Last year, I had my goals in place and written out by January 1st. This year has been different though, and I just haven’t felt up to the task. The biggest reason for this has been the life changing cancer diagnosis a personal finance blogger and friend is going through with her son who is just a year younger than my kiddo.
When they have had their entire life and long term plans thrown for a total loop in the past month, my mind has been on them and the support I can offer there rather than what kind of goals and hopes and dreams I can have for the next year. Because really, my number one hope and dream for 2019 is for little Uriah to go into remission and that their little family of three can go back home and get back to the life they were living before this exploded into their lives.
If you want to follow along with their journey and perhaps send a few dollars their way if you are able, Uriah’s mother has set up a website just for that (because she’s a blogger, after all, and way more technically savvy than I am). And if you can’t, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers, because they can use as much love and light as they can get.
Life does go on though, for all of us, and having a plan in place is the best way to influence how your life turns out, as much as is within your control. And as I learned through my experience in 2018, I do really well to have set goals that I check in on regularly. I may not have achieved my biggest financial goal for 2018, but we came darn close and doubled our savings rate in the process.
I had been so focused on that one goal that I had pushed aside the rest of the sub goals I had set for the year at the same time, and it felt really good to go through that list in detail and realize I had accomplished so much more than I was giving myself credit for. Overall, I think I set a decent road map for priorities for the year and did a good job of following through on all of them. I do credit blogging with much of that success, because through the accountability of publishing regularly and all of your support, I find that I am that much more focused on achieving the markers I’ve set for myself.
Money, Life, And Blogging: Goals For 2019
A little different from last year, I’ve decided to break these goals out into three categories: money, life, and blogging. Since I found so much success in writing out my financial goals, it only makes sense to include life and blog specific ones here as well so I’m reminded regularly to check in with those as well, and to remember that there’s a whole lot more to life than money.
Money Goals
1. Achieve a 50% savings rate for the year.
This one should be obvious, as it’s the same big goal as last year, and the one I didn’t manage to hit. Doubling our savings rate from 23% to 46% was no small feat, but it still meant that we came up short from that “save half” goal. Instead of pushing the goal posts out even farther as I was inclined to do, I’m going to take the good advice I received in the comments of my October monthly update which recommended I keep this goal as is in order to meet it this year.
Considering 46% was no means an easy accomplishment in 2018, 50% won’t be easy to hit this year either – it means we’ll have to do just shy of 10% better than last year. Doable, yes, easy, no, but I’m confident that 2019 will be the year of the 50% savings rate.
2. Max out my IRA again.
Of course, the year I finally max out my IRA the limit gets bumped up by $500, which is awesome, but it also means I’ll have to again do 10% better than last year in order to max it out. Considering I’ve already started funding 2019 (in a small way), I’m confident this one can be achieved, but it will be a stretch to max out the new amount. I’m kicking myself that it took so many years to finally max it out, but now that I have, I’m not going back.
Along with this goal, I’d like to encourage my husband to contribute even more to his IRA as well, if not to max it out, then perhaps just put in more than he did in 2018. The downside to not sharing finances 100% is that I don’t have full control over this one, so I won’t list it as a specific goal, but I want to keep it in mind.
3. Continue to increase charitable giving.
2017 was the first year that I logged my charitable giving for the year, and I found that as the year went on and I continued to give regularly, the more regularly and larger dollar amount I found myself giving. I upped this amount a bit in 2018 as well, but I want to keep growing that number. I like Revanche’s idea of 10% more than last year – perhaps the theme of 2019 is to do 10% better across the board.
So far, I haven’t included my charitable giving in my expense reports, nor do I calculate that with my savings rate because I haven’t wanted to have a disincentive to push myself here. I’ve been torn whether I want to share those numbers more publicly here or keep it quiet like I have so far. Either way, this number is going up yet again in 2019.
