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It has been awhile since I have shared a “goals” post here on FFF. In fact, I would say it’s been a long while since I have shared anything personal in nature here at all.I never really considered myself a super private person until the past few years. The older I get, and the more I realize how many thing are out of my control, I have really realized that my privacy and the privacy of my family is one of those things I do have some measure of control of.
I do not apologize for this and will continue to have fairly strict boundaries regarding what I will share here on my blog.
This was never intended to be a “mommy blog” (I have nothing against mommy blogs though!) where I share about the day to day of my family’s life (however, if you want a bit more insight into our lives…I do share a bit more candidly over on Instagram!).
However, in some ways, I do feel like my lack of personality here on FFF has kind of stunted the growth in this community over the past few years. If you have only been following for a few years, you might think that this is just yet another deal site run by a mindless office full of employees.
No way!
I have had helpers over the years, and honestly this site would not be where it is today without their support and hard work.
Now though, it’s just me (well…and Lizzie for at least one post so far, haha!).
Therefore, one of my goals for 2019 was to share more about my life in the form of content posts! Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself here…let’s get to my goals:
Business Goals –
(fyi, if you aren’t really interested in business goals…you can skip down a bit to personal goals!)
100 Evergreen Articles in 2019 –
Oh this one scares me y’all! I’m not sure how many evergreen articles (evergreen articles are articles that are not time sensitive. How to Use Coupons, How to Play the Drugstore Game, Keto Friendly Low Carb Mini Cheesecakes, etc) I put up in 2018…but I guarantee it wasn’t 100.
This goal is important to me because I sometimes post upwards of 50+ posts a day. I spend a LOT OF TIME on these posts. Hours a day.
Within 24 hours, 90% of those posts are dead.
Done.
No longer relevant.
Ugh.
Therefore, sometimes it just feels like I am spinning my wheels all day every day.
I need content that helps others all day every day.
I need to feel like I am making lasting change and leaving a footprint of service here on my little corner of the internet.
This means sharing a bit more about me and my life while still keeping up strict boundaries (like…you will never read a post here about my kids personal lives or my frustration with a friend/family member).
This *might* mean less deal content. It might not.
I know I am excited for it and also terrified that I have now put this out there!
Income goals –
I am not going to share my exact dollar figure. Needless to say, it is more than I am making now, less than I have made in the past. My goal is just consistency at this point.
My business obviously has seasons.
As you know, (if you have read my How to Monetize a Blog post), I make money from passive traffic and when my readers make a purchase in some cases. It is not a lot per sale/pageview.
However, it can add up, and I honestly need it to do so more consistently 😉 .
Increase Pageviews and Email Subscribers –
These two are kind of self explanatory and they are all intertwined with the two goals above. I have a few actionable ways I am planning to reach these goals:
- Promote my email list more. Did you know that I send a (um…sometimes) daily email with all of the deals of the day? I do! You can sign up here. (see…that wasn’t so hard, and yet I never really promote it!)
- Increasing Pageviews will involve generating more content AND being more strategic about where/when/how I share that content. I’m talking social media, y’all! My thoughts on each platform are:
★ Instagram –
Be more personal. More Instagram stories.
More sharing the day to day. More engaging with the frugal living community.
I feel like there are people there who I can help AND people who can help me!
★ Facebook Group – I love my Facebook group.
It is my most interactive form of social media for FFF and I think it is is working just fine as it is.
Deals will continue to be auto posted to my Facebook group via dlvr.it as long as that service continues to work out for me.
★ Facebook Page – Posting all deals to my Facebook page just isn’t working.
Facebook’s algorithm hates bloggers and honestly it hates anything that I post that doesn’t originate from someone else (ugh…viral posts only seem to be blessed upon the same 10 pages).
I will feed the Facebook page beast and share content that is relevant and performing well from others in hopes that I can funnel readers who WANT good deals/frugal advice to the Facebook group from time to time.
★ Pinterest – I will continue to use Tailwind for my Pinterest Content Strategy.
I will stress LESS about what images I put onto Pinterest.
I am noticing a trend on Pinterest of “normal” pictures having success.
This is encouraging. I am not a photographer and sometimes the fact that I KNOW my pictures won’t compete with the professionals posting on Pinterest has me holding back on creating content…no more!
★ Twitter – Twitter isn’t really a traffic driver for me and never has been.
I will continue to auto feed to twitter because that is the only place my husband reads my blog. Haha!
Work Outside the Home More –
You might be thinking…um why?!
You are so lucky to work from home!
Here’s the thing.
Without getting into too much personal detail, my home does not inspire creativity in me. Too many interruptions. Lack of control over my environment.
I am rarely ever home alone and honestly I am always on the edge of my seat waiting to be interrupted. Since I have ADHD, the smallest interruption can easily steer me off course.
(Fun fact, I literally just got interrupted while I was writing that sentence. Haha!)
My home is also a source of stress for me in many ways that I will not get into. Suffice to say, I think for 2019, I need to get OUT of the house to be more productive/creative. I have tried to work out of the house at least once a month for the past few years, but I need to do it more. I am actually thinking once or twice a week.
