Reflecting on Goals

In keeping with the traditions of reflecting on the past year, setting resolutions goals; I present you the following...

FINAL 2010 R.A.P. (Resolution Accountability Page)

Actually, to restate, I make my resolutions in the form of measurable and (hopefully) achievable goals.

So, How did I do?

1) Eliminate non housing debt.













As you can see, the scuba dude is still swimming....

I did not do nearly as well as I had hoped but OK. The big dip in the summer was a new AC and Furnace. After nearly 20 years the AC finally gave up and we were faced with a huge decision and expense. For a brief moment the cheapskate in me thought, we can tough it out. We don't need no stinking AC. The human race survived for thousands of years without it, we can too.

WRONG! After a couple days of nearly 100 degree heat and humidity I was convinced that those crazy ideas were, well, Crazy.

There is a bit of good news in getting a new AC and Furnace. It is more efficient than the old, which means we should save on utility bills, and it qualifies for the Green Housing tax deduction.

Also, you may notice that my chart, despite the sudden dip, appears to basically rise in somewhat equal increments. This is because I tried to dedicate an automatic amount each month to go towards eliminating that debt.

Usually this is best done through automatic transfers, and if one can do it via payroll deductions, so much the better because then you never have the chance to miss a payment towards your goal.

The tricky part is budgeting well enough to do just that. It is not easy, but definitely possible; for everyone!

2) Beat all DJIA, NASDQ, S&P averages with my investment income and do at least 50% better than the 16 % return I had this year. That means 24% annual return.

Me +20%
S&P +13%
DJIA +11%
NASD +18%

Well, I did not reach my 24% goal, but I came close, did better than last years 16% return, and I did beat all the averages.

You know, maybe, just maybe I can do this individual investor thing after all.


3) Sports and Fantasy Football.
Conspire/Rig/Cheat as commish To have the east coast win back the Borderless League Fantasy Football Trophy next year. Oh wait, Conspire/Rig/Cheat as commish, would not be very fair and ethical, so I’ll just put down that I will make the playoffs and the East Coast will win the Championship next year.

Well, I may never reach this goal completely. :-(
I did make the playoffs but the East Coast lost yet again.
In fact, Yanni won for the second time in a row.
I did make it into the Championship game but thanks to Atlanta and Philly playing below expectations, I came up short in this ultimate fantasy goal.

4) Double the number of people following my blog. I currently have 10 listed.

I now have 24 listed so, baring a sudden mass exodus, I think I made this one.

5) I’m starting a web site dedicated to donating to charities and activities that are most important to me and my family. Specifically The American Cancer Society, and Greyhound and Veterinary Research.

Well, technically I did do this one in that I started it and got it up and running and I did achieve my goal of donating to charities. It just proved to be exceeding difficult to successfully promote that site so about half way through the year I changed it to an EBAY entity that donates proceeds to the charities.

That method proved to be more successful so I think I will stick with the EBAY donations going forward.


Coming Soon:

My 2010 Top Ten
Update on NFL Stocks
My 2011 Goals !!!