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2012 and 5 Year Review – So many GOOD things!

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 51 Comments

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In May, I did a 5 month update on my 2012 goals. I’ll be honest, I haven’t looked at my yearly goals since that day in May, so I’m a little afraid of how this post is going to look.

Yes, there are still a couple of days left in 2012, but I’m pretty positive that I’m probably not making headway on any of my goals in the last couple of days of 2012. I also plan on making a 2012 blog review soon, so be on the look out for that 🙂

I would say 2012 was a great year and a lot changed in my life. I went on several really great trips. Kauai, Las Vegas, St. Thomas and St. John. I very much LOVE a good vacation, who doesn’t?

I also substantially increased our income and we have lowered our budget as much as we would like to (got rid of things that we thought were unnecessary) and now our expenses and debt payments are only around 30% of our total take home monthly pay. That is quite far from where we’ve come. When I first started this blog around 1.5 years ago, we were definitely not the strongest financially that we could have been.

My extra income is to the point where I could live off of it, however the instability is what scares me. I do enjoy my job, so of course I will keep it. I do plan on making a full detailed post on this soon. If you have made the jump to self-employment, what made you switch? Would you go back to the way things were before?

I finally figured out a lot of things in my life, and thanks to all of you I realized that I need to start living my own life. My sister moved into my house as well and I love having her more in my life.

I was also asked to be a bridesmaid in two of my good friend’s weddings, I also got engaged, and they’ll be in mine as well. Here’s to all of 2013 to wedding planning! 🙂 And if you already follow my personal Pinterest account, then I am deeply sorry for all of the wedding pins that I have pinned already.

Here are my 2012 goals:

  1. Get toned. FAIL. I got rid of my gym membership in order to save money. We are possibly going to buy some items for a home gym soon. Anything that we should keep in mind when doing this? How much did you spend on your treadmill? I’ve been seeing some pretty low prices of $500 and didn’t know if that was too cheap?
  2. Have a great year at work. PASS. It’s been a great year at my work. Love my job and everything that it brings.
  3. Get my MBA. PASS. Finished my Finance MBA in August of 2012 🙂
  4. Pay off my car by March 2012. PASS. Paid off our original car loan but we now have another car loan. HOWEVER, we only got a loan on the new Jeep because the interest rate was insanely low and we would rather save and invest our car money instead.
  5. Decrease my student loans to $20,000. PASS. I’ve been doing pretty well on my $38,000 loan payoff plan.
  6. Save around $4,500 for vacations. PASS. Went on a lot of great vacations as said above!
  7. Make $10,000 in side income.  PASS PASS PASS. I have been linking to my monthly extra income posts under my extra income tab above. So far this year I have made approximately $23,000 in extra income from my side jobs and next year I’m hoping for an even higher number. It’s interesting to think that in the beginning of 2012, I thought this was near impossible.
  8. Grow my blog. PASS. What I wrote in May is almost funny. I never thought that I would honestly come as far as I have, and I’m looking forward to making my 2012 blog review post live.
  9. Volunteer twice a month. FAIL. Haven’t volunteered at all…
  10. Increase my net worth to $85,000.  Not sure yet. I’m definitely doing better than what I was at (I believe I was at a positive net worth of around $70,000 in the beginning of this year. I have increased my income substantially and will do a 2013 net worth update within the next week or so.
  11. Keep track of my goals.  FAIL. This is always something that I’m bad with. I haven’t looked at my goals since May as I said earlier!

 

Here’s my 5-year plan (from my 5-year plan blog post):

2013
  • Pay off student loans completely. ON TRACK. Still on track for these to be completely gone by the end of March or April.
  • Start aggressively paying off mortgage. This has been put on HOLD. We have decided that we want to buy our next house sometime in 2014. We still like the house that we are in, but we want something with a bigger yard.
  • Add a bathroom to the basement. This has been put on HOLD. See above.
  • Add a bar area to the basement. See above…
  • SAVE like crazy for a house down payment. We really want to sell our current house and move into a bigger house. This will require us to save as much as we possibly can because I would preferably want to pay around 30% to 50% of the total home value.

 

2014 – 2016
  • Have our house at least 50% to 75% paid off. 
  • Our new goal will be to buy a new house and pay around 50% on it.
  • Get married! We plan on probably getting married in May of 2014. We wanted it sooner but some things came up (as talked about on Twitter last week) but we are happy with waiting 1.5 years.

