The Sweet Spot

So we're a little over a month into the journey (after finally figuring out what it actually is) and I've made some progress into a few of my end of year goals. The others, I'm a bit worried about. So lets see...
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Increase Monthly Income by $200 - Driving Lyft made this goal pretty easy. Since I've started on the last Saturday of Oct, I've made $295. This is pretty good for only working weekend nights. Not that its starting to get cold out and the demand for standing in club lines has dropped, I may have to focus my efforts on some Brand Ambassador gigs. I tried Amazon Mechanical Turk, but I've only made about 15 cents. It requires you to do a good amount of the smaller tasks before you're able to do some of the higher paying tasks. This may be better for someone who watches a lot of TV and can do a task or two on commercial breaks. Turo, the car rental service is pretty slow in my area. I only had one request to rent my car but it was during a work day so that was a no-go. 

Pass (1) ARM Exam - This is one of the goals I'm worried about. I slacked off and didn't start studying until the beginning of this week and I haven't been using my lunch breaks to do so( these have been dedicated to finding potential wholesale properties). BUT I have been waking up an hour earlier to go to the office and read there before I start my day. I'm done with 2 out of 11 chapters and the testing window closes Dec 15th. I've finished a book a month when I was working on my CPCU, but I had more free time then (no pup). Gotta find some extra time somewhere. 

Add an additional $1,000 to emergency savings - My goal was to do this over the last 5 pay periods this year and eat out only once each pay period. I'm two pay periods in and have already put away over $700! Lyft really showed up and showed out. Since I'll be reaching my savings goal early, I'll be able to begin knocking off my credit card debt about a month sooner. 

Reduce/Eliminate 3 Bills - I mentioned a few posts back that I was able to reduce my cell phone bill by $40 just by asking. I've called around to a few other providers but was unfortunately  not able to find any more savings. Womp. I'll try again a few months or sooner if I see any promotions on TV. Wasn't for a lack of trying.

Goal setting is fun when you're on track to meet your goals, but can also add a bit of stress when you feel like you're falling behind. This process has definitely made me take stock of my most important asset - Time. How you use your time has an effect on everything in your life. I always ask for more hours in day but other people have done some extraordinary things with the same allotment we all get. There are a couple great articles written by Tum Urban that sums up all of our longing for a few extra hours. Check them out here and here.

I sometimes struggle with choosing between things I want to do and things I need to do. It goes something like this "I want to sit here and binge watch Shameless, but I need to read a few chapters before I go to sleep" or " I want to actually relax for my lunch break but I need to find some properties to wholesale, so I'll eat my sandwich at my desk." And unfortunately for me, I commit. So its all night watching shameless or all night reading. I need to remind myself that it doesn't have to be all or nothing; strict sacrifice or over-indulgence. If I'm working on financial freedom all day I'd be miserable but if I procrastinate all day I'd never get anything done. Gotta find that happy medium.

Check out some good reads to get that motivation moving.