4. Total food expenses under $1,000/month.
To get this down 10% from 2018, we would spend no more than $11,626.08 for the year, or $970 a month. Certainly doable, and we’ll still spend a significant amount of money on food and drink, but I will consider this a win if we don’t keep creeping up. And no matter what, we are well down from our high of grocery spending prior to 2017. The kiddo keeps eating more as he grows as well, so I’ll need to be smart with the meals I cook through the year and pay attention to cost per serving.
5. Travel hack to keep Iceland spending to a minimum.
I debated on whether to include this one in my 2019 goals because it’s possible we may celebrate our anniversary a bit late and go after the new year, but all of our big expenses (flights, lodging, car) will be booked in 2019. I know Iceland is a pricey place to visit and there aren’t a ton of credit card options to help reduce this cost, but I’m going to do what I can to minimize our expenses.
We’re planning on two weeks there, so perhaps we can keep this trip to $4,000 out of pocket? We will be flying an extra adult out for babysitting duty, and otherwise all expenses will be x3. Does this seem like a reasonable price, or can I do better/worse here? Really, this goal is to just keep that trip in check. It’s our tenth anniversary though, and I want to celebrate it in a big way.
6. Make a college funding plan for the kiddo.
While I’ve been putting away some money for our son’s college, I don’t have any real plan here. Like Done By Forty, I’m not sure if I want to go the 529 route and we won’t be covering 100% of the costs, but I feel like I need a better plan in place moving forward.
7. Consider paying off mortgage early.
This is one goal I’m still debating. I go back and forth on whether I actually want to move forward on this, and so for the past year and change I’ve been throwing anywhere between $20 – $100 extra on the principal each payment. Not enough to make a huge difference in the life of the loan (though not nothing), but also small enough to not make a noticeable difference to our budget either.
However, I went back and looked at my amortization schedule and our final payment on the loan has now dropped off from my tiny little overpayments so far, and even seeing just one month drop off at the end was really energizing. It may not be the best use of our funds, and I don’t see throwing all of our savings at it to be mortgage free as soon as possible, but I think I like the idea more and more as time goes on.
For the Seattle area, our mortgage is quite small, but still much larger than many in other parts of the country, so this wouldn’t be a “we paid off our mortgage in two years” story even if we went all out. Because of the simple size of the remaining mortgage, it feels still feels like a daunting amount of money to tackle all at once.
All of this to be said more or less means that I still don’t know what I ultimately want to do moving forward. I do realize that the absolute most “optimized” option would be to pay the minimum and invest elsewhere, but I sure do like the idea of having zero debt to my name.
Life Goals
1. Complete two year clothes buying ban and set parameters in place for beyond.
March will mark a full two years of my clothes buying ban, and if I’m being completely honest with myself, it’s going to be difficult (or maybe impossible) to stretch it to three years. That said, I don’t need to fall back into the mostly mindless habit of clothing accumulation, and there are very few things I’ll actually need to replace when the time comes.
I mean to be intentional about my clothes buying habits moving forward, so I will put a plan in place before I officially break my shopping ban. I really like this idea of a straight limit of twelve items per year or this option of strategic purchases moving forward. I haven’t decided exactly what it will look like for me, but when the time comes, I will be intentional.
2. Have phone free time with the family in the evenings.
Put it away. Just put it away. Oddly enough, finally getting a Fitbit really helped me to put my phone down more because I don’t need to keep it on my person at all times for step counting any more. However, I could definitely do better in the evenings. It’s too easy after a long day of work to put some show on for the kid at dinner and pull out my phone, but we’d all do so much better to go and do something else.
Obviously, not all screen time is bad (hey, I still do want to write thing blog), but I’d like to be intentional about screen-free family time in the evenings, especially on week nights. Perhaps we start our bedtime routine earlier? We tried yoga one night before bed but the kiddo just got so wound up he wasn’t ready to sleep for a good half hour or more. So not that. Still working out ideas, but putting it out here so I keep it on my mind.
