It’s about that time of the year when everyone sits and mutters off their New Year’s Resolutions they won’t keep. Like usual, I’m here to report on my end-of-year achievements and next year’s goals. So what’d I do in 2012 I actually said I would last year?
- Bike to Salem – DONE! Did this in April!
- Payoff all debts but the house – DONE! I have no credit card debt, no car loans, no student loans, or any other frivolous debts.
- Use an iPod Touch as my only phone – DONE! Did this a few months ago and no longer have a monthly phone bill or hefty data plan. I get by nicely with Ting and about 2-4 times a year I activate the cellular data plan for $20 on my Verizon iPad Mini.
- Read a book a month – DONE! I averaged a book a month at least. I read mostly web design/development theory books, enjoyed reading Goldfinger a few weeks prior to Skyfall’s release and a few other biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs.
- Keep deadbeat clients under $2000 this year – DONE! I managed to lose $0 on deadbeat clients this year. Everyone paid on time and in full.
- Keep living expenses under $1200 / month – DONE! Some months were close, and some months were way under, but for the most part, I lived comfortably on about $1000 a month thanks to having no pre-existing debts and only a few recurring bills (water, lights, mortgage).
I failed to a few things this year. I never got to a beach, though next year shouldn’t be too difficult to do that considering I’ll be living on the coast. I didn’t write as many human interest stories this year as I wanted and I didn’t quite make 40% of my income from non-web work, though I did earn more from non-web work this year than I did any prior year.
For 2013, my goals are:
- Go to a beach.
- Finish my novel.
- Organize or take part in some community events in Connecticut.
- Push my cumulative number of miles biked over 6,000.
- Get in the best shape of my life.
- Travel somewhere (far enough to need to use a plane) at least once.
- Take part in a bike race or ride.
- Write more letters (I’ve always done a bit of this, but I want to write to a wider (read: random) selection of people).
- Enjoy more coffee.
- Replace at least 10 things with the absolute best of those things (i.e., toaster, desk chair, silverware, knives, etc.).
