Q3 2019 Goals and Resolutions Update

Q3 2019 is over which means it’s time to do a Q3 2019 goals and resolutions update. It’s a bit crazy to consider that three quarters are in the books already, and we only have three more months to go for the year. Where did the time go? Time seems to go by faster and faster each year for some reason. Weird.

I was pretty happy with what I have accomplished by the end of Q2. Being a high achiever, I had created some very challenging and ambitious goals. Let’s find out how I did by the end of Q3.

2019 Goals & Resolutions

Below is my goal schedule spreadsheet. Being an Excel nerd, I have created several sheets within the spreadsheet file to track my progress of the different goals. For example, after I go swimming, I’d enter the date and distance. The spreadsheet automatically adds up the distance and reports the result in the goal schedule spreadsheet.

Financial Goals

  • Save for 2020 TFSAs and RESPs ($17,000 total) -> WIP. We are saving money and putting it aside each month to make sure we can hit the $17,000 total goal by the end of 2019.
  • Dividend Income over $23,000 -> WIP. After nine months we received a total of $16,994.26 in dividend income. We should be tracking $17,250 after nine months, so we are slightly behind on this goal. Closing out our position of Dream Global REITs may hurt us a little bit on the dividend income front. However, I’m optimistic that we will receive more than $23,000 in dividend income by the end of 2019.
  • Max out RRSP contributions -> Complete! We maxed out our 2018 RRSP contribution in early Feb 2019.
  • Travel Hack 100,000 Marriott rewards points -> Complete! Despite completing this goal last quarter, we continued to apply for credit cards to get more travels points. Last year, we travel hacked our way to Maui for free and stayed at a luxurious Marriott resort for 12 nights for free (saved us over $10,000). We are planning to go to Hawaii again either next year or the year after, therefore, we are trying to accumulate as many Marriott Bonvoy points as possible. During Q3 I applied for the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business Card by using Mrs. T’s referral code. By hitting the $3,000 spending requirement in the first 3 months, we were able to earn 61,000 Marriott Bonvoy points in Q3. So far in 2019 we have earned a total of 242,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. At approximately $0.008 per point, this meant we have “earned” $1,936 so far. In case you’re interested, you can apply the American Express Bonvoy personal card with my referral code. By spending $3,000 in the first 3 months, you will receive 51,000 in Marriott Bonvoy points, good enough for 3 nights at a Category 2 hotel. In addition to the Amex Mariott card mentioned above, I also applied for the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card and earned points equivalent of over $250.
  • Dividend Income/Annual Expenses ratio 50% -> 43.5%. This goal was totally too ambitious. We are behind on this goal and it’s extremely unlikely we will be able to meet this goal. However, it is encouraging to see that our dividend income is starting to cover a large percentage of our annual expenses.

Blog Goals

  • Publish six high-quality articles every month -> 75%. This goal has been keeping me motivated on getting six high-quality articles every month. So glad I created this blog goal for myself.
  • Attend FinCon’19 -> Complete! I went to FinCon19 in early September and had a fabulous time. It was great to see old friends and meet new friends too. In case you’re wondering what FinCon is about, you can read my FinCon 2019 recap here.
  • Attend CPFC’19 -> Unfortunately, sounds like CPFC (Canadian Personal Finance Conference) will not happen this year. I will end up with a big fat zero for this goal.
  • Organize a meetup in Vancouver -> Complete! I set up a meetup in July and met Chrissy from Eat Sleep Breathe FI, Phia from Freedom101, and Steph from Incoming Assets. It was great talking about personal finance and financial independence retire early with these gals. I am hoping to set up another blogger meetup in the fall.

