A Look Back On 2018 & Looking To 2019
Happy New Year 2019!!!
I keep reading everyone’s 2018 recaps and reviews, and I decided to do one as well. Seemed like a great way to look back on 2018 and to plan out 2019. So, let’s get into it.
What Happened in 2018
Looking back on 2018, it feels like it was a meh year to me. Nothing overly good or overly bad. One of my problems is I have some difficulty recalling positive or negative emotions from the past. Whether that is a day, a week, a month, or a year makes no difference to my brain; it happened so move on. It’s not exactly the best way to live, especially when you accomplish something huge.
This is a big part of why I wanted to do this recap to see just what the hell happened this year and see if it really was a meh year.
Paid Off Our Car
In July, we paid off my car. This was a big deal and I talked about it previously. We should need another car for at least another 2-3 years, so this is $300 a month of free money again.
Got an $11,000 Loan and Paid It Off Five Months Later
We got the loan as a cash advance since my paycheck was not a real thing at the time (more on that below). There were things we wanted to do on the house, but the window to do them was closing on us with the changing seasons and whatnot. I talked about it more here. We did end up missing the window to get the landscaping done, but we got a lot of big stuff done. Once my paychecks finally started kicking in, we were able to pay it off in December. Specifically, on December 31. It was a good day.
Made It Through My Longest Income Gap
The thing about working in real estate is that you don’t have a standard bi-weekly paycheck. I get paid when the home closes. Since I work exclusively with new construction homes, this is even worse. Some times I sell a home that is not going to close for over six months and you just have to get by.
In my situation, I sold out of the previous phase in my community in December 2017 with the last home closing in January 2018. My next closing wasn’t until June 2018. So, that’s five months to get by without a paycheck. Thankfully, I was able to sell three homes in another community during that period, but I only got half the commission. For the rest, I had to take a draw on my future pay. This meant that my first paychecks were going straight to pay back my company for the draw. My first paycheck that made it to my account would be at the end of July.
It was the longest gap in pay I have had while working with new homes, so I am proud that we made it through it with relatively no issues.
Maxed Out Our IRAs
While we had some issues with setting these accounts up, we did manage to get them fully funded in October. $11,000 invested in total.
We Traveled This Year
We went on two cruises with two different cruise lines this year. Both were to the Caribbean but had a few different stops. I wrote about the second cruise in two different posts.
I like to take cruises since my phone doesn’t work and I am therefore forced to ignore emails or texts during that time. That way I am actually on vacation.
In the end, I think we may vary both our types of vacations (something besides a cruise) and how often we go. We keep meaning to take a three-day weekend trip to Orlando to go to the theme parks. That has yet to happen, and Orlando is only an hour away. We’ve got no excuses for this. Just get lazy or time “gets away from us.” Aka: We’re lazy.
Learned About FIRE
While I did talk about why I wanted to FIRE when I started this blog, it helps to know a bit more about me for this one. My mom declared bankruptcy when I was little due to a shopping problem. I spent a good chunk of my childhood in malls. How much of my childhood? The store manager of Dillard’s gave me gifts for my birthday for years. After my mom declared bankruptcy, we were still okay. I learned a lot of about credit scores and, of course, bankruptcy during that time. It wasn’t until the housing boom that things went to hell.
Every apartment building thought that they could convert to condos and make a killing and our’s was no exception. They kicked everyone out. My mom and I had to find somewhere else to live. The few remaining apartments realized that they could charge two times what they were charging before and people would have no choice but to pay. So our rent doubled, and we had very little left over money. We didn’t always have money for food, but we made do. My mom went through a period of depression. We affectionately refer to this time as the “Year of Hell.” We named it after a Star Trek Voyager two-parter.
Things did get better after that year due to my mom getting a promotion and moving to a better apartment building in a better neighborhood.
Coming from that, I was always big on not spending too much money. Got a job two months after I turned 16. Worked my ass off to qualify for every scholarship and grant I could get for college. I had one or two jobs while I was in college. Once I got out, I got my first full-time job in retail, and due to that, I was able to luck out and get into my current field.
We worked on paying off all our debt, and the next goal was paying off our mortgage. After that, we had no real intentions. Wasn’t sure where to go from there or what to aim to do when it came to money. More than likely, we would have ended up in a lifestyle creep. Hell, we were already thinking about what features our next house would have. Okay, not we. Me. Mr. FOGTA reads this and would totally call me out on that.
