New Year's Money Resolutions Update through March 2006

At the beginning of the year I committed to several money-related resolutions and promised to track my progress on Free Money Finance. So far, I've posted updates at the end of the following months:

• January 2006
• February 2006

This is my update for the month ending March 2006.

Since I have several resolutions, not every one will need action every month. However, I plan to mention each one every month just to remind myself and all of you what I'm planning to accomplish this year.

Let's get started. Here's my March update:

• Net Worth -- My net worth was up 4.37% from the end of December (on pace to be up 17.5% this year) and 1.03% from last month due primarily to good performance in the stock market. However it did benefit from my regular savings efforts as well as contributions to my 401k as will be the case all year.
• Giving -- We continued our giving to several projects this month per our budget.
• Fully Fund 401k -- It happens automatically every month!
• Investment Review -- I did move some money into IRAs this month, though I haven't changed any of my investments.
• Earn Extra Income -- In addition to the blog income (which I count but donate to charity), I got paid for an article and a speaking engagement. Blog revenue was especially high since I had a couple long-term sponsors join the blog and they committed to multi-month agreements. I don't expect this to happen every month. Total extra income earned this month: $4,061 Total for the year: $7,027.
• Retirement Number -- No progress made in this area this month.
• Complete Taxes -- My taxes were completed and filed electronically. I also traded some emails with my CPA and got some tax guidance that I'll apply this year.
• Get Spouse Up-to-Date on Finances -- No progress made in this area this month.
• Sort Out College Savings -- No progress made in this area this month.
• Update Will -- I have two recommended lawyers (from friends) now. I hope to meet with one of them this next month.
• Credit Check-ups -- No progress made in this area this month.
• Budgeting -- Nothing required until July.
• Insurance Inventory -- Planning on doing this in the summer.
• Blog Goals -- My stats continue to put me mostly on the high end of the goals I set for this year. Stats were up in almost every case. It was my highest traffic, pageviews, comments, and revenue month ever for this blog. Trackbacks were even with last month, but below January. What's amazing about these numbers is that they've been accomplished while I've been cutting back on posts. In January, I averaged 7.42 posts per day, in February 6.61 posts per day, and in March 6.06 posts per day. Maybe the less people hear from me, the more they visit the site. ;-)

I'll be reporting on my status with these at the end of every month, so stay tuned to see how I do. However, I will be moving to an abbreviated version of this post -- one that focuses on my commentary more than anything else.

Comments

[Blaine Moore (Run to Win)]

I rather like the format it is in now. This isn't to say I won't also like the new format you choose next month, but this one does well for me.

As for increased participation w/decreased post count, that seems to be fairly standard when you are a site that normally pumps out 5-10 posts per day. Darren Rowse at Problogger.net experienced that after his huge posting rush last August ended.

People don't have time to digest what you are writing if you put out too much all at once.

[FMF]

Anyone else out there like this post format/topic? If so, I'll keep it. If you're not interested in it though, just say so. My sense is that it's "ok" but maybe not something most of you are interested in.

[randall]

I am interested and like the format .... it reminds me of some similar items I need to do and is a reminder that time is passing .... seeing the updates reminds me I need to do some things.