Well, here it is! The last day of 2019. So it seems only right to do a reflection on the year as a whole. It’s been quite a strange year, in some ways. 2019 saw us just navigate the world as a family of four. It saw our eldest start primary school and the youngest one develop the cheekiest of characters. It’s lovely to watch them grow. Such a privilege 🙂
Personal life wise, it’s just been a year of plodding. Mental health has played a part this year and I want to focus more on taking care of myself in 2020. More of that will be explained in tomorrow’s post. But, it has had an impact in all areas of my life. Even when I’ve tried to not let it! Not so easy, it would seem. We have also had a big change in our home as we took on an extension build this year which saw a big addition to our family home. Incredibly stressful during the time but it’s been wonderful once finished.
Blog wise, the first six months of the year went well. I was featured on BBC Stories which was great for spreading the message and getting people to know our story. I have also done more press work and radio work. I really enjoy being able to speak in person about our early retirement dream and it’s great when people are positive in response. The second half of the year I have struggled more so it has had an impact on my blog and related social networking. But, I’m hoping to find a better balance in 2020.
At the start of the year, I made some goals for us to achieve by the end of the 2019. 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. But, some of them have gone really well so I shouldn’t complain!
My Financial Goals for 2019 were:
– Put £8,000 into savings
– Overpay our mortgage by £2,200
– Have 220 NSDs throughout the year
– Earn £3,000 in side income
– Receive £1,000 in dividend payments.
So, firstly, savings. I thought I would manage this in 2019 but with the building work costing more than we had projected, our savings rate had to take a hit. Not by much, but still this had an overall impact. I have managed to transfer £6,482.44 into our investment account. So, quite a bit from what I had planned! Trying to not feel disappointed in that number as it’s still a good amount. However, will work to do in this area.
Mortgage overpayments have gone well this year. I keep toying over these. However, as of the end of the year I have overpaid our mortgage by £3,011.66 🙂
I have been quite vocal this year about how much I have struggled with NSDs! For someone who likes them and feels that they have a positive impact on budget, it hasn’t gone to plan. I have managed 197 NSDs in 2019. So again, far from target!
When I set my side income goal at the start of the year, I had no real plans as to how I was going to do it. Nothing is consistent in terms of online income and that still is the case. However, I have managed to earn £3,624.31 in online income this year…! This is before tax so I have saved 35% of this for my tax next year. However, I am so pleased with this 🙂 It would be great if it was consistent each month and higher but I cannot be disappointed in this one.
Finally, my dividend income goal. This one seemed like quite a stretch. But, at the time of writing, I cannot update this! It’s because I have some payments due on the last day of the year so that haven’t actually arrived into my account yet. So, I will update this as soon as I know. Keep your fingers crossed!
My Personal goals for 2019 were:
– Establish a better night time routine
– Spend some time just for myself, to relax.
– 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.
Relaxing and a good night time routine go hand in hand for me. If I get to bed at a reasonable time and can relax and read before bed, I feel so much better. I am trying to work on this and am definitely much better than at the start of the year. Sometimes, you just have to go to bed early! This still needs work but I feel positive about this. My weight is nowhere near my pre-pregnancy weight. This is something I need to look at as it’s starting to be unhealthy. This inks directly into my mental health. And the last two are always going to be ongoing goals.
My business goals for 2018 were:
– Aim for 40k – 50k page views a month
– Grow my Twitter followers to 4,000
– Grow my Facebook likes to 3,000
– Grow my Instagram followers to 3,000
– Grow my Pinterest followers to 3,000
– sort out email subscribers
– start a newsletter
Ah, good old page views. I am not at this yet – I intend to be there by the end of 2020 🙂 my Twitter following currently stands at 3,125 followers. This doesn’t tend to grow very fast but plods along. I probably don’t do enough on the platform for it to grow either. Facebook stands at 2,210 likes, so again nowhere near! Instagram has just hit 4,000 – yay! – so definitely hit this aim. Instagram is my favourite social media platform. Pinterest is so hit and miss for me now – I thought I’d got the hang of it earlier on in the year but it’s plummeted again to hardly any views so who knows. I have 1,349 followers on there. The one thing I didn’t write about at the start of the year was growing a YouTube channel as it just wasn’t a goal at all. But, I started one at the end of March and currently have 511 subscribers on there 🙂 I have BIG plans for that channel during 2020, so watch this space. And finally, I have sorted out my email subscribers and send a newsletter out on a Friday (occasionally).
So yes, I feel like 2019 has been very hit and miss in terms of reaching the goals I set myself. Reflecting back, it’s been an interesting year. I have found it incredibly tough at times and I think that reflects in the overall picture. Still, there are lots of positives and it’s better than if I wasn’t trying at all! I have bought myself a new planner to manage my time better in 2020, as I think that will help. I need to find that balance, somehow.
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 2020!
Follow me on:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Pinterest
Hi, I’ve been following you for a few months and love what you do, you introduced me to the folder and wallets which I now have, I’m considering investing and I now budget so whilst you may not have hit some targets you have made an impact which is the invisible target of quality over quantity, thank you for all the you tube videos, those I really get something from, happy new year and I hope you have a great 2020, Helen
What a lovely comment Helen, thank you 🙂 here’s to 2020 being great for both of us!
Be kind to yourself, enjoy life and your growing family. No matter how much, your do, time cannot be bought. You do well, we can all do better, but we are all walking in the right direction ( most of the time). Life is a one way ticket, not a rehearsal. I love your blogs, they are honest, 2020 will be a plan in progress
What a lovely comment – thank you.
I have spent a lot of time in schools, and I often think in percentages and grades as a result. So to me your progress sounds pretty solid. For example, NSDs: if you think of that as a class with a tough teacher and challenging curriculum, I would feel so proud to have achieved an 89.5%! Best of luck for a 2020 full of good health and happiness. – Abe
I love this idea of thinking! I might do that next time 🙂 and thank you – same to you.