December 2011 Goals: Recap
Posted on December 30, 2011 in monthly goals
Well this month was insane. Not only did I quit my full-time job, but I also decided to move to Germany. And with all of this change came a lot of expenses. See below for the results of the last month.
OVER BUDGET
- Internet – Well Shaw Cable’s prices increased without my knowledge. That makes me mad, but I’ll be cancelling my internet next month anyway.
- Clothing – See note below. I broke my shopping ban by 5 days in order to take advantage of an additional 40% off sale.
- Travel – Who would have predicted this would happen? Overages include my flight to Paris, 12-month travel insurance, and 12-month work Visa. Plus, a trip home to Vancouver Island for the holidays.
- Car & Transportation – I paid for parking a few times, and took the SkyTrain a couple of times.
NET WORTH CHANGE: + $2,599 (4.11%)
Despite not hitting my $4,000 freelancing goal this month, and despite having a million expenses, my net worth continues to climb. I’m going to savour this month, because I highly doubt I’ll be able to save anything near this amount while I’m in Europe. :)
December 2011 Goals:
- Make an additional $4,000 above and beyond my FT job. FAIL! I only made $2,366.39 - a far cry from the $4,000 I was aiming for. I actually invoiced out for an additional $4,500, but with the holidays, I guess I won’t actually end up getting paid out for it until January. Oh well. That’s the life of a freelancer, so I guess I should get used to it. :)
- Contribute $1,000 towards my Emergency Fund. FAIL! I only contributed $625 towards my EF. I blame this on spending $1,600 on travel expenses (most of which I obviously didn’t anticipate spending when I made these monthly goals), as well as not hitting my freelance income target for the month.
- Open up TFSA e-series mutual fund account. FAIL! Well, I opened up a TFSA mutual fund account. But with all the craziness surrounding getting my work Visa in order, I never got around to filling out the TD Canada Trust e-series paperwork.
- Re-balance my RRSP portfolio. CHECK! I went through and rebalanced my portfolio, and I feel much better about it because I’ve been meaning to do it for years.
- Get ahead of schedule. PASS. I tried hard, but I’m no farther ahead of schedule than I was at the beginning of the month. December just destroyed me. Whatever happened to it being a slow month for blogging!?
- Make my two secret projects the best things I’ve ever done in my life. CHECK! I tried as hard as I could, and that’s all that I can ask of myself.
Ongoing 2011 Annual Goals:
- No buying lunch, snacks or coffee during the work week. FAIL! I went out for lunch once.
- No buying clothing, shoes or accessories until December 31, 2011. PASS. I wanted to wait until December 31st to do a little Boxing Week shopping, but The Bay was having an additional 40% off sale (on top of their Boxing Day sale prices) for just one day. So I ended up buying a $400 wool coat for $158, a $129 dress for $31, and a $110 wool wrap for $33. :) Technically this is a fail, but I’m still going to give myself a pass because I was only 5 days away.
- Work out at least 3x/week. FAIL! I was so busy in December, I don’t even want to talk about it.
15 Responses to “December 2011 Goals: Recap”
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In my mind, as long as net worth keep increasing, that’s a victory in itself!
Sounds like you’re gearing up for next year to be a difficult one financially. I hope it ends up being easier than you think! And if it doesn’t: at least you’re in Europe!
Jeffrey Trull´s latest post —> I’m Newly Debt Free! (And Ways You Can Be, Too)
I am with Jeff on this one. Increasing networth amidst all of the extra expenses is a total PASS on my books. Best wishes for the new year.
I have a question about the freelance work you do. In November 2011, I started getting into freelance writing and it has been fantastic. Thus far, I have had a total of six clients, two of which have become good repeat clients.
For any given month, what percentage of your freelance income comes from repeat clients versus seeking out new clients? Are you finding that you spend relatively little time hunting for new work? Have you ever increased rates for your clients? If so, how, when etc?
[2012 sounds like it will be an amazing year for you: I look forward to reading more about it!]
Congrats on your freelance career! :) Six clients only a few months? That’s awesome work.
To answer your questions, I would say that usually my steady clients provide 60% of my freelance income each month. Everything else is through fluctuating advertising dollars, and one-off requests. I have not actively sought out any clients before, and I suspect that once I leave my full-time day job and rely 100% on my freelancing income, I will need to start pitching myself in order to bring in more money.
I have been steadily given raises based on performance with some clients, and over time, I have raised my advertising rates, as well as how much I charge per article for one-off clients. For example, since I started accepting advertisers on my blog, I’ve raised my rates over 100% in less than 2 years. I get less advertisers now, but I make more money. By continuing to raise my rates until I felt resistance, I know exactly what I’m worth.
Anyway, I hope that helps! Feel free to e-mail me anytime if you ever want to chat. :)
@Krystal Yee:
Krystal, thanks for your detailed reply about the mix of your recurring versus new clients. I would love to discuss freelancing more – I’ll send you an email shortly.
Congrats on the goals and the big move! IT will be a great time.
Jeff @ Sustainable Life Blog´s latest post —> Year In Review
Great job on the net worth!
Michelle´s latest post —> Why I bought instead of rented
Your internet bill increased without your knowledge? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE AFTER I TOLD YOU MINE DID? (and you gave me shit for not knowing that it would)
*shakes head*
D´s latest post —> Where’s the time?
Lots to be proud of!
I totally flaked on my 3x / week workout goal. But that’s okay! It is still there to be accomplished in the future!
Bergie Powers´s latest post —> To Netflix, or not to Netflix
Hi there, great site, I follow you on Twitter too. Just wondering if you are going to sublet your condo/house when you are away or are you just going to keep paying for it?
I’m going to keep paying for it. There’s no sense in trying to rent it out while I’m gone for such a short period of time. Plus, my townhouse has rental restrictions – where I can only rent to family or if I can prove financial hardship.
If you billed for over $4K, didn’t you technically make the money this month? I know from a cash flow perspective you obviously didn’t receive it (and you’re tracking to a budget so it should reflect cash flow), but the way you’ve worded your goal in Making over $4000 this month vs Receiving over $4000 this month I think you actually hit your goal.
AMD´s latest post —> December 2011 Actuals
Yeah, I technically “earned” the money in the month I billed out, but I don’t actually count it until the money clears and is in my bank account. I’ve learned the hard way not to count on income until you actually have it in your hands. :|
[...] shopping ban from January-May 19th of this year. While in NYC, I spent $519.49 on clothing. Then, I ended up spending $248.25 on Boxing Day to take advantage of a one-day-only 40% off [...]
[...] I need to do is re-visit my goals on a regular basis (Krystal does an amazing job at this!) and make sure I am on track, or if there is something I need to change/adjust my goal to make it [...]