Third Quarter Goals Check In

There’s only a few more months left in the year, so I really need to crack down on my goals. I’m away at FinCon for the remainder of the week, so I thought it’d be nice to check in on my annual goals during this slow work week for me.

Initially, I tried to set a limited number of goals so I could focus in on each one, but I realize that my goals have changed over time and I have a few additional goals that aren’t mentioned much on my blog like exercising more, more specific goals to achieve with my son and as a parent and quite a few other things.

Overall, I liked having a limited number of goals because it’s allowing me to focus on just a few main things and not get overwhelmed. I’m ready to finish off this year strong so this will be my last quarterly update until I review the entire year in December.

You can check out my other quarterly updates here:
First Quarter
Second Quarter

Goals For My Finances

1. Open a Roth IRA and contribute regularly – On track somewhat
One of my goals this year was to start investing even though I’m still working my way out of debt. I want to take advantage of getting started early and while I did open a Roth IRA with Betterment earlier this year, I haven’t been consistent with contributing much.

Between debt payments, unexpected expenses, increasing expenses and now planning a wedding, I’m not sure how I’ll be able to keep working toward this goal throughout the remainder of the year, but I don’t want investing in my retirement to take a back seat because it’s very important.

2. Make at least $1500/month in side income and establish new side hustles – On track
At the beginning of the year, my goal was to make at least $300/month in side income. After I got serious about freelancing and started pitching more, I easily surpassed that amount so I increased it to reflect a major goal I hope to achieve by the end of the year.

By increasing my side income to at least $1500/month, I’ll be starting off the year 2016 with at least a $12,000 annual raise after taxes and well on my way to reaching some of my financial goals quicker. I posted my first income report last week to be more transparent with where I’m at and help me stay organized and accountable for my goal of increasing my side hustle income.

As a result of my Side Hustle Series, my fiance and I have been looking for new ways to earn additional side income. He is not in love with writing, so freelance writing at the intensity that I enjoy doing it at is not a realistic focus for him so we’re trying other things (more deets in a future post). I’m also getting ready to start selling clothes on Ebay and see how well I do with that. I hope to earn around $200/month from that, then see how it goes from there.

3. Get my emergency fund to a solid $2,000 balance and pay off $8,000 + the rest of my car loan – On track
Over the summer I hit my emergency fund goal and decided to stop saving so I could focus more on debt. It may not be the smartest move but as you probably know, debt is my #1 this year.

As of August, I paid off a total of $7,828.36 this year so I’m almost there with my debt payoff goal. As for demolishing my car loan, it’s only a matter of time. I’m focused on doing whatever it takes to pay it off over these next few months so by December, the $3,000 I owe will be completely gone so I can focus on my student loans.

Goals For My Life

4. Declutter My Home – Needs Work
This goal has really taken a backseat lately. I love to clean and organize so I do a good job on the surface, but I know this is still tons of decluttering to do around the house. When we moved in June, I’m afraid we packed up some junk that should have been thrown out.

I’m taking my time to go through closets, drawers, papers and documents and tackle each room in the house one at a time. I started in my son’s room a while back and if I keep up the momentum, I’m hoping to have a clutter free home by the end of the year.

5. Be more appreciative of life’s blessings and enjoy each day – Needs work
This is an ongoing goal that I seemed to have been improving on earlier this year but lately, I’ve fallen into a funk. I’m still grateful for everything and everyone in my life, but my uneventful daily routine has finally caught up with me and I’m not doing so well with the other half of this goal.

I’ve been rushing my weeks, putting my mind on autopilot at work and impatiently awaiting Fridays and feeling anxious about Mondays.

I’ve picked up more freelancing work and the workload has also increased at my day job but I don’t want to be living my life for the weekend. In an attempt to enjoy each and every day I try to start my mornings off right, organize my tasks for the day and switch up my schedule a little.

Now that school has started, I try to drop my son off at least twice a week and go to work later and something as simple as that has had a positive effect on my mood. I’ve thought about going for a jog in the morning as well and going on more walks in the evening with my family or going to a short event just to change things up. The three of us could always use more bonding time 🙂

Goals to Achieve with My Son

6. Keep teaching him about money and life – On track
I’m realizing now that this is such a broad goal, but it’s something I’m striving for all the time. We had a great summer and did a lot of fun things together. He’s truly growing up right before my very eyes.

Now that he’s in school, I can’t believe he has math homework each night. So crazy.

Anywho, we’re still learning about money through me giving him an allowance and we’re also focusing on gratitude and giving. I’ve been looking for activities in the community that would allow young kids to volunteer and I haven’t had any luck. I’m thinking about doing something special for another child around the holidays and we always donate year-round so I’m trying to drill those principles into his head. It’s always a work in progress but I truly enjoying parenting him.

How are your goals progressing so far? Do you have anything that you absolutely still NEED to accomplish by the end of the year?