Most of us set our 2018 goals or resolutions in December or January.

I did, too. You may have read mine back then.

Setting goals is the easy part. The real work comes in getting them done. It’s time for my second quarter check-in.

Here we go…

Personal

Goal I will put my wife, our boys and our life first. It’s easy to get distracted by the noise, work, side-hustles, hobbies and other stuff. My number one goal and highest priority is to spend as much time as possible with my family and to make it quality time. For example, I definitely need to keep my phone in my pocket more during family time. Twitter can be distracting.

If you don’t already, you can follow me on Twitter @WinningPFin.

Q2 Update

While this goal is more subjective than I’d really like, I really got into a rhythm this quarter. We’re now getting settled into a new routine with two kids.

I changed up the evening book reading routine with my older son (4 years old). We switched from reading short children’s stories to longer chapter books, starting with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We’ve read a few more of the Roald Dahl books, too, which may not have been totally appropriate for a child this young.

We’ve gone through a few Choose Your Own Adventure books from the library and are now reading the last of the My Father’s Dragon series. If you know of any child friendly 100-200 page books we can read, suggestions are welcome.

Besides routine changes, we took a family trip to Washington DC to visit friends. It’s such a fantastic city for FI-minded folks. Most of the monuments and museums are free and they are terrific! We checked out the National Museums of American History, Natural History plus Air and Space, which was the family favorite. All three captivated our four year old and were stroller friendly for the baby.

My wife and I have left the card game Monopoly Deal on the kitchen counter. This makes it even easier to start a card game rather than picking up the remote and watching TV after the kids go to bed. I’ll admit that sitting in front of a TV after a long day is still our most used way to relax but I find the card games much more fun. The more often we can avoid the TV, the better.

We’ve also spent some time planning ahead for our next few vacations. It’s looking like we’ll be visiting everybody’s favorite Mouse in Q4 and I’m working on a few different ski trips for next season. The earlier I start planning these trips, the more likely I am to get a bargain.

I have not been perfect at avoiding my phone at all times, but I think it’s been an improvement in Q2 from Q1 or last year.

Financial & Savings

Goals Max out My 401(k) for $18,500 – This one is directly in my control. The amount will be automatically deducted from my paycheck so I don’t have to even think about it anymore! Max out my HSA contribution for $6,900

Max out a Roth IRA for Mrs. WPF and I for $5,500 each / $11,000 total. Save $8K in taxable accounts. Net Worth Goal: I don’t believe in a net worth goal. At this point, my net worth is more dependent on the markets than anything else. I can save all the amounts above and have my net worth decrease from a downturn. Since the markets are not controllable, I’m going to pass on this goal.

Q2 Update

I’ve contributed $9,833 to my 401(k) and $3,440 to my HSA so far in 2018, and am on track to max out both accounts. I love it when my goals are achieved with automatic payroll deductions that I don’t have to think about!

In a nice change of pace from the Q1 update, I have good news to report on our IRAs and Taxable accounts. In this quarter, I earned a raise, my annual bonus and received a large tax refund as a result of prepaying my 2018 property taxes in December of 2017.

The decisions made around large one-time cash inflows can make a huge difference in wealth building. We’ve chosen to save all of this money since our budgeted expenses already include all our top priorities.

My wife’s and my Roth account have each been fully funded with $5,500. Plus we saved $24K in taxable accounts for the quarter. This is way more than the $8K goal I’d set. Mission accomplished!

Health

Goals Exercise 2x a week (it’s not a high bar, I just have to do it).

Run one half marathon at under 2 hours and 11 minutes (this is very doable if I force myself to train just a little). Money is nice but it’s worthless if we are not healthy enough to enjoy it. I’ve been slacking in the fitness department since my first son was born. That needs to end now.

Q2 Update

I’ve been really good about getting one run in per week. To reach my second workout each week I’ve had to use some alternative forms of exercise this quarter such as holding my baby boy for long periods of time. Before you laugh, holding a squirming 19 pound baby in your arms for an hour is not as easy as it sounds. I’ll very give myself a thumbs up on this one in Q2 due to easy grading.

With winter past, the skiing and ice skating are done. But I’ve gotten serious about the running and half marathon training.

In Q1, I suffered through getting back into running shape in the cold from a fitness level of “couch.” By late May/early June, I’d hit my stride. I signed up for a September half marathon, which I believe is the hardest part of the process. Once I commit to something, I’m going to get it done.

My long runs have gotten up to 8 miles already! I may be as slow as the turtle I met on one of my runs, but I feel strong! I’m confident I’ll get to the start and the finish lines. Now, I need to improve my fitness level some more to reach my time goal.

Education

Goal I blog about personal finance, so I obviously know everything some stuff! I’m really excited to learn more. I’m planning to further my financial education this year. This is the first step toward eventually becoming a Certified Financial Planner (CFPⓇ). That goal will take a few years due to experience requirements.

Q2 Update

I finally got over the hurdle, swiped my rewards credit card and started my CFPⓇ education. It’s been really fun so far. I know, I know, I’m a dork.

Having so much on my plate, I realized I needed to prioritize my goals. After some serious thought, I’ve prioritized my education over some of my other more time constraining goals.

I started this site to help people with money. I’ll be best able to do this after finishing my education. It was only natural to make education the highest priority.

It’s been fun so far leaning the nitty gritty of financial planning. I can’t wait to share what I’m learning here in future posts.

Blogging

Goals Provide value to my readers, as measured by your feedback. If I’ve helped you in some way, please let me know. My primary blogging purpose is not the money – although making a little at some point would be a nice way to show something for my effort.

