Happy New Year Debt Free Climbers!
I have officially been blogging for three full months, and I am still thrilled with my decision to start DebtFreeClimb. I have a lot of things to learn and improve upon in 2017, but I am super excited to continue to develop myself and accomplish my goals this year.
The reason I publish my goals is mainly for accountability and a way for people to follow my journey. In 2016, I wrote a goals post each month since October. (Check them out if you’re interested)
For 2017, instead of keeping up with monthly goal post I decided to share my Quarterly Goals. I like the idea of keeping my goals relatively short term, but I also don’t want to flood everyone with a goal post each month. I will report back with my Q1 results and Q2 Goals in April!
2017 Goals Categories
I have broken out my 2017 goals into four categories:
- Financial Goals
- Education / Training Goals
- Health Goals
- DebtFreeClimb Website Goals
I feel like each of these goal categories feeds off of each other, and when I make improvements or reach individual goals, it will positively affect my progress towards other goals as well.
Q1 Financial Goals
1. Pay Off my Student Loans
I was pleased that I paid off over $18,600 in my Student Loan Debt in 2016. I currently have a $5.88k remaining balance as of 1/1/2017 @ 3.15% interest (Graduated with over $55k in Student Loan debt).
With a boost from my tax return in February, and a probable bonus from work at the end of March, I am optimistic I can make my final debt payment by March 30th.
2. Make $750 additional Income
Anything extra to my paycheck from work.
If you have read my 2016 Spending Recap, I mentioned one of my primary goals in 2017 is to increase my income. I felt like I made some great strides in reducing my spending but earning extra income was one of my major pain points in 2016. I spent some time trying to figure out the best way to make extra money rather than taking action and doing it. The goal this year is to take action!
3. Increase Automatic Savings Goals
In my Simple Tips to Automate your Finances post I mentioned that I used a high-interest savings account with Capital One 360 Savings* (sign up and get $25 free) and have set up automatic transfers to ensure I meet my savings goals. For Q1 I’m planning on adding a few new savings goals and automatic transfers. 1. New Tires Fund 2. DebtFreeClimb Fund (money to improve the site) 3. Financial Conferences Fund
Q1 Education Goals
1. Read 5 New Books
I am currently reading “Smarter, Fast, Better” by Charles Duhigg via Overdrive. Free with my Library card, see my 8 Reasons to Spend More Time at the Library post for more details.
2. 3 New Video Courses
Udemy or paid Courses on blogging, money, marketing, or SEO
Q1 Health Goals
1. Morning Routine
Stick with my morning routine for three months. Wake Up at 6 am (M-F), Drink a pint of cold water, meditate with Muse (lookout for my accountability tweets @debtfreeclimb), workout, listen to an audiobook while workout, eat breakfast.
2. Keep up with 5X5 Workout Program
Document results in workout journal and improve (workout 5x per week).
3. Meal Prep Weekly (Use Crock Pot more than 2x per month)
Q1 Website Goals
1. 35 New Email Subscribers
I want to keep engagement high and continue to provide value to new subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed already, be sure to Subscribe and check out my “Control Your Debt” PDF.
2. Provide Valuable Content
Quality over Quantity. Five valuable post per month is my goal.
3. Increase Twitter and Pinterest Engagement
200 New Twitter Followers and a new Pinterest graphic for every new post
4. Create Facebook Page
5. Increase Blog Commenting Engagement
Questions for you.
How do you goal set?
What are your primary goals for 2017?
Gary is the author behind Debt Free Climb, a blog that shows how to live intentionally, pay off their debt, build a side income, and travel the world
Gary's favorite free financial tool he’s been using since 2017 to manage his net worth is Personal Capital. Each month he uses their free Investment Checkup tool and Retirement Planner to track his investments.
His favorite way to save automatically is Capital One Performance Saving, a bank that allows him to create multiple high-interest savings accounts and create an automatic savings plans for each account. He uses these features to meet short and long term savings goals.
His favorite way to save money on car insurance is by using Root, an app-based car insurance service. He saved $240 this year after switching from Geico to Root
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