2015 Goals, In Review!

2015 is gone in a flash! Here's how we did with our goals for 2015

• Financial
• Meet with a financial advisor - No, we decided to skip this & continue to funnel our money into known investments. We struggle with finding the right option, as M prefers to handle his own investments. 
• Save $50,000 towards a downpayment for a house in California - We changed this & decided to save for my "leaving work" fund. We're well over the $50K goal now. 
• Put $10,000 in the boys college accounts - we stopped funding the boys college accounts due to an issue with our 529s. We're getting a full payout that we will roll over into another plan. Net/net, it's a good thing. 
• Pay $55,000 towards our mortgage principal(s) - we changed our goals to focus on saving cash, but still managed to pay $34,700 towards our mortgage principals. 
• Save for our 2015 travel budget in advance - yes! Done. I accomplished this, and have also saved for 2016 as well. 
• Stick to our budget - For the most part, yes! We actually came in well under budget, if you exclude the 2014 tax bill. We were $20K under our budget for the year, which is a great savings, given that childcare & rent both increased.
• Re-plan our yearly budget categories - Yes! I have a big plan for 2016. :-) 
• Family
• Look for more opportunities to have fun with the family. - We've done a pretty good job with this, but my work continues to make this a challenge. 
• Be more present with the kids. - This is getting better, but ditto above. 
• Come up with a five year plan that minimizes my need to work in my career (open to other work options). - Oh, yes! And, it's not even going to take 5 years! I have about 25 weeks left of my plan. 
• Fitness/health
• Lose 10 pounds, bringing my weight to 135. If this goal sounds similar to last year's, that's because it is. I managed to lose 8 lbs, and then gained it back during the second half of the year. Sigh. - Oh, lord no. So, so far off track. My goal is to lose two pounds between now and the end of the year, which will still put me 5 pounds UP from last year. 
• Run another half marathon. - Nope. I joined a running club & hoped to get in shape for a half in October, but a business trip & my work schedule (and let's be honest, a lack of motivation) kept me from succeeding. I definitely will be adding this back to my 2016 goals!
• Track my food/exercise every day. - Yes, completed!
• Complete 10,000 minutes of cardio - Yes, completed!
• Complete 100 strength workouts. - Yes, completed 131.
• Complete 75 stretching workouts. -  Nope. I completed 17.
• Work/career
• Keep better perspective at work/reduce stress. - I've done a moderate job at this - mostly because I know I won't be around forever. 
• Reduce my hours. - No, major fail.
• Giving back
• Figure out a way to volunteer. I'd like to volunteer at the boy's school, as it's important for me to be connected. But, the hours are terrible. I need to be a bit more creative about options. - Yes, I've done this a few times. Not super consistently, but given my schedule, it was a very good start, and more than I did last year!
• Increase our charitable giving by 25% - definitely, yes. We've increased our charitable giving by 30%. 
• House
• Declutter each room in the house - yes! Achieved this way back in the spring. 
• Clean out the garage - we got half way done, & I don't expect to finish by the end of the year. 
• Personal/creative
• Have one date night with M per month - we managed each month, with the exception of November. But, giving myself a pass, as we did a vacation together in October. 
• Learn a new skill. I'm thinking of learning a new language, but would be fine with anything: sewing, knitting, expanding my baking, etc. - No. Again, I didn't even attempt this one. 
• Make time for my friends! Do something social at least once per month. - I didn't hit my goal of once/month, but definitely every other month. 
• Read 50 books.  - I've definitely achieved this. Particularly when I travel, I get an "opportunity" to sit & read for hours. I'd guesstimate that I'll finish with 60 books read. 


And, there you have it! Some wins, some neutral achievements, and some major gaps. As I like to say, if you are achieving all of your goals easily each year, you may not be setting challenging enough targets. ;-) How about you? How did you do with your 2015 goals?