On January 1st, I set a number of financial goals, and will update every couple of months through the year. Here is the third review. You can check the January-February one here and March-April there May-June there July – August there
The main financial goal was to grow my net worth by 30%. After spending over $40K in house renovations and the land development so far, I have not updated any of those assets’ value. As I explained from my hotel investment gone wrong, until someone is ready to pay for your house what you think it is worth, the return is not certain. I had not updated the potential returns on that investment either, so no NW drop. Since January, I am up 15.8%. Looks like it is a FAIL for this year. However, I also omitted the value of my three websites. Meaning the cash I just paid to buy my last website is gone from my NW, and I believe all three have an intrinsic value since they are generating $3,000+ a month.
Following a house’s 1% rule, my sites would be worth $300,000 🙂 The online world does not work that way unfortunately, but even at 12 months of income my sites would be worth around $30,000. My motorcycle and car are also excluded. So we are close to $100K not updated which would have made it a bit less of a fail.
I expected most of the growth to come on the second half of the year via selling some plots on my 90 acres land, but things took more time than expected.
Second financial goal was to pay $25,000 of debt that was used to finance several investments over the past years. I have paid $9,500 to close a loan in January , $7,700 on a 0% CC in June, wiped a $3,000 card balance at 0% in December, and kept paying the usual $750 in capital each month, for a total of $29,200, that is a PASS.
Other financial goals
Sell plots on the 90 acres land to get back the purchase price. We just got all the permits and deeds for our plots, so we can now start selling, but have not closed sales so far, the permits were stuck gathering dust on Guatemalan bureaucrats’ desks for longer than expected. That is a FAIL.
Not sell my cattle for extra money until the end of April. I sold the cattle mid April but not for extra money. PASS. It was very dry and they would have lost weight by not eating enough pasture had I kept them longer.
50 times more blog income than 2012. That goal was revised on March 1st and May 1st from 5 and 25 times. I reached that goal around October, am around 60 times now.
PASS
The blog income in 2012 was only for Q4. Things have really picked up since February and Make Money Your Way has helped too.
Take a trip back to Europe: Went to France for four weeks in May. PASS
Take a trip to the US: We went back to France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco with the motorcycle for a couple of months in October instead. And are going to Miami for a couple of weeks in February 2014. PASS
New goal: Make $3K on Make Money Your Way
My new website, Make Money Your Way, has launched in July, and the goal is to make $3K with it by December 31st. So far, I have made over $2,500! Hoping for one last push in December to reach the goal.
Conclusion
Not too bad! I am very happy with the online income and have invested part of the proceeds to buy my Super Secret Website, which is already generating an income in return.
How has 2013 treated you?
This post was featured on the Carnival of Money Pros, Stepping it Down, thank you!
I’m also very happy with my online income from 2013. I got a decent offer to sell my site last week which made me more confident that I’m headed the right direction with the site.
I agree that it’s hard to calculate the value of a house or any asset really until someone makes an offer to purchase it for a certain price. At the same time I think you can make an educated guess that will allow you to incorporate it into your net worth calculation.
Wow sounds like you have had a very productive 2013! I hope 2014 is even better. You blogging income is so inspiring. Keeps me motivated to keep at it!
Awesome job on meeting most of your goals, Pauline! I am also inspired to hear about your blog income- thanks for sharing!
wow you have a lot going on! Congrats on the goals you did reach! 2013 was WAY better than 2012. I made almost 25k more than the year before, and have no debt and a good chunk of savings. I hope for even more income in 2014.
Awesome online income! I’m very impressed, and congrats on reaching so many of your very ambitious goals. You definitely give me motivation. And seriously way to go on the new website! Cheers!
You’ve done well with your goals! I’ve been tempted to buy websites but I don’t have the time to invest in them right now anyway so I’ll just keep plugging along with my own for now. Good luck in 2014.
Nice job!
I am very glad that at least one of us was able to make such a profit off of a website.
My hope is that I can reach some of the goals that you achieved, and are hoping to achieve.
Thanks for the motivation.
Congrats on paying off that debt, Pauline!! You had a lot going on, and I enjoy reading about how you pull it off.
We paid off a good deal in debt in 2013 – no exact figures handy. Our student loans are gonzo as are the credit card balance we had while I paid cash for my master’s degree. There is more to be paid off and invested in in 2014, and we look forward to our best year yet. I hope it’s the same for you!
I hope you’re enjoying some time off in Belize!
It was a wonderful year both personally and financially. We hope to do at least this well on 2014. Wish you a great year, too 😉
Thanks for the post!
Financial goal is required to fulfill our dream like home, trip,shopping and so on. “Spend less than you earn” is the most basic personal finance rule. It’s simple and clear: The only way to build wealth is to have a surplus of money.
60 times more blog income is pretty incredible. Sound like a pretty great year overall. 2013 has been a pretty good year for us. The end hasn’t turned out too well with a broken furnace that has been expensive and frustrating to replace, but overall, life is good. I’m hoping 2014 will be great.