Average 10K page views per month in 2018. Create and launch bonus content for subscribers to my email list.

Grow my Twitter following to 4K subscribers. It’s currently ~1,200 as of this drafting in mid-December. My marketing via Pinterest has been, well…a #PinterestFail. I’d like to set up a marketing strategy around Pinterest and have it match or exceed the number of monthly referrals I receive from Twitter by the end of 2018. I’ve heard that it can happen!

Facebook has not really been part of my marketing strategy yet. It’s difficult to get traction to a business page without paid advertising. On the other hand, the best marketing is word of mouth. My goal is to earn 100 shares from you (my audience) on your personal or group Facebook pages. If you love, like or hate something you read here, I’d greatly appreciate you sharing it with your network. Thanks in advance. The more we talk about personal finance, the better we will get at it.

Q2 Update

Feedback and Recognition

Soon after first reading my first personal finance blog, I found Rockstar Finance. They curate the best money posts every weekday. I read the featured posts daily because I knew they are going to be good. On April 6th, my post “Does Your Car Cost You Millions” was Rockstar Featured!

I didn’t have much confidence in my writing when I first started this blog. This feature was special to me. Seeing my post on a site that I went to myself to find the best articles means I’m doing something right.

I opened up a bit on my biggest fear in the post “Is The Joy of Financial Freedom Fleeting” and it was a huge hit. It was featured by Defined Sight, Making Momentum, Thrifty Enough and in the scratch section of the Rockstar Finance email. There are some great comments in that one. I’m planning to write a take-aways post on it soon.

What you do with raises and one-off windfalls can have a huge impact on your wealth! The post “An Easy Hack To Save More Money and Become A Millionaire” shows one way to use raises to reach great wealth.

It did not go viral (yet) but I received exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for when I wrote it. Scott from Making Momentum said “I wish I could’ve seen this post when I was 20 years old.” Another reader wrote me to say “Woah, love the Jane article!! Super helpful at my stage of life.”

Traffic

(Stats per JetPack plugin)

Goal 10,000 monthly views

2017: 1,085 average monthly views

2018 Q1: 2,923 average monthly views

2018 Q2: 3,587 average monthly views

Clearly the 10K per month goal seems like a stretch right now.

At least the numbers are still going in the right direction. The Q2 traffic started with a bang in April with the Rockstar feature but fizzled out a bit afterward. I’m not super excited about the prospects of traffic growth in Q3 as I think summer is tough.

I hope I’ll get some momentum in Q4 after attending Fincon in September.

The Pinterest experiment in Q2 was a fail. I got myself set up with Board Booster but did not get any significant traffic from it. Then Board Booster shut down. I’ll give Tailwind a shot at some point but don’t have the time to dedicate right now.

I have started creating pins in Powerpoint instead of Canva. I’m more comfortable with the software and think it’s helped create better pins. Getting exposure is the hardest part of blogging so far. If you enjoy this site, please tell your friends and family about it.

My Pinterest page is here; if you’re on the platform, I’d really appreciate a follow.

I also have my own Pinterest group board (here). If you want to share personal finance pins, let me know and I’ll add you as a contributor.

Bonus Content

I finally have a bonus content idea I’m proud of. It’s currently in draft form. I’ll hopefully be able to get it live this quarter.

Twitter

Goal: 4,000 followers

December 2017 Followers: 1,200

March 2018 Followers: 1,794

June 2018 Followers: 2,355

The numbers are growing but I’m pacing behind where I need to be to reach 4,000 by year end. I’ve started to interact and follow some people outside of the personal finance space to spread my message a bit wider. I’m hoping this will help grow my follower count fast, too.

Twitter has been my primary social media platform and has worked out well so far. I tweet out a lot of great personal finance content. You won’t regret a follow.

Again, my username is @WinningPFin and you can follow me here.

Facebook

There is no other change from the Q1 update. I have no way to track my number of shares to Facebook as I can’t see who’s sharing my posts. This is a lesson in creating SMART goals and in this case, I failed. I’d still greatly appreciate you sharing any WPF content you LOVE with your personal network.

I added a Facebook like button on the side of the page (on desktop) or the bottom (on mobile). If you’re a Facebook person, like away.

If you’re interested in learning about new WPF posts via Facebook, go ahead and click the like button on the Winning Personal Finance page.

Set Up a Coaching Business

Goal

I want to offer financial life coaching by the end of 2018. As I may have mentioned just a few times, I really love helping others improve their financial lives. I believe all successful businesses are started around providing value for clients. I can do so for you. The fact that I expect to enjoy it at the same time is a bonus. It will be a win-win!

Q2 Update

I’m tabeling this goal as part of my refined focus. I can’t be a family man, student of financial planning, blogger and start a new business all at the same time. This was the obvious goal to table as it’s going to take a ton of work and I just don’t have the time. I’ll be much more qualified and prepared to be a money coach after completing my studies.

The goal will be a fail in 2018 but for all the right reasons.

Accountability

Goal I’m going to check in on these goals quarterly. There is nothing like telling millions thousands tens of people on the internet about your goals. This should be the pressure I need to stick to them.

Q2 Update

Check in number 2 complete.

I’m thrilled with the progress so far. I’ve been more focused on reaching my “life goals” this quarter than ever before. Sure, it looks like I’m going to miss a few this year. We can’t win them all. If all goes right in the second half of the year, I’ll be on my way toward living the life I’m designing.

Thank you for reading. Your support helps me more than you can imagine.

I’ll check in again in a few months! Make sure you’ve signed up for my email list below to be alerted of new posts.

How are you doing against your 2018 goals?

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