<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > 2011 wrap-up, 2012 goals; credit card rewards results

2011 wrap-up, 2012 goals; credit card rewards results

December 27th, 2011 at 09:51 pm

I did really well on 2011 goals; here's a quick rundown.

Completed goals:
Pay off AS's DL student loan
Save $3600 to Roths
Give $1800 to charities
Get AS to positive net worth (currently +$2,391)
Pay off at least $20,000 of debt ($27,242 paid)
Get down to 139 lbs. (starting weight: 156)
Go on at least 2 trips (paid for in cash)
Either get a raise or find new job (got raise and new title)
Complete estate-planning process (and pay for it in cash)
Make money with "side hustles" ($720 made)

Some progress, but not completed:
Increase EF by $7000 to $15,511.95 (progress: $5960.62; total EF: $14,472.57)
Either read a book or do a creative project each month (8 of 12 done)
Organize at least one dinner party or other small-group get-together per month (11 of 12 done)
Write a "Share Your Thoughts" blog post once a month (7 of 12 done)

So, there were no goals I completely neglected, and I finished a goodly number of them. Pretty proud! My list is going to be shorter and more financial focused this year. I'm sticking to the rough draft I outlined earlier, with one exception: we actually hit $250K of net worth this month, which was going to be my 2012 goal! So I'm going to really stretch and try for $300K by the end of 2012. Probably won't happen, but a nice exciting number to reach for.

So here are my goals:

Get EF over $20,000 (Starting point $14,472.57)
Get household net worth over $300,000 (Starting point $250,418)
Get student loan debt under $40,000 (Starting point $52,955)
Get total household debt under $300,000 (Starting point $324,378)
Get weight under 130 lbs. (Starting point 139)
Research at least 5 things I buy to learn as much as I can about who produces them, and where and how they're made

I also thought I should total up how much I've made in credit card rewards (cash, statement credits and Amazon gift cards). I've already subtracted any annual or other fees, so this is just net.

Bonus rewards received:
Amex $15
CapOne MC $100
Chase Sapphire $1000
Chase Sapphire $1000
Citi MC $150
Chase SW $531
Citi MC $200

Subtotal $2996

Regular rewards received:
Chase Freedom $283
Amex $125
CapOne MC $8
Chase Sapphire $30
Chase Sapphire $30

Subtotal $476

Bonus rewards expected:
CapOne MC $20 (separate bonus; spent enough to earn it but haven't received)
Chase SW $431 (made one purchase to earn; waiting for points to hit)
Chase SW $431 (made one purchase to earn; waiting for points to hit)
Citi ThankYou $500 (need to spend $2500 to earn)
Citi ThankYou $500 (need to spend $2500 to earn)

Subtotal $1882

So, we've actually received $3472, and we're expecting $1882 more (not counting whatever regular rewards we earn along the way). When all's said and done, we should have netted at least $5354!

Right now we have 7 cards open; I plan on closing 4 of them as soon as we get the points and receive the gift cards I plan to order.

I may continue this game in 2012; it'll probably take us the full 3 months to spend enough to get the Citi ThankYou points, but after that I'll start looking around again.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “2011 wrap-up, 2012 goals; credit card rewards results”

  1. MonkeyMama Says:
    December 27th, 2011 at 10:06 pm 1325023588
    1325023588

    I think you did about what I did on the rewards, BUT you were able to get +$1000 from the Sapphire. That said, my spouse never applied for the Sapphire. I am waiting for a sweet deal. (We both did SW Chase & Citi, too, which were the other biggies). I think we needed to apply for the Sapphire in both our names to meet the spending limit, which was the other thing. I ended up applying for all the other cards in one name only. But I am keeping my eye out for a sweet Sapphire deal for dh (or maybe something new???)

  2. wowitsawonderfullife Says:
    December 27th, 2011 at 10:33 pm 1325025199
    1325025199

    I'm always motivated by your posts CeeJay. Congratulations.

  3. Amber Says:
    December 28th, 2011 at 12:34 am 1325032494
    1325032494

    Wow good for you, you did an amazing job in 2011 and I'm positive 2012 you'll meet your goals Wink

  4. Maismom Says:
    December 28th, 2011 at 03:32 am 1325043171
    1325043171

    Very nice accomplishments and goals! I have been away from hunting deals these days, but willing to dive back in the game. I just applied Citi card to get 500 points to kick start 2012. Looking forward to seeing your posts.

  5. Dido Says:
    December 28th, 2011 at 04:27 am 1325046436
    1325046436

    Sounds like a year to be proud of! Congrats!

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]