2019 Financial Goals

Image from  InspireCast. 


Not gonna lie: 2018 was an annus horribilis for me. 

Recognized that things were bad and spent early 2018 asking for help, and the rest of the year trying to get better. Partly explains why I’ve been AWOL from blogging for the latter quarter of 2018. It’s been a very busy couple of months at work. I went away for a vacation in mid- to late- December. New work schedule started. Everyone’s complaining that they haven’t even finished work from the last term and yet here we are. 

On money matters: I usually list my expenses down. I even made a Google Sheets Template dedicated to this. When I opened it to tally how much I have spent for 2018, that’s when I realized that I have stopped updating the sheet in August. August! Yikes! That actually coincides with when I upped my medication. (Still haven’t posted about this. It’s an ordeal but I’m getting better. But also, health care is expensive and my meds are ~200 a pop per day. No joke). I think I got disheartened with the amount and subconsciously stopped updating my list. 

My investment portfolio briefly touched 7 digits. Then I didn't sell anything and it got wiped out by nearly 40%. Remember kids: Never leave money on the table. That's a hard lesson learned. But also: don't panic. The stock market is bound to go back up, you just have to be really patient. 

I'm still going to be on medication for ~5-6 more months. It takes a whole chunk of change that should be going on a retirement or investment account, but if smaller savings means that I'll get better, I'll take it. 

I don’t really want to do resolutions this year, mostly because I sucked at it. My goal this year mostly the same as last year’s: save for retirement and get a clear picture of expenses/where my money goes. 

I did not invest in PERA last year, despite my January 2018 resolution. Most of what would have been my savings went to doctor fees and meds. Would love to remedy this soon, what with PERA investing via BDO is now apparently easier as an online banking option. 

Started updating my excel list of expenses as well. Will probably try to tally 1H2018 and approximate for the latter half given my half-assed list. 

The only new addition is probably this: be consistent. Not just with the money stuff but with all other kinds of behavior. I was talking with a friend who said she read somewhere that forming new habits take 21 to 28 days. It’s now January 20 and I have so far listed my day to day expenses. I know where I’m at—expenses are bigger than pay, boo! But that is due to a parent going on a trip and I had to fund the expenses. But I do plan to discuss it and ease up on other spending categories. Plus, it’s not all lost as I have some still uncashed paychecks coming my way. 

Perhaps an additional finance goal: Get busy with a side hustle opportunity that came my way last year. I haven’t maximized it yet and will hopefully get to do that this year. 

When you think about it, it wasn't really all *that* bad. Sure there were times I felt I was at an an all time low. But I spent most of 2018 trying to climb out of it. There were some successes: My strategy was to keep pitching things out into the universe. I managed to do a few things. Applied for and did not get in some other things. That's still a bummer but there will be other opportunities out there. 

That’s it. Hopefully will be more consistent with the blog posting this year. How was your financial 2018?