Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

It is time to do a year-end review! 2017 was a great year. Although it had its ups and downs, I definitely learned a lot. Sometimes when you go into a New Year, you have all these high hopes and great New Year’s resolutions that you forget to make a backup plan. During 2017, I learned that not everything goes according to plan.

Firstly, it was a great year. We celebrated my son’s first birthday and my daughter started the 1^st grade at a new school. I have made strides with this blog and my husband and I celebrated 8 years of marriage. I have a lot to be thankful for in 2017 and that is what I chose to focus on.

Now, let’s get to the check-in…

I did a mid-year check-in in July. It highlighted my progress for the first half of the year. I was on track, for the most part, but it was an eye-opening experience that helped me focus on my goals. I must say, if I didn’t check-in on my goals, I probably would not have achieved ANY of them.

Read The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for SMART Financial Goals

2017 Goals

Save Money for a New House (X ✓)

We are still behind on this goal. We are making progress, which is better than nothing. We have about 40% of our down payment goal, I was hoping to be at 60% but life happens. I still believe we will have the entire amount saved by the end of the year thanks to the Fun Saving Money Challenge!

Max Out IRA (✓)

We did it! We maxed out our IRA accounts, $5,500 each! I am proud of this accomplishment. In 2018, we are going to focus more on maxing out our TSP and 401(k) accounts before maxing out our IRA. After running the numbers, this will be better for our retirement planning.

Save for Family Vacation (✓)

This was done in June. We had a great time in Miami, Florida! Our entire week-long vacation was paid with cash. We did use our credit cards to get reward points but the credit card statements were paid off in full. It’s nice taking a vacation and not coming back home broke or with more debt.

Check out how I budget for vacations.

Pamper Myself Once a Month (X)

I know, I know. In the mid-year check-in I said I would be doing more of this but what can I say old habits die hard. I still get my hair done once a month but that’s it. I need to do more for myself. Someone once told me that, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” This is so true. As women (and men), we often think of others more than we think about ourselves. We can help our loved ones if we are not at our best. Once again, I will be adding this to my goals for 2018.

Post to Blog 2 Times Once per Week (X✓)

I am getting better at this. I might miss a week here or there but I have invested in a different planner that I hope will help me manage my schedule better. This is one of those times where a backup plan worked for me. Posting once a week instead of twice a week has freed up more time for me to created freebies and worksheets for you.

Sign up to receive all the FREE financial worksheets and planning sheets in THE VAULT.

Become a Financial Coach (X✓)

Well, I am officially a Certified Financial Education Instructor! This was a big accomplishment for me because I want to continue to teach and help people with personal finance. I am so happy to accomplish this goal.

Although I have not officially launched my coaching business, I have taken on a few clients and had some successful sessions. I hope to officially launch my coaching business later this year. I will be offering one-on-one coaching, courses, and accountability groups.

Financial Recap

Financially, it was a good year. The first part of the year, I was out for 3 months on maternity leave. Since I work at a small company, my leave was unpaid. We were able to be financially stable during my unpaid maternity leave thanks to some great financial planning.

We had a couple of unexpected dental emergencies which totaled $3,500. Thankfully we have an emergency fund so we didn’t have to worry about debt. The pain was in my tooth, not my wallet. (I know… cheesy joke but you get what I’m saying.)

Our net worth increased by 19% this year. The reasons for the increase would be our retirement investments, new home savings, and we reduced some expenses. Although we didn’t get raises in 2017, we still had big growth in our net worth.

All in all, 2017 was a great year. I accomplished a lot, I learned a lot, and I had a lot of fun!

How did you do with your 2017 goals?