2017 was probably one of my favorite years so far! It’s hard to believe it’s already over and done with. 2017 is one of the rare years I can remember where if someone offered to transport me back a year, I’d take it. It was that good to me. I dubbed 2017 the Year of Caring, and I think I did a pretty decent job at hitting the goals I set.
A brief overview
I started the year off right by going to Camp Mustache Southeast in January! I had a wonderful time meeting new friends, hanging out with old friends, and getting lots of good advice while I soaked up some much needed sunshine. I am incredibly stoked to go back this year!
February was a HUGE month for me as I started and ended the search for a new rental property! I think overall that one will work out even if I got off to a rather rocky start.…..
March was fun as I hit my 2 year blogiversary and closed on my rental property. I didn’t do much that month that didn’t involve one of those two things as blogging and closing/moving takes a ton of energy and effort.
April was a rough month for me as I adjusted to being a landlord/homeowner. I immediately had to buy some appliances and was overwhelmed with the realities of being responsible for my own place. You can read about it in this post. (So glad I’m not that stressed anymore!)
May and June were fun months spent outside and getting philosophical with topics on the blog!
July was the month full of ups and downs emotions-wise. I started dating my awesome boyfriend, took a trip to Vegas, fired my terrible contractor, kicked out my tenant, and took a fun camping trip.
August was a super great month as I got to know my boyfriend better and got a post featured on Rockstar Finance!
September was a light month on the blog for me (only 3 articles posted, shame on me!) but a big one in general. I lost my cat, took my first business trip and started my amazing new podcast with my friend J!
October was an insanely busy and fun month! I went back to Ecuador, came back inspired, turned 27, and had the best time ever at FinCon 2017.
November I celebrated 2 years with Project Fi and found a new tenant! It was a busy month with the holidays fast approaching.
December passed in the blink of an eye with the focus on spending quality time with my family, friends, and boyfriend’s family!
Goals
I set a lot of lofty goals last year. I did not accomplish all of them, but I am proud of what I did get done.
- February 2017 Whole30 month: Fail. I couldn’t devote that much time to thinking about the food I was eating with working and buying my rental. I think it would be a good idea still, but I’m not going to make it a goal for 2018.
- Run a 5k Summer 2017: Fail. I looked for 5k’s to run in my area, but none of them lined up with my schedule. Hard to run the Firecracker 5k over 4th of July if you’re in Las Vegas!
- See a chiropractor and get massages: Fail. I wrote that in a particularly stressful period in my life. I’m nowhere near that stressed anymore, so I don’t see the need to go. Especially since they cost money and I was barely breaking even most of the year.
- Take the stairs: Pass. I did fantastic at this until the summer when I hurt my knee playing softball. I still take the stairs more than I did in 2016, even if it’s not all the time, so I consider this a win.
Money, Me, and 2017
I’m sure most of you just skimmed over the links and the pretty pictures above, waiting for the real meat of the post. It’s cool, and I definitely can’t blame you because the NUMBERS ARE AWESOME. I’ll discuss income (pre-tax numbers), spending, and an all-encompassing look at net worth.
Income
My goal at the beginning of 2017 was to make $100,000. As my income from my W2 job isn’t quite there yet, I needed to add in some extra money from somewhere. Well, after searching every couch cushion, picking up pennies at Aldi, and outright asking people for money.…… I made my goal! I came in just over my goal at $101,262. The breakdown for income can be seen below:
W2: $92,493
Rental: $7,550
Misc: $1,219
Unlike most Americans, I look at having mo’ money as a good thing. Mo’ money don’t cause me no problems! This was a pretty standard pattern for income. Tax returns in the spring, mostly flat income over the rest of the year until BOOM, December and my bonus hit to send my income skyrocketing. Little wonder December has become my favorite month! This graph does vary from last year slightly in that the amount of income recorded was much higher thanks to my online and real estate ventures. I’m hoping to continue that path next year!
