2008 Goals Review

I had a GREAT Bday weekend! I spent time with my family, had some quality time to myself, did some shopping, and ate some wonderful Caribbean food. I loved every minute of it.

Alright! Lets get to the nitty gritty. Over the next few posts I will review my 2008 Goals and do a short summary of all major events (good and bad) in 2008. Once we get that out the way, we'll see what Dimples has planned for 2009. It will definitely be a year for GREAT things!

CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR 2008 GOALS REVIEW

I am not going to list every single goal I had on this plan. Once I made the choice to basically "upgrade" to the next level of my career, about 3/4 of my plan could not be applied to my new position. So here is a list of what I did accomplish:

• *Went on my first business trip to Shreveport, LA
• *Became Lead Engineer on 5 separate projects
  
• *Took a huge leap of faith and landed great job with client (and then successor)
  
• *Same leap of faith increased my salary by $25,000
• *Increased my knowledge of Access and databases
• *Taught myself Relex
• *Taught myself FMEA
  

Doesn't seems like much but I got a lot done. I'll post my 2009 Career Plan/Goal later this week.

2008 GOALS REVIEW

FINANCES

1. Eliminate CC Debt - 54% complete

I paid off $7000 of $13K in cc debt. Unforeseen circumstances led to a $3K increase in my cc debt. The huge salary jump allowed me to attack a sizable chunk of my debt and I hope plan to be debt free by February 09.

2. Double Emergency Fund to $6,000 - Done (kind of)

In October I had about $7000 saved in E-fund. $6K of that was used later on to pay off a chunk of my cc debt.

3. Car loan balance < $15K - Nope

Current balance of my auto loan is $18K.

4. Obtain $300K in additional life insurance - Nope

I was able to obtain an additional $75K in life insurance. I will look further into this later on this year.

5. Increase credit score to 700+ - Almost

My current score is 686. I am almost there.

6. Change to paperless billing system - Done

7. Find permanent hustle - Done

This blog is my permanent hustle. I also jump on lil things here and there.


CAREER/BUSINESS

1. Business - Nope

All my business goals are on hold. Once I get things ironed out with my career, finances, and buying a home, I will look back into it.

2. Increase salary by at least 5% - DONE!

I increased my salary by 50%. Take that! Take that!!!!

3. Look into investment/rental property - NO!

Please! Not in THIS market. Don't know what I was thinking when I added that on.

4. Network - Yes, kind of

I have been to a couple of events but not as much as I should have.


MISCELLANEOUS

1. Take at least 2 Out-of-State trips - Done

I went to Atlanta, GA last February with my girls and to Shreveport, LA on business. Yes I am counting the business trip.

2. Better time management - Ugh

Work in progress. I am getting better though.

3. Be more organized - Yes!

I'm a Capricorn so I am a master a this.


Not sure how to gauge how well I have done in this past year. Doesn't look good on paper but then again I am on a whole other level than where I was a year ago. I've done pretty good this year and I am very proud of myself. So is my daughter. And that is what really matters at the end.

I have a number of things I want to focus on this year and a lot I want to accomplish. I have the drive, I have the faith, I have the determination, and I have the intelligence. Once I concur my time management issues I will be a powerhouse. Play wit it if you want to!!

Look out for my 2009 Goals in the next couple of days.