3. Get outside at least once during the week, even in the winter.
During the long summer months, we’re outside more or less every day after work, either gardening, hiking, or just spending time outside. The short, rainy days of winter are a lot harder though, and many times we find ourselves inside all afternoon and evening. The days we DO get outside for any amount of time are the days we are much happier though, and I find that winter doesn’t feel so long when we spend more of it outdoors.
4. Lose 25 pounds.
This is the most straightforward of all my goals for the year, but the hardest one. I obviously exercise a decent amount (and love it, so that part isn’t a struggle), but weight has never come off me very easily. I weighed 25 pounds less than I do now when I ran my first half marathon six years ago and I’d like to get back there.
To get there, I’m drinking ZERO alcoholic beverages outside of weekends (or long vacations); a glass of wine or some beer with dinner got to be too much of a habit and it’s really just empty calories. I’m also back to tracking 100% on Myfitnesspal. Some people have weight come off easy if they do things 70% right, but I’ve found it’s more like 90% for me. It is what it is. But I know I feel better at that previous weight (and eating better as a result), so it’s time to get back there.
5. Read 30 books.
I’ve never kept track of the books that I read over the course of a year, but after a number of others who did and shared this past year, I’ve decided I want to keep track and now what – and how many books – I read. Since I’ve never tracked my reading before, I set 2019’s goal to 30 books, including both rereads and new ones. I know I read a decent number of books, but I have no idea if 30 or 50 is a more reasonable goal. I’ll keep track, and next year I’ll have a better sense of how many books I actually do read.
Blog Goals
1. Set a future calendar for Monday posts.
My Wednesday and Friday posts are set as far as content goes, but Mondays are all over the board – from monthly financial updates to sustainability to updates on my clothing ban, I have a lot to say but generally don’t figure out what I’m going to write until Sunday. I’d like to have a couple months of content ideas at least planned, so I can have a sense of what I’m going to write ahead of time.
2. Get two posts ahead for Monday content.
As I said above, I generally don’t even have an idea of what I’m going to write for my Monday post until Sunday, or Saturday if I’m on top of things. Not only would I like to have an idea of what I’ll be writing over the next couple of months, but I’d actually like to write a few posts in advance. Having months of content completed ahead of time will likely never happen, but two posts seems like a reasonable goal.
I also know that I need to keep writing regularly to stay in the habit of it, so I’m not sure I’d ever want to get more than a couple posts ahead because it would make it too easy just not to write for a month.
3. Grow the reach of Women’s Personal Finance Wednesdays.
I’m thrilled that these weekly roundups send a decent amount of traffic to the blogs I feature each Wednesday and have quite a few people have let me know that they’ve found new blogs to follow through the posts they’ve read.
One of the most rewarding parts of blogging is honestly seeing referrals going out to other bloggers. Getting traction as a blogger is HARD, and like Our Next Life talks about sometimes, once we have a platform we should be looking how we can pass the mic. I have just a fraction of the reach that she does, but I love that I have a real influence on the content that others are reading – and that they will be reading female money bloggers thanks to these roundups.
4. Continue writing more about sustainability and zero waste.
This one should be obvious due to the name of this blog, but I hardly spent any time on these topics my first year of blogging. Thanks to Budget Epicurean, I kicked off a sustainability/zero waste guest post series last year and continue publishing those posts every month or two as well as writing more focused posts of my own.
5. DO NOT allow this blog to turn into a business.
Perhaps this seems like a silly goal to write down, but as this blog grows the temptation to find ways to make real income from it grows as well. However, I know I don’t want to go the business route with this blog because I simply don’t have any more time I’m willing to devote to it. A big reminder to myself about the true cost of saying yes and why I’ve said yes to as much blogging as I’m willing. I may reevaluate someday, but for now, I need to hold this line for me.
Do you set goals for the new year? How are they going so far?
Great goals! Like you, I have a reading goal this year (36 books) and a weight loss goal (25 pounds). I’m going the My Fitness Pal route, too. Also, I just wanted to say that I am REALLY enjoying your new Wednesday roundup series!
It was so fun to see everyone recapping what and how many books they read last year I just knew I had to keep track now too.