Spending
While I’m celebrating my income going up, I’m not doing the same for my spending. I wish it had gone down, but I overspent on the rental property and that tanked any chance I had at keeping my spending down. Fortunately I have tons of room to improve! I can tease good things out of my spending though. My personal spending went from ~$40k last year to $25k! That’s a drop of almost $15k. My personal spending dropped mostly due to not spending tons of money on housing as I spent the year living in my friend’s basement and a studio apartment in my rental. I’ve broken it down below so you can see how I’ve divvied things up:
Personal: $25,612
Rental: $25,526
Blog/Podcast: $3,238
Personal spending includes things like utilities, internet, food, travel, and entertainment while the rental category covers everything I’ve put into the house such as paint, brushes, filters, new appliances, and the other million and 3 things a house requires to keep standing. I split the mortgage into two categories: Rent went into personal spending which was the money I personally spent on housing. That is the rent at the beginning of the year and any money I put towards the mortgage when my renter didn’t cover the whole thing. The other went under the rental category and was the portion of the mortgage I didn’t pay and insurance and all that jazz.
Wonder when I bought the rental? ha my spending spiked in the summer and will hopefully be more consistent at a lower amount in 2018. Below I’ve contrasted 2016 and 2017 spending levels so you can see how much more I spent overall in 2017.
If I exclude “business expenses” like the rental and online endeavors, I definitely hit my goal to spend under $30k. However, I’m not sure I get to count that because all that money did come out of my pocket. What do you think? How should I document my 2017 spending? Sound off in the comments and let me know what you do!
Net Worth
My favorite part of the year! Tallying up my net worth! I set a goal at the beginning of 2017 to hit $200k by the end of the year. Well.… I failed. I came in at $199,696. If I round up, which I am allowed to do by every rule in math, I hit it!
This goes to show the folly of trying to hit a net worth goal. So much of that is dependent on the market. I am not going to bother setting a goal for 2018 for precisely that reason. I refuse to be sad I missed my goal because my net worth went up 56%! If that’s not something to celebrate, I don’t know what is. I’m giving myself 3 and a half pats on the back for a job well done. Below is (you guessed it) a chart of my net worth!
Summary
One last picture. These Sankey things seem to be all over the internet lately so I of course just had to make one like everyone else. A quick summary of my year in spending: picture form! (Side note: the numbers are slightly off because I made it before my last paycheck and am far too lazy to go make an entirely new picture. These thingies are fiddly!)
Overall, 2017 has been quite the amazing year. Thank you, dear reader, for reading my journey through the year and being here with me. It truly means a lot to me that people care about how I am doing. I love getting your emails, reading your stories, and getting to know you that little bit more.
Have a wonderful New Year!
Love,
Gwen
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Congrats on a terrific 2017 Gwen. Can’t wait to see how you do in 2018. Happy New Year.
Thanks Matthew!
Great job in 2017, Gwen! It’s been a rocky ride on your rental property, but it appears to have simmered down a bit, which is good to see… Good luck in 2018!!
Yes I think the worst is behind us on the rental. It was pretty stressful there for a while!
Wow, with a net worth like that at your age, there’s no way you won’t exceed your goals and more. You have sooo much time and such a strong start. You’re killing it!
Congrats and happy ’18!
Thanks Accidental FIRE! Happy New Year!
Congrats, looks like 2017 was a noteworthy year for you! I’ve been enjoying the podcast and look forward to seeing what you manage to accomplish in 2018!
I’m having the same struggle in how to categorize business income/expenses in my end of year financial review — coming up with a nice clean savings rate number was much easier when I was just a w2 employee! I’ve decided to use net business income for my calculations and will have to adjust it a bit after filing taxes.
Thanks Lauren. I wholeheartedly agree with you on the ease factor! I didn’t know how easy I had it 2 years ago.
High five Gwen!
*high fives back* Thanks Mrs. Wow!
Do you include the worth of your home in your net worth calculations?
I do, but I also include the debt that I owe on the house, so it mostly washes out at the end.
I think you’re definitely close enough to say you’re at 200k! That’s awesome! You’re way ahead of the game. I’m sorry about your cat and the stressful time you went though, but overall sounds like a fantastic year. Hope you can find a 5k you like!
Woot! Thanks Tonya! I’m sure I’ll be able to find at least one to do when I move up to Minneapolis!
Nice job on the year, Gwen — you really rocked it! Here’s to a great 2018!
– Jim
Thanks Jim! I think you rocked 2017 pretty well yourself with that Rockstar haircut 😀
I think you get to say you spent less than $30k! We treat our rental property completely separately from our personal expenses. It’s its own business and we like to imagine its profits independently from our personal “profits.” That way you can also figure out a personal savings rate, and a rental ROI.
