At the beginning of the year, I set several financial goals and decided to track my progress every few months. Here’s my second update. You can check out the March update for more details.
My primary goal was to increase my net worth by 30%. Even though we spent $20K on home improvements and bought a car (which I haven’t included in my net worth), I still managed a 5% increase. It’s a bit behind the target, but considering the expenses, it’s still a significant jump. I expect more growth in the second half of the year from selling some plots on my 90-acre land.
The second goal was to pay off $25,000 of debt that was used for past investments. So far, I’ve paid off $9,500 to close a loan in January and an additional $750 each month, totaling $12,500. I still have over $10K on a 0% interest credit card due in June, with the money already in my account earning interest. Although I considered some riskier investment options, I decided against it to avoid high interest rates.
Other Financial Goals:
– Sell 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. The land is divided into over 250 plots, and buyers are waiting for the paperwork to finalize. Hopefully, this will be sorted in a couple of months. ONGOING.
– Not sell my cattle for extra money until the end of April. I sold the cattle mid-April, but not for extra money. It was a dry period, and they would have lost weight if I had kept them longer. PASS.
– Earn 25 times more blog income than in 2012. This goal was revised in March. Here is the accumulated total:
– January: 1.11 times
– February: 6.06 times
– March: 12.15 times
– April (as of the 23rd): 16.80 times
I’ve decided to double that goal again, aiming for 50 times more! Remember, the blog income in 2012 was only for the last quarter. Things have really picked up since February, and reaching 50 times is ambitious but possible.
– Take a trip back to Europe: Greetings from France! I’m here for four weeks. PASS.
– Take a trip to the US: This is an ongoing goal. Since we bought a car, we had to use the money saved for this trip. We might plan it for around September.
Conclusion:
Overall, it’s going well! I’m very pleased with the online income and am considering investing the proceeds in something fun. I’ll share more details once I’ve made a decision. I want to set more goals since most of the current ones are on track, but the land development is taking up most of my time. See you in two months!
How’s your 2013 going?