Fourth Quarter Update

 
At the beginning of 2018, I set some goals for myself.  Let's see how I did.

1. Add $10,500 to retirement savings with the goal of having $35,000 saved for retirement by the end of the year.  $5,500 will go into my roth ira and $5,000 will go into a taxable account. Come on stock market growth and no recession! Last year I contributed $9,500 so this will be an  increase of $1,000.  PASS.  I contributed $10,760 total.  My balance did not reach $35,000, due to the uncooperative stock market. 

2.Increase EF to $18,500. PASSISH.  My E-Fund ended the year with a total of $17,916

3. Pay an extra $290/month toward principal on the mortgage.  My easily reachable goal is to have the mortgage paid down to $200,000 by the end of the year.  The ultimate goal is to have the balance paid down to $197,500 by the end of the year so that the PMI will drop off the mortgage. PASS!  I actually added about $400 extra to the mortgage for several months.  The mortgage ended the year at $198,399.  My PMI will drop off when the balance reaches $192,600. 

4. Save an additional $5,000 for my car replacement fund with the goal of having $10,000 in my car replacement fund by the end of the year.  I will be aiming to purchase a new car in 2019.  I hope with a trade in and any money saved in 2019 to have $20,000 to put down for a new car. FAIL. My car replacement fund is at $8,947.  I only added $3,750 to the fund. 


5.  Read 15 books. FAIL- I only read 7 books in 2018. 

6. Lose 20lbs. I plan to try to lose about 3lbs a month which should place me at 36lbs for the year.  However, I know I struggle with weight loss so I think 20lbs is a good goal.  I also want to commit to exercising 30 minutes a day for 4 days a week and eating more vegetables.  FAIL- I exercised more than I thought I would, but I did not lose 20lbs.  Gotta do better this year. 

7. Donate $300 to charity.  This is up $100 from last year, I hope to be able to donate more than $300, but let's see how the year rolls.  I plan to increase this amount each year. PASS.  I donated $338 to charity this year.  I also donated 2 bags full of clothes. 

8. Build medical fund up to $1,000. FAIL- this worked as a sinking fund.  I put the funds in and pulled them out as I needed them. 

9. Continue to build car repair fund up to $1,000. FAIL-this also worked as a sinking fund.  I put the funds in and pulled them out as needed.

10. Get more life insurance. FAIL- I need to lose weight first.

11.  Try to figure out a happy medium for the travel reimbursement fight.  I want them reimbursed in 30 days and the firm will wait 60 -90 days to reimburse me.  I think I will argue for 45 day reimbursement and all outstanding travel vouchers to be paid at year end.   FAIL. 
 
12. Find a new primary care doctor and receive treatment for anxiety and depression. FAIL.

13. Make a decision about my career and job. FAIL- but I did get a raise. 
 
14. Try something new (or outside of my comfort zone) each month (restaurant, activity or social event). PASSISH- I tried a lot of new things last year.  New cities, new restaurants and met new people. 

15. Increase net worth by $25,000. Not sure yet.  I haven't run the numbers for my net worth yet.