Personal Goals

  • Eat better & healthier, avoid snacks at night. Weigh 70 kg by the end of 2019 -> 76 kg. My weight has stayed relatively stable over the last nine months. I am convinced that hitting the 70 kg goal isn’t all that achievable. Even if I can, it’s probably not sustainable for me. Overall I am feeling pretty good with my body and how I look. I have been eating better and feeling healthier compared to the beginning of the year. You can definitely tell that I am better toned now. One thing I am curious about is what my body fat percentage is. I’ll have to try to find out somehow.
  • Go swimming at least once each week. Swim for 100 km in 2019 ->  Complete! When I set this goal at the beginning of the year, I thought this would be a super ambitious and challenging goal. Swimming for 100 km in 2019 meant swimming for 2 km each week for 50 weeks (This means I can take 2 weeks off). At the beginning of the year, swim for 2 km each time was very difficult and it took me over an hour. With more practice, swim for 2 km became easier and easier. For the last month, I have been focusing on techniques by focusing more on freestyle. Distance no longer has been my focus. Although I have hit my goal, I plan to continue going swimming every week. Waking up at 5:45 AM to go swimming at least once a week has been quite enjoyable and it’s something I look forward to each week.
  • Go to gym at least twice each week -> 75%, on track. I have hit the gym at least twice a week every single week so far in 2019. I am very pleased with the consistency and now really enjoy going to the gym to get a total body workout.
  • Read 15 books -> Complete! I continued to read books despite completing this goal in Q2. Below are books I finished reading in Q3:
    • Quit like a millionaire: I quite enjoyed reading Kristy and Bryce’s book. You can read my review here.
    • An Economist Walks into a Brothel. And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk: This catchy book title caught my attention when I was browsing in Indigo Chapters a few months ago. Allison Schrager, the author, did a fabulous job explaining what risk means with unconventional examples, like working in a brothel and thoroughbred horse breeding. I really enjoyed reading the book and would highly recommend it.
    • Work Optional: It was always fun reading a book written by a friend of yours. Tanja did a great job explaining the Work Optional concept and why we should focus on financial independent rather than retire early. Being a Canadian, I skipped the entire section about health care (I even told Tanja at FinCon about this).
    • Becoming: This book by Michelle Obama was all the rage recently and I finally got a copy from the local library. Since I didn’t know the Obamas that well, it was quite interesting to learn more about them. I particularly liked the last section when they were living in the White House and things they had to deal with.
    • A gentleman in Moscow: This book was on Bill Gates’ reading list and I wanted to know what the fuzz was all about. The book is about Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov who is placed under house arrest inside the Metropol Hotel for over 30 years. The story was quite interesting and it was crazy to think that someone being put on house arrest for over 30 years. The writing was very witty and sophisticated but I have to say I didn’t particularly like the book as much as some people.
    • The birth order book. Why You Are the Way You Are: I have to thank one of the readers for suggesting this book. It was fascinating and Dr. Kevin Leman definitely was able to point out some key personal traits I have based on my birth order. I am using some useful tips he wrote on how to interact with people with different birth orders. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Fun Goals

  • Go camping 3 times -> Complete! We went camping three times in the summer.
  • One staycation with Mrs. T -> Complete! We had a fabulous stayaction in April and stayed at the fancy JW Marriott Parq Vancouver.

Q3 2019 Wrap up

With Q3 behind us I have completed 8 out of 15 goals. Unfortunately, since CPFC won’t happen this year, I am going to miss out one goal for sure. But that was totally out of my control, so I don’t feel too bad about it. I also met many fellow Canadian bloggers at FinCon19.

I most likely won’t be able to complete the 70 kg weight goal either. But rather than focusing on the weight, I really should be focusing on body fat percentage and how I feel about my body. After all, 70 kg at 30% body fat isn’t the same as 70 kg at 15% body fat.

I am super proud of myself that I already crashed the swim for 100 km goal before the end of the year. I am just as proud of myself that I have gone to the gym consistently so far in 2019. Taking charge of my fitness and health is extremely important because, without healthy, all the money in the world won’t matter at all.

I am also very surprised that I managed to read 21 books so far in 2019. Reading books that were recommended by Barack Obama and Bill Gates is a great idea. It has been really pleasant to read some non-personal finance and non-investing books this year.

I am looking forward to finishing up the other goals before 2019 wraps up.

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8 thoughts on “Q3 2019 Goals and Resolutions Update”

  1. I’m glad you got around to reading the birth order book 🙂
    My other favourites of his are ‘raising your powerful child’ and ‘how to raise your kids without tearing them down’. He also has a podcast if you are into that named ‘have a new kid by Friday’.

    Love your blog!

    Reply
  2. Well done on your goals this year. As for the weight target do you think because of all the swimming and gym work that you haven’t met your lower level because of muscle, it’s a good problem to have. Hopefully I can make the fall meetup, really looking forward to meeting everyone.

    Reply

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