January 2020, I wrote the following:
The Goal: $250,000 invested by 2025. Starting point: $0 invested.
Now it’s time for an update, which is long overdue.
In January 2020, I had no idea how badly the pandemic would kick me off course from smashing my goal. As I wrote my 2020 goals, I was hopeful that I would make a sizable dent in squirreling my money away, while growing a side hustle. A few months later, the pandemic erupted in the US and around the world. By May 2020, my job was on shaky ground and I was reduced, mandatorily, to part-time hours. I still had my health insurance through the deal, so I stuck with the job. The uncertainty did a number on my mind, and most days all I could do was sit and watch TV. I truly thought I would flourish during the pandemic and all this downtime. However, I did not. Thankfully, I switched to a new position in Aug 2020 with the same company. Not only was I back to full-time hours, but I received a small pay jump as well. Slowly I began chipping away at my $250,000 FIRE goal again.
Now it’s April 2021. The Covid 19 vaccines have been rolling out the past month or so, and an increasing amount of people are getting the shot. I’ll have my second shot on Monday April 5th. I’m so excited. Along with the vaccines, my mental state has started to bounce back. I’m more energized and motivated. I’ve begun to work on my goals consistently. More importantly, I’ve begun creating again. 😀 In the year and four months since Jan 2020, let’s see how I did! But before we begin, let’s look at where I was financially in Jan 2020.
Jan 2020 – Recap of all the money
- I have 326.50 in my primary checking.
- I have 3,111.40 in my savings. This is my Emergency Fund (EF)
- I have 907.64 in my second checking account. (This is my travel/back up account)
- I have 0.00 invested
All added up, I had a total net worth of $4,345.54 and $0 invested anywhere. Below I mention I shifted my savings focus to include at $250k net worth. With that being said, in Jan 2020 I had $245,654.46 left to go! However, let’s see how much that’s changed in a year and four months. 🙂
One Year+ Update – 230,555.60 To Go!
Now we’ll take a look at where my finances are sitting now.
- I have 6,666.10 in my primary checking.
- I have 4,800.92 in my savings. (Saving for Antarctica)
- I no longer have a second checking account
- I have 375.84 invested in Ellevest
- I have 6204.54 invested in my 401K
- I have 1397.00 invested in Vanguard
After adding everything up, I have a total net worth of $19,444.40. 😮 Out of that, $7,977.38 is invested. 😀
If we’re just focusing on my goal to have $250k invested in 5 years, I have $241,922.08 left to go! However, halfway through 2020, I decided that I would tweak my $250k investing goal. I was losing motivation and feeling like I wasn’t making any progress, because I was dumping my extra cash into my emergency fund for part of 2020. At the moment, I’m going to focus on achieving $250k overall net worth first, in tandem, with the $250k invested goal. As a result, I have $230,555.60 left to save. I’ve done much better this past year than I’d thought!
Plans for the future
This upcoming year, I plan to continue saving for my Antarctica trip, thanks to a second job starting in May. This will free up a bit of my extra money from my main paychecks, and I can send those dollars to Vanguard. As I said earlier, I’m creating more. We’ll see if any of my creations turn into money making side hustles in the future. Right now, I’m just having fun. Although, I am trying to at least post consistently each week!
My net worth goal for 2021 is to hit $30,000. If nothing too crazy happens, I’m well on my way to making that come true. 😊
How did you do last year with your money goals? How are you doing this year? Sometimes seeing your starting point, and then comparing your current point, is a mood booster. If you feel stuck, get out some paper, a pen, and log into your accounts. See where you were in Jan 2020 with your money. You might be surprised to see how much progress you’ve made!