2018: A Year in Review

We have a tradition here in the Kingdom Of Waffles. We have this journal (See Above) that lives in our holiday decoration box, and every year, at the turn of the year, each of us write a new entry. First we read our entries from the previous year, then we write our new entries independently, only to be read 365 days into the future.

What do we write about?

We write about what happened in the year, what we are feeling at the time, what we think will happen in the up coming year. It's always interesting to read back to see where we thought things were going to end up, and the difference to where we actually did end up.

We won't go into what exactly what was in it for last year, or went into it for this year, seeing how it's super private. But let's recap what's gone on for us here:

We were on 5 different podcasts:

• Bigger Pockets Money
• Fire Drill
• Countdown to FI (x2)
• Chain of Wealth
• Choose FI

We're looking forward to being on a couple more, and repeating on a few of the ones we have been guests on in the past.

We were included in a book!

• The Groovy Guide to Financial Freedom

We had a lot of Awesome visitors from the FI community this year:

• Miss Mazuma
• Gwen from Fiery Millennials
• Erik from Mastermind Within
• The Whole 1500 Clan
• Mr & Mrs Mad Fientist
• Mr & Mrs Countdown to FI
• Guy on Fire

We also returned the favor by visiting the 1500's, Mr Crazy Kicks and also JD Roth.

Hmmm... What else happened this year?

• We went to Cambodia, South Africa and Cuba.
• We finally finished fighting with our insurance company about my bike accident.
• We went to our second FinCon and met a ton of awesome people.
• Ran another half-marathon (Mr.) & a 10k (Mrs.)
• The Mrs kicked off her be-side hustle, and it's going great!

And the some financial stuff happened as well:

• We paid off Mr. Wow's student loans.
• We paid off Mrs. Wow's car.
• We invested in a South African Brewery.
• And.... Drum Roll.... Our final savings rate for the year was 55.5%*

*I'm too lazy to calculate it exactly, so I just take the Cash Flow and divide it by the Income from Personal Capital. Ours is a little funky with the business income, taxes and other things in there, but good enough for government work!!!*

Wow, that's quite a bit! I know last time I wrote before we took off for the holidays, I was in a bit of a funk. But, just looking back at all that's happened this past year, it's pretty incredible. It really puts into perspective how much has happened and how awesome it's been.

That's the beauty of our little journal. It helps keep things in perspective. And is fun to look back and see where you thought things were going to go. As we all know, plans start to fall apart as soon as you make them.

That being said, what's in store for us in 2019?

This is what we have planned so far:

• Go to India.
• Already have two more podcasts scheduled.
• Run another half-marathon (both of us).
• 70k steps a week for the entire year (Mrs., Mr. probably won't escape)
• Bike across the great state of Iowa (Mr., potentially Mrs.).
• Travel to Honduras and Peru for volunteering.
• Go to FinCon Again (of course).
• We are in the process of planning a Europe trip at some point.
• Hope to see many, many more friends throughout the year.
• I even have some side projects that might see the light of day.

And that's just what we have planned so far. I'm sure there will be quite a bit more. Seems like it's going to be another great year. So, next time you see me in a funk... Please smack me, and point me right back at this post!

Happy New Year Waffle Family!

How did your year go? What are you excited for in 2019??