One of my goals is to get back to reading more blogs, which is happening at least a little (obviously, since I’m commenting here) but I’d like to get more serious about it. Reading other blogs gives me ideas for my own site and also is just good for the community.
Beyond that, I do want to keep growing my readership. I lost some of my audience apparently those last few years I was with my husband because people got tired of my making excuses for him. I’m hoping they’ll come back now that it’s just me. And I also just want to keep attracting new people, since I talk about a wide range of subjects, including disability and mental health, which I think is something more people need to read/talk about.
Beyond that, I haven’t really set any goals, even reading goals, for now. I’m hoping/determined to lose these last 10 lbs that I have. Or 9, now, since I just budget one pound on the scale as of this morning. I’m hoping being this close to the goal will keep me motivated!
Well you know I like that first goal – commenting also helps grow the blog community, which I love. And I think sometimes it gets harder the closer you get to your goal with weight loss (for me at least).
Love these! For weight loss, intermittent fasting has been a game-changer for me; it’s weird because I’m generally a pretty hangry person and I hate dieting, but IF just works and feels natural, and I lost 10-15 lbs before I fell off the wagon over the holidays (just got back on).
I’ve started dabbling a little with intermittent fasting but I’m undecided so far 🙂
So much good stuff here!
We have a 529 for our daughter but don’t put very much money in it. We just don’t know what college will look like in 16 years, and we probably won’t foot the whole bill anyway. But it’s nice to put a little away in there every month and also have the option to have family put gift money in there (which has happened a couple times).
Yeah, that’s kind of what I’m thinking about and why I may open up a 529 for him, albeit a small one. So hard to know what it will look like in the future!
Angela, you’re all about giving to others: Frugal Pharm and Uriah, female bloggers, new bloggers, the environment… your followers love you for your genuine caring and kindness.
I have no doubt your blog will continue to grow exponentially in 2019, even if you never run it as a business!
I love how personal your posts are, with tiny peeks into your life. It’s charming, relatable, and keeps me coming back. Keep up the great work, you’re an inspiration to all bloggers!
Thank you lovely ❤️❤️❤️ Kindness and love really should be the focus, shouldn’t it?
Lets run a half marathon together! Also lets start a book club. Love the goals, lets hit a couple together 🙂
That would be awesome!! Love that idea. Maybe I’ll finally get down for a visit to run together 🙂
Awesome goals! You’re going to hit 50% this year I just know it 🙂 I love the getting outdoors and giving goals (since I’m doing those too!) as well as the phone free time. I think one of the greatest gifts we can give our loved ones is our full and undivided attention, support and time. This isn’t impossible to do with phones, but makes it much tougher. Good luck with these I know you’re going to crush them!
We had freaking better hit that 50% this year haha. And the phone free time is HARD especially as I balance the work and blogging stuff.
So many goals! I’m way impressed. I can’t wait to see you accomplish them! And you’ll have to tell me what books you’re reading this year. 30 sounds like a great goal! 😀
I thiiiiink I may read more than that? But then sometimes I’ll read a 600-800 page book and then I go a little slower 😂
I feel that! Last year, I definitely had a wide variety in my fifty books. Some were kids books that I saw and loved at a book store, others were biographies like Hidden Figures that took me three weeks to read.
Sounds like you’re set for an amazing and challenging 2019! As for the weight loss goal: Want to come to the dark side and do keto with me? 😉 It’s the only way I’ve ever been able to lose weight and keep it off long term. It also makes intermittent fasting super easy (to piggy back on Kate’s suggestion). Anyway, just a suggestion 🙂 . Good luck with all your goals – you’ve got this!!
Hahaha nooooope – I’m also trying to eat more vegetarian meals and that seems like in direct competition with keto 😉
Let the competition begin! 😉
Charitable giving: I don’t know why I’m not sharing that number publicly yet but I figure I’m still keeping myself accountable by reporting increased percentages.
