2015 Goals and New Year Resolutions

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope not there aren’t too many sore heads this morning?

Anyway, most years, I make a few New Year resolutions, with varying degrees of success.

[Image by Bill Watterson – check out Calvin and Hobbes on Facebook!]
They’ve included in the past:
  • No buying new books, only reading the ones I have at home – this worked for several years and was useful when I was paying down my debt and helped with de-cluttering.
  • Exercising at weekends – I tend to be quite inactive at the weekends!
  • Drink less alcohol – this started off as a resolution to improve my health and bank balance and then became habit as I now only drink at weekends (except when on holiday).
  • Pay off debt – this resolution was often broken in the past!
  • Save money – ditto!
This year, I’m going to have both financial goals and a few non-financial goals.

Here goes:

2015 Financial Goals

  • Save on average 50% of net salary – I didn’t hit this average in 2014 so aiming for it again in 2015!
  • Value of Future Fund to reach £60,000 Â£50,000 (corrected here) – this will equal 24 20% of my Future Fund Goal and will be a real stretch, because it’s dependant on both the value of my investments and me being able to really up my saving and cut spending to achieve it. 
  • Increase Net Worth by 20% –  this is one of the goals I’ve set for Moneystepper’s 2015 Savings Challenge so may as well include it here also.
  • Total Dividends from shares to reach £145 – I should be able to beat the Â£9.59 I received in 2014! Why £145? I like the idea of my TV licence being paid for by dividends haha! (only in theory of course, since I’ll be reinvesting the actual dividends).
  • Make at least £500 from online endeavours – this will include getting cashback, selling stuff on ebay, doing online questionnaires and reviewing music.
  • Maintain food/grocery budget of £25 per week (ie £100 over 4 weeks) – I started doing this in October and it wasn’t so bad, so I want to try it long(er) term.

2015 Non-Financial Goals

  • Learn at least 12 new cooking recipes – despite my parents both being experts in the kitchen, I obviously didn’t inherit that particular gene! Whilst I cook a lot at home, I’m not very adventurous, usually end up rotating the same list of recipes which I’m ok at. I want to add new recipes to that list! Time to finally look through those unread cook books I have on the shelf (plus a couple of new ones I got as Christmas presents!)
  • Attend at least two yoga/pilates classes a month – the classes aren’t at very convenient times, otherwise I would commit to doing a class at least once a week. If I can’t attend two in a month, then I will do the sessions at home (minimum 40 mins). This will be in addition to my aerobics/weight training sessions at the gym.
  • Borrow and read at least 20 library books – I read around 40 books (fiction) a year, which I keep track of via GoodReads. If half of those books are borrowed from the library, that’s 20 less books that I will end up buying, plus I want to support the local library by using its facilities. All other books I will read on my Kindle where I have lots of unread ebooks. Last year, I think I borrowed around 10-12 books.
  • Read at least two Personal Finance/Investing/Money related books – Some of you will think this one easy but I really struggle to read any kind of non-fiction, no matter how interesting the topic. Last year, I managed just one financial book, but it was a good one, from which I’ve devised most of my investment plan.
  • Learn to complete the Rubik’s Cube without looking at instructions – yes a strange one, a puzzle/toy from my childhood, one that I was never able to crack! I can do two sides easily and am close but not quite there. I bought one last year as it’s supposed to give your brain a good workout and I’m starting to feel that my brain needs training these days!
And that’s it really – there will be other stuff that I intend to do this year but not ones that I wish to track here.
I was thinking of doing a ‘no buying shoes or clothes’ resolution but the fact is, the only single item of clothing I have purchased in the last 7 months is a Christmas jumper! I’ve never owned one before (as an adult) and I’ve already had two wears out of it!  I think I may be in need of some new work clothes but I’ll still be keeping my spending really low in this area.

Huw from Financially Free by Forty has some really interesting and inspiring goals, including ‘Relationship Goals’.  I considered very briefly that I could make such a goal my own (ie to get into a meaningful relationship by the end of 2015) but the thing is, I’ve seen women who set themselves such goals and frankly, it’s not pretty, especially as it gets towards the end of the year and they’re still single!

That’s not to say looking for a relationship isn’t on my agenda – I just don’t want to put undue pressure on myself, haha!

Anyway, good luck to all with your 2015 goals and resolutions!

24 thoughts on “2015 Goals and New Year Resolutions”

  1. Hey Weenie, happy new year! I really like your goals for 2015! They're really similar to mine, especially the dividend one 🙂

    I was just reminded of Leo Widrich's blog when you wrote about clothes. He's got a rule that if he buys something new, he had to give away or recycle the old item of clothing. You could try doing something like that for clothes and books perhaps?

    I wish you every success with your goals this year!

    Cheers

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  4. Hi M, happy new year! I seriously need to do something about my clothes, I don't often buy but I do tend to keep so my wardrobe is quite large but full of old clothes. It definitely needs a spring clean but great idea of tossing/recycling at least one item every time a new item is bought.

    Thanks for stopping by and all the best for 2015!

    Reply ↓

  6. Hi FI UK

    Happy New Year!

    Yeah, perhaps I have been a little conservative with my dividend income. Although I intend to purchase more shares, they will be over the course of the year, so I wouldn't have full dividend entitlement to those shares. Perhaps I shall review after 6 months.