The key is, I am going to go into these work outside the home sessions with a clear plan of what I need to be working on. I have been known to get a study room at the library for 2 hours and then talk on the phone to my friend Katie for those 2 hours. Haha. I need to be intentional and focused during this time to make it most worth my while.
Personal Goals –
Personal Goals –
Lose Weight –
This has been my goal every single year for as long as I can remember. Basically, it just needs to get done. I know how, I just need to set my mind to the task and not lose focus. Some ways I am going to focus on losing weight:
- Meal Planning
- Low Carb & Dirty/Lazy Keto
- Get active more often – at least 3 times a week (my competitive nature REALLY wants to say 5 times a week. That is what I always say though, and I burn out. Setting the bar a bit lower on this goal in hopes of meeting it).
Household –
Clean & Organize one space a month – This one is kind of tough for me because I like to clean BY MYSELF with the music blaring and without interuption.
As posted above, I am rarely ever home alone and honestly I think that this keeps me from conquering big tasks because I know I’m just going to get side tracked. (you really can’t even understand how easily I get side tracked. This post is taking a LOT of mental focus to keep writing right now!)
My husband bought me some GREAT bluetooth headphones though that I think I’m going to make good use of this year. I could ignore a hurricane with those bad boys on!
Financial –
I have a few things I want to really work on this year in terms of finances. In addition to making more consistent money (like posted above), I also want to focus on saving more money by doing the following things:
- Start Christmas shopping early. I love having a gift closet, but I also want to be more intentional with my gift giving rather than just picking up random markdowns. It’s tough to Christmas shop early for kids because what they are into in February is likely NOT what they are into in December later that year. However, there are things I can do year round to take some of the burden off that big November/December Christmas shopping spending spree.
- Thrift Shops – I love going to thrift shops. I will proudly tell you the sweater I was wearing costs $.50 or the adorable dress my daughter has was a Goodwill find. I need to get more intentional about visiting the thrift shops on a regular basis!
- Shop my own sales – I am probably the only deal blogger on the planet that RARELY buys the great deals I post. It’s like I have tunnel vision. I am posting these deals for YOU and I don’t even consider buying them for myself. I will remember as I’m going to bed that night…oh, I should have taken advantage of that great deal! Only to look it up and it is already a dead deal 🙁 .
Motherhood & Marriage – 
I want to be more intentional about my time with my husband and my children. Spend more one on one time with all of them. Surprise them more often. I want to pray for all of them daily in a more intentional and focused way.
I want to ask them what they need from me and provide it. Don’t just assume that I am meeting their needs.
In the same vein, I want to tell them what I need from them as well. Don’t just assume they know.
I want us to go on a vacation together. We have not been on a vacation in several years. The last vacation we went on was with extended family. We need a vacation with just the 4 of us.
We need to go camping more.
Have more day trips.
My son is already 11. That might still seem very young, but let’s be honest.
We only have a few more years of being just a family of 4 living under the same roof.
We need to make the most of our time together and build memories that will last a lifetime.
I need to DATE my husband more. We have a wonderful relationship, but we rarely get the opportunity to just focus on each other. I’d love for us to find a hobby outside the home for us to engage in. Not sure what that will be (besides eating…we both enjoy that, haha!), but I’m excited to figure it out.
Read More Books
I want to read 50 books in 2019. Yikes! I think I can do it. I read mostly Kindle Unlimited and Kindle First Reads books because I am chea….frugal 😉
Wrapping up…
If you have followed along this far, bless you! I’d love to hear about your goals for 2019. Feel free to leave them in the comments. If there is a way I can help you reach your goals, please let me know!
Great goals, Heather. I’m with you on the need to create more evergreen content!
I wish you luck as well! Sometimes content creation goes way to the back burner as a deal blogger!
I don’t like the library thing. More it should have said “I need to spend 3 hours on the phone”.
Haha, not sure that will help me reach my goals though! Unless I just dictate to you. 😉
Great Goals , you have helped me with a starting point I know its February already , but its never to late to start right? I feel I over think and instead of looking at the small picture look at the whole and get overwhelmed, any suggestions?
I think it’s great to look at the big picture, but I think that in order to obtain that big picture, you have to break them down into smaller, more attainable goals. Have you heard of making SMART goals? Your goals should be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant (I think realistic can also work here) and Time Bound. That’s hard to do with a BIG lofty goal. So you can have your big huge goal, say…build your emergency fund to $1000. But that is a lot of money, and if it was easy, you could get it done quickly. However, you CAN set smaller goals. Like, I will have $100 towards my emergency fund by the end of March. Then you can further break that down into a weekly goal that is realistic. Saving just $25 a week. Which seems totally doable and attainable. Whereas $1000 sounds overwhelming and honestly it’s so much easier to give up on. I hope that helps! It will take some time to break the big goals down, but it’s worth it to have easier, more attainable goals!
Thank you, yes I actually have heard of that , I always just seem to still over think , But they way you broke it down, makes sense and very do able. Thank you so much.
No problem! Happy to help. I can be an overthinker too sometimes!