It’s the beginning of a new year: a great time to set some goals for yourself. I took some time today to think about the year ahead and what all I would like to accomplish. To help keep me accountable I’ve laid out my financial, blogging, and personal goals for the year.
Savings and Retirement Goals
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Reach our savings goal in the FNBO Direct Pay Yourself First Challenge by March 1, 2009 – only $1,000 remaining to get to our goal of $7,500 DONE
- Max out 2008 Roth IRA contributions for Mrs. PT and I by April 15th, 2009 – $10,000 DONE
- Max out 2009 401k contributions & get the full company match by December 31, 2009 – $16,500 + match DONE
- Max out my company’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan twice (May DONE and November 2009 DONE) – 10% of paycheck (These shares are sold as soon as purchased. See ESPP flipping. Funds are used to pay property taxes)
- Maintain our emergency fund at the current level DONE
- Stretch Goal: Begin saving for a down payment on our next home or real estate investment DONE
This may look daunting, but most of it is done by automation and separation: two keys to increased savings. I’ll share more about my methods for saving in the coming year.
Debt Reduction Goals
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Payoff the auto loan or get a newer vehicle and loan with a more reasonable interest rate DONE
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Stretch Goal: Begin making double payments on our student loans DONE
This could be the first year that I don’t have a debt with and interest rate above 4%, excluding the mortgage. Would be nice.
Blogging Goals
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Write at least 3 valuable posts a week DONE
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Continue providing deals and money-saving ideas here and via Twitter. DONE
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Continue growing traffic by 15-20% per month FAIL
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Grow subscribers to 2,500 by December 31, 2009 – Subscribe FAIL
- Double the monthly blog income by December 31, 2009 through diverse sources FAIL
Personal Goals
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Sleep more (odd thing to say for a guy who’s about to become a Dad) FAIL
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Spend more time with family and friends EVEN
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Develop better time management skills (write faster) FAIL
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Learn to converse in Spanish FAIL
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Run another half marathon FAIL
The personal goals are a bit generic, but they’ll have to do. Also, could someone please loan me a couple of extra hours each day? That would really help. 
What are your goals for 2009? Share them in the comments below…
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Nice list PT. I’m with you on the sleep and Spanish. Maybe if I multi-task with osmosis, I can kill 2 birds w/1 stone!
Gotta buy a house so I can stop living at work, literally. Specifically a 2-family; when the other half is rented, it will just about take care of the mortgage payment.
Stretch goal: get certified in financial management…something I already do for work, but get grossly underpaid for.
Happy New Year!
Some ambitious goals you have set for yourself. The learning to converse in Spanish is something that I have been thinking about for many years. I have learned a little bit but not enough to have a full out conversation.
@JFunk – yeah, I don’t think the wife would like me blaring Spanish lesson during the night. Guess I could wear earphones.
@J – Looking forward to hearing about your home purchase. Sounds like a neat investment too.
@Studenomics – Yeah, gotta set the bar high. We’ll see where I land when it’s all said and done. I’m sure life will throw some kinks in the plan, but it might also throw us a bone.
I also had blogged about my personal financial goals and wish list for this year 2009. I hope that we could all achieve our own goals and really hoping for the better this year 2009.
PTM: it was good read. Good luck for 2009.
Best Regards,
DT
@Millionaire Acts – Thanks for stopping by and for the comments.
@Dividend Tree – Thanks! Right back at ya!