Long-time readers of this blog will know that I used to write weekly “round-up” posts that shared about my personal life and what I was up to. Because of time constraints I had to end the weekly round-up about a year ago.
While I don’t give weekly roundup posts, I still weave my life and opinions into the posts I publish. Some posts are more directly related to my life than others. All in all, though, it’s something I should probably do more of. After all a big reason I’m a fan of blogs is because it offers so much editorial freedom.
Today I’m sharing something that is 100% focused on my life. All the way back in January of 2015 I shared my goals for 2015. Today I’ll be sharing an update on each goal and how much progress I’ve made towards accomplishing them.
Before I do that I just want to say what a huge fan of goal-setting I am. While circumstances change, I do think it’s important to have some idea of where you are headed. You can always adjust your goals to fit new circumstances and realities.
When it comes to goal-setting I highly recommend using the Financial Bridge Technique. It forces you to think about how realistic your goal is, as well as what needs to happen for the goal to become reality.
Here’s how I’m doing on my 2015 goals so far:
- Sign up for Life Insurance – No Progress
When it comes to life insurance I’m a hypocrite. At least I am until I actually sign up for it. I have made zero progress on signing up for life insurance this year.
This made it on my goal list for a few reasons. First of all, both my wife and I are pursuing graduate school degrees. We also have a mortgage. At minimum I think people should have enough life insurance to cover all their debts.
The second reason I think life insurance is important is because I think Suze Orman hit the nail on the head in The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke when she said that you can’t predict how you will react to finding out your significant other passed away prematurely. With that in mind it makes sense to get much more life insurance than you think you need. And not having life insurance? Not an option.
So even though I said that getting life insurance was the one thing you need to do to improve your finances in 2015, I have yet to follow my own advice.
- Get my CMA License – Changed Goal
Since some of you likely don’t know what a CMA license is, the CMA stands for Certified Managerial Accountant. The CMA is similar to the CPA, except for people who did not get enough credits to sit for the CPA or did not major in accounting. It also focuses more on the managerial/internal accounting than public accounting.
Remember when I said I am a fan of changing goals? This is one of them.
After going back and forth the past 2-4 years on whether to get my MBA (as can be seen here and here), I finally decided to get my MBA.
While I discuss 5 reasons I decided to get my MBA in a recent post, there were a few things that pushed me to pursue it. First of all, I will be able to take advantage of my employer tuition reimbursement. Second of all, pretty much every job I will ever apply to the rest of my life will say MBA preferred on the job req. Finally, I will have the opportunity to get the additional credits needed to sit for the CPA exam within the MBA program.
Getting my MBA will be a huge time commitment and, despite the employer tuition reimbursement, will still force us to divert money towards my MBA instead of our home, investments, debt, or other areas. Ultimately I think it will easily pay off from an ROI perspective and w
As a final note if you’re considering getting your MBA the first step is taking the GMAT. I wrote a post on How to Study for the GMAT for Cheap in a recent post.
- Drive More Affiliate Revenue on Young Adult Money – No Progress
Unfortunately studying for the GMAT and a heavier workload at my 9-5 has taken away from my ability to commit time towards doing the “extra” things that make a blog perform well. While I have been including affiliate links in various posts throughout the year.
With that being said I’ve also been able to negotiate some good direct advertising deals. While these deals don’t have as much potential to turn into passive income for me, they are a welcome income stream for the site and will help me continue to bring in my targeted minimum of $1.5k/month on average from side hustles.
It’s important to point out that affiliate revenue is just one of many ways to make money blogging. I recently shared 8 ways to make money blogging and when you really analyze the different ways to make money blogging there are other revenue streams such as product or service sales that can be much more lucrative than affiliate marketing. With that being said, affiliate revenue is highly desirable if you ever plan to sell your blog to an investor.
