If you’re new here, every month I share how I’m doing with my goals for the year. This includes personal, blogging/business, and of course financial goals. This post holds me accountable to the goals I set every year, but more importantly, it helps my readers to see that having financial goals in place are the key to succeeding with money. If you need help setting financial goals, make sure you read this post here on the steps to setting financial goals.
Blogging
Contribute 25% of income to business emergency fund. – (Done this month. )
Attend 2 Conferences –
- FinCon16 – tickets already purchased.
- I’ve decided to only attend FinCon this year – I really wanted to attend Business Boutique again but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me this year.
Have signed contract with literary agent by December 31st. I have decided that it’s in my and my family’s best interest to not pursue this one this year. As much as I’d like to be traditionally published, it doesn’t make sense for the stage of life I’m in currently.
Release one eCourse by October 1st. (I finished the course material but haven’t completed compiling the sales stuff….)
Have an average of 500,000 PVS a month by December 31st.
- PVS for July 2016: 118,013 ….ugh. So sad but I have noticed that they seem to slowly be going back up. Let’s home they continue that way!
Make One Media Appearance – TV or Radio – You can listen to the episode that I was on here – I’m towards the end of the show.
Speak at at least one event
Increase Facebook followers to 10,000 by July 31st. I didn’t meet this goal but I got pretty close!
Increase email subscribers to 15,000 by August 1st.
- Current number:11,470 (Didn’t meet my goal but I’m still really happy with that number!)
If you’re interested in learning more about blogging and seeing my income reports from the blog, sign up here and I’ll send out once-a-month blogging advice with my income report. 🙂
Read at least 5 books on business/blogging
What I want to read:
- Lead with Humility: 12 Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis
Ask: The Counterintuitive Online Formula to Discover Exactly What Your Customers Want to Buy…Create a Mass of Raving Fans…and Take Any Business to the Next LevelLaunch: An Internet Millionaire’s Secret Formula To Sell Almost Anything Online, Build A Business You Love, And Live The Life Of Your DreamsThe 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change- Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World
- See You at the Top
- The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
- The Compound Effect
- Blog at Home Mom: Balancing Blogging and Motherhood
- Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
What I Read
Launch: An Internet Millionaire’s Secret Formula To Sell Almost Anything Online, Build A Business You Love, And Live The Life Of Your Dreams by Jeff Walker – If you plan to create and sell products, then this is a MUST READ! I’ll be using his formula on my up and coming product launches so we’ll see how well his advice does in practical application. 🙂
Charlotte on our first official family vacation…
Personal
Continue using the Tupler Techniques every day. (These are found in the book, Lose Your Mummy Tummy) – I totally didn’t do any of these this month…
Complete P90X by December 31st – Haven’t started yet but I have started working out for at least 5-10 minutes a day to help get me more prepared for this challenge…
Read at least 2 books just for me.
- The Better Life: Small Things You Can Do Right Where You Are
Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World- The Slight Edge: Turning Simple Disciplines into Massive Success and Happiness
- My Other Ex: Women’s True Stories of Losing and Leaving Friends
What I Read
Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment Living in a Fast-Moving World – This was such a great and uplifting read! It’s all about finding God’s beauty even in the most mundane and simple things in life. If you’re looking for something uplifting and inspiring, then this is a great book to add to your reading list!
Marriage Goals
Write one love note to Pat a month. Totally forgot to do this this month….
Plan at least one date night every 6 months.
Read at least 3 books on Marriage:
- 52 Ways to Wow Your Husband
- 31 Days to a Happy Husband
- The 4 Seasons of Marriage: Secrets to a Lasting Marriage
- The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts
100 Ways to Love Your Husband: A Life-Long Journey of Learning to Love
Mothering Goals
Spend at least 30 minutes every day playing with my children. (Managed to do this very well while on vacation….)
Write in Motherhood gratitude journal every day. (Missed a few days while on vacation)
Plan a date night with my boys once every 6 months. (Done. My boys took me bowling)
Read one new book every month with boys. (Totally forgot to pick up a new book from the library….)
Read at least 1 book on Parenting/Motherhood.
- The 5 Love Languages of Children
- Raising Your Spirited Child
- Making Children Mind without Losing Yours
Love Rebel: Reclaiming Motherhood
Nothing cuter than a little boy eating watermelon on a hot July day in Georgia…
Spiritual Goals
Complete 1 Bible Study. (Done) – I actually completed a second bible study at home from She Reads Truth – it was an amazing study of the book of Proverbs…which I totally needed.
Volunteer once at our church.
Read Bible Daily through Blessed is She. (I didn’t do this while on vacation…. :-/ )
Read at least 2 books on Christianity.
- 33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat In Preparation for Marian Consecration
- How to Listen When God Is Speaking: A Guide for Modern-Day Catholics
- Shirt of Flame: A Year with St. Therese of Lisieux
- The Temperament God Gave You: The Classic Key to Knowing Yourself, Getting Along with Others, and Growing Closer to the Lord
- Cheerful Chats for Catholic Children: Short Stories for Catholic Children with a Moral and a Prayer following each Anecdote.
- The Hidden Power of Kindness: A Practical Handbook for Souls Who Dare to Transform the World, One Deed at a Time
Catholic Family Handbook: Time-tested Techniques to Help You Strengthen Your Marriage and Raise Good Kids- Chiara Corbella Petrillo
Financial Goals
We’re working on paying off our medical bills from two hospital visits so our financial goals aren’t as impressive this month.
3- Month fully-fund emergency fund by December 31st – goal is $10,500.
- Current Balance: $10,154.34 <— Almost there!
Pay mortgage principal down by $10,000 by December 31st.
- Owed on mortgage as of December 2015 is: $33,835.25
- Current Balance: $30,937.31
We FINALLY had PMI come off our mortgage this month! So hopefully, we’ll be able to get the mortgage paid down even faster!
Read at least 1 Financial book:
What I Want to Read:
- The Money Saving Mom’s Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and Save Thousands a Year
- Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After
- The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents are Going Broke
- Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World: A book to encourage, educate, inform, and inspire.
- Soldier of Finance: Take Charge of Your Money and Invest in Your Future
How are you doing with your goals so far this year?
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This is one of the best updates I’ve read. I’m not even sure which part I liked more because I’m going to print it out so I can reread it. I really clicked to see cute pictures of your kiddos but was rewarded with so much more! Love this !!
Thank you so much Diona! 🙂
Just curious, why did you still have PMI on your mortgage? Certainly your loan-to-value was way lower than 80%. What was the hold-up?
For PMI to come off you have to meet both the 20% principal level and have had the loan for 5 years before it can come off. We missed the whole 5 years part when we originally made our strategy so we either had to pay around $3,000 to refinance to get the PMI off or pay $600 in PMI and wait until exactly 5 years when the PMI would come off. So we decided to wait until it came off…which felt like forever. lol
Congrats on your success, Jessi!! Isn’t it amazing how life changes through the year and you need to adjust your goals? I do this ALL the time and think it’s so important. Yes, your goals are set, but you can always (and should always) review and revise them accordingly. Congrats mama! Can’t wait to see you!!
It’s getting closer to when I get to your beautiful face in person and I can’t freaking wait! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Congrat on a great month, epecially ditching PMI!!
Thank you so much Amy! 🙂
Great Goals Jessi! I love how you categorize each part of your life and the goals you have for each. I have read some of the books you mentioned above. I loved “Eat that Frog” and “See You at the Top.” Great reads once you get to them. Congrats on the recent family vacation and your babies are beautiful!