Last year, my goals were a little too lofty, so this year I’m setting more realistic goals along with some action items to hit. I hate goals like increasing twitter followers if there is no plan regards to how to achieve them.
1. Earn $10,000 From Non-Blog Related Side Income
I never know what will happen with my blog or what income I will earn from it. I’m always working to increase revenue from advertisements, but there are too many factors for me to even guess what I will earn from it in 2013. At the drop of a dime, everything can change making any income goal unreachable, so I don’t want to set a related goal.
However, what I can do is set a goal of creating new income from new projects. Last year I attempted to create two new side businesses. Maybe I could have done that, but without earning any income, is setting up a couple of websites really impressive? This is definitely not an easy goal, but I would really like to create another stream of income.
How I’ll achieve this goal:
I am working on a product for bloggers which I think many will find very useful. It has saved me countless hours over the past year and has helped me increase my blog earnings significantly. Soon, I’ll start offering it to help others, too. The price I’m offering is very low compared to the value it provides, so I’m hoping for some great reactions from my fellow personal finance bloggers so I’ll know whether to expand to others.
2. Save 50% of My Post-Tax Income
This past year was definitely difficult to achieve with a wedding and honeymoon to pay for. This year should be much more calm with fewer one-time expenses (like furnishing a home). We won’t try and achieve this goal if it means giving up having fun on other excursions, but I do think it’s something that we can make happen. As opposed to last year, I’m including Lauren’s tuition bills as an expected expenditure.
How I’ll achieve this goal: Lauren and I have mapped out our year and with our regular expenses plus some room for unexpected costs and some fun money, I think saving 50% of our post-tax income is a great goal. It forces us to stay on track but doesn’t constrain us. We don’t want to move into a cheaper apartment just to hit the goal, but we know we can’t wait until July to start saving.
There are a few expenses that will not be included in the calculation: student loan payments that we make above the minimum and charitable contributions. The reason to exclude those two categories is so that we don’t have any motivation to give less to charity or to put money in the bank instead of toward paying down our debts. I could choose to cut back on both in the name of reaching our goal more easily, but what’s the point of that?
Unlike last year, I’m going to stop there. I think some my goals were interrelated in 2012, so missing one goal automatically meant missing another one, and like a house of cards, it could have all come crashing down based on one or two events.
Readers, what are your goals for 2013? Have you learned from making goals in the past?
Looking forward to hearing what your upcoming product is all about. Any idea when you are going to be releasing it?
@Sean @ One Smart Dollar, hopefully I’ll start doing beta testing within 2 weeks, I plan on keeping it to just 5-10 people and get some feedback before releasing to everyone. If you use excel to keep track of everything, this will change your life and save you so much hassle.
I share one of your goals and am absolutely intrigued by the other!
@Kathleen, Frugal Portland, I will definitely be updating everyone with the progress. I will try and keep it small and exclusive at the beginning until people are thrilled by the product and then will slowly release it to others.
Good luck with goal #2! Let me know if I can help w/ goal #1 :)
@Lance @ Money Life and More, Thanks! I will let you know when it’s ready!
good luck with your goals! My main one is to increase net worth by 30%, mostly by developing a piece of land I just bought. I don’t mind not hitting my target but prefer to aim high and push myself, than setting medium goals. Do you include all income in your 50% savings goal or just regular income?
@Pauline, All income. But to make up for it, I am saying after-tax income.
It’s hard to calculate it all, but I am due a decent sized refund in a few months, so maybe I did a little better than I gave myself credit for.
Love #2, that is a great goal.
My biggest goal right now is to save up for a house… we want to move into one probably in about 2 years, and are hoping to have a full 20% down payment, if not more. We have a good plan to get there… it is being saved at ING, with automatic transfers over to the account which should get us on track (in addition to money from getting a bonus or two at work). Having goals for a specific amount is what helps keep my on track.
I like the idea of fewer goals. These two sound like solid goals that are achievable. I’m still trying to get my head around my own goals this year so that I actually make some progress on them!
Saving 50% post tax is a great feat. I’ve always thought of 20% as a massive accomplishment but you’ve raised the bar. Looking forward to seeing what product you have in store!
These are incredible goals! Very ambitious and specific. I hope to sit down with my husband and create some specific saving goals as well! Best Wishes!
Saving 50% post tax is a fantastic and inspiring goal which only selected few achieve! Good luck!
These are great goals. let me know when you finish the database you are building. I want to try and beta test!