College funding plan: I dumped a huge amount of money into JB’s 529 in the early years but have really backtracked on continuing those contributions in favor of building up our overall replacement income investments.
I cracked up at Joe’s comment at DbF. “So what if our kid doesn’t go to college. One of our nephews and nieces will.” because I realized that my outlook on family has REALLY changed. I don’t like any of my blood-family enough to transfer my hard-earned, hard-saved savings to any of them in the event that JB doesn’t go on to college for whatever reason, and I no longer feel obligated to give them my everything and blood on top of that the way I used to. 20 years ago, if you told me that’s where I’d be, I would have choked and wondered who I had become. 😀
Mortgage payoff: Today’s post says it all – I am so conflicted too! More than half a million is just not something we can focus on to eliminate without basically ignoring everything else including food. And yet, I still REALLY want to be debt free, including the pesky mortgage.
Okay, I love the idea of maybe just sharing percentages. Basically I’m still undecided lol. And no nieces or nephews to be had yet.
I resonate with so many of your goals (especially the ban on buying clothes and staying phone free in the evenings). Since I am in my child-bearing phase, I thought I’d go without buying clothes until I’m done having children. Then I’ll use buying some clothes (still used) as a small reward for getting back to a healthy body. That might mean a 3 year ban for me too. I certainly have enough clothes and don’t have time to shop anyway!
Best of luck with your approach towards the mortgage. It feels so good to pay it down, but we have to be responsible regarding the rest of our goals along the way! You are taking that approach!
Thank you!!! And yeah, I think I’m done having kiddos but I still want to wear through the clothes I have first before I buy anything else new.
One thing I notice with so many US personal finance bloggers is the big requirement that they must give cash to charity, is this a religious/church thing as I do most times see a direct correlation. That being said I always preferred to donate items, resources and my time locally to non-profit and community groups as it reaps a higher direct benefit and improves the quality of life for those in my community immediately.
I am a no to paying down mortgage type person, you appear to be there for the long haul as you love your neighbourhood. Interest rates are low and the cash will have a much more important use for your son’s education plans you are now looking at plus the increase in your IRA amount you mention.
Weight….well excessive meat, dairy, heavily processed foods and alcohol are the culprits IMO . You are very active and transitioning towards a more plant based whole foods diet will shoot you to the moon with you goal. That being said just my opinion.
No spending on clothes, wow 2 years is incredibly impressive. I think in this department quality over quantity is the path forward, we both know a Patagonia hoody will last over a decade and functions like a champ as an example.
Let’s kick ass on the zero waste, it will take all of us to make one another accountable. I am just coming up to the end of my first week of plastic tracking and it is crazy how much I have for being a mindful person on my footprint. Looking forward to 2019 in this department.
Yeah, tithing 10% is a biblical thing. For me though, it’s more about the fact that as much as volunteering etc is really important, so many places just need straight cash. I split between big and small organizations plus helping people out directly – not always with cash, but often.
And I hope you’ll write a post about your plastic tracking! If not… I know a blogger who’d love to share that story… 😉
I love these goals! I probably should have written mine out more clearly, but they’re a little boring this year. 🙂
I have tons of goals for my freelance biz. Personally, I’m trying to be better about keeping my daily routine. I’ve found I feel “blah” and don’t take as good care of myself without a routine.
Hey, nothing wrong with boring! I think just paying attention is the most important part.
I think I’m a huge loser with no goals 🙂 I guess I don’t like putting pressure on myself to achieve big things by a certain timeline, but I work more off of small to-do items and cross them off my list.
Hmm, we spent a lot on travel last year, so I think I need to get better at using points for travel this year, even if the redemptions aren’t awesome. I think your Iceland trip is going to be super frugal! I’m also debating learning how to drive a stick, because driving an automatic in Europe will cost us several hundred dollars extra.
My blog goal is to never get caught up in the numbers. If I ever do start setting #s goals for myself, the whole blog will change. Once you cross that line, it’s hard to go back.
