Hi, everyone. It’s been awhile. I first started this blog to track my journey towards FI. Somewhere along the way, I became distracted, lost, off track with that goal and focus. Also, having a worldwide pandemic raging for nearly a year definitely would kick someone off track.
I felt stuck, slightly depressed, and a little defeated that I wasn’t progressing as fast or as far as I would like with my FI goal. Those feelings persisted until I flipped back to Jan 1st, 2020 and had a hard look at my finances during that time. Boy, was I shocked at the results!
The verdict?
Even with a 3 month period of significantly reduced hours, I’ve done quite well for myself financially this year. I have to keep in mind of where I stood financially in Jan 2020. I had approximately $500 in my checking account, $3100 in my savings, and zero in investments. At that time, I had just landed a job as a dishwasher a couple weeks before and was still working towards my first paycheck.
10 months later, I have nearly $8000 in my checking account, still $3100 in savings, and nearly $3500 in investments. This was all accomplished, despite being furloughed for 3 months without unemployment benefits to help keep me afloat. Thankfully an unexpected hazard pay bonus and part of my sign on bonus came through to help during that time. 😀 Those, in combination with 2 days-a-week furlough hours, were enough to pay for all my basic living expenses through that time of uncertainty.
Little wins along the way
Other life wins helped me along the way through these 10 months. A couple of months ago, I transferred into a new position at work that came with a $6000/year pre-tax raise. During my furloughed days, I won a $50 gift card, which helped me pay for groceries that week. I recently had a chance to pick up overtime hours at work, and that choice will now help me either pay for an expensive, major dental procedure or open a Vanguard Roth IRA at the end of this month. Currently my job is paying a bonus for anyone working onsite due to the pandemic. All these little wins add up quick!
I don’t mean to write all that above to brag. That’s not the intention. It’s to help remind myself that when this journey is wearing on me and I feel like I’m making zero progress, that I AM making progress. Little by little. That when you, dear reader, feel stuck, look back to where you were a year ago. You may be surprised at how far you’ve come and the progress you have made.
Goal Journals – Little mood boosters
As the year continues, and we slip into 2021, I will actively start using this blog as a way to track my progress on various goals. Recently I was flipping through old notebooks, etc, and found old goal journals. It was great to reminisce about previous adventures and to see my steady progress at accomplishing various goals throughout my past. Like: “Wow! I remember that now! That was so much fun”. It was a mood booster. But most of all, it inspired and motivated me to keep adventuring, pushing my boundaries, and expanding my skills. 😀
I encourage you to try tracking your goals. You can do so through a journal, making a visual tracking chart, or writing down a few notes on your phone/computer every few weeks/months. I constantly use the journaling and visual charts methods in my life. Perhaps, I’ll share some of my past goal journal entries in a future post. 😀