Hey everyone, it’s Whatever Wednesdays again. I hope everyone had a nice Holiday. As we inch closer to the end of the year, it’s a time for introspection, but also a time for looking forward to the future. So today I’m going to talk about my “New Year’s Resolutions 2018“.

Stock Photo from: Pexels

New Year’s Resolutions 2018

Just so we’re clear, I don’t normally do the whole “New Year’s Resolution” thing.

However, because I have a lot of things going on, I’m going to be using the New Year’s Resolution as kind of “my goals” for 2018.

Personal

• Be more healthy.

This doesn’t mean I’m getting a gym membership or something like that. It means I’m going to try to eat a little more healthy and try to do some more exercise. The main culprit of this is eating out while at work because it’s just so “easy” — and yet that ton of extra calories don’t really offer much. In other words, I’m going to try to get back on the wagon.

I’m also hoping my daughter and son will start getting into sports so I can help with that and maybe get some exercise as well.

• Get more organized.

My “office” at home consists of a computer, printer, and TV. However, it also has a ton of shelves and even a little twin bed. Currently the shelves are being taken up by a mishmash of papers I have deemed important. While it may seem like a mess to the untrained eye, I actually do have “places” for everything. That said, I would like to get more organized. I have a few expanding files and desk drawers that I have been meaning to use in order to reclaim some shelf space. However… that hasn’t happened yet.

• Fix some house stuff

This is an ongoing process when you’re a home-owner. Even though I knew that there was going to be “costs” that would pop up from owning a house, it’s still been more than I expected. Just remember that when you buy a house, it’s your job to get everything fixed. The next thing on my list is to replace the vanity in the guest bathroom – I’m thinking a ready-made one from Home Depot or Lowes or something. Then I’d like to replace the shower in the master bathroom. I’m going with these smaller fixes instead of renovating the bathrooms in order to buy a little time and save some money toward other bigger fixes.

However, the most major repair I would like done is to have our lanai renovated. Some of the boards need to be replaced, and the lanai (and house) just need a new coat of pain and sealant, so I’m going to try to make those things a priority for 2018.

Business

• Keep improving seniorresident

My blog still remains small, but it has had some upticks in traffic recently, after being include in PoF’s Sunday Best and also some traffic from people reading my Quora post on Cryptocurrency. I’ve had some increasing interest in some sponsorships over 2017 as well. So my goal for 2018 is to try to move forward with monetizing the site. I also need to work on keeping tabs of what I’ve spent on the website. I  should probably move forward with getting an EIN and maybe a bank account for my LLC.

Additionally, I’ve also kind of “fallen off” with using Twitter, so my goal for 2018 is to Tweet at least one thing a day on Twitter (not a reply).  This will most likely be something random and/or some kind of meme. Every once in awhile I’ll try to create my own meme(s) for fun to showcase my low level photoshop skills.

I’m also going to try to be little more active on Quora maybe. Although, Quora seems to think I’m a cryptocurrency expert and keeps asking me to answer questions on it.

• Keep making videos for vietaliana

My daughter still likes making videos, so I’ll still keep making them. It’s been an interesting year of making videos with my iPhone 6 Plus and now my iPhone X. She enjoys making the videos and having “fans”. It was also quite surprising to be include in the Google Year in Search 2017 video as “Little Wonder Woman”. Pretty amazing considering that the original video was only her 2nd video ever, and it only had a few views, although it has 99 now. I guess it just goes to show you that you can’t be “found” if you don’t put yourself out there. I really thank Google for including my little girl in their video — but I’m kind of sad that they didn’t give her credit.

If anyone knows Ellen Degeneres, can you tell her to get Kylie on her show as Little Wonder Woman? ? 

Kidding aside, I’m kind of surprised as to how much I’ve enjoyed learning to make videos and edit them. However, now that I’m making video in 4k, I probably need to move on to learning another video editor instead of “Windows Movie Maker”. While you can kind of force it to output into 4k, I was told it isn’t true 4k. For this reason I’m going to try to learn another video editor, or I may just buy some video editing software.

I also wanted to explore other kinds of videos for vietaliana, like just random videos of her playing with toys she likes or her playing/practicing piano… or maybe some fun stuff like having her pick a Cryptocurrency Winner or weigh in on political issues. We’ll see. I have lots of stuff I want to do — but not enough time to do it.

• Get my other project off the ground

My friend and I have been working on another project for about 2 years now. It’s taken a lot longer to build than we thought. However, we really feel it fills a niche if people would give it a chance to take off. We’ll be launching it sometime in early 2018 since we’re still in early alpha phase. There are a lot of bugs we want worked out before we invite people into the beta. Stay tuned!

Financial

• Put more money toward loans.

This next year we should see a few extra dollars a month from my job and my wife’s job. Also, daycare expenses will go down as well. My last car payment for my 2012 Rav4 will also end in April. So I’m hoping that we will be able to put more money toward our loans — which are still kind of soul-crushing. I’m hopeful that we can make them go away completely by at least 2025, and ideally, by 2023.

• Put more money toward the 529s

The kids’ 529s are looking pretty sad so far. I plan to bump up their contributions in 2018 in order to get them where I want by the time they finish high school.

• Keep maximizing the $18.5k each toward our TSPs with our match and putting away $11k in a Backdoor Roth IRA.

This is just continuing like clockwork. Just a reminder that the contribution limit increases to $18.5k from $18k. I’ve already changed my bi-weekly contribution — have you?

• Remember that it’s ok to spend a little more money on our vacation.

As you know we’re planning the Family Vacation of 2018 where we’re going to hit Disneyland, Legoland, and Sea World. While it’s already going to be pretty expensive, I need to remind myself that it’s a special occasion. For that reason, it’s ok to spend a little more money on some good food and more fun — because time with family is worth it.

So go ahead and get the guac — even though it’s extra.

• Keep learning about Cryptocurrency

I find Cryptocurrency fascinating. I really do think it is the future, but just a matter of how and how much.

I’ll continue to talk about Crypto on Finance Fridays, or I may even give it its own day on weekends or something because I find it so interesting.

No RISC. No Reward.

TL;DR

New Year New You — I don’t do resolutions really, but the above are my “goals” for 2018.

I think it’s a good idea to do this kind of introspection in order to help yourself focus in the next year.

Mele Kalikimaka and a Happy New Year ?

-Sensei

Agree? Disagree? Questions, Comments and Suggestions are welcome.

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