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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

2016 GOALS! - A Frugal Family's Journey

New year means a fresh list of NEW goals!!

 2015 was a decent year for our family.  Our net worth continued to grow this past year but with a relatively flat market and a few bad buys in oil and energy, we certainly did not see the same growth as we've been enjoying in years past. 

 In all, we managed to accomplish 9 of our 12 goals from last year. 
  1. We earned $3,000 in dividend income.
  2. Our projected annual dividend exceeded $3,500.
  3. We own more than 40 dividend producing stocks/ETFs.
  4. We maintained a min. 6% ROI from our P2P notes.
  5. We wrote more than 84 blog posts.
  6. All time hits crossed the 150K mark.
  7. Stock Analyses Collection grew above 800.
  8. Cash out first $100 from Google AdSense.  
Although we are happy with these accomplishments, we hope to have an even more productive year in 2016. Similar to last year, we have split up our goals into different categories. What is different this year is that we've removed our P2P goals since our long term plan no longer includes growing our P2P accounts. We did, however, add a few "fun" goals to the list!  It our way of bringing a little sense of balance and enjoyment to our family's journey.

 BELOW IS A LIST OF OUR NEW 2016 GOALS!!

DIVIDEND STOCKS:
1.  Earn $3,600 in dividend income.
2.  Increase projected annual dividend income to $4,100.
3.  Bring value of dividend stocks accounts to $90,000 total.

BLOG:
4.  Write at least 100 posts (8.33 posts/month).
5   Reach 350,000 total hits by end of the year.
6.  Reach 900 Twitter followers by end of the year.
7.  Cash out $200 from Google AdSense.
8.  Join DIV-NET or Seeking Alpha.

 FINANCIAL MILESTONES:
9.    Increase value of retirement accounts to $450,000.
10.  Increase Net Worth to $675,000 (excluding home equity).
11.  Reduce mortgage balance to $292,000.

FUN GOALS:
12.  Try out 12 "new" restaurants/dessert place.
13.  Go on 26 hikes (1 every other week).
14.  Visit 3 new parks.
15.  Volunteer for a project/event (ex. beach clean up, clear hiking trail, race event, serve food, etc.)

 We have created a landing page for our 2016 goals and plan to provide quarterly updates.  Please feel free to follow along and see our progress!!





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14 comments:

  1. Roadmap2RetireJanuary 13, 2016 at 7:03 AM

    Some great set of goals listed here, AFFJ. A wide variety - I really like it.

    Best wishes in achieving and surpassing your goals in 2016.
    R2R

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    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 14, 2016 at 7:19 AM

      Thank you R2R. Hoping to surpass our 2015 accomplishments. We came up with 15 goals this year but still hope to complete at least 75% of our goals.

      Thanks for the well wishes. AFFJ

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  2. divorcedffJanuary 13, 2016 at 9:41 AM

    AFFJ

    I like your 2016 goals. I also try to increase my adsense income.
    I realy want to get a check from google and buy google stocks from that check :-)

    Best wishes.

    Sharon - Divorcedff

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    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 14, 2016 at 7:24 AM

      Nice idea to parlay your Google earnings! Google search engine has such a huge presence. And with all their other business ventures, we don't think they are going anywhere anytime soon. Great stock to line your retirement stocks moat. :)

      Thanks for stopping by, AFFJ

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  3. Whimsical DividendsJanuary 13, 2016 at 10:55 AM

    Wonderful set of goals!! I especially love the "Fun" Goals at the end...congrats on opening up a touch on the personal side of the goals, and best of luck. So many places to hike...so many trails, and its such a "frugal" way to spend your weekend. :)

    Best of luck and looking forward to checking in regularly!

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    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 14, 2016 at 7:27 AM

      Thanks WD. Although not a written goal, we are striving to add a more personal touch to the blog this coming year. Maybe we'll have to post a few pictures from our hikes every now and then. :)

      Thanks for following along on our journey. AFFJ

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  4. My Dividend PipelineJanuary 13, 2016 at 3:31 PM

    AFFJ,

    I love the hiking goals. We have a lot of great trails here in Houston. I have to get out in woods more this year myself!

    MDP

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    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 14, 2016 at 7:34 AM

      Thanks MDP. We are also lucky to live near quite a few trails but we do plan to venture out and hike a few new ones this coming year.

      Hope you find more opportunities to hike yourself this year. Best wishes. AFFJ

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  5. Passive Income PursuitJanuary 13, 2016 at 6:02 PM

    Looks like 2015 treated you quite well will a 75% success rate for your goals. You've got some excellent goals for 2016 and I"m looking forward to following along on your journey throughout the year. I wish we had more hiking places near where I live but unfortunately there's not. Although we do have a good variety of options within a few hours drive. Best of luck in 2016!

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    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 14, 2016 at 7:37 AM

      Thank you JC. We added three more goals to the 2016 list but still hope to accomplish at least 75% of them.

      Thanks for the words of support, AFFJ

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  6. KateJanuary 14, 2016 at 5:48 PM

    Wow-I'm so impressed. I've been looking at so many financial blogs and you seem to be living what you talk about. Off to read around your site :)

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    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 18, 2016 at 5:30 PM

      Thank for the kind words Kate. Glad you found our blog and hope you continue to follow us on our journey. Although we have set out to retire in a little less than 12 years, we are hoping to get to the finish line within 10 years. Please stay tuned. AFFJ

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  7. FerdiSJanuary 18, 2016 at 7:16 AM

    Excellent goals! I really like your fun goals, which I'm sure will help your family grow closer together in 2016. Congratulations on achieving many of your 2015 goals and best of luck for 2016. I'll enjoy reading about your journey!

    Cheers
    FerdiS, DivGro

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    1. A Frugal Family's JourneyJanuary 18, 2016 at 5:32 PM

      Thanks FerdiS. From the feedback, I am certainly glad we decided to incorporate fun goals this year. You are absolutely right, only 3 weeks in and we already feel like we've grown closer through the adventure thus far!

      Thanks for visiting our blog, hope to see you back soon. AFFJ

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