 

Somewhere in these 5 years, I would also like to:
  • Go on a month long vacation. We have talked about possible taking a long honeymoon (maybe 3 weeks or something). Not sure where to, but we are definitely looking forward to this.
  • Go on a long hiking trip. This is definitely still high on my goals. Maybe one day! Have any of you ever done this?
  • Probably start thinking about a baby eventually. This is new to the list. We will be 28 in 5 years, so I guess a baby should be thought about haha. We want kids around the age of 30, but haven’t really thought about it too much. So no worries, no baby posts from me anytime soon 🙂

 

Do you have a 5 year plan? What are your goals?

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  4. DC@Young Adult Money says

    Our basement used to be a salon at least a section of it did, the other half a rental apartment…it's a fun/interesting house 🙂 so we would like to add a wet bar, but I don't know if we'll ever get around to it. It might just make sense to rip out the vanity and close off the plumbing for now…

    Anyway it sounds like you had a big year. 2011 was more eventful for me, but I did buy a house this year, started a blog, and have really developed skills related to my career, so I guess it's been fairly eventful.

    I think you should just stick to working the full-time job and enjoy the benefits of having the additional side income. Unless the side income is taking up 100% of your free time and straining your relationships, I think you should just continue as you have been. I know Peter Anderson from Bible Money Matters essentially has a full-time job plus a second "full-time" income from his site and side income, and it seems to be working out well for him.

    Reply

  7. Ashlee says

    As always, I love reading your updates! I definitely see your blog growing and making tons more money for 2013. It makes me sad/determined to see that you're making on your blog what I nearly make in a year at my job. Should this put a fire under my tail? I think so!!! 🙂

    Reply

  8. jolie says

    Wow you have definitely thought things through. It sounds like there was so much good that came out of 2012 for you. I hope 2013 has even more positive experiences. My long term goals are to figure out how to be an empty nester while getting them through college.
    My recent post Christmas Eve

    Reply

  9. Budget & the Beach says

    Wow what a year you've had. If I wasn't totally happy for you I'd be insanely jealous! 🙂 I don't have a five year plan. Somewhere in my 30's I realized that kind of thinking wasn't for me, because it's unbelievable how things change, so now I just have an abstract vision. Mostly that vision involves being happy, healthy, financially secure, and having fun. 🙂
    My recent post Looking Back, Looking Forward Part 3

    Reply

  10. Stephanie says

    I think you've made a crazy amount of progress Michelle! I'm jealous of all you accomplished in 1 year! I hope 2013 is just as wonderful for you. Even better, with all the weddings 😉
    My recent post Hey, It's Ok

    Reply

  14. Caesar F says

    Good job. If you still want to get toned, look into those home workout programs. I find them very beneficial as the pool I go to closes once I'm out of work so I just go home and do the workouts at anytime during the night.

    Reply

  15. Brian says

    Great job on hitting most of your goals! Congrats on getting engaged and also there is nothing wrong with a long engagement, it provides plenty of flexibility!

    Reply

  17. Living Debt Free Rocks! says

    You've had a great year and 2013 looks even more promising. It's is important to look forward into the future and strive to accomplish your goals even if the timelines aren't exactly firm.
    My recent post Sunday High Fives!

    Reply

  18. laura / NMS says

    I LOVE having a 5 year plan – it keeps me so focused!

    You should be very proud of your progress in 2012 MIchelle – it's amazing! Well done I'm so pleased for you 🙂

    Reply

  19. Lena says

    Looks like you did pretty good on your goals this year! As much as I love planning everything in my life, it kind of scares me to plan ahead 5 years. I guess because things always change:) A year seems long enough 🙂

    Reply

  22. lesley says

    Awesome! I'm so jealous, to say the least. I am drowning in school debt and it kills me, but I don't have the extra money to put forth into extra payments. I think a hop over the river is in store so you can give me the skills. Just think how your life will be in just a couple of years if you keep paying like this. Way to go (:
    My recent post such a busy, busy time.

    Reply

  25. Liquid says

    Looks like you've got so much done this year. I think you will make over $35,000 from side income in 2013 😀 My 5 year plan is to make at least $25,000 a year more than now and have a million dollars worth of assets. Looking forward to your net worth update :0)

    Reply

  26. Brick By Brick says

    The jump to self employment scares me as well. I have had a job my entire life and I know that one bad investment, change in internet policy, or tax reform could shake my income made online. I look forward to following you in 2013 especially if you decide to make this jump!
    My recent post How I Invest In Municipal Bonds

    Reply

  27. Financial Independence says

    I think the results are truly amazing – you are putting away 70% of income, while traveling to St. Thomas!

    It is truly amazing year for you. Congrats!

    Reply

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