Goal November

So I've managed to workout six times each week for both September and more or less also in October. I was on a trip so I missed some days. It's a nice habit and I've increase my endurance and strength quite a bit. I've been starting slow and so far it feels like my body is keeping up with the increase workouts.

For November my goal is to meditate 10 minutes each day. I've been reading up a bit on easy way to improve ones life and the top tips seems to be workout, sleep good, mediate and fast. I'm thinking about starting with intermittent fasting, but as long as I train as much I think it will be too tough.

I'm also going to get back to the blog. I've had a bit too much on my mind.

Goal November: Meditate for 10 minutes each day.
Goal October: - Failed!
Goal September: Workout six times each week. Done!
Goal August: Clean my home 10 minutes each day. Failed!
Goal July: Eat less sugar. Done!
Goal June: Spend time/talk to a friend each day outside of work. Done!
Goal May: Get up at six every morning. Done!
Goal April: Read at least four books during the month. Done!
Goal March: Walk at least 10 000 steps each day. Failed!
Goal February: Practice at least ten minutes of yoga each day. Done!
Goal January: Only eat vegetarian food. Done!

Monthly goal September

I started the month by cleaning every day, probably more than 10 minutes. My apartment was spotless, but then I lost my motivation. It is not as fun to clean when there is no dirt. So now I have a dirty apartment again.

For September I am going to try to workout aix times each week. During August I've done that so it should be possible.

Goal September: Workout six times each week.
Goal August: Clean my home 10 minutes each day. Failed!
Goal July: Eat less sugar. Done!
Goal June: Spend time/talk to a friend each day outside of work. Done!
Goal May: Get up at six every morning. Done!
Goal April: Read at least four books during the month. Done!
Goal March: Walk at least 10 000 steps each day. Failed!
Goal February: Practice at least ten minutes of yoga each day. Done!
Goal January: Only eat vegetarian food. Done!

New purchases July 2018 II

To celebrate my vaccation I've bought some more stocks. Viva la France! Red wine and cheese. Compared to a normal month it feels like I'm bleeding money.

• 20 T for $ 32.31 for a yield of 6.19 %.
• 5 SO for $ 47.23 for a yield of 5.01 %.
• 5 O for $ 55.26 for a yield of 4.77 %.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here. It is still broken, but pretty accurate.

My goal of eating less sugar has gone as planned. It might be that I've just substituted it with nice meals and wine, but vaccation is vaccation.

Monthly goal July 2018

My goal of spending more time with friends have been fun. Basically the changes I've made is calling some old friends that I haven't talked to in a while and also taking two trips visiting friends. In June I'm having a vacation and then this will automatically also be done because I'm planning on staying a week at my parents place and then travel with friends. I've also continued with getting up at six on weekday mornings. I haven't really been as productive as in May, but I've managed to still be the first one in the office.

For July I'm going to reduce my refined sugar intake. Basically I'm putting a ban on spending for items with added sugar. So no soda, candy and cookies. I used to live like this when I was a student and didn't really miss sugar then. For me it is really easy to get in to the habit of eating candy and it doesn't feel good. In a way I think it might some sort of self-medication for feeling lonely, but is not a long term solution for anything.

Goal July: Eat less sugar.
Goal June: Spend time/talk to a friend each day outside of work. Done!
Goal May: Get up at six every morning. Done!
Goal April: Read at least four books during the month. Done!
Goal March: Walk at least 10 000 steps each day. Failed!
Goal February: Practice at least ten minutes of yoga each day. Done!
Goal January: Only eat vegetarian food. Done!

New purchase June 2018 III

I've made some new purchase and I'm a bit ashamed to say that I made a mistake and sold 10 shares of T for $ 31.7. I like that I can purchase stocks on my phone, but it is a bit too easy to make mistakes. Anyhow, one new company Hormel.

