On January 1st, I set several financial goals and planned to provide updates every couple of months throughout the year. Here is the second review. The main goal was to grow my net worth by 30%. Although I haven’t added the $20K we spent on home improvements or factored in the car purchase, my net worth has still increased by 5%. This isn’t quite where I hoped to be, but it’s still a significant improvement, and I expect most of the growth to happen in the second half of the year when I sell some plots on my 90-acre land.
The second goal was to pay off $25,000 in debt from previous investments. So far, I’ve paid $9,500 to close a loan in January and $750 in capital each month, totaling $12,500. I also have over $10K on a 0% interest credit card that expires in June, and the money is already invested and earning interest. I considered some creative investing, but decided against it due to the risk and potential high interest rates.
OTHER FINANCIAL GOALS
Selling plots on the 90-acre land to recover the purchase price: We haven’t sold any plots yet because we’re still waiting for the property deeds from the council. This large plot has been divided into over 250 pieces, and buyers are waiting for the paperwork to be finalized before they commit. It looks like we’ll need to wait a couple more months. ONGOING
Not selling my cattle for extra money until the end of April: I sold the cattle in mid-April, but not for extra money. Because it was very dry, the cattle would have lost weight by not having enough pasture if I had kept them longer. PASS
Increase blog income to 25 times what it was in 2012: I revised this goal in March. Here’s the accumulated total so far:
– January: 1.11 times
– February: 6.06 times
– March: 12.15 times
– April (as of the 23rd): 16.80 times
I am now aiming to increase my blog income by 50 times! Considering that the 2012 income was only for Q4, things have really picked up since February, making this goal ambitious but possible.
Take a trip back to Europe: Bonjour from France! I’m here as you read this and will stay for four weeks. PASS
Take a trip to the US: This goal is ongoing. We used the money to buy a car, so I have to reallocate funds. There wasn’t time to plan a trip earlier, but maybe around September.
CONCLUSION
Overall, things are going well! I’m thrilled with the online income and considering investing the proceeds in something enjoyable. I’ll share more details once I’ve made a decision. I’m also thinking about setting more goals since most of the current ones have been achieved, but I don’t have specific ideas yet. The land development is taking up most of my time. See you in two months!
How is 2013 treating you?