In order to stay on top of my goals and remind myself where I’m going, I am revisiting my 2012 goals and taking a look at my progress so far.
There are lots of changes going on this year. On Sunday, I married Lauren, and since my first order of business as a married man is not to look through Lauren’s bank accounts and loans to determine our net worth, these numbers are as of the end of May.
1. Start Two New Side Ventures
My scary business venture has all but failed. We failed to get the funding to get it off the ground, and I decided not to put a lot of money into something that I was unsure about. I’d prefer to be more certain with my investments.
I’d say I have 1/2 of a side venture built, I’m still looking to fine-tune it so I can determine if it will be able to make money (isn’t that the point?) and be sustainable. It’s an online venture unrelated to blogging.
I am working on another few business ideas, but we’re in the early stages. Did I say I had to make money with them in 2012? That’s unlikely for these. This goal is a work in progress to the say the least.
2. Double My Side Income from 2011
Once again, this goal was kind of crazy, so while 2012 has gone really well, it’s not going THAT well. This number includes all side income, not just blogging related activities. I’m on pace to grow about 40% for the year, so I’m pretty proud of that. Hopefully I can continue that pace, but it’s not looking too promising. It’s hard for me to ever consider a 40% increase in income a fail, so I’ll just say that I set the bar really high.
3. Save 60% of My Post-Tax Income
The second quarter was not quite as friendly to my wallet. We had to buy more apartment furniture, and who knew that paying rent each month would cut into my savings so severely? We also incurred some wedding expenses.
The first three months of the year were great, I was at 70%, but now that’s dipped considerably, down to just over 55%. Not bad and now that things are calming down, I think 60% is very realistic. Not easy, but I’d like to reach this goal, it would be a large source of pride for me.
I project this will only increase the rest of the year as our lives calm down a little bit. Plus, our two summer vacations have already been paid for.
4. Double My Net Worth
I added a ton of student debt (Lauren is now included in these calculations). As expected, I saw a steep drop, I’m now down 75% from the beginning of the year! There’s a long way to go, but this one seems quite unlikely as of now. Maybe I can shoot for breaking even?
Readers, How are you doing on your yearly goals? What do you think of mine?
Saving 55% of your after tax income is great! There’s no doubt you’ll be on track for a great retirement if you keep that up.
Could you clarify this statement, “who knew that paying rent each month would cut into my savings so severely”?
Did you never have to pay for your own living after college?
@Financial Samurai, Ha, that was my attempt at humor.
Except for the months when I lived with my fiancee when I moved across the country, I’ve always paid for my rent (and all other expenses). Even in college, I paid for everything (granted, I took out $25,000 in student loans).
@Daniel, Gotcha!
How’s married life?
If you still need funding, let me know. I’d like to hear the pitch as I’ve got some excess capital laying around.
Sometimes the second half of the year will be when all of the action happens. Even if it doesn’t you seem to be doing extremely well for yourself.
You have seriously high goals, and if you don’t get there this year, then getting part of the way there is still great!
Congratulations on getting married! I make a good full-time income online in partnership with my brother. I’m aiming to earn the same agin (double my income) with my blog that I run on my own. Here’s hoping!
Wow, yay for saving more than 50% of your income! I am posting my goals update later this week, but it boils down to I need to start working out more and won’t have much extra money until we close on our new house in September.