New Years Resolutions are famous for 2 things – 1) being a thing that people tend to make once a year and 2) being something that quickly gets forgotten! I’ve definitely made my fair share of resolutions only to forget about most of them! About a year or so ago, I started making (and sharing) my financial resolutions. I think that too often we forget about our personal finances when it comes to setting goals/resolutions, which is a bummer because your financial health is very important! I posted my 2022 financial resolutions in January of this year (well technically it was February 2^nd) and in an effort to have a better chance of achieving them – wanted to post a mid-year update! Here’s how I’ve fared:

Grow my net worth by 25% – Progress – BAD

When I first set this goal 2 years ago, I wasn’t too quite sure if it was an achievable goal or how feasible it would be. Turns out quite achievable! In 2020 our net worth grew by 25% and then in 2021 we grew it by 28%. In 2022 I set another goal of growing our net worth by 25%. How’s it going so far this year? Not great! I’ve done a few posts on how the sky is falling (2022) and how the market is in a bit of a free fall (but how I’m only a little freaking out). Year to date the Dow Jones (a common measure of the stock market) is down 14% and the Nasdaq (more tech companies which have been hit harder) is down 26%. Crypto hasn’t fared super well either with Bitcoin hovering in the low $20,000 range.

How has 2022 treated our finances so far? Our net worth is down 5.3%. I guess all things considered they could be worse, inflation is still high, the stock market is down way more than that and my small crypto holding has greatly shrunk. We are still saving 30% of my income (15% 401k and 15% employee stock) which helps. Thankfully real estate values are holding steady, just not going up as fast as they did in years past. We’ll see how the year shapes up but as of right now, 25% growth seems tough!

Purchase 2 rental houses – Progress – Trending Positive!

I’ve talked about how Mrs. Money and I enjoy real estate and have decided to invest more in it. In mid 2021 we sold our primary residence turned rental house and were sitting on cash with the goal of buying 2 more. Although it’s a blog post for another day, this proved to be a tough and lengthy process but we’ve made progress! In May we finally purchased a rental property, a nice 3 bedroom ranch style house! We were able to get it fixed up and rented in late June! It was a bit scary buying an investment house right during what appeared to be an economic slowdown but honestly we felt better about parking cash in a house vs the stock market!

The second property we’ve actually made progress on just not in a manner in which we expected! Late 2021 we went with some neighbors to a tiny house community in Tennessee and stayed the weekend and absolutely fell in love with the tiny houses. The scenery was beautiful, it was so peaceful and relaxing, and the community was so well done and organized. Turns out our neighbors (who own a lot up there) let us know that their tiny house neighbors were selling their lot and we jumped on the opportunity! Through what was some negotiations and getting ghosted, we ended up buying said tiny house lot! (To be fair the lot is ¾ of an acre so it’s not a tiny lot). So we technically have 2 rental properties but the second one is just a piece of land! As with most things, new houses are in a bit of a supply chain shortage and the wait list is quite long. We ended up paying cash for it and are ok to wait until things slow down a bit. We’ll see how things are looking but we’d love to at least have construction started by the end of 2022!

Save for the winter in the summer (including daycare) – Progress – Some!

I have a bad habit of not setting money aside for what is the most expensive time of the year (winter). Winter brings Christmas, end of year bills and lots of things that require money spent on them. I also do a bad job of saving for daycare for BabyMoneyFinance and SegundoMoneyFinance. We pay weekly and I rely on my FSA Dependent Care money and I don’t budget that expense but settle up at year end (FSA Dependent Care is only $5,000 which definitely doesn’t cover daycare) and have to pull from savings for the balance. It’s silly and Mrs. Money rolls her eyes at how I budget daycare. However this year I’ve attempted to do better by putting money aside each month to make things easier! I have done a much better job so far this year which I’ll be very thankful for at year end!

However the other winter savings I’ve basically not started but July is a 3-paycheck month (I get paid every other Friday and 2 months/year that results in a month with 3 paychecks) and I don’t budget for that 3^rd paycheck and get to use it where it’s most needed. So I’ve already made a note to use a decent chunk of that for winter saving!

Make sure I’m maxing out retirement – Progress – On target!

I was fortunate enough to get a raise in February and kept my retirement contribution as is which means I’ll end up saving the same percentage but that percentage will end up being a larger number, getting me ever closer to that $20,500 number (the max you can contribute to a 401k). We’ve not done a good job figuring out Mrs. Money’s retirement contributions (no 401k through work and her business hasn’t taken off quite yet) but I’m not too bummed about that. Once I get closer to the $20,500 number, I plan to explore the after tax contribution bucket of a 401k, which is something that some companies offer that allows you to go above that $20,500 limit. I’m still wrapping my head around it but plan to look at it soon!

Help Mrs. Money launch her business – Progress – On target!

Mrs. Money has launched her postpartum mom coaching business! She’s got her LLC setup, she’s got her website (LINK) and she’s had a few clients so far! She did a promo for her first 3 clients and took them on for free but has now moved towards trying to get paying clients of which she has gotten 1! As with any new business, it takes time. Her offering is a bit new to the market, there’s definitely a need for better new Mom support but it’s proven a bit tough to best position and price her services. In the postpartum world there are doulas who do a lot for you and then there are counselors who help you process a lot and Mrs. Money is seeking to find a middle of the road solution both empowering and educating new Moms. She’s focused on her website via her blog, her instagram and trying to network with like-minded adjacent providers in the space. Mrs. Money is going part-time (she was going to quit her day job completely but they offered her a 50% role and that seemed to be a nice happy medium – some money but still time to focus on her business). I plan to have her on the blog in the near future to talk more about her transition but in the interim she’d love a follow on instagram or to check out her website!

Focus – Progress – Great!

I loved picking a word each year. 2020 was resilience 2021 was contently thriving and 2022 has been focus. Trying to figure out what’s important and focusing on that has been so helpful! My 3 focus areas were: this blog, 2 rental properties and then a moonshot of carbon sequestration. I’ve made great progress on the first 2 and honestly just focusing on one wild and crazy idea has been more helpful for me to make progress on something vs nothing! I’ve enjoyed the focus!

Summary

Honestly I’m so thankful for what our little family has and what we’ve been able to accomplish. Making progress towards resolutions in icing on the cake and while I don’t have all the icing I’d like just yet, I will keep working on making progress towards my goals in the 2^nd half of 2022!