Welcome to 2021 — it doesn’t seem that different, does it? Half-jokes aside, while the ghost of 2020 continues to haunt the start of this year, there is some hope on the horizon. And now that the year is officially underway, I figured it was time to share some of what I hope to accomplish over the coming months. However, these aren’t really resolutions (as I don’t really care for that concept) nor could they truly be considered traditional goals just yet, seeing as some lack the specificity and/or measurability required. Instead, let’s just call these personal, professional, and money-centric projects I’m thinking about and working on as we ease into 2021:
Taking a Twitter hiatus
Over the years, Twitter has given me a lot. Heck, tracing back the lineage, you could say that the platform helped lead me to meet my wife. Alas, there can be too much of a good thing. Recently, I noticed that my downtime was often spent sitting in bed, doing little else but refreshing Twitter. Surely there are better things I could be doing with my time.
That’s why, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to take a break from Twitter. I didn’t go so far as to delete the app on my phone, but I did move the icon elsewhere after I found myself reflectively tapping it by mistake. Granted, I have popped in to check specific things, such as the weather advisories for our area, but the constant scrolling has ceased for now. I’m not sure when I’ll reintroduce a healthier Twitter-use plan but, for now, my hiatus is going pretty well.
Engage more on Twitter
I can see the confusion on your face, so let me get straight to explaining. When I talk about my Twitter scrolling, I was mainly referring to my personal account. However, I also have a Money@30 Twitter to which I regularly share content of mine and that of other creators I follow. Still, I could definitely do more when it comes to engaging with my fellow finance bloggers — and that’s what I hope to do now. The big difference is that I’ll be doing this in bursts and sessions, thus refraining from letting this activity take up my time as regular Twitter did.
Eat (and shop) local
Recently, I came across a post from Tread Lightly, Retire Early proposing a Local Spend January. Taken with the idea, I’ve been making an even greater effort to buy from local small businesses when possible (even more so than I had been once businesses began reopening this summer). Although we’re only a few days into January, I’ve really enjoyed this practice so far and so I’d like to keep it up going forward.
While the “shop local” goal is admittedly nebulous and harder to quantify, my plan on the dining front is to eat at local restaurants in the same ratio as we do the chains. Since we typically eat out once a week, this would mean frequenting small businesses at least twice per month (but probably a bit more while travel is still a no-go). On that note, I also want to mention that, in the past couple of months, we’ve been to local coffee shops approximately four times as often as we’ve gone to Starbucks — which is quite a change for me, but has been a good one so far. I’m even considering finding a way to highlight some of the top restaurants and shops I discover as part of this initiative, so be sure to let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in seeing!
Keep reviewing one book a month
Next is a continuation of one of my 2020 goals, which was to consume and review at least one book a month. This actually worked out pretty well for me last year and so it seems logical to keep it going. Of course, I have cheated a bit on this one thanks to my Audible subscription, but I have still purchased and read physical books as well. Thus, my plan is to do about half and half throughout the year depending on what’s available. Plus, reading printed books at night should also help replace my endless evening Twitter scrolling with something far more productive.
Save up a six month’s worth of rent
In a previous post, I shared how my wife and I were contemplating moving to an updated apartment. The only problem with this plan (aside from the ongoing pandemic) is that such a move would mean paying significantly more in rent. Since that sounds intimidating to jump into, I’ve come up with what I think is a better plan: stash away six months in rent ahead of time.
To me, this strategy will give us some runway as we adjust to our new budget when we do decide to move. And, to be clear, this goal would be on top of our existing emergency fund and retirement savings goals. Since it seems like it could be a while before moving even makes sense, I’m not in a huge rush to accomplish this goal, but it’s definitely something I’m drawing up the plans for.
Continue to evolve this site
Finally, I wanted to let you know that you may be seeing a few changes to Money@30 in the coming months. I’m not really planning anything drastic per se, but am looking to take action on some ideas I’ve been kicking around that may result in some redesigning — or at least content category reshuffling. For example, I’m looking to start a series that takes a closer look at my “professional” life as a Disney blogger that also shares a bit more on my approach to personal finance. I realize that’s incredibly vague but, honestly, I’m still in the process of developing the concept. In other words, you’ll just have to stay tuned.
Even though new year has officially begun, I’m still in the process of mapping out just what it is I hope to do before 2022 arrives. Nevertheless, there are a few improvements I’ve already embarked on or am working to instate shortly. I’ll be sure to keep you all updated — but, until then, I hope 2021 is treating you well and this year finds us all accomplishing our goals.