FIRE is incredibly freeing for me. It gives me an end goal where we don’t have to worry about losing our jobs or not being able to buy food. Before I learned about it, we didn’t see another option aside working until we were retirement age and I was not looking forward to it. I know what we’re aiming towards now and it’s a better life.
Started a Blog
I launched From One Geek to Another in July 2018, and I had no clue what the hell I was doing. I used to believe I was relatively tech-savvy until I started this process. It’s almost laughable to think about now.
I have only the faintest grasp on SEO. Pinterest is the most complicated thing I have ever had to endure. I understand Twitter better now, even if I am still confused with what I am doing on it. The WordPress update last nearly crashed this site and I hadn’t the faintest idea what to do. Again, I have no clue what I am doing.
That all said, it has been a pretty rewarding experience. One of my posts got featured on Camp Fire Finance. I got to “meet” a lot of cool people on twitter that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. I now have more blogs to read than I have time in the day. Plus, it’s been helping me hold me accountable to my goals and helped me sort through some issues.
I am pretty happy with how this has been going and have no intention of stopping.
Goals for 2019
No Additional Debt
We paid off the car and the loan last year, so the only thing left is our mortgage. We don’t want any additional debt this year. One debt free (ignore mortgage) year.
Max Our IRAs
Did it last year and want to do it keep it going. The limit was increased to $6000 each so that’s $12,000 total for the two of us.
Max Out My 401k
I had my 401K contributions turned off for part of this year. This was due to that large gap in pay that I mentioned earlier. This year I want to power through (have a small gap coming this year as well) and max it out. That would be $19,000.
Get Our Emergency Fund to $50,000
Some might feel this is a high number, but I don’t. My job is highly dependent on the economy and the housing market. If either of those slip, my job goes with it. Having $50,000 would be one year’s worth of bills and expenses that I would not have to worry about.
Also, if I have to go through any management changes or future mergers or if Mr. FOGTA’s job gets worse (it’s a little choppy now), we are good for a while.
Currently we are at $25,500 in total savings and $17,500 in our emergency fund. So, $32,500 more to complete the emergency fund.
Improve My Health
Overall, my health is better than it was in the past, but I’ve got all the room to improve. Walking more and actually using our treadclimber. Also, eating better. I have a tendency to skip meals that needs to stop, and I need to cut down on all the sugar. I’m not a candy person, but I love fruit juice. It’s a problem.
Spend More Time With Friends & Family
With everyone’s schedules being all over the place I didn’t see everyone as much as I would have liked this year. My being a introvert does not help matters.
I am going to work to make sure that I see or talk to everyone at least a couple of times a month.
Will also try to visit my in-laws more than twice this year. With my schedule, it doesn’t often work out, but I can do what I can to make more time. This is a lot easier now that I have a full-time partner at work.
Keep Working On From One Geek to Another
The past five months have been great and I want to improve on it for 2019. Here are a few things I want to achieve for the blog:
- 5000 page views. It’s been five months, and I am over 725 page views now, so getting to 5000 will be a challenge. Looking forward to it.
- Post at least 3-4 times a month. I have been consistent with three posts a month, so I think that might be the right spot for me right now. Maintaining it will be the challenge.
- Revamp the website & get a logo. I have wanted a logo or something similar for FOGTA for a while now. Want to get it done this year.
Travel More
We did two cruises last year and nothing else. Want to take at least two shorter trips throughout the year. A three day weekend here or a five day stay here. We also have a cruise planned for May.
One thing I would love to do is plan a trip to one of the places on my bucket list. Sandal’s vacations have crazy sales right now. š
Be Happier
Now, this is not an easy one. Happiness is not a unit of measure, and with my previously mentioned issues of fleeting emotions, this will be difficult to track. However, there are things I can do. All the above goals would contribute to this, but there are also the little things.
Celebrating my wins at work. Re-read my favorite books. Trying that hobby or class that I have talked about forever, but have always found a reason to put off. I tend to avoid taking risks, so I would appreciate any suggestions on this. Time to get out of my comfort zone a little.
So, that’s my look back on 2018 and looking towards 2019. I wouldn’t say it was a meh year looking back on everything. We got a lot accomplished in 2018 and we’ll get even more done in 2019.
Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment, share this post, or subscribe to FOGTA.
Til Next Time!
-G