If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that at the beginning of last month I committed to several money-related resolutions and promised to track my progress on Free Money Finance. This is my first update in the series.
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 January update:
- Net Worth -- My net worth was up 2.6% from the end of December 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. Now if things only continue this way the rest of the year, it should be a great 2006! ;-)
- 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 make some good strides in this area, selling several stocks and mutual funds as my first move towards simplifying and rebalancing my portfolio. I'm down from 63 stocks/funds to 35 -- already reaching my goal in this one area. Now I need to reinvest the cash I have from selling those investments.
- Earn Extra Income -- In addition to the blog income below (which I count but donate to charity), I got paid for a personal finance article I wrote a month or so ago. Total extra income earned this month: $1,379.
- Retirement Number -- No progress made in this area this month.
- Complete Taxes -- I collected all the needed documents through January and will plan to get everything to my accountant sometime in mid to late February.
- Get Spouse Up-to-Date on Finances -- I talked to my wife about this resolution and she's on board -- and eager to get up-to-speed.
- Sort Out College Savings -- No progress made in this area this month.
- Update Will -- No progress made in this area this month.
- Credit Check-ups -- No progress made in this area this month.
- Budgeting -- Budget was completed for the entire year.
- Insurance Inventory -- No progress made in this area this month.
- Blog Goals -- Here's where I finished January:
- 49,474 visitors -- 1,596 per day
- 110,549 pageviews -- 2.2 per visitor
- 474 comments -- 15.3 per day
- 95 trackbacks
- $1,029 Revenue (which all goes to charity)
This puts me on the high end of the goals I set for this year, but in many ways January was a particularly good month. We'll have to see if it holds up in February.
I'll be reporting on my status with these at the end of every month, so stay tuned to see how I do.
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