Pages

▼

Saturday, January 3, 2015

2015 Goals - A Frugal Family's Journey

New year means a fresh list of NEW goals!!
 
This past year was a pretty good year for our family.  Although our net worth did not grow as much as it had the previous two years, it still felt like we accomplished quite a bit. Albeit smaller steps, we still took few steps towards our ultimate goal of Financial Independence. 
 
Since we didn't start blogging until March of 2014, we did have a list of goals generated last year (at least one that we publicly announced). Nevertheless, the items we considered to be significant accomplishments for us in 2014 were:
    1. We finished selling all stocks that did not pay a dividend.
    2. We now own stocks in over 30 companies that pay us a dividend.
    3. We received more than $2,500 in dividends.
    4. We have over $17,500 combined our P2P accounts.
    5. Starting our blog on March 15, 2014.
    6. Reached over 45,000 views on our blog.
    7. Created 77 posts on our blog.
    8. We were approved for Google AdSense in November.
    9. We now have a twitter account.
    10. Our mortgage balance has been reduced to $336,849.
    11. I received a promotion in July of 2014 and more importantly, a roughly 5.5% raise.
We are looking forward to an even more productive 2015.  We hope to make significant strides in our dividend stock accounts, P2P accounts, blog, and other financial milestones. 
 
BELOW IS A LIST OF OUR 2015 GOALS
DIVIDEND STOCKS:
1.  Earn $3,000 in dividend income.
2.  Increase projected annual dividend income to $3,500.
3.  Increase number of holdings to 40 (stocks and/or ETFs).
 
P2P ACCOUNTS:
4.  Have a combined $20,000 from both accounts.
5.  Maintain an average interest rate of 6.0% or higher (combined).
 
BLOG:
6.  Write at least 84 posts (7 posts / month).
7  Reach 150,000 total hits by end of the year.
8.  Increase stock analyses collection to 800+.
9. Cash out my first $100 from Google AdSense.
 
FINANCIAL MILESTONES:
10.  Increase value of retirement accounts to $425,000.
11.  Increase Net Worth to $650,000 (excluding home equity).
12. Reduce mortgage balance to $312,000.
 
We have created a landing page for our 2015 goals and plan to provide quarterly updates.  Please feel free to follow along and see our progress!!
 




at

11 comments:

  1. writing2realityJanuary 4, 2015 at 6:21 AM

    Awesome set of goals here AFFJ! I think you've covered a lot of bases, both financially and blogging related. My 2015 goals will also reflect a similar spread, with things targeted towards the blog, dividend income, and peer to peer lending. I'm looking forward to sharing them a bit later this month.

    Best of luck accomplishing everything you've set out for and more!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 4, 2015 at 7:26 PM

      W2R - Sounds like we are on similar tracks...look forward to seeing your 2015 goals later this month.

      Thank you for the positive wishes, wishing you the same! AFFJ

      Delete
  2. Roadmap2RetireJanuary 4, 2015 at 7:09 AM

    Great set of goals, AFFJ. 2014 has been a great year for you and the family and I wish the same kind of success in 2015.

    Best
    R2R

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 4, 2015 at 7:24 PM

      Thank you R2R. I wish you success in 2015 as well. Thanks for the ongoing support my friend. AFFJ

      Delete
  3. My Dividend PipelineJanuary 4, 2015 at 8:17 AM

    AFFJ,

    That is a nice diverse set of goals. I particularly like the mortgage reduction plan. I know we can sometimes get caught up in portfolio building, but debt reduction is in my view should be the most important component in a FI plan.

    Best wishes this year!

    MDP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 4, 2015 at 7:28 PM

      MDP - I agree that debt reduction should definitely be in everyone's plan. We are blessed that our mortgage is our only real debt aside from a credit card bill that we pay off every month.

      Thanks for stopping by and for your comment. Cheers to a great 2015! AFFJ

      Delete
  4. The Broke Dividend InvestorJanuary 4, 2015 at 10:34 AM

    AFFJ,

    Good luck reducing that mortgage. Debt keeps me up at night.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 4, 2015 at 7:23 PM

      Thanks BDI - Since our APR is only 2.875% its hard to justify putting extra towards principal but I do hate seeing our mortgage balance. :) The goal this year is to make one extra payment. It's not much but it should make a difference in the long run. AFFJ

      Delete
  5. TawcanJanuary 5, 2015 at 11:00 AM

    Those are great list of goals you have for 2015. Congrats on your accomplishments in 2014 as well. Looking forward to what 2015 will bring.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 5, 2015 at 8:53 PM

      Thanks for the support Tawcan. I'm definitely satisfied with progress we had made in 2014. But like most here, the drive to retire early only motivates me to do even better in 2015. Hope you are equally successful in all your goals for 2015 as well. AFFJ

      Delete
  6. UnknownJanuary 7, 2015 at 12:28 PM

    In my opinion, setting up goals is always the best way to start the year. One thing you want to plan for early is your finances, because this will give you an idea of what you have to work with, and which ones to prioritize in the upcoming months, like debt and such. Anyway, I hope you get to hit your milestone soon, and that you manage to get a big chunk out of that debt by the end of the year. Keep it up!

    Chad Nelson @ Iron Point Mortgage

    ReplyDelete