Congrats on a great year and I’m excited to see where we take the podcast in 2018! I think you leave those expenses out when calculating what you spent personally. Good for you for sitting down and doing the categorizing. I got overwhelmed yesterday trying to peel out all of my blog expenses for the year. It’s a lot and a lot of my travel is related to that too. A good problem to have I guess!
Wow that net worth chart is AMAZING! So much growth in 2017! Market gains have been awesome the last 1–2 years. Lets all hope that continues in 2018!
I don’t know what gave me a bigger CMLT. A 27 year old with a W2 income of $92K? Or a 27 year old with a kick-ass podcast? Congratulations on a fantastic 2017, Gwen. I’m sure 2018 will be just as kind to you. Cheers.
It looks like you had a good year! I’m excited about your rental property! Keep it up. Congrats on the podcast. Also, you went back to Ecuador! I’m totally jealous! I see a good year ahead for you!
I’m so excited to see what 2018 has in store for you! You round that net worth. 😉 It was so great to meet you in 2017. I hope our paths cross again this year!
Look, Teach says I can round! $200k it is 🙂 Thanks for all the support, Penny!
Congratulations on a fantastic year! That rental expense to income is pretty painful, but if you rolled it into the “purchase price,” it doesn’t look so bad, as long as next year is a lot less expensive 🙂
If next year is anywhere near as expensive with the rental, it is for sure getting sold off. Fortunately, I don’t foresee too many expenses!
Your rental is freaking me out!! I’m worried for you. Please do not invest in your property more than it is worth. I hope I’m missing something, but as a landlord myself, I can’t see why you are hanging on to this property? If you have forced appreciation on your property by your reno’s That’s great, if you aren’t sure, have a realtor through to see what the market value is. Never ever invest more than the property is worth. Please please please thoroughly research what else needs to be done on property, and get an accurate picture of projected costs, sometimes it is better to sell, and find a better income producing property.
I second that, although I don’t know exactly what your monthly expenses are, your spend seems high. Maybe give it another year and if things don’t calm down, figure out if you want to keep the rental. I had an emergency hot water tank burst this year in my rental. The repair work and paying for my tenants hotel ate up my positive cash flow for the year, about $1800.
I’m keeping it for another year and then I will re-evaluate. I think I’ve got it to a place at the moment when I can coast and not put any more money in it. The quality of tenants I attract with the property don’t care about the quality of the drywall on the ceiling or if the paint is peeling off the house. I care about that and I care too much. So.….. I’m backing off for the year. See how it goes.
Great post! Congratulations on all of your success.
Thank you Mrs. YBF!
WHat a year!!! I would round up no questions asked. You’re right about markets and control — I hit my NW goal but a lot of that was gains. Look forward to keeping up with your adventures in 2018 🙂
Thanks NZ! Good job on meeting your goal no matter how it was accomplished!
What blew me away was your ability to decrease your personal spending by $15k. Well done on that front! Any guesses on how that will change once you leave the full-time gig? (Or will I have to keep coming back to the blog to see for myself as 2018 progresses? haha)
Thanks OMSC! I think I should be able to maintain that, and cut it down even more as I quit my job and eliminate work expenses (breakfasts, lunches, coffees, gas, wear and tear on car, etc). But yes, come back and see how I did!)
Huge kudos for decreasing your spending so drastically! It sounds like it didn’t even hurt. That is definitely something to be proud of. 🙂
Thanks Kristine. It hurt and it didn’t… I’m so glad I didn’t pay that $15k for housing, but it hurts everytime I go home and hang out in my tiny studio apartment when I could be living it up in a fancy flat.
Gwen I made the mistake early on renovating our first rental as if I was going to live there. Good that you recognize the error in that. Definitely hold back on Reno’s, and only do those that prevent major issues…ie like a leaking roof not something you should ignore. Also, there r inexpensive upgrades that r totally worth it. Repairing holes in walls u can do yourself, and paint is cheap and makes a huge difference to renters. Going forward if you buy a new rental, I suggest buying a much newer build. Older homes hide huge issues, knob n tube wiring galvanized plumbing, asbestos, etc etc. Often times these cannot be caught with an inspection. Aim for houses built in the 60’s or later.