In the past I set way too many goals which would end up causing me to be overwhelmed, confused and ultimately fail. At the beginning of the year I set myself two goals to keep myself focused. (I now have four, though.)
Since the first quarter of the year is over it’s a great time to go back over those goals and see if I’m on track!
Pay an Extra $15,000 on the Mortgage
My big financial goal is to have my mortgage paid off in eight years or less. Last year, after selling Jamie’s old house, we were able to put $20,000 on the mortgage. This year I wanted to keep up momentum and put at least an extra $15,000 or $1,250/month on the mortgage.
So, how’d we do?
We have managed to pay an extra $5,700 on the principal!
One benefit of now being married is that we’ve got two incomes to work with. Since my income has went up over the past year, paired with the fact we live in such a low cost area (and I’m really cheap) has meant we have extra money to go toward this goal.
Each and every time we have come across extra money that we don’t normally have we’ve taken it straight to the bank and put it on the mortgage.
Our balance is now right around $100k and this month’s payment should make it drop in the $99k’s. I cannot wait to see that drop.
The mortgage pay off will take a temporary pause for the next few months. Now that it’s finally getting warmer outside we both want to divert some money to projects around the house that need to be done.
Grow 50% of My Own Food
While I have dreams of a huge garden and getting some fruit trees in the ground, our weather has been so erratic that those dreams haven’t come to fruition just yet. The only thing we’ve got planted this far is potatoes and onions.
I’m hoping the weather stays warm and we can plant the garden within the next couples of weeks.
We have made strides in other areas though. We expanded our chicken flock with more layers and some meat chickens as well.
We also have six turkeys. Which are the cutest little babies ever. (Turkeys on the left.)
We found a bigger chicken coop on Craigslist to house some of these critters and are getting ready to do some big fencing for all of them. (Hence, not paying extra on the mortgage this month.)
One other thing we did was buy home-grown pork from a family member. What’s crazy is doing this made the meat come out to $1.56 per pound and is so much better than what you’d buy at a grocery store. (And our deep freezer is now full.)
Increase My Income by 50%
I have went back and forth on an income goal so many times. I have set it and then changed it and then changed it again.
This goal is finally one that I feel comfortable with. I’d like to increase my income by 50% of last year’s income which would be around $90k for the year.
It still feels so weird typing out that number (and a little scary) but I think I can do it.
In the first quarter I earned almost $18,000…….. which is what I used to earn in a year. Crazy, right? This puts me behind on the goal but I’m projecting that May and June’s income will be high enough to inch me toward meeting this.
Plus, I’m still working on the project with my Mom.
Remove Wallpaper and Paint the House
I am getting so much better at removing wallpaper. I’m gonna be a pro when this is all said and done.
One of my biggest goals, and possibly the hardest, is removing all of the wallpaper from this house and painting rooms.
I love this house. I love the floors. I love the cabinets. I love the beams and woodwork but I am so tired of looking at dirty old wallpaper.
It’s got to go. (Along with that pink trim.)
To keep myself going I’ve been giving myself weekly goals. Each week I have to remove a wall of wall paper.
I’ve also trained my kids how to do this and they think it’s fun. 🙂 Now they’re also on wallpaper duty.
My progress on this goal: 10%
That’s it. That’s how I’ve done so far this year. It will be interesting to check back next quarter and see how things have changed.
How are your 2016 goals coming along?
Photo Credit: andreykuzmin / 123RF Stock Photo
Congratulations on your success! Sounds like you are killing it! I should find out this week if I pass the CFP exam, which is a huge 2016 goal of mine. Otherwise, I want to get to 10k on all my social platforms. I just hit it for Pinterest and I’ll hit it soon for my subscribers, but Facebook and Instagram are going to be a while!!
Good luck on your CFP exam! Fingers crossed for you and congrats on hitting a couple of your other goals already 🙂
Those chickens and turkeys are so cute! 🙂 You’re doing so well with your goals! I’m more or less on track with my goals, too. My main goal for 2016 is to lose pregnancy weight – so far, so good 🙂 My savings account has also seen some action which I’m happy about! Good luck with your goals, I’m sure you’ll do great!
Thank you and good luck with yours too!
Way to go Alexa!! I’m so proud of you and your success. My goals included getting my website up, now that it’s done I will move on to growing my freelance business. Wish me luck!
Your website looks awesome I already know that you’re going to do amazing 🙂
Great job all around, Alexa. Especially in regard to aggressively paying down the mortgage, though. I’ve been doing the same and am in the homestretch on mine after about 11 years. Increasing your income as you chip away at that amortization schedule should lead to major benefits soon enough. Impressive update, enjoying the site.
Great job all around, Alexa. Especially in regard to aggressively paying down the mortgage, though. I’ve been doing the same and am in the homestretch on mine after about 11 years. Increasing your income as you chip away at that amortization schedule should lead to major benefits soon enough. Impressive update, enjoying the site.
Congrats Alexa, particularly with working towards getting your mortgage paid off. I’m a bit behind on my 2016 goals but they’re coming slowly but surely!