I actually never had annual goals before last year (except things like “graduate college” “buy house” and “pay off student loans.” I find laying out concrete goals realllly helps keep me from drifting.
And I am so with you on the blogging numbers (though still want to best my monthly views. Ha)
So many great goals you got for this year.
We have a 529 for BwC with many of our family members contributing to it when he was born so we have an okay amount right now. But we also have a plan B in mind in case he doesn’t attend college. We have nieces and nephews at his age or younger that we can transfer the funds to if that happens.
Maybe one alternative plan besides the 529 is to have a Roth IRA for him so you have the option to use the funds for college if he chooses to go. If not then you can exclusively use it for retirement.
I never kept track too of how many books I read in a year but 30 books sounds like a good goal to reach. Hey I might just try to read 30 books as well. We could motivate each other to reach that number…hahaha!!!
Oh man mentioning of running a half-marathon reminds me of my only time I did one 10 years ago. Since I’m running again at least once a week I may try to do one again….well a 10K marathon first then maybe a half-marathon!! Hopefully you will make it back in shape to do one as well.
Yeah so far we haven’t been able to get the family super excited about contributing to a college fund for him 😉 And no nieces or nephews to contribute to either. Maybe someday if we’re really lucky haha.
So many awesome goals! Sounds like we actually have some similar things in mind for life (save more, read more, spend less on food, mindful shopping) so I’m excited to see how we both do! 🙂
Save more, read more, spend less on food, mindful shopping. Way to basically sum them up haha.
Wow, a lot of ambition here Angela, I like it! I don’t think I’ve ever set goals for a year and now you’ve motivated me. I might need to sit down this week and do some evaluating…
Do it! I hadn’t done it until last year but I’m finding having them laid out like this really helps me to stay focused.
we had a couple over for dinner last friday and it was refreshing to not see any of us on a phone during a long evening. it drives me crazy when people come to our house and do that. alcohol sure has a lot of calories and i’ve noticed a big difference after just a couple of wine-free days in a row. it’s gotta be tougher for you with more family obligations to get in a couple of more intense workouts in a week.
i don’t think we have any particular goals for the year, but just continue investing at the level where it’s still comfortable for our lives. paying off the mortgage is a tough call. we paid our off early because it was north or 6% and we were below 50k balance at the time so refinancing and investing the difference made less sense with new closing costs in the mix. debt-free has been life-changing though, from the point of how we look at things. also, the extra cash flow and liquidity doesn’t suck.
Yeah, if our interest rate was that high paying it off early would be a no brained. We’re at 3.375% though which is why I’m constantly going back and fish on it. Not a clear financial win but the mental part is a big one still.
This is a LOT of goals. And quite admirable. One thing to think about – as (what sounds like) a lifetime athlete, is it better for you to have a body fat % goal vs. a weight goal? Of course, I’m a lady well past my prime, well into middle age, and I have NO thyroid gland anymore, but I find when I dial up the fitness, I still put on muscle (miraculously and trust me, I’m full of gratitude about that), and having a weight number makes things more difficult and perhaps isn’t totally appropriate for me. And I think that your plan of keeping the donation number on the D.L. is just fine since none of this is a competition and giving is giving. Do you use your mortgage principal paydown as part of the calculation of your savings rate? I’m trying to attend 20% more yoga classes this year, dial back our spending 30% on food and beverage, and read more as well, though I didn’t put a specific number to that and I should since that makes it more palatable.
You do make a good point about weight vs body percentage. That’s more involved though which is why I went the easier calculation route with the number haha. I really SHOULD start measuring again.
And I calculate our savings rate both ways, with and without the principal payoff, but I feel like it’s fair to include because it does eventually move the needle.
Really?!! 25 pounds?? No way I’ve seen you on camera before, you look thin already!! How tall are you? 25 seems like a lot to me and you’re definitely not overweight. What’s your BMI? Mine is 21..which is actually a bit high for my size but as long as I’m hovering around 105, I’m gonna eat that extra bowl of rice haha.
