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

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

Now it’s time for my quarterly check in. I’m hoping these check ins provide the kick in the rear I need to accomplish each goal.

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.

Q1 Update

Overall, I think I’ve done a good job at the family time thing. The effort was aided by using my last three weeks of paternity time and some vacation days during the quarter.

Beyond my travel hacked no kids ski trip to Utah, we took two family ski trips to Vermont. One turned out to be a little hectic due to some logistical issues but the other was fantastic. There is nothing like participating in your favorite activity with the people you love the most.

Skiing off the “big chairlift” and even through the woods with my three-year-old son is something I’ll never forget.

I still need to do a better job about putting the phone away in the short time between getting home from work and putting the kids to sleep. I’ve started to shut it off and/or put it in a different room when I get home. Let’s see if that helps.

My wife and I also have to start planning date nights a little more. We’re lucky to have a two pairs of grandparents to potentially babysit for us. Doing some advanced planning to get that night out should really pay off for our relationship.

I’d also like to start having more “board game nights” at home. We both love them but our default after a long day is to end up on the couch watching TV for a bit before bed. Maybe I should have cut the cord after all. Games are much more fun, but take more effort to get started.

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 (the IRS reduced the limit) $6,850.

Max out a Roth IRA for Mrs. WPF and I for $5,500 each / $11,000 total.

These accounts are fantastic wealth building tools as they help minimize your tax bill and keep money in your pocket.

Save $8K in taxable accounts.

Just because I’ve maxed out the tax advantaged accounts doesn’t mean I should stop saving. While the money in a taxable account does not receive tax benefits, I can easily access it any time. That flexibility has real value.

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.

Q1 Update

I’ve contributed $4,796 to my 401(k) and $1,725 to my HSA so far in 2018, and am on track to achieve both goals.

I’ve made no progress on the Roth or taxable contributions. This lack of progress is in line with my plan as these are expected to be funded with raises, bonuses and tax returns that have not been earned/received yet.

I’m awfully glad I don’t have a net worth goal. While I always have access to my net worth in a financial app, I only update my spreadsheet twice a year and really take a look at it. Any more often would drive me bonkers, especially with the roller coaster the market’s been lately. I’m playing the long game and short-term fluctuations to my net worth are largely meaningless.

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.

Q1 Update

By my count (which is the only one that matters), I exercised 2X a week in every week but one (when I was sick). I took the easy way out though. In early January, I started running which is damn hard in the cold when starting from fitness level “couch.”

I took the photo above on one of my daily runs in the rain in January. Sometimes we forget how beautiful the world is when we stay indoors.

Then I replaced that exercise with some ice skating and downhill skiing which are much easier for me. In fact, I skied 18 days between January and March. Not bad considering that every one of those days (except one) required an overnight stay. Now that the snow has mostly melted and I’ve used most of my paid time off, I’m going to have to get back on the horse with running.

Speaking of which, this reminds me to sign up for that half marathon. Nothing like a quarterly revisitiation of goals to get you back on track. I’m a firm believer that the hardest part to running a half marathon is signing up for the race. Once you’ve signed up, the race will scare you into training for it. I’ll report back next quarter once I’ve picked a race. Do you have any suggestions for a good one in the NY, NJ, PA area?

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. For reference, December 2017 was by far my best month. I came in under 2.7K, still a long way to go, but something I think is attainable.

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.

Q1 Update

Feedback and Recognition

I received a wonderful email from a reader about my post “Does Your Car Cost You Millions” saying that it was “eye opening.” Since the exact point of that post was a wake up call, I’ll call that a huge win.

My post “Back Off, I’ll Mind My Own Savings Rate” was featured by Camp Fire Finance. It was also featured in Retire Japan, I never expected to be featured on the other side of the world. The same post was also featured in the scratch section of daily email by Rockstar Finance. It was my fourth time being featured in the Rockstar email but I’ve still fallen short of my goal to earn a front page feature. (Editor’s note that this was drafted as of the end of Q1 2018, the status of earning a Rockstar feature may have changed in Q2!!!)

My post “Less Stress and More Happiness” also made it to the round of 32 in the Rockstar Rumble, a contest to find the best money post of 2017. Thank you all again for your votes!

I’ve had two posts “Should You Pay Off Debt or Invest? (It’s Obvious)” and “Pay Off Debt Or Invest (Interview 1)” featured in the “Posts I like sidebar” by Early Retirement Now. I’m totally honored by these as I have a huge amount of respect for Karsten and his writing.

With all this said, I’d still like to provide way more value to my readers. That’s what the site is all about after all. I get much of my blogging “work” done during my commute and missing the time away from my “train office” in Q1 slowed me down.

Traffic

My blog traffic has been hovering around 3K monthly page views in Q1. That’s a long way from the 10K goal so I have some work to do.

January showed some great growth and had been my 7th consecutive best month. I was disappointed to have actually taken a step backward in February and March.

I’m going to be spending April trying to up my Pinterest game and hopefully build some traffic. Gaining readers is hard. If you enjoy this site, please (I beg you), tell your friends 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 have not gotten around to adding bonus content for my subscribers. This is a big miss so far. If you have any ideas for something extra I can provide for you, I’m all ears.

Twitter

As of this draft, I have 1,794 Twitter followers. A long way from the goal of 4K. I’m happy with the steady growth since the 1,200 at the last check in.

I also have not used any crazy tactics for this. All the growth has been organic. Twitter has been my primary marketing 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

I have had a little traffic come from Facebook. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have any way to track my number of shares goal as I can’t see who’s sharing my posts. This is a lesson in creating SMART goals and in this case, I failed.

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!

Q1 Update

My progress in this area has been mostly networking. I’ve joined a few online groups specializing in this area. I’ve also met with a couple of people locally that have followed a similar path. I have not made any huge progress yet but I’m certainly taking baby steps.

If you would like to be the first to know when I start coaching, send me a note through my contact page or sign up here:

Signing up for this list will give you the first opportunity to fill one of my limited coaching spaces. It’s separate from my email list and will only be used for coaching opportunities. Getting on this list will give you an exclusive opportunity to sign up at the lowest price once I launch. No commitment is required.

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.

Q1 Update

No Progress has been made just yet. I’m still trying to sort through my coursework options.

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.

Q1 Update

Check in number 1 complete.

I’m somewhat pleased with the progress so far. I’m most concerned about meeting my blog traffic goal. Thank you for reading and helping me along with that one.

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

How are you doing against your 2018 goals?

Winning Personal Finance is here to help you make profitable and efficient financial decisions, accomplish your goals and live your dreams. Subscribe and never miss a new post: First Name (or Nickname) Email address: Will never send you spam. I promise 😉 Unsubscribe at any time. Leave this field empty if you're human: