2014 New Year's Resolutions

Goal #1: Rank 5 websites in top 10 for their keywords

Towards the end of November last year, I started 6 new websites. They are Amazon affiliate sites that should be able to fetch $500 or more a month once they hit the top 10 in Google for their keywords. I should be able to complete this goal within 6 months.

Goal #2: Save $500 in an emergency account

I would like to get this completed by June. I will need to put $250 into the account by the middle of March and another $250 into the account by the end of May.

Goal #3: Get under 150 pounds

I will need to lose 50 pounds. I lost 30 pounds in 2013 so 50 should be doable in 2014. I am going to aim to get under 175 pounds by March. I will have to lose around 3.5 pounds a week which will be very tough and unlikely but is possible. I will probably take a month off to maintain in March and then try to lose 15 more pounds by July. The last 10 pounds will come off between July and October. I’m going to lose the weight the same way I lost the last 30 pounds. I’m going to skip breakfast, eat a decent size lunch around noon, have a small snack around 2:30, eat a large supper around 5:30 and not eat anything after 7PM. I will also do 1 hour of cardio a day to start and will add in some weights later in the year.

Goal #4: Read 6 books

I had a goal of reading 12 books last year and that completely failed. I’ve noticed that I tend to choose longer books to read. In 2012, I read Gone With The Wind which was over 900 pages long. I’m still working on Don Quixote which is also 900 pages long. If I read short books, I could probably read one book per month. Since I’m not sure how long the books will be that I’m going to read, I will give myself two months to read each book and will, hopefully, get 6 books read by the end of the year.

Goal #5: Complete Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred in 30 days

I’ve done JM 30 Day Shred twice before but I always gave up after 3 weeks. I would love to get all 30 days completed.

Goal #6: Save $2,500 towards a house down payment/apartment security deposit

I saved up $5,000 last year towards a house down payment but then I loaned my parents $3,000 and spent $2,000 on new clothes and a vacation. Stupid of me, I know! If my parents pay me back, I will easily be able to accomplish this goal. I will still try to save $2,500 this year whether my parents pay me back or not.

Goal #7: Learn to tune my guitar

Last year, my goal was to learn to play 5 songs. However, my guitar would always go out of tune whenever I picked it up. I don’t know how to tune it so I would play it without tuning it. It would sound horrible and I’d get frustrated. I eventually quit trying to play it. Just learning how to tune it will be a good first step in learning how to play it.

Goal #8: Try 1 new recipe per month

I love to cook and trying new recipes. I tried a ton of new recipes last year including mozzarella sticks, chicken nuggets, crème brulee and meatball biscuits. I’m going to attempt 1 new recipe each month in 2014.

Goal #9: Visit the dentist

I haven’t been to the dentist in 2 years. The last time I went to the dentist, they found a cavity but I never made an appointment to have it filled. I hope to get that fixed this year as well as get my teeth cleaned and looking good once again.

Goal #10: Buy a Smartphone

I own a really crappy flip phone while all my friends own smartphones. I’m always borrowing my mom’s smartphone and wishing I had one of my own, especially when I want to post photos to Facebook or send out a tweet when I’m out and about. I also can’t send texts with my current phone which is super annoying. I’m pretty sure I know which phone I want, it is just a matter of coming up with the money to buy it and to pay for a monthly data plan.

2013 New Year's Resolutions

I had meant to post this earlier but now is better than never. Just like last year, I came up with 10 new year resolutions for 2013. I made them a lot easier than last year so I have a good chance of completing all of them. There are a few, however, that might be too tough to achieve but I'm going to try my hardest to get there. Without further ado, here are my 2013 new year's resolutions:

Goal #1: Publish 500 Squidoo Lenses – Rank 250 Lenses in Top 10 for Their Main Keyword.

Publishing 500 lenses is going to take a lot of work. I was going to try to get them all published by March but it's going a lot slower than I expected. Now I'm going to aim for May. I definitely want them all published before summer so I can spend my summer doing stuff I enjoy such as working on the layout of the lenses and adding graphics. The lenses will get around 10 backlinks each and I'm hoping that's enough to rank them well in Google. I would like to get half of the 500 lenses ranking in the top 10 for their main keywords. I’m estimating that this will bring in around $2,500 a month.

Goal #2: Save $500 in an emergency account

I would like to get this completed by March. I will need to put $250 into the account at the end of January and $250 into the account at the end of February.

Goal #3: Get under 200 pounds

I currently weigh 220 pounds so I will need to lose 20 pounds which should be doable as long as I don’t pig out and stick to an exercise plan. I only need to lose 2 pounds per month.

Goal #4: Read 12 books

I should be able to manage 1 book a month. I have already made a list of 24 books I would like to read and I will pick 12 books from that list. If I get done with twelve, the rest that I read will be a bonus. I've already got a good start on The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (pretty disappointed with it so far) and I expect to finish it this weekend.

Goal #5: Ride my bike 10 miles

My dad always complains that I never use my bike and I have always wanted to take it to Sakatah trail to ride it. I would also like to bring my bike camping and ride it on the trails at the state parks. I should be able to ride it 10 miles this summer.

Goal #6: Pay off 1 student loan

This goal was actually a goal last year but wasn’t completed. I will be asking for a 6 month deferment in January but once my Squidoo lenses start earning money, I am planning on making payments again. My cheapest loan is around $1,500. I should be able to get it paid off in a year.

Goal #7: Learn to play 5 songs on guitar

I found a list of 10 songs every guitar player should know how to play. They are classic songs like Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ or Bob Dylan’s Knocking on Heaven’s Door. I would like to learn to play 5 of those 10 songs. I have an acoustic guitar and a guitar instruction book so I just need to learn the notes, chords and tabs and it should be easy to learn the songs. I should probably practice for 3-4 hours a day, 3 days a week.

Goal #8: Learn to make Crème Brulee

I love Crème Brulee and have always wanted to make it but I always forget to try it. Maybe if I add it to my list of goals this year, I’ll remember to try to make it. I don’t have the right equipment to make it. I don’t have the right kind of dishes and I don’t have a blow torch. I’ll have to go out and purchase that stuff first.

Goal #9: Get health insurance

I need to get some health insurance. I’m not sure how much it will cost. I’m guessing around $300 a month. I would like Blue Cross/Blue Shield but I’ll probably just get whatever is cheapest. I would like something with a small deductible and dental but it will probably be too expensive.

Goal #10: Go to New York City for my 30^th birthday

I have always wanted to go to New York City and my 30^th birthday would be the perfect time to do it. It could get very expensive though so this would only happen if my 500 articles reach the top 10 for their keywords. I would also like to go on a cruise in January of 2014 which leaves from NYC the weekend after my birthday. All of this will probably cost a couple thousand for hotel, a thousand for air, $500 for admission into attractions, a thousand for the cruise and then whatever for food, souvenirs, gratuities, taxis and ship excursions. All-in-all, I might be able to swing it for $6,000 but I would probably need more than that. I need to come up with a budget so I know how much I need to save. I would also like to take my parents along with me as their 30th anniversary gift but I don't know if I could afford to bring them too (since I can't even afford to go myself). Out of all my resolutions, this one is the hardest yet the one I'm most excited about.

Looking Ahead

My last post was six months ago so I figured this was a good time to give an update. I hope everyone had a great Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate. Christmas started out pretty crappy but it turned out to be an okay day. I didn't get anything I had asked for so I'm a little disappointed but I think I'm over it now.

2011 Goals and Resolutions

In January 2011, I made a detailed plan for the year ahead with a list of 10 goals/resolutions I wanted to accomplish by 2012. Out of the list, I got done with only 3 things. I'm not sure what happened. Maybe I set my goals too high. Here is my list and a summary of how far I came to completing them.

1. Build Up a Completely Passive Income

I wanted to make a full time income with Adsense and Amazon. I completely failed at this goal. I am currently making around $60 a month with Adsense and $25-75 a month with Amazon. I needed to be at $2500 a month to complete this goal. FAIL

2. Save $1,000 for a Cruise

I actually completed this goal! I ended up saving $1500 for the cruise and I bought four new tires for the car. The cruise was amazing. I got to swim with stingrays, climb Mayan ruins in the rainforests of Belize, drink margaritas on the beach in Mexico and snorkel in the Caribbean Sea. It was well worth the experience. We also spent a week in Florida and went to Sea World and Busch Gardens. GOAL COMPLETE

3. Save $2,000 for a Down Payment on a House

I didn't save one cent. I found four different houses that I liked that were all under $20,000. I need to get my butt in gear and start saving before the housing market decides to rebound. FAIL

4. Save $1,000 for Bonnaroo

I saved around $800 for Bonnaroo. My parents paid for the rest. I would consider this goal completed. We went to Bonnaroo and I had a good time - for the most part. Aunt Flow decided to visit on the Saturday of the festival. I was miserable and I wasn't prepared for AF - she came early. I had to walk a mile back to camp to change undies (didn't soak through luckily) and dig out my pads from my suitcase. Horrible experience and I missed all the bands Saturday afternoon. That night was amazing though. It made me completely forget about what happened earlier in the day. Being in the pits for Buffalo Springfield and then making it to the front row for Eminem and then going to the dance party that is Dr. John was unforgettable. It made the entire trip worth it. GOAL COMPLETED

5. Lose 50 Pounds

Haha. FAIL

6. Graduate from RCTC

I not only graduated but I got a 4.0 GPA this semester and a 3.8 GPA overall. Although the homework was annoying and stupid, the classes were easy this semester. I'm so glad to be done. Now I need to put my new skills to work. GOAL COMPLETED

7. Pay Off Car Loan

I paid a little extra every month but I didn't get it paid off. I now owe $3,300. I was going to work my tail off and get it paid off by the end of January but I got fired from title selecting for Demand Studios. That totally killed my spirit to work. I still have dupe check but I don't feel like working at all. I'll be making this a priority next year. Not having to make a $400 a month car payment every month will take a lot of stress off my shoulders. FAIL

8. Go on 5 First Dates

I want to get married someday and there is no way I'm going to do that if I don't date. Dating is uncomfortable and awkward for me so I thought that going on a few practice dates would help calm me down and get me ready to date for real. Unfortunately, this never happened. I'm not embarrassed about my weight to go on a date - even if it is for practice. Maybe I'll make a similar goal for next year. FAIL

9. Learn to Play Guitar

This never happened. The guitar I own sucks - it never stays in tune and the strings aren't very flexible. FAIL

10. Run a 10K

Yeah right. FAIL

I need a couple of days to come up with my 2012 goals and I'll post them before New Year's Eve.