2019 Goals- Six Month Check-Up

I have not been blogging as regularly as I would like.  Chalk that up to lack of time and to a lesser extent, motivation.  I will try to improve on that so as not to disappoint my one or two constant readers (haha).  Below is a look at the goals that I had setup for myself for 2019 and a snapshot of where I stand on progress for those goals.  

1. Keep Weight under 235 (see above for incremental goals):

This goal continues to elude me and is a cause for much disappointment and self-loathing.  I just returned from a week-long vacation and my current weight is the highest it has been in about two years.  I hope to regain my motivation and get that back down to my target.  We shall see.

2. Max my 401K contributions:

In the recent past, my compensation structure was altered which led to a somewhat sharp decrease in my earnings.  The correlating impact is that my 401K contributions have decreased in parallel.  To date, I have contributed $10,920.03.  Based on current calculations I should still reach this goal of maxing out the full $19,000 for calendar year 2019.  As I have mentioned previously, I may also slightly increase my contribution rate.  I will decide on that path later in the summer.  

3. Fully Fund Wife’s ROTH IRA (Stretch Goal:  Fully Fund my ROTH IRA as well):

Both of these accounts have been fully funded.  

4. Read at least 24 Books & Listen to at least 24 audio books:

As mentioned above, I just returned from a vacation.  That week gave me plenty of time to catch up on reading.  My travels included approximately 12 hours in each direction in the car.  Due to this I was able to complete 3 audio books.  Additionally, ample beach and pool time led me to finish one book and start another.  To date, I have completed 22 books and 19 audio books.  This puts me way ahead of my targeted pace of 2 of each per month.  If I can continue this pace, I will certainly raise my goal again next year.

5. Re-read “The Millionaire Fastlane” by MJ DeMarco & “Set for Life” by Scott Trench:

I have still not begun a re-read of either of these titles.  I continue to utilize the reserve system at my local library, and this has kept me in a strong supply of books to read and this has caused me to fail to restart these two books, which I own.  I have them sitting on my nightstand and fully intend to re-read them in the near future. 

6. Get Vanguard Taxable Investment Account over $55k

This goal has been accomplished.  At present, my taxable account sits at $57,613.89.  While the market winds can change, I am confident that my continued bi-weekly contributions will keep this account above the targeted amount.  Additionally, I am in the process of selling one of my rental properties (I will detail this transaction in a future post).  Once this sale is concluded, some of those funds will be held aside for taxes, others will be earmarked for a kitchen renovation in my home and the rest will be moved to my taxable account.  With this in mind, I hope to push this account above the $100K mark by years end.

7. Pay Credit Cards in full each month:

Thus far, I have paid all credit cards in full each month of 2019.  However, this month, that target is in jeopardy.  I ran up the credit cards quite a bit lately with issues at my rental properties and then vacation.  Based on my current budget, I do not believe that I will be able to pay this card in full in the coming month, but I will ensure to get caught up in the next month at the latest.

8. Get HELOC Balance under $30K:

This goal has been reached.  The current balance on the HELOC is $27,133.06.  I have mentioned previously that I will revise this goal to now get the balance under $20,000 before the end of the year.    

9. Continue to Blog weekly:

In the past few weeks, I have begun to struggle with this goal.  I was on a strong streak of weekly publishing and starting to gain some momentum in creating community with certain readers and commenters, but this has fallen off as of late.  I am struggling with my motivation a bit lately, but I will attempt to buckle down and get back on track.  

10. Earn additional $100 per month in income through various side hustles:

For the most recent month, June 2019, I failed to reach the targeted amount.  Below are the items I was able to earn.

• Swagbucks.com:  $50
• MyPoints.com:  $25

I did, however, receive a Father’s Day card from my parents that included a $25 check and additionally received a $50 gift card from my co-workers for my birthday.  I was not sure if those should be counted in this category since they were gifts and not earnings.  I can see the argument in either direction.  But at the end of the day, this goal was about realizing additional money each month above and beyond my paycheck, so I guess with that in mind, I was able to realize an additional $150 in total for the month.