Back in January 2013 I presented how the past year has treated us. 2012 was important for me since it allowed me to ‘clear’ out two very important things in my agenda: eye surgery and finishing my car payments. Even with these 2 events it was already shaping up to be a good year, on top of solving my health issues and becoming debt free we also spent quite some time abroad, doing some extensive traveling.
For 2013 I had some financial goals in my mind and also one on a more personal note, which I didn’t write down anywhere – to get married.
From a financial standpoint I had in mind a certain income from my freelancing career, which I almost achieved. I had some pretty high expectations for the year and came pretty close. The savings were probably around the estimated 33%, but we did have to dig into the money for everything this year brought us.
The ‘unexpected’ meant having some health issues earlier in the year (which got solved easy, but cost us) and also having my main computer die on me, which meant I had to purchase a new one to be able to run my business. The most wonderful unexpected thing was us getting pregnant 2 weeks after I ditched my pills. I thought we’re gonna do OK if we got pregnant in 2-3 years time (afterward I’d start really worrying and trying other options), but it looks like ‘someone’ wanted us to succeed.
So, at the beginning of June, we both got the best news in our lives: we’re expecting.
As you can imagine, the costs skyrocketed, with all needed for our daughter, but we didn’t mind. My husband’s side of the business took quite a while to earn us a decent revenue, so we lived from my web design income 3 quarters of 2013. Still, we managed to pay for everything, had a great vacation, covered all the expenses (taxes, car, food etc.) and prepared well for the little one, for when she’s gonna arrive in the family.
What I’m very proud is being able to stick to my expenses tracking routine. I feared I’ll lose interest during the year, but it wasn’t the case. I wrote down each and every expense/income and in the past months also started keeping a separate budget. Of course, it’s annoying to see how many unexpected crap appears at least every 2 months, but all this ‘accounting’ helped me have a better view on how we’re doing financially and if it’s possible for us to improve how we handle money.
2013 was a pretty good year. OK, it was probably the best so far. We got pregnant, we did get married, we did well financially, we were able to pay for everything, save money and enjoy a debt/worry free life.
For 2014 my goals are pretty similar: to earn at least as we did in 2013, to be able to save for everything we have in plan (and there’s a lot: from the birth itself, stem cells storage, christening, a 2 week vacation in Croatia and her separate savings account we’ll start since she’s born), plus everything we cannot plan for, get some more money for our retirement etc.
I just hope we’ll be healthy and our daughter will be delivered save and sound. If we are healthy and we do get along as we did for more than a decade since we’ve been together, I think 2014 will turn out to be OK.
What resolutions have you set for yourself this year? How was 2013 for you?
PS: A Happy New Year to you all and thank you for visiting the blog.
Congrats, Ramona! Saving 33% of the income is really an achievement! It’s good to hear that 2013 was such a great year for you – this only opens up for 2014 to be even better, especially with your family numbers increasing 🙂 Have a great 2014!
Thank you, let’s hope 2014 will treat us all well 🙂
Happy New Year!
Great to see you planning ahead for all the big events you know are coming up in 2014!
It’s good to plan, you will get a lot of unexpected stuff in life, but at least the things we can plan for should be thought about 😉
What an exciting 2013 you had. A two week trip to Croatia sounds exciting. I’ve been to Korcula and loved it. Best of luck with your daughter’s birth and 2014 goals. Happy new year!
Korcula is great, we never went there, but saw a lot of pics. Croatia is AMAZING, so it’s clearly worth visiting. Wish you a great year too and thank you for being a part of the community here 😉
You guys had a great year, Dojo!! I like what you said about being afraid you’d lose interest in tracking your expenses. I was afraid of that too this year, but it’s funny, because it becomes more and more fun, it seems, the more you do it! Best of luck to you guys, and here’s to a great 2014!
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Happy new year, Ramona! You did wonderfully with your savings in 2013; 33% is very impressive. I agree with the planning- we need to be aware of what may come around and appropriately save for the events you anticipate and then some for the unexpected ones as well!
I wish you a lovely 2014!! Parenthood will be exciting!!
great job Dojo, glad to see you had a prosperous 2013, I hope 2014 is even better for ya! Best of luck with your daughter and your continued success!!
You had an awesome year! I hope 2014 is just as good. I’m sure it will be since you’ll get to meet your little one!
[…] year, knowing I was expecting a baby, my resolutions weren’t too high. I was right to keep my expectations lower, since caring for a new baby and also trying to manage a […]