For TFG, I’m looking over it now and it’s sort of an mess on the internal side. If you want to keep business open, remember to organize it so when you make the switch to business, it’s less of a headache 🙂 just something I’m dealing with right now 🙂
Yeah alas I definitely do have that much to lose haha. I’m 5’1. And I spend about zero time on the back end of the blog and I definitely like keeping it that way for now. So daunting to think about what you’re doing right now!
Awesome goals Angela! 🙂 Sensible to keep your savings goal at 50%, as it’s still a huge goal! I’m sure you’ll achieve it & enjoyed reading through your other goals. IMHO I think it’s wise to keep private the giving amounts & recipients….. great to have a percentage goal though.
I used to set tons of goals each year &, as a teacher, had a ton of teaching goals too! However, since 2012 I’ve had a “word for the year” as my focus. From there flows all sorts of exciting stuff over the year. I still have goals, but they begin with my word for the year. It’s been a fascinating process to see what flows from that. I had the same word of “simplify” for 2014 & 2015…. little knowing that we’d need to move house! Thankfully “simplify” meant that over those 2 years I’d already begun the decluttering process that was hugely helpful for our move. This year my word is “OPEN” & rather than rush into goals I’ve been “open” to spending more time processing before committing to writing them down. Next week I aim to write them down in a measurable & interesting way. All the best for a fantastic 2019! Blessings Kerryn
Yeah, no matter what I’ll be keeping the recipients private, and maybe the actual amounts as well. We’ll see. I like the idea of having an overarching word to organize everything into a big group.
For not having your goals outlined by Jan 1st, your making a comeback in a BIG way. That is an awesome list of 2019 goals right there. Money, Life and blogging goals, you’ve got your bases covered. I can’t wait to read as you knock these goals down one by one.
I had an idea of what I was planning to do for the year nearer to the beginning of the month, but it just took me some time to get around to fully fleshing it out.
There are a lot of goals! I like the screen free time on the weekdays. I have been shocked at the amount of screen time that the iPhone has been tracking for me (it’s embarassing really). Looking forward to see how you rock your goals, I know you will.
The screen time is probably the hardest one on this list, if I’m going to be honest with myself. Which is kind of crazy for someone who watches zero tv.
This is awesome, Angela. Thank you for sharing so deeply and in such much detail your plans and goals for 2019. You are so authentic and a true inspiration. Good luck on reaching your goals this year and blessings to Uriah for a speedy and complete recovery. x
Thank you!! And that last bit is overwhelmingly more important than all the rest 🙂
Me like this post a lot!!! You’re an inspiration, Angela.
Thank you! 🙂
Love this post Angela! I like how comprehensive your goals are with the three areas of life – money, life and blogging.
Just for my sake, I am going to assume that my post of the books read in 2018 had atleast some role to play in your 2019 reading goal 😉
Sometimes I tend to get frustrated with putting in effort and not seeing that much of a result, esp when it comes to something like losing weight of blog visits. So, this year I decided to put in broad guidelines and also continue to focus on the consistency of my action points rather than the outcome.
One of those action points like Abigail is to read more blog posts and comment more. I truly believe in the power of the community. While I might have slacked off in my efforts there, time to get inspired from you in that sphere 🙂
Aha yes! I honestly couldn’t remember whose posts I’d read but yours was one of them! I meant to try and find and link them and then forgot.
Nice goals! I had a body measurement goal I wanted to reach, but I’m not sure if I’ll lose any actual weight since I’m trying to do some more weightlifting. Hopefully I’ll lose a few inches though! I didn’t include it on the blog post because it feels a little too personal.
I’d really like an Apple watch to track my health since I’m pretty bad at getting up every ___ hours to walk or tracking my sleeping habits. Everyone seems to have a fitbit though, so I feel a little left out haha.
Yeah, inches are a way better way to track than just pounds. I really should start tracking that way again but it takes so much more time haha
I love the fact that you have everything thought. Hope you can achieve everything you wish for.
Thank you 😊