2014 Goals – January update of my 2014 goals

At the start of November, I posted my 2014 New Year Goals & Resolutions.

Check out my November update here.

Check out my December update here.

 

2014 Goals – December update

In summary so far:

Year to Date progress

 Goal 1 – Increase net wealth by over 56% – FAIL – 8.6% compared to 12.0% required

 Goal 2 – Positive net wealth growth 12/14 months – PASS – 3/3 months (+2.53% in Jan)

 Goal 3 – 60% net income saves 12/14 months – FAIL – 2/3 months (54¨% in Dec)

 Goal 4 – Pay £7,000 off mortgage capital – FAIL – £1460.75 compared to £1,500 required

 Goal 5 – Make £700 profit from rental property – FAIL – £15.36 compared to £150 required

 Goal 6 – Fill 2014 stocks & shares ISA – PASS – £3,000 compared to £2,520 required

 Goal 7 – Earn over £450 in dividend income – FAIL – £89.90 compared to £96.43 required

 Goal 8 – £700 profit from moneystepper – FAIL – £93.47 compared to £100 required

 Goal 9 – Save £6,000 for our wedding – PASS – £1,500 saved compared to £1,285.71 required

 Goal 10 – Do 41,600 sit-ups – FAIL – 2,400 compared to 9,129 required

 Goal 11 – Eat under 2,500 calories 365 times – FAIL – 74 days compared to 78 required

 Goal 12 – Visit 5 foreign countries – FAIL – 1 compared to 1.1 required

 

2014 Goals – Top 3 successes

These almost pick themselves given that I’m only succeeding in 3 of my 12 goals right now.

Goal 2 – Despite markets falling in the month, I was able to increase my net wealth in January. This is a key goal out of the 12 and so I am very keen to have hit a pass in the month and be ahead of schedule for the year.

Goal 6 – I was also able to put aside another £1k to top up the stock & shares ISA in April.

Goal 9 – And…another £500 saved towards the wedding. We paid a deposit to the venue, which is in line with what we had planned, so financially this is going well so far!

 

2014 goals – Top 3 Failures

A few more to choose from, but in reality most aren’t as bad as they look.

Goal 3 – I was very much on course for this goal in January, saving 65% of my income, even after booking our summer holiday and going skiing twice in January (we are now the masters of skiing on a budget)! However, I was hit with an unexpected tax bill of around €1k, which put a serious dint in the month’s savings. Oh well, these unexpected hits are why I’ve given myself the “12/14” buffer.

Goal 5 – This one is an accounting issue!! We have decided to pay down a significant chunk of the rental property mortgage because we are stuck on a very poor rate. We incurred an over-payment charge on part of the payment which I have placed against this month’s profit. Therefore, we noted quite a loss in this month, but that will increase our profit by around £200 per month going forwards and hence should help greatly towards the goal over the year.

Goal 7 – This month, I received £0 in dividend income. However, this was entirely expected as very few companies pay their dividends in January. Therefore, currently a “FAIL” but nothing to worry about.