2012 Recap

Since this is the last day of the year it is a good time to look back on how I did in 2012. This year definitely had some ups and downs. I will start with the negatives and then the positives so this post can end on a high note, just like 2012.

I set three goals for this year and didn’t meet any of them. My first and biggest goal was to lose 50 pounds. At one point I did manage to get to about ten pounds lost, but I am going to end the year only about 6 or 7 pounds lighter than I started. Although I’m glad I lost a little weight, I could have done much better. Since I’m still eating lots of junk food and rarely exercising, it is not surprising that I lost so little weight. I need to improve this in 2013.

My second goal was to increase my online income. That goal was seriously derailed by the Google updates in the spring. They seem to have hit my sites harder than most people were affected. I not only lost my Page Rank, I also lost a serious chunk of traffic. I have slowly rebuilt my traffic, but the income is still nowhere near what it used to be. Considering the relatively small amount of work I did put into my sites this year, I am grateful for the money I did make. My blogs did still bring in about $15k. That will likely be less in 2013 unless I put a lot of time and work into making more money online. That isn’t in my plans for now since I’ll be concentrating on making money offline for at least the first few months of 2013.

My third goal was to write a book. This goal should have been easily achieved. For some reason, I have a lot of resistance to actually sitting down and writing a book. I always find something else to do other than write the book. I need to overcome this resistance and get the book written. I’m not making writing a book a goal at this time, but I probably will make it a goal sometime in 2013.

The biggest negative of the year and probably the biggest failure of my life was my divorce. I’ve already shared all I am going to share on that topic.

Positives in 2012

The biggest positive would probably be that I was able to acquire a law related job. The new job that I’m starting on Wednesday pays almost double any of the jobs I’ve had in the last few years. I was able to pay off my van and save a little money in the last few months of the year. I should be able to save much more money in 2013.

I also got to experience living in a van for a couple of months and was able to do some hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Although I didn’t do either one of those activities for as long as I would have like, I’m happy that I did get those experiences. I plan to do more hiking in 2013. I don’t plan on living in a van in 2013, but I could change my mind.

Getting to work as an extra on the movie, Devil’s Knot, and meeting Reese Witherspoon, was a cool experience. I’m looking forward to the release of the movie in 2013 and seeing myself on the big screen. I might try to work as an extra again in 2013 just for fun.

At Tight Fisted Miser I was able to improve my Alexa ranking and make it into the Wisebread Top 200 Personal Finance Blogs. Perhaps those two things will help me earn more money online in 2013.

Although 2012 wasn’t a great year, I think I ended it better off than when I started. 2013 has the possibility of being a great year. It will be up to me to ensure that it is a great year.