Hello everyone! Welcome back to BirthMay 2022! Today’s post is going to be one of my usual BirthMay posts, where I revisit my life goals!

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In case you’re new, every May I blog every day and call it BirthMay! Why? Because it’s my birth month and I’m super extra.

Last year I changed stuff up a ton for this post and I have decided not to continue goals that I don’t feel called to anymore. So that will definitely be something I’ll continue!

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My Life Goals 2022

Publish a Book

So last year when I updated this goal I shared that I had written first drafts for two different novels. Since then I’ve done a first round of edits to one of them, but I have felt like I want to write something different. I’m thinking of trying to write a nonfiction book next and I’ve sort of moved on from those two novels. I still love them greatly. I’ve worked hard on each and it was such an amazing journey to write them, but I feel like my published work will be something different. I also want to try different forms of writing, such as essays or short stories as opposed to novels.

Start My Own Company/Business

This will always be a goal of mine! I still haven’t quite found an idea that I’m super passionate about but I’ll keep looking! I do love the idea of selling physical products but I always feel a wave of guilt over contributing to the creation of stuff. I always worry about sustainability and ethical consumption when I imagine starting a handbag line or online boutique or stationary goods. And for online content, well, I am so used to blogging as a hobby that I don’t know if I’d want to try to monetize it!

Become an Advocate for a Good Cause

So, in the past, this goal has framed itself in my mind as me volunteering my time for a nonprofit or something. Instead, this past year I’ve really become an advocate in real life to those I know personally and on my blog. I’ve always been interested in women’s rights, Hispanic focused issues, and education. But these past few years I’ve really started to combine them all via personal finance. I’ve joined a few Facebook groups and I try to actively share my suggestions and experiences in those groups. I may not be an expert but I love sharing my experiences all the same. In person, I’ve also noticed I do drop my thoughts on stuff more readily and easily, so I’d love to continue that!

Move to Texas

Oh boy, this goal of mine has been pushed back a few years. I’m thinking I’ll be in Illinois for another 2-3 years and then reconsider where to go. I have a few things that are giving me pause. For one, Texas can be extremely conservative and while I love the idea of helping turn Texas blue, it’s also important to note that I’d be willingly lowering my quality of life in that aspect for awhile until Texas can get back on track. In general, my life is pretty well established in Illinois too, and the thought of having to find a new vet/groomer/shops for Foxy, a new dentist/eye doctor/ballet class/quality library for myself, and just having to learn a new area seems crazy to me right now.

I do love that I work from home, but I recently passed my two year furlough anniversary after the pandemic, and that reminded me how quickly life can change. I would love to have some sort of passive income coming in before I move out so I don’t have to stress about how I’m going to live if I move and then something happens to my job or something!

Plus, I have to say that the ability to save/invest half my income is so important to me now that I’ve experienced the ability to do it. For me, it’s really important that I’m not decreasing neither my quality of life nor my ability to save for the future.

Travel More

I do feel like having my little dog is going to make this more difficult for sure, but I do love this idea. I would love it if Fox was well behaved enough to come travel with me, but alas he is not. I will say, that being back in the travel/event industry is already helping me get back into travel, but even still, it’s not at the rate it was before the pandemic for me and likely won’t get back to that level. I will say, I do wish to travel more for fun so I feel that it’s important to call out!

Save for a Home -> Buy My First Home

Wait… OMG I HAVE DONE THIS ONE! I already have saved enough for my down payment! It’s not the full 20%, I’d have to take advantage of those first time home buyer programs or borrow from my parents (who have already offered to help out), but I have met my goal for this one! I have to save a bit more anyway, as I want a nice emergency house fund for when something inevitably breaks, but YAY! So I’m officially changing this goal to buying my first home, probably in 2-3 years when I know where I want to live though.

Pay Off My Student Loans

Well, I haven’t done this yet, but I have made a HUGE dent in my loans. I have gone back to paying double what my minimum payment would be if there wasn’t the loans freeze so my payments are going completely towards the principle. I will say, that I didn’t get the usual tax refund I normally get because I couldn’t write off anything for the interest! Ah well.

My plans right now are to keep paying double and still hope for at least the $10,000 loan cancellation/forgiveness. If more is forgiven, I’ll feel foolish but ultimately I’ll be at $0 so whatever! If it isn’t forgiven at all, I’ll feel better knowing I paid a ton of principle only payments and then just pay off the rest depending on the interest rates. I know for sure the biggest loan I have been paying off is over 6% interest rate, but the rest I think are around 3% so it’ll just depend how I’m feeling about the loans when the payments resume.

My goal last year was to pay less overall per month but when I was doing my budget this year I just hated seeing the loans and now I’m that much closer to being debt free! My student loans are the only debt I have, so I’m sure if I had more debt I’d be a lot more worried about it, but actually the number is pretty close to the $10k and knowing I can easily pay it off from my savings is a big peace of mind honestly.

Have a Net Worth of $100k

So, I feel silly admitting it, but my net worth has not yet reached $100k! The reasons why are a mix of spending too much in my 20s, not investing until recently in anything beyond a 401k, and earning a low wage for years. I’ve had a huge boost in income with my current job, I’ve saved a ton of money since the pandemic began, I’ve kept my expenses low, and now I’m focused on investing and growing my wealth. I am close to to reaching this goal, but this last bit is slow going. I can’t wait to reach this milestone, which I am on track to do this year. After this goal, I’m going to switch to focusing on having $100k invested, so that will not include my savings (emergency savings, down payment for my future home, the dog’s emergency savings, etc.). I am already over halfway to that goal, so it shouldn’t take too long hopefully, but it’s nice to have these specific goals to work towards!

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So, that’s my life goals! I actually didn’t remove any, just slightly changed one, and even added a goal! How fun! Let me know if we share any goals or if you have one you want to share. I’d love to hear it!

Thanks for reading!

Pamela

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