• 15 HRL for $ 36.53 for a yield of 2.06 %.
• 10 KO for $ 43.53 for a yield of 3.58 %.
• 4 MO for $ 56.97 for a yield of 4.91 %.
• 15 GE for $ 12.79 for a yield of 3.75 %.

My goal of spending time with friends every day has gone great. I'v met some new friends and also found some colleagues that share a lot of the same interest as me. So we've been on a hike and also practiced some swimming in the ocean.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Monthly goal June 2018

I've actually been enjoying getting up earlier. It has freed up time to read, study, keep my apartment nicer and going to work earlier. It has been great weather where I'm living so that might have played some part in this. It is probably going to be harder in the winter when it rains side ways and the temperature drops below zero. The extra time has freed up time so I've read some books, but I didn't manage to read as many as four.

For June my goal is to spend some time with a friend every day. I'm going to count talking to them on the phone as spending time as well. In a way I've been feeling a bit lonely ever since my ex-girlfriend broke up with me about a year ago. During that time a lot of my friends have been getting their first children so it has not been possible to see them as much I used to. Unfortunately I didn't decide on a goal before the month started so that's why I chose this. I'm going to try to decide on what to do before the month starts.

Goal June: Spend time/talk to a friend each day outside of work.
Goal May: Get up at six every morning. Done!
Goal April: Read at least four books during the month. Done!
Goal March: Walk at least 10 000 steps each day. Failed!
Goal February: Practice at least ten minutes of yoga each day. Done!
Goal January: Only eat vegetarian food. Done!

Monthly goal May 2018

For May I'm going to increase the amount of time I have for doing things for me before going to work by getting up earlier. I usually have a hard time of getting up, but now I'm going to try to change that part of my life. This will be limited to work days.

I managed to read four books in April. It was fun and I've already gone to the library and borrowed more books for this month. I actually continued walking around 10 000 steps for a big part of the month, but then I good sick for a week and haven't really recovered yet.

Goal May: Get up at six every morning.
Goal April: Read at least four books during the month. Done!
Goal March: Walk at least 10 000 steps each day. Failed!
Goal February: Practice at least ten minutes of yoga each day. Done!
Goal January: Only eat vegetarian food. Done!

New purchase April 2018 I

I've reinvested some dividend and then some. With a lot of European stocks paying their dividend during the spring I'm going to focus on that part of the world for some time.

• 12 Cramo for 16.85 € for a yield of 4.66 %.
• 15 Fortum for 17.55 € for a yield of 6.26 %. 

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

In order to met my goal for this month I've gone to the library and borrowed a couple of books and started reading them in parallel. It's actually good since now I'm reading more non-fiction and then it's good the be able to switch. 

Monthly goal April 2018

My goal for March was to take at least 10 000 steps each day which I failed. I missed a couple of days but the average was 11 600 steps. Something good that came out of this is that I've started running. Really slow since I've had problems earlier in myife when I increased the speed and range too quickly. I don't think I've done any yoga at all in March so I guess that was not for me. I still eat mostly vegetarian so that's a win!

In April I've decided to try to read four books. I like reading but usually don't prioritize it during the working week. So less TV and more reading. I've been to the library and borrowed some books.

Goal April: Read at least four books during the month.
Goal March: Walk at least 10 000 steps each day. Failed!
Goal February: Practice at least ten minutes of yoga each day. Done!
Goal January: Only eat vegetarian food. Done!

New purchase March 2018 V

As the month of March is coming to an end I've made some final purchases.

• 8 GIS for $ 45.18 for a yield of 4.33 %.
• 3 ABBV for $ 92.71 for a yield of 4.14 %.
• 10 AD for 16.80 CAD for a yield of 8.43 %.
• 11 BCE for 54.73 CAD for a yield of 5.52.

Due to my failure to reach my goal for March I've decided to talk up running. I'm starting really slow due to previous problems with knees and hips. I hope that this time I've won't get hurt, but so far it's been great getting to spend some more time outside.

