A Reflection On 2018

So, another year is over. And what a year it has been! The main change for us this year has been adapting to being a family of four, as Frugal Baby arrived at the end of 2017. Both boys have changed so much in 12 months and it’s lovely to see the bond between them growing. We’re still working on the sharing toys bit, but they genuinely adore each other.

 

For the first half of the year I was on maternity leave, spending time with the baby and the sleepless nights that it entails. I also had to find a way to balance even more things, which I’ll admit I struggled with. There never seems to be quite enough time for anything! I guess that is what happens when you have two young children!

 

Blog wise, it’s been a bit hit and miss. I haven’t been able to dedicate as much time to it as I’d like. I am proud of the fact that I have continued to post and to build this little community around me. I have some more ideas to implement during 2019 but I do have to work out how to manage my time better.

 

At the start of the year, I made some goals for us to achieve by the end of the 2018. I like to make both monthly and yearly goals, to keep us focused and motivated throughout the year. I have to say, as yearly goals go for me, I haven’t done as well as I would have hoped to have done. However, we are in a very different situation by the end of the year than we were at the start, so I am staying optimistic. Plus, it has been a big change this year so hopefully we’ll be back on track next year 🙂

 

My Financial Goals for 2018 were:

– Put £10,000 into savings

– Overpay our mortgage by £1,000

– Have 200 NSDs throughout the year

– Earn £3,000 in side income

– Receive £800 in dividend payments.

 

For someone who talks about budgeting and saving money for early retirement, I am really struggling to meet my savings target each month/year. This year is no different! I really need to look at increasing our income next year so that I can put more into savings. It really is tough at times to balance the book, as you will see. In 2018, I have managed to save £7,684.02 which is quite a way off my goal! But, as I continue to invest and build my passive income, that total should increase year on year. I am trying to stay hopeful about this. It can be a bit disheartening at times but I will plod along.

 

Being mortgage free is part of our bigger plans and a few months ago we changed our plans when it comes to mortgage overpayments. We had just been doing small amounts but we have changed to making slightly larger overpayments. Even so, I haven’t met this aim! I have overpaid £931.37 this year which is just short of my aim.

 

I know I go on about how NSDs are really key to us keeping to our budget, but I really like the idea and find them really helpful in focusing on not spending money. I thought 200 NSDs might be tricky to meet and I was right. I am struggling more and more to get NSDs during the week. I seem to have fallen off the NSD wagon! In 2018, I have managed 188 so nowhere near. I run a Facebook group about having a No Spend Month so hopefully this number will increase overall in 2019. I am determined to get better at this!

 

This online income goal was very optimistic, as I didn’t have any concrete plan as to how I was going to earn money online at the start of the year. It is still hit and miss, and I am planning on working on this next year. There doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day! In 2018, I have earned online, before taxes, £1,976.13 which I’m pleased about. I’ll be honest, I wish it was more but I have done very little to actively seek out paid work online. Again, this is a time management thing.

 

At the start of the year when I wrote these goals, £800 in dividend income seemed like a lot! After all, this is only my third full year of investing [I started in November 2015] so I wasn’t expecting much. And, at the point of writing, I can’t actually say how much I’ve received as I should get some more later on today. I will update this evening. I’m hoping to just get to the £800 mark. I’ve got a more detailed post coming up about this next week but I can honestly say I’m so glad I started investing for dividend income.

 

My Personal goals for 2018 were:

– Start a capsule wardrobe

– Set up a bullet journal + use it

– Get back to my pre-pregnancy weight

– Be more kind to myself

– Stop worrying about things I can’t change and focus on the ones I can.

 

I have got a capsule wardrobe now, so to speak. Back in June I made the conscious decision to get rid of most of my clothes and felt so much better for it. There were clothes I was storing that hadn’t been worn for years, and ones which I would clearly no longer fit into. Why was I keeping them!? So, all gone and all the better for it.

 

I had very good intentions about setting up a bullet journal. But, in all honesty, it didn’t work for me. I didn’t have anything to write in the daily parts, plus I didn’t really have the creativity to make it look pretty, which is why I wanted one in the first place! This is something I shall continue to like the look of, but not continue myself. Instead, I designed myself my own budget planner which has worked so much better.

 

Ah, the old pre-pregnancy weight. I have not got back to this. Far from it. Moving on….

 

The last two personal aims are something I’m continuously working on and I believe that I have got better at this during the year. Being responsible for two children is definitely  an interesting challenge,  However, with that responsibly comes more worry. Stopping worrying about every little detail has proved hard so I’m still working on that.

 

My business goals for 2018 were:

– do a rebrand shift of The Frugal Cottage

– Aim for 40k – 50k page views a month

– Grow my Twitter followers to 4,000

– Grow my Facebook likes to 1,000

– Grow my Instagram followers to 1,500

– Grow my Pinterest followers to 1,000

– sort out email subscriber

– start a newsletter

 

I have done a rebrand, complete with a new site design which I love! I spent quite a lot of money getting a custom design made but I feel it looks so much better 🙂 I do not get 40k views a month, but I am working on it. This is definitely something I want to hit next year! My social media follows are:

Twitter – 2739 – fail!

Facebook – 1,607 – pass!

Instagram – 1,215 – fail!

Pinterest – 1,010 – pass!

 

I am not the best when it comes to social media, clearly. I need to work on this in 2019 if I want to continue to grow my audience, my brand, and ultimately help people. That’s why I’m doing all of this 🙂 And I haven’t sorted our my email subscribers nor started a newsletter. Something else to add to the 2019 list of things to do 🙂

 

I feel like 2018 has been quite hit and miss in terms of the goals I set at the beginning of the year. At least I’m trying! I’m looking forward to (hopefully) finding a better balance in 2019 and using my time more effectively. Even trying to do something blog related every day, consistently, will help over time.

 

Finally, thank you for every page view, every comment and every follow this year. I continue to be amazed and humbled by the support I get and the people I get to talk to. Here’s to much more of that in 2019!

 

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