Hello 2019 – now what?

I have taken a sabbatical from writing and initially it was for a good reason but like many other things I took it too far. In march I took a prep class for the American Welding Society (AWS) Certified Welding Inspector (CWI) and I rightly decided I need to devote my time to studying for it. I’m glad I did because if you haven’t taken it before I will tell you it is a very difficult test. It’s not my intention to go into detail here but suffice it to say I needed to spend as much of my free time as possible to study; after all, I didn’t want to be a failure (which I wasn’t: I passed if you care).

However, after I obtained my CWI in July I published I think one article from then until now. I had created a habit of writing and then undid that habit with the time needed to study/obtain CWI. It’s not like I don’t have topics to write about: I have plenty. I just got wrapped up in other things and that’s not good when you are trying to make a go at writing.

In September, just about two months after getting my CWI I left the company I have been with for almost 10 years and started somewhere new (a different post at some point might pop up about it). This is where my time has been spent up until now. You know that period you have anywhere new is awkward and your getting to know how everything works? Yea, I’m there now and I’m still trying to fit in.

But that isn’t what I planned to write about in this post. You see, it’s the new year and a new period in time which millions will set goals to achieve. I hope to be one of them and I hope you do too. So, what do some of those goals look like?

Goals for 2019

• Start working out and running. Before I got married I was working out at home with two sets of weights (15 and 25 lbs) and running. I was in far better shape than I am now. I was healthier and felt much better than I do now. While it is true I am older (37 as I write this and I was 29 when I got married) there simply is no excuse as to why I am not in better shape. It’s time to change that. Some of the best sleep I’ve had as an adult came after a good workout or run and since I want to get in better shape it’s a double win.

• Start saving more; MUCH more. This may not seem like much but it’s actually been on my mind for the past few months. Over the course of this past year since I began this site I have noticed an amazing lack of financial understanding. I knew it was there but being deliberate about it, talking with other people in the trades as well as more traditional white collar types I have a more well rounded understanding and let me tell you: it’s everywhere. As I endeavor to save more I plan on writing about it to hopefully shed some light on saving. Currently, if I stick to what I have outlined, I will save about 21 – 22% of my income which is all post taxes. I would like to get that number higher. I have the ability to work overtime and while that changes the percentage of money I save if I increase the amount I will be pleased regardless of the percentage ratio.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no one out there who accurately writes about saving and investing from a skilled trades perspective. I have done a fair bit of research this past year or so and I have found an abundance of information on 401Ks, 403bs, IRAs (which EVERYONE should have by the way and I mean EVERYONE), HSAs, etc., but have been unsuccessful in finding someone who writes about pensions and annuity funds from a skilled trades perspective. These are the two major vehicles skilled tradesmen have through the power of negotiation (read: union skilled trades) and there is surprisingly little information about them. Typically, when I research annuity funds the overwhelming body of writing is either negative (fees or convoluted terms and contracts) or incorrect when you compare to what the skilled trades have. I have already written a piece about annuities but I plan to write much more coming up; after all, there is very little for a union ironworker, electrician, millwright, pipefitter, carpenter, operator, etc., to read online that is beneficial when it comes to them. Back to my 2019 goals but I’ll leave with this caveat: there is NO reason someone who works steady in the trades cannot have more than enough money saved up when they retire. This is especially true for anyone who is in their 30s and 40s. I’ll detail what I mean in a different post.

• Track my personal spending. This is a big one because most, including myself, do not do it. If you were in control of a companies finances you have to account for every penny, but when it comes to our personal finances we spend frivolously, on some of the stupidest crap to boot. I know it’s the case in my house. I promise if you monitor your spending to the penny for a month you will be amazed at just how much you are spending. To add injury to insult, the amount of frivolous spending could be saved/invested and turned into a nice amount of money when it’s time to retire. That’s how I look at it and plan to in the future, and you should too.

• Spend less on take out. Seriously. If you begin to track your personal expenses on a monthly basis I can almost guarantee you a sticker shock on the amount you spend eating out. I don’t just mean evening dinners with the family either; I’m talking about every stop at the convenience store (7 – 11, wawa, sheetz, etc.). Do you know how much money you spend on coffee every month? How about cigarettes? How much did that lunch out cost you, that bag of chips from the vending machine, or those impulse buys you made? Here is one close to home for a lot of younger people: what about those energy drinks? If you add it all up at the end of the month I guarantee you will be surprised at just how much money you are spending. It’s much better to control money than let it control you and if you can’t account for ALL of your money then it IS controlling you. I don’t budget our household finances – in our case it doesn’t really work. We just don’t spend much money; never have really. But I know there are some items I can cut back/out and save more. Consequently, cutting back/out also happens to help me with my first goal of getting in better shape so it’s a double win!

• Write more. I like to write, have an abundance of topics, and I definitely need to be more focused so all things considered it’s a win all around. Included in writing more will be learning the website platform and polishing it up a bit – it makes for better reading and content. I don’t want it to be extravagant or over the top, just better. I still plan to keep it simple. Simple helps in keeping me intentional about writing. I know so many people who dream about doing things and it stays just that: a dream. I admit, that’s what I have been doing for the past 6 months but I need to get back to the grind. It isn’t difficult to write nor does it take tremendous effort on my part – just intentionality and focus. Content is king and I hope to put out quite a bit of it this year. It’s hard to attract people with few articles that are sporadically published; its much easier when consistent and thorough.

• Cut back and organize. I cannot begin to write about just how much this is needed. My wife and I have three kids and we live in a cape cod style house roughly around 1200 sq feet and I am amazed at how much stuff we accumulate. We lack closet space so we have to get better at that old mantra “a place for everything and everything in its place.”

This also rings true for outside too. I have spent a lot of time in the yard over the past several years trying to create a nice space and while I have trudged along in this endeavor I have also added to the clutter by saving material over the years. I have lumber and material I got off of jobs, craigslist, and other sources and some of it I still have. I have unfinished projects (I refuse to believe I am the only one) and it’s hard to make your space look better with unused material just lying around. I’ve decided to give some of it away, especially since we are contemplating moving (a different topic for a different post). In any case, I want to declutter everywhere and it’s going to take intentionality on my part.

I have additional goals but overall the above will suffice if implemented. I am trying to change the course of my family trajectory and if successful we will all be happier and healthier. If I am to stop or alter unhealthy habits I need to replace them with better ones. I need to be focused and direct about them and writing certainly helps. Here’s to a better year in 2019!