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Monthly goal March 2018

My goal for February was to practice at least ten minutes of yoga. I've reached this goal. It has been quite a challange to be able to find time for it every day. The biggest improvement has been that my sleep has improved after doing yoga before going to bed. Regardig my previous goal of eating vegetarian I realized that I have not bought any meat in a store this year. I've been to some restaurants and eaten some fish and meat. So I've made some changes to my life.

For March I'm going to try to take 10 000 steps each day. At an earlier job we had a contest with the goal of walking 10 000 steps and it was doable on average, but hard to do every day.

Goal March: Walk at least 10 000 steps each day.
Goal February: Practice at least ten minutes of yoga each day. Done!
Goal January: Only eat vegetarian food. Done!

Monthly goal February 2018

My goal for January was to only eat vegetarian food. It has worked out great for me. The only issue has been when I've been invited for dinner with family and friends. I don't really want to impose so I think that an all vegetarian diet will be hard for me. Anyway my plan is to continue buying vegetarian food and empty my freezer of meat.

For February I'm going to try to improve my flexibility and general well-being by practicing yoga each day. This feels more challenging since it is hard to find day for practice every day, but I'm still going to try.

Goal February: Practice at least ten minutes of yoga each day.
Goal January: Only eat vegetarian food. Done!

Goal 2018

Since I did not meet any of my goals for 2017 I'm going to try something different for this year. I'm going to have one goal related to my dividend income and then separate goals/challenges for every month. Mostly in order to make some changes in my life. I hope that I will be able to continue with some of the things even after the month is over.

• 24 000 SEK in projected dividend income at the end of 2018.
• Fulfill at least 8 of the 12 monthly goals.

Goal January: Only eat vegetarian food.

New purchases

I've bought some Finnish stocks and for now I feel satisfied with my Finnish exposure. The purchases were:

• 11 HEL:KNEBV for € 40.84 per share for a yield of 3.80 %
• 20 HEL:CRA1V for € 21.18 per share for a yield of 3.54 %
• 7 SDIV for $ 21.04 per share for a yield of 6.87 %

Both companies pay dividend once a year. Cramo pays dividend in April and Kone in March. This was unexpected for me since my plan was to receive dividend from both companies this year. I guess I should view this as an opportunity to learn. In the long run it does not really matter. Cramo will pay me a total of $ 16.29 and the small purchase of SDIV will pay $ 6.748.

I'm also starting to doubt how one of my goals is formulated: "12 000 SEK in accumulated dividend income at the end of 2017". The way it is stated encourages me to buy another company than Kone just because when the first dividend takes place. I've seen a lot of other People have goals that are more like projected annual income and that feels like a good idea. Maybe I will have to update my goals. 

I've updated my portfolio and as always it can be found here.

Goals 2017

Goals are good but it's easy to be too ambitious and not to have SMART goals. I think that the most important quality of the criteria is to be Measurable and Time-bound. If you can't measure or know when they should be fulfilled goals are not really worth having.

I'm going to limit myself to these three goals:

• 12 000 SEK in accumulated dividend income at the end of 2017.
• 70 % saving rate.
• Write at least one blog post per week.

The dividend goal is probably set a bit too high since I plan to invest 360 000 SEK and this means that my yield will have to be a lot higher than 3.33 %.

At the moment I have ~30 710 SEK after taxes and save ~20 000¹ SEK each month for a savings rate around 65%. This means reducing my monthly expenses from ~10 710 SEK to ~9 213 SEK or increasing my income to ~35 700 SEK, or something in between. I think that it is reasonable for me to increase my salary after taxes to ~ 33 000 SEK which means I have to reduce my expense to ~9 900 SEK which will be a fun goal.

And last but not least the goal that is probably going to be by far the easiest or hardest. I have no experience writing a blog, but am hoping that it will be a fun and rewarding experience.

Thanks to Lauren Wayne for her tips on how to add footnote to blogger.

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1 I don't really know how much money I spend every month. I will try to go back in time and summarize December and November