- Complete 2 of 5 Major Home Projects – Some Progress
My wife and I have a plan to renovate our entire house over the next approximately eight years and then turn it into a stand-alone rental unit. We already rent a portion of our house as there is a basement apartment that was already in place when we bought our home. From redoing all the flooring to replacing all the doors, the ultimate goals is for everything to be gutted and changed by the time we move out.
We also hope to save as much money as possible on these projects by spending time researching and completing projects on our own. Last night I was browsing Angie’s List and was – yet again – shocked at the five-figure amounts that people are paying contractors to do things that seem to be wholly possible to DIY if you sink the time and energy into researching and executing the project.
So my goal this year was to complete 2 of the following five major home projects:
- Installing a bathroom fan
- Purchasing and installing new flooring
- Replacing our retaining wall
- Trees planted along the back fence
- Replacing our tub/shower
The retaining wall is the one project that I am 95% certain will be completed this year. If I had hired out this project I am pretty sure it would cost over $10,000. The supplies alone will probably run me close to $2k, as this will end up being two 30-foot long and 2 1/2 foot tall walls.
I’ve spent enough time researching this project to know the logistics of what needs to be done, and honestly the rest is all grunt work. I’ve hired my brother on to help with moving dirt and laying block in hopes of him realizing how powerful side hustles are. Otherwise it’ll be all me.
The other projects are “maybes.” The bathroom is a tough one because the only other bathroom in the house is our renter’s bathroom. We will either need to move out briefly while working on it or we’ll have to try to jam it into a short time frame when she’s gone. I also think the fan will be less expensive to have installed if the bathroom was down to the studs, so I would like to group that with a larger bathroom renovation.
- Churn 3-5 Credit Cards – Success
I was able to church two cards so far this year, the Sun Country Airlines card and the United MileagePLUS Explorer card.
I would highly recommend people who live in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Sun Country’s hub city, to take advantage of the Sun Country card. The annual fee is waived the first year and you get 40,000 miles after putting just $500 on the card. This is enough for approximately 1 round trip flight and 1 one-way flight to Vegas from Minneapolis-St. Paul. It’s a key part of my guide on How to go to Vegas for Free.
The United MileagePLUS Explorer card is going to be a great one for us. As I mentioned in my post Mail Credit Card Offers > Online Credit Card Offers, I was able to get 50,000 miles from a deal at the Denver airport. My wife is now currently churning the Chase Sapphire Preferred card which will allow us 1:1 mile transfer from her card to my United card. I will do the same once she finished to amass ~165,000 United Miles.
The goal is to get two free flights to Europe for Summer 2016. Neither of us have been to Europe and it should be an affordable trip if we are able to book the two flights for free.
If you’re interested in travel hacking through credit card rewards check out How Travel is Possible With Credit Card Hacking and 5 Best Travel Reward Credit Cards for 2015.
Quick reminder: Always check the fine print when signing up for deals. Terms change – never assume anything!
- Read the Bible in it’s entirety – No Progress
Not much to say here. I haven’t made it a priority and haven’t made progress on it. It’s still something I feel I “should” do, but it’s been very difficult to find the time to do it. Or I should say it’s been difficult to find the motivation to find the time to do it.
- Prioritize “Better” – Success
I feel a bit guilty saying this is a success after saying that I haven’t made any progress on reading the bible, but I feel like I’ve done a great job of juggling multiple priorities. I’m still unsure how I was able to study for the GMAT and get a solid score while also running the blog. Somehow I made it work.
I have also prioritized working out and being healthy. I’ve set aside at least a few hours a week for working out and have had some great long workouts on weekday evenings.
One other thing I’ve done a better job of is organizing my thoughts, to-do lists, and calendar. I’ve started to use Microsoft OneNote on a more regular basis and it’s really helped with prioritizing my time both during work and outside of work. Jotting down thoughts and ideas as soon as I think of them and putting them in an organized structure has been a big win this year.
So that sums up the progress I’ve made on goals for 2015. Overall I think I’m doing pretty well but will need to continue to organize my time and energy well if I hope to accomplish everything I hope to accomplish in 2015.
