January Goals Update and Weekly Round-Up

Most of you know that I’m trying to get into the habit of accomplishing goals again this year. I used to set goals quite regularly, and when I did my site was exploding! I’m ready to see that explosion again, so here’s a look at my monthly goals for January. How am I doing so far?

January Goals

1) Alexa Rank Under 110,000 – My Alexa Rank was at 110,808, and it was going up rapidly (which is a bad thing). With my writings last week, I was able to slow the bleeding on this one (see the 1 month rank below), and hopefully next week we’ll see a turn so we can get this number under 110,000 as planned!

Also, if you want to help me bring this number down, please download the Alexa Toolbar. It would do wonders for this site! Thanks!

2) Get My Subscriber Number to 900…and Beyond! – My subscriber number was at 877 last week. Right now, I’m at 883. In my book, that is a win, and it brings me that much closer to my goal of 900 subscribers! Thanks to those that have dropped by and subscribed to my site! I hope you enjoyed your free book in the process. Next week Sunday, I’ll be announcing a giveaway of multiple gift cards. Stay tuned!

3) Increase my Facebook Friends to 300 – My Facebook friends are still hanging around that 280 number (281 to be exact), which is where they have been for a long time. I am no Facebook expert, but once again, I’ll be having a giveaway to celebrate a monumentous event, and I hope to see this number rise dramatically – certainly above 300 at least.

4) Post Every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday – Check, complete. I love keeping this constant schedule. It keeps me on track with my writings, and it gives my readers a fresh bit of info every few days. Love it!

5) Finish the House – My parents have been absolutely incredible these past few weeks. My mom has done so much painting, I imagine she’s probably having nightmares about it! In order to get the house into its finished state, I just need to roll some paint on a few closet doors and that’s it! Completed! Can’t wait to share the news on this one next week. Oh, and here’s a small taste of the transformation:

The original dining room wall made of plaster, riddled with holes.

After the demolition.

Got the drywall up!

The dining room I enjoy today.

If you like these photos, let me know! I’ve got more to share (probably next week).

Weekly Round-Up

Alright, it’s time to share some fantantic articles that were not written by me. If you are looking for some further financial reading, take a look at these posts that I found interesting this past week!

The More You Trade, The Less You Earn – by Money Smart Guides

Don’t Forget to Dream – by Financial Samurai

Keeping Up With The Joneses at Making Sense of Cents

5 Things to Consider When Creating a Will at Work Save Live

How Craigslist Saved Us Hundreds of Dollars at When Life Gives You Lemons

Get Paid to Lose Weight at Well Kept Wallet

Is Convenience Food Sucking Up Your Food Budget at Beating Broke

Comcast: The Suck Continues at So Over This

The  Best Way To Handle an Inheritance at One Smart Dollar

10 Things You Can Do to Improve Your Finances in 2013 at Young Adult Money

Haggle? Yes, an Amateur Can Do It at Five Cent Nickel

What’s Your Real Hourly Wage at My Personal Finance Journey

Saving Up Money To Pay Cash for A Car at Thirty Six Months