I love my new mug!
It’s Friday once again! I don’t know about you but this week seemed to crawl by for me. Although I did get a nice little surprise in the mail on Tuesday, my new mug! A few months ago I posted about knowing the difference between wants and needs. I described my coffee mug and how disgusting it was getting. Well I finally got a new one, and I’m pretty well in love with it. It keeps my coffee hot for hours, comes with a leak proof top, and a second sipping top. Plus the company is pretty great, participating in all sorts of environmentally friendly initiatives.
Year Long Goal Check In – Two Months In
I started out the year by declaring some big, audacious goals. I’d had a lot of success with my 2012 goals and wanted to step things up a notch. So I added two extra goals to my previous list of three, and made them all, much more difficult to complete.
I have to admit, starting out January with 0% completed across all of my goals was a little intimidating. There were a bunch of instances where I thought I’ve bitten off too much, now I’m going to fail at these goals and the whole wide world is going to know.
Fortunately, February, despite being a b*tch of a month weather and general dreariness wise, brought a ton of progress on my goals, so I’m feeling much more confident about them now. Here’s how I’m doing:
Pay Off My Student Loans ($11,759.00)
Paid Off: $1,889 (16%)
I’m making good progress on this goal. I’ve been able to keep up my streak of paying at least $1,000 towards debt every month. As of midnight tonight I’ll finally have my student loan debt under $10,000! Yaaa! This is a huge moment that I’ve been waiting for ever since I got my student loan debt under the $15k mark. Finally in the four digits! The end is nearly in sight, and I’m counting on my tax return to bring it much closer. Now if only I could get my hands on that last T4, I’d be set.
Get Married Without Incurring Major Debt
I recently wrote about all of the ways I’m planning on saving money on my wedding, and so far, I haven’t gone into debt over it. Only four months left until the big day, I hope that I can accomplish this goal!
Run 500km
Kms Run: 115km (23%)
I credit my half marathon training for this impressive progress. I ran 68km this month alone and I imagine I’ll double that total again next month. I’ve been running 5x a week, and the distances are starting to get serious – I’ve got my first 10k outing scheduled this weekend and I’m a little nervous about it. Fortunately my legs are holding up and I’ve been (thankfully) injury free. I absolutely can’t wait for the weather to get nicer so I can start running outside!
Earn $4,000 in Side Hustle Income
Earned: $730 (18%)
I’m really happy with my side hustle income too! After a slow start in January (which was pretty much my own fault) things really picked up in February and I was able to earn quite a bit. If things stay as good as they were this month, I’ll be able to complete this goal by year’s end.
Earn A Raise
I haven’t earned a raise yet, but then I haven’t asked nor has my yearly review come up. I have been working on it though. I’ve been adding new skills to my repertoire and gotten some certifications that should make me worth more in the eyes of my employer. I’ve also put those skills to good use by incorporating them into my projects, and they haven’t gone unnoticed. I’m not done yet either, I’ve got a list of professional development tasks I want to complete before asking for a raise.
So that’s my the-year-is-16-percent-over goal check in. Now, on to Link Love!
Blog Posts I Loved
Cait at Blonde on a Budget gets personal while answering some questions about herself, if you’ve ever wondered about her motivations when it comes to blogging, follow the link to get enlightened.
Katie at Girl with the Red Balloon wrote a funny story about having a claw foot tub, I never would’ve thought that it was so difficult!
Michelle at Making Sense of Cents also got personal with the same questionnaire that Cait filled out.
And so did Catherine from Plunged in Debt (she’s an east coaster, so if you haven’t checked out her blog yet, you totally should!)
I usually only lurk at Nelson’s blog Financial Uproar, because that crowd is way too cool for me, but this week I’ve gotta mention his investigative journalism regarding plagiarism in the personal finance world.
Bloggers Who Loved Me
Reach Financial Independence
Evolving Personal Finance
Future Advisor – Check out my interview!
L Bee and the Money Tree
Top Social Sharers
Thanks to everyone on this list who shared my posts more than once this week!
Frugal Portland
Club Thrifty
The Random Path
Modest Money
Have a good weekend!