How are your goals going for 2015? Any thoughts/input/suggestions for my goals?
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Have you thought about listening to the Bible instead of reading it? You could listen while you exercise or even do some of your other projects. My Bible app actually had the audio built in; I think I’m slightly more attentive when I read, but sometimes when I read the a Bible for a gold, I just go through the motions anyway. But the plus is that sometimes, something sinks in despite my best efforts ;-)
Good work! I just finished the CPA exams at the beginning of the year. Good luck! I started reading the bible a couple months ago. I read for 15ish minutes each morning. Following The One Year Bible outline. Check it out! Keep plugging away!
I think we’re flying to Vegas from Minneapolis this summer on Sun Country. Sounds pretty podunk to me, but one-way flights were only 10,800 Ultimate Rewards points. I hope you do look into life insurance soon- we bought the bulk of ours when we were super young and it was dirt cheap. If you end up with a health issue, you may not qualify so easily in the future.
Holly at ClubThrifty I’m not sure why Sun Country gets a bad rap, but then again I don’t fly that often so maybe that’s part of it. I think you’re right about life insurance, but the question is what if we alread have had medical issues? I’m wondering how much the two sinus surgeries and asthma will hurt my rate. Still would probably be cheaper than waiting to buy.
ljfitzge Yeah I have started the 1 year Bible plan in the past but didn’t stick with it. I should really make it more of a priority but so far haven’t. Nice job finishing your CPA exams. I’m looking forward to knocking those out but first will need to take a bunch of accounting classes to get the minimum accounting credits to sit for the exam.
indebtedmom My friend actually suggested that but I blew off the suggestion haha. I could easily listen to it on my commute each day but I kind of like having that time to clear my mind. I am honestly reconsidering it, though, as it seems like an ideal time to listen to it all.
Good progress overall DC – especially with actively pursuing the MBA and the churning. I’d second what Holly said about life insurance, though you’d probably know that already. ;) I’m big on changing goals as well, especially if you start to see things changing or wanting to change up focus. I just hit my biggest goal of the past year or so this week so I’m pretty pumped about that.
FrugalRules Congrats on hitting your goal! The ironic thing about my life insurance goal is that it would take the least time to accomplish. I think in the back of my mind I don’t want ONE MORE monthly payment, even though I realize the value that comes with it.
Congrats on some of the progress. When you mentioned the Sun Country card it made me want to move back home. I love Sun Country and if I move back to MN I would definitely get it. I need to get on this FI stuff to come back home.
Sounds like a super busy year so far but you’re doing a great job keeping it all under control. I hope hope everything is going well with the MBA classes so far and I’m super impressed at how you were able to study for the GMAT, work your day job and manage this blog.
Same here with insurance. Do you have life insurance through work? I think I should obtain insurance independent of my employer but having it made me a little lazy about getting it. As for churning, I did sign up for the Barclays US Airways card which gave me 50,000 AA miles since the two merged. Also got 70,000 IHG points.
I think you’re doing a good job. They year isn’t over. You have another 6 months to complete your remaining goals. I know that you will make adjustments and make it happen.
This is a great reminder for me to review mine! I know you’ve been debating the MBA for quite some time so glad you finally figured out what you wanted to do. Everyone I know who has one says it helped their careers.
Chonce Thanks! I’m not sure how I was able to make it all work with the GMAT. I’m behind on the blog now (or not as far ahead as I’d like to be) but it was definitely worth it to take the GMAT and get into an MBA program.
j3edwards Yeah Sun Country is great. It’s awesome having them based here and they are the only way to go if you’re heading to Vegas.
Andrew LivingRichCheaply I have a little life insurance through work, but nothing close to what I would like to have. Sounds like you are doing great at credit card churning. Nice job getting those IHG points!
