2015 Goals Update #3

So, I have to be honest. March was a tough month for me. I am pretty tired. From all the craziness of being way too busy to taking on way too many work projects I have officially worn myself out. Thankfully, in a couple of weeks for my hubs’ 30^th birthday we will be enjoying the beautiful mountains in North Carolina as a family. I am hoping to not only get in some much needed relaxing time but some much needed “fresh air” time.

Blogging

I’m super excited! My book, Build a Budget that Works will be a part of The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle this month! I’ll give you more details once we get closer to the bundle going live but it’s going to be legen….wait for it…DARY! 🙂 If you’re a blogger and want to become an affiliate for the bundle sale, you can fill out the form here.

My income after expenses for March was, $1,128.36. I did a little freelancing in March and have been working on trying to secure new paying opportunities to help offset the decrease in ad and book sale revenue.

Here are my blogging goals specifics:

• Finish creating my pinning schedule and strategy.  (Done)
• Create my Facebook sharing strategy. (I still have not done this. A blogger in one of the FB groups I’m a part of shared her strategy and I’m loving it so I think I may copy her spreadsheet idea. )
• Keep pageviews at 200,000 and increase to 500,000 by the end of the year. (You can read how I more than doubled my pageviews here.) (My pageviews for last month were 201,006. I have been working on finding new ways to get my traffic up. I started using PubExchange and have definitely seen an amazing increase in referral traffic!)

(Elite Blog Academy* will be opening their doors for the spring semester on the 14th! Right now, they are offering a free mini e-book packed with helpful information! Make sure you grab yours!)

• Professional blog design. (Currently working with Pixel Me Designs) (Done)
• Find three brands to establish a working relationship with for underwritten posts. (Still have not done this….)
• Complete media kit by April 1^st. (Done)
• Complete Business Plan by April 30th. (I haven’t started working on this yet but I should have it done by the end of the month.)
• Finish my next book by my birthday (March 29^th) and publish by June on Amazon. (Okay, so yeah….this hasn’t exactly gone to plan. I love the suggestions that my editor made as far as adding some more content in areas, but I have had zero time to do anything about it. My goal is to now have my manuscript done by May 15^th and back to my editor for more edits/suggestions.)
• Increase my minimum writing goal from 500 words per post to 700 words per post. (I have actually been struggling with this due to my crazy schedule so I need to jump back on this for April.)
• Keep editorial calendar with at least three months of posts, written and scheduled. (So I have totally gotten off track with this – I’m struggling to even get two weeks done. I’m planning to take one morning during our vacation to brainstorm some topics and to start putting on the calendar one day a month for brainstorming sessions)
• Attend one blog conference. (I’m getting more and more excited about FinCon! I’m not only going to get to meet all the amazing bloggers from my mastermind group [tip: if you don’t already have a mastermind group – find one!] but I’m also going to be rooming with three amazing bloggers – Kim [my real life blogging buddy who lives 10 minutes from me] from Thrifty Little Mom, Kalyn from Creative Savings, and Jesenia from The Latina Homemaker! I’m super giddy about our impending slumber party!)
• Research and implement better SEO tactics and improve search engine traffic on my site. (So, slowly [like real slow] I’m starting to see my SEO tactics pay off. If I continue to see an improvement with traffic from SEO I’ll definitely share what I’ve been doing. 🙂 )
• Bring Alexa Global rating below 100,000 and U.S. rating below 15,000. (I’ve moved back up the list again, which is disappointing but that is just the name of the game.  Global is currently: 146,321 and U.S. is currently: 48,608)

Personal

Yep, I still haven’t prayed the rosary not one day this year. I even pulled it out of its hiding spot so I’d remember to do it….yeah.

Here are my personal goals specifics:

• Begin working out using the Tupler Technique to fix my diastasis. (I am following the workouts in Lose Your Mummy Tummy *) (I’ve been getting better about doing these regularly and I can definitely say they are working – I no longer feel out of whack or look out of whack 🙂 .)
• Work out three times a week for ten to fifteen minutes and then increase length of workouts to thirty minutes to an hour and to simultaneously increase the intensity. (Changed to the goal below)
• Spend 30 minutes every day in active play with the boys (walking the neighborhood, playing hide-n-seek, “monster”, or other games they want to play). (I haven’t been doing this consistently every day but slowly I’m starting to do this more and more. With the weather finally turning nice, it is getting to be a lot easier to be active so I’m hoping I can continue to make progress!)
• Write in gratitude journal every day. (I am using Money Saving Mom’s gratitude journal, Choose Gratitude * – amazing!) (Still giving myself a break from doing this until after Lent so I can concentrate on my Lenten journal which has been amazing!)
• Schedule a paid date night and paid family night/event once a quarter. (We will be taking our family vacay in the next couple of weeks so I’m super excited and can’t wait! I did take my boys on an ice cream date in March – I later regretted taking them for ice cream at 6:30 at night when they were bouncing off the walls at bedtime… #yaliveyalearn)

• Increase daily water intake to full eight glasses of water a day and continue detox regimen with lemon essential oil. (I’ve been doing okay with this – forgetting some days but getting my water intake in on most days. So I’m going to consider it a win! 🙂 )
• Spend thirty minutes to one hour two times a week working with Conner on preschool learning activities. Spend same time working with Collin on tot school activities. (My hubs and I decided that we are going to do a more structured route educating Conner. We are going to be developing a preschool curriculum and lessons plans to start this summer with him. One of my friends (whose wedding I was the Matron of Honor in this past month) was a preschool teacher so she’s helped us figure out things that we need to do. I’ll share what our plan is once we finalize it.)
• Drastically reduce the amount of personal time spent on Facebook, by leaving groups and un-liking pages that just clog up my newsfeed. Use the News Feed Eradicator extension for Chrome to keep me from being sucked into Facebook’s “should-have-left-it-in-high-school” drama. (I found myself getting sucked back into FB this month so I have to be more proactive to keep myself away. It really is a time suck.)

Financial

My birthday was the 29^th, and it marked one year since we ditched my Tahoe and opted for my well-loved Sequoia. It definitely wasn’t an easy decision to dump my beloved Tahoe, but it helped my family get one step closer to our debt-free dream. You can read if I would make the same decision again here.

We still haven’t started FPU but my hubs and I are planning on putting a regular day on the calendar to make this happen.

Here are our financial specifics:

• Pay off student loans by December 31^st. Total balance at the beginning of the year: $20,106.81 (Student loan balance as of today 4/1/15: $14,301.63)
• Contribute the max allowed percentage to hubs’ 401(k) plan and continue contributing $30 a week to my Roth IRA. Will increase my contribution amount if goal of paying off student loans is met before the end of the year. We will be decreasing the amount contributed to our emergency fund in order to build up our retirement funds. (Done.)
• Go back to carrying cash only for all purchases. (Still has not happened yet. I loathe having to go to the bank because it is out of my way so I have to find a way to force myself to do it.)
• Plan and implement a spending freeze. (Nope, haven’t done it yet)
• Set aside $10 every week towards our Christmas fund for a debt-free Christmas (it will be our third one!). (We’ve decided to save up our Swagbucks* earnings instead of this money coming out of our budget).

Reading List

I only managed to read one book this month, Nourished* by Becky Johnson and Rachel Randolph a mother and daughter team. This was a great book to read this past month when I was feeling like a crazy person and needing more rest and peace. If you need to feel more nourished, I highly recommend this book as it will give you practical tips and funny stories.

How have you been doing with your 2015 goals? I would love to hear how you keep on truckin’!

Linked Up To: The Thrifty Couple, Thrifty Thursday

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