Chasing the Fionist Dream

While we have always saved and invested, almost exactly one year ago we made the decision to increase our investment rate and actively pursue financial independence. We had both