Jason @ The Butler Journal Thanks Jason! Appreciate your confidence in me. I hope I’m able to crank out a few of those goals that I’m lagging behind at.
Beachbudget Yes, would be fun to read a review of your annual goals. I know you do some monthly goal reviews and those are great. I’m glad I decided on the MBA, but man did it take a long time to decide! Now comes the real work.
My goals are going pretty well (most of them were financial) and I’ll definitely give an update once June closes. I’m not a huge fan of paying for life insurance, especially for those who are on the path to financial independence. Most people I’ve encountered have a policy through work that will pay out 1-2x gross salary. Couple that with my nest egg and the fact I’ll never buy a house that my spouse or I couldn’t afford on one salary alone would make additional life insurance pretty much a waste of money. Keep ticking off those goals!
ferventfinance Let me counter you with this: isn’t everyone on the path to financial independence? ;) I think it does depend on the situation. If you read my life insurance posts, though, I always point out that I am 100% on board with Suze Orman’s assessment that you cannot pretend to know how you will react to your spouse dying prematurely. That fact alone should justify getting more life insurance than you think you need.
We’re doing okay on our goals for 2015. While we’re not reaping tons of rewards just yet, we have taken some of the steps necessary to accelerate our debt payoff. The garden is planted, we switched cell phone companies, got approved for a new no-interest credit card, and we’re working hard at our various side hustles.
You’re only half way through the year – plenty of time to get it all done!
Nice update DC, I think you’re doing pretty well, and I like that you’re comfortable changing your goals as you re-prioritise things. You definitely stay busy, that’s for sure!
I’ve recently been thinking about my 2015 goals, and feel like I’m doing pretty well against them, but should probably do a ‘formal check-in’ like you’ve done here.
Keep the hard work going through the second half of 2015 DC!
Cheers,
Jason
Harmony@CreatingMyKaleidoscope Sounds like you are making a lot of positive changes that will help you long-term as you pay off your debt. Congrats on making those changes!
Jason@Islands of Investing I was really glad that I did a formal check in on this blog. It really helped me really define where I’m at and what’s realistic going forward. I’d be interested to see how your goals are going as well. Here’s to a great second half of the year for both of us!
I still think your (partially?) sponsored CPA-enabling MBA is a sweet deal for you and makes a lot of sense. My advice is don’t stress with the blog. Don’t feel guilty for doing less because you’re studying more. If you ever make it to Ecclesiastes you’ll be reminded that there is a time for everything.
Wow, you have a lot on your plate! Sounds like you are doing pretty good though. Maybe you could find a landscaper to sponsor your retaining wall project for some free promotion :)
Mark@BareBudgetGuy The MBA/CPA is a good deal if you plan on staying at a company for a long time, which I am planning on. Nice one about Ecclesiastes! I have read various portions of the bible but not cover to cover. I think your tip about studying is a good one. I’m doing what I can to outsource things and set myself up for success once school starts in the Fall.
believeinabudget I like the way you think! Unfortunately it’s basically a done deal: I’m going the DIY route. I’ll be placing an order on Saturday and once that’s done I’m committed.
Hey DC, you are doing a whole lot better at balancing work, grad school, and blog than I ever was – nicely done on doing what you’re already doing! I love these goal posts, its always good to reflect on where you’re at. I like what you say about changing goals, sometimes I get too entrenched and think I have to stay with something once Ive committed.
LindseyT Thanks Lindsey! I haven’t actually started classes yet, so we’ll see how it goes this Fall. I go back and forth on changing goals. I want to be flexible, but at the same time there is something to be said about seeing something through to the end.
Nice work DC. Definitely important to stay nimble. You never know what life will throw your way which is why you need to be able to adapt and update your goals accordingly. Best of luck with the MBA, that will undoubtedly benefit you down the road!
Financial Tour Guide Thanks! I try to adapt as much as possible, but I’m definitely loading up my schedule with the MBA program. I think it will be worth it, though, and I’m looking forward to having my CPA as well.