how motivated I am to keep this going in a positive direction. My goal is to launch completely by the fall.
How is 2012 going for you? Have you set annual goals and, if so, how is your progress?
Click to view my 2012 goals in a visual format
Click to see my various timelines for my 2012 goals
Rambling, I say
Nice goals, own retirement and grandmother are included!
Seems like you are making very good progress on your goals. I like how you broke them down in quarters I may try that.
Looks like everything is going good for you! My goals are very similar.
You're moving right along nicely. So far, you seem to be on track with your goals and objectives. There's still a lot of time left, and you're pacing yourself slowly and steadily. Great job! Keep it up.
So, did you already take your grandma on her dream trip? Or do you mean you already saved up enough? That is so sweet!!! I love my grandma so much (Only have one left..) and hope to be able to take care of her the way she's taken care of me–and everyone else–all these years.
Thanks, Muija!
Breaking them down like this makes it easier to keep them fresh in my mind and gives me a better idea of my overall progress. You should try it out!
So far, so good! I hope the remaining 9 months of the year continue this trend…
Thanks, Anthony! I certainly adhere to the 'slow & steady wins the race' motto when working towards my annual goals. It helps me keep motivated and less likely to burn-out/give up.
I realized that was a bit confusing, so I added in the part about leaving at the end of the month. We leave on the 29th but I have already funded the trip so I'm giving it a pass! I agree about the grandma sentiments–sounds like ours are very similar!
I always drool over the amount you put towards retirement. Now that you plan to up it to 1k, I think my well is all dried up of droll. I'm just stuck in awe.On the overall goals progress, you never cease to amaze me. Being honest with me, are you an alien. A human can never be this awesome, you do so much and you always achieve stunning results, maybe you are like the enigizer bunny. I remember those adverts lol. They keep going and going and going.Awesome progress my friend. Congratulations.
Awesome progress. I need to sit down and think of what my goals actually are.
Looks like you are off to a great start! A trip to Ireland fantastic! That is my mom's dream vacation too!Good luck and have a fabulistic year!
Hahaha…I've definitely been compared to the Energizer Bunny! I think it's more because I'm efficient and interested in my various responsibilities. When I'm not into something, I can be quite lazy
Thanks! Deciding what your goals are is one of the best ways to set yourself up for success in meeting them; good luck!
Thank you; same to you!I'm excited seeing how excited she is–it's going to be a great experience for both of us
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