My Frugal Miser - Looking Back at my 2010 Goals

It's hard to believe this is it. 2010 will be over in a few hours. For me it was a remarkably transitional year. I was substantially "self-employed" for the year as nearly all my income either came from rental properties or mystery shopping. Even though I did not earn as much as I did in the corporate job I left in 2009, I still made some progress.

I had 5 big goals for 2010:

1. Lose 26 pounds. This one I failed miserably. In fact, I've gained a few pounds this year.
2. Increase my net worth by $25,000. I underestimated my ability here as my net worth increased by more than twice that. A big part of this was thanks to the investment performance of my two retirement accounts, but I also managed to pay off more than $25,000 worth of debt in 2010.
   
3. Stick to a budget in key areas including food, gas and entertainment. I didn't do too bad with my budget. My goal was to spend less than $5 per day on food and I actually spent $4.98 per day ($1,816.21). For gas, I wanted to spend less than $125 per month. I'm elated to report that I also met this goal by spending $1431.86 on gas in 2010 ($119.32 per month). For entertainment, I spent $1,793.35. I didn't set a specific goal, so I can't measure this one easily. In 2009 I won a lot of money on two separate gambling trips, so I actually *made* money instead of spending money on entertainment. But, in 2008 my total spending on entertainment was $6,548.66 (over $2,500 on alcohol alone!), so I think I did okay this year.
4. Lose the Bimmer. That was easy. I ended up selling the car in the last week of 2009.
5. Consider moving. Well, I considered it. It's on hold for now. I savor the thought of bicycling along the boardwalk in Tampa every morning, living a carefree life. However, this will wait. My focus now is on opening my restaurant and making it a huge success.