Lanny’s Q3 2016 Goals Update

9 Months are officially in the books and we are nearing the October month end.  2016 is flying – some highs and some lows, but all are experiences to learn from, that’s for damn sure.  There has been a lot of progress, set backs and steps taken forward in order to achieve goals, have a balanced life and new experiences.  I set lofty goals back in December of 2015 for my 2016 year and the first 9 months should provide a solid indication if I am on track to achieve the goals established.  Now, let’s see the big update!

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2016 Goals Re-Cap

This post helps me stay on the right path in case that I have steered off of it and also helps keep me on the golden brick road to the 12/31/16 end goals.  Below are the goals that I had established last December for this year, as a way to re-cap what I wanted to accomplish:

  1. Projected Dividend Income at $8,000
  2. Keep Trading Costs Below $100
  3. Make 3 Trades > $3,000
  4. Monthly Plan Expenditures: Switch from Verizon, Reduce Auto Insurance to $70/month, Change Internet from AT&T
  5. Make $2,000 extra payments towards Mortgage in 4 quarterly installments
  6. Sell 3 Items on eBay
  7. Go on a Trip

Phew, that’s a mouthful above and fun seeing that I kept it to a solid 7 goals, very similar to 2015.  From just reading them I know that the monthly plan expenditures are hard and the projected income is always a beast to take down, given that I missed the mark in 2015 (UGH!).  One thing that always helps the monetary goals is – Saving over 60% of your income each and every month, but sometimes life happens.  Enough of the rant here… how the heck am I doing in relation to these goals??!

September 30, 2016 Goals Progress

  1. Projected Dividend Income at $8,000:  As of the third quarter end, I am sitting at a projected $7,697 in dividend income.  From my Q2 post, this is actually up $530 in just a 3 month time frame (Q1 to Q2 was up $385 for reference), which is fricken awesome, yes, I am that pumped.  I had a record breaking September Dividend Income month of over $1,000, which lit my portfolio on fire with dividend reinvestment.  This quarter had about 3 employer pays of fully optimizing my three part tax strategy for investing going forward.  These strategies have allowed large investments to occur every month in tax advantaged ways, juicing up my forward dividend income stream.  Conclusion: There is a 95% chance that I meet this goal.
  2. Keep Trading Costs below $100:  During quarter 3, I made 3 purchases in Target (TGT), T. Rowe Price (TROW) and Citizens & Northern (CZNC).  In total, fees were $6.95 per trade or $20.85 from this quarter’s activity.  Therefore, my trading costs are still EXTREMELY low at this point.  My total trading costs are sitting at $41.70 (doubled since last quarter) on the year, which is AWESOME!  Given how the trend has gone, I would say I am doing very well here in this realm.  Conclusion: Will likely meet this goal.
  3.  Make 3 trades > $3,000: As we knew from my post on why I want to make larger purchases for investments, and with the two Q1 purchases, I am still at 67%.  There is a chance, given that I deployed over $5,000 in capital during the third quarter, that I won’t make this goal.  Conclusion: 50% chance of reaching this goal.
  4. Monthly Plan Expenditures: Well, well, well.  To start, we all know that I switched from AT&T (T) a month back to WOW! network provider.  My new internet is $10 cheaper and more than 5x faster, it is amazing.  For Verizon Wireless (VZW) cell phone switch – I am a mere 7 days away from performing the switch.  My auto insurance was recently reduced at the end of April and I am currently at approximately $65/month = success.   Even though my employer pays my phone service bill, I switched to Google’s Project Fi Network, and am absolutely loving it.  I may even come out with an article over their phone and service.  My  normal cost is $20/month for the line and $10/GB usage, which will credit me on my next bill if I use less than the prepaid amount.  My last two bills have been $22-$24.50, also known as – kicking ass.  The networks have been great and I have actually enjoyed having a pure Google phone, as they have the latest/greatest software before other devices receive the updates.  Conclusion: Meeting this goal.
  5. Make $2,000 extra towards the Mortgage: Currently I have chipped in the 4 $500 payments and am DONE!  I made an extra $500 payment on 1/1, 4/1, 7/1 and 10/7.  I always want to point out about the BIG debate always is do you either pay off the mortgage or invest, something I’m always curious on individual’s feedback.  Are you doing something similar?  Conclusion: GOAL ACHIEVED.
  6. Sell 3 Items on eBay – 1 so far in this category, my LG G3.  I have donated quite a bit of clothes and have some clothes to sell as well.  See the 5 reasons why you need to side hustle!  I also placed more items on eBay that didn’t sell, but I made about $40 or so on the LG G3 that had a cracked screen and broken digitizer, not too bad.  Conclusion: 35% chance I achieve this goal.
  7. Go on a Trip: Cha-Ching!  Luckily – my wonderful girlfriend was able to fly me out to Burlington, Vermont as part of her work program at no cost.  I spent 3 days approximately there and went to a few fun restaurants, a brewery tour, did karaoke (no videos to be released haha) and had a fun time in the early part of busy-season.  Secondly, we also went to Punta Cana for a week that started on 4/29.  We have a bucket list for Akron and Cleveland things, that we’d also like to get through.  Additionally, we took a weekend getaway to Chicago at the end of September, and almost 30 miles of walking later, it was a great experience for us.  So far, so good and the trips have been fun!  Conclusion: Already Reached!

Overall Q3 2016 Goal Conclusion

It’s funny – I’m not worried about the financial related goals that I have set, such as, dividend income projection, paying more on the mortgage, keeping fees low and battling it out on the monthly expenditures.  What I found out, is that trying to automate much of this, actually, should be the way to go and makes it very easy to achieve those goals.  The harder goals are the ebay and making large/substantial trades.  Why?  That takes time, more side hustle, etc..  It’s okay if I don’t achieve those, because hey – as long as I’m donating/cleaning up things, then I am all good here.

Thanks everyone – how are you all fairing up in your annual goals?  Falling behind, ahead of the pack or staying the course?  Need any help getting back on the horse?  Thanks again everyone for coming by, please leave comments, feedback and suggestions below – they are MORE than appreciated.  Good luck and keep crushing it!

-Lanny

5 thoughts on “Lanny’s Q3 2016 Goals Update

    • Team CF –

      Thank you very much. I have to continue to declutter my house, and clean up the closet a bit, would love to see that shrink in size.

      Not too worried about some of the financial goals, keeping the expenses in check is a constant roller coaster, we’ll see if we have a warmer winter so the heating bills stay slightly lower. All going well with you?

      -Lanny

  1. I love your 95% chance of breaking that dividend goal, I love those odds!

    Awesome job of putting more money towards your mortgage and reaching that goal, love it.

    Good luck with your final quarter Lanny. As for your question, our goals are going quite well – I won’t spoil our upcoming review post though! 🙂

    Tristan

    • Tristan –

      Thank you so much, love those odds too : ) Unless an emergency happens – I may be on the safe side!

      It’s a funny goal – I beat myself up every quarter over this payment, I continue to make it, I know it’s not a bad thing, but agh, we’ll see.

      Thanks T – appreciate it, 3 big months to go, LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN!

      -Lanny

  2. Nice progress Lanny. It is certainly important not only to write down annual goals but to check in periodically to see where you may need to modify things to accomplish a certain goal. Overall, you are doing awesome…looks like you are well on your way to accomplishing at least 5 of the 7 goals!

    71% success may be a C in school, but in life, it will generally get you pretty far. 🙂 Keep it up. Looking forward to seeing how you finish up the year! AFFJ

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