    Yes, I started my second SIPP because there was an ETF that I wanted to invest in that wasn't available with my platform (HL) and because I wanted to invest in individual shares on a regular basis, which also wasn't available (at the time). My investments are mostly in tracker funds with shares only accounting for around 7% of my investments but they are across both SIPPs and my NISA. Dividends get reinvested (rolled into my funds at the moment)

    I'm encouraged by people like yourself and Huw with your sucesses, hence I will continue to purchase shares myself, although they form only a small part of my investment strategy.

    Thanks for stopping by and all the best for 2015!

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  9. Weenie,

    Excellent set of goals! Like you said, they're quite similar to mine. I'm sure we'll both be able to reach the large majority of them.

    I had a good laugh at your Rubik's cube goal, but it might actually be something I have to try out for myself one day. Good luck breaking the code behind the cube!

    Best of luck in 2015,
    NMW

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  11. Hi NMW
    Thanks and yes, good luck to the both of us!

    I'm glad you like the Rubik's Cube goal – something quite small yet so hard to do haha! I can't complete it even with instructions right now so it's going to be a challenge haha!

    All the best for 2015!

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  12. Hi weenie, some great goals there. I especially like the library-related one as supporting libraries in these difficult times is very close to my heart 🙂

    A very Happy New Year to you

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  13. Hi Cerridwen, thanks. A few years back, our library was threatened with closure, which was when I realised that if I didn't use it, I would lose it!

    All the best for 2015 for you!

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  14. My wardrobe is suffering from the same problem. I have now made a pile of clothes that I want to give away to the clothes bank, or the Sally Army thing that comes round.

    I am going to take a leaf out of Laura's (nomorespending.net) book, she has got a very minimalist wardrobe. I would like to reduce mine drastically, and only buy high quality items if I ever need to replace anything.

    I dare you to make a 'get rid of pile' by the end of the week!

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  15. You know I've thought about the rubik's cube one myself for at least 3 years now. Whenever I see a video or something online with one I think, that would be cool to learn. But I never actually buy one to practice with. I think if I happened to be somewhere and I saw one for sale I would pick it up but I never do. Or when I am somewhere and see one it's inconvenient for me to want to carry it around for the rest of the day or some other lame excuse. I think that's a good one though, let us know how it goes!

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  16. Hi M, I've seen the pictures of Laura's wardrobe, not sure I could EVER get mine to look like that but definitely, it provides some inspiration!

    End of the week is too soon for me, end of the month is more likely!

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  17. Hi Zee, yes, I shall let you know how it goes! I only bought one because I happened to be in a toy shop with my nephew and they had them on sale near the counter and I thought 'why not?'

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  18. Happy New Year Weenie!

    I really like the list you've made for yourself there. Quick thoughts on some of them:
    -50% saving rate has got your name on it this year, you were very close last year, but you have a years worth of frugal experience to take forwards
    -£60k fund. This is a good increase on last year. A real test. Good on you for committing to such a figure!
    -£145 in dividends – That made me laugh! 🙂 The reason for £145 not the amount BTW.
    -£500 online – How did you get on in 2014 against this. You seem to be doing a lot of things online, and I wonder how close you got to it in the end?
    -I did the 1 recipe a month challenge about 5-6 years ago. It really helped and I ended up doing more than the 1 a month too because I enjoyed it. My cook skills definitely got better!
    -40 books a year – Wow that's impressive! It makes sense to limit the spending costs by making the most of the library. They ave a lot to offer. I'd be lucky to read 3 or 4 a year, which I know is low compared to most people.
    -Rubicks cube – I love this one! It's also on my bucket list, but I need to buy one first. I want to do it without help too. Not sure why, perhaps as the same feeling of satisfaction for completing a marathon.

    Great list Weenie. Good challenges, that are achievable and measurable. I wish you the very best of luck with all of them. Thank you for the mention too!

    I look forward to hearing about your progress.

    Cheers
    Huw

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  19. Thanks for the words of support, Huw.

    Re the £500 online goal, I earned £260 last year so effectively trying to double my earnings here. Likely to be more ebay sales, which takes more effort but I just need to be organised so I can get things done at weekends.

    I'm 2/3s of the way to doing the Rubik's cube (by following instructions). I've yet to complete it WITH instructions but I shall keep practicing. I picked up my cube from Toys R Us but I think they sell them in Argos too, if you fancy finally picking one up! 🙂

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  20. Happy New Year and Good luck with your goals this year. I need to check out Moneysteppers challenge. That is a lot of reading – what kind of fiction do you read? I have never been able to finish a rubiks cube! I have given up on that one.

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  21. Hi May and Happy New Year to you too.

    I read a mixture of sci-fi, fantasy and crime/thrillers – anything that has a good story that I can lose myself into!

    I've never been able to finish the Rubik's Cube and have finally done so following instructions! Now to learn those instructions off by heart!

    All the best for 2015!

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  22. Hi Weenie,

    A bit late but good luck with your goals.
    Particularly with the 50% of savings rate! We set 40% for our household and I feel it's already going to be tough!

    All the best!
    MP

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  24. Pingback: December 2015 savings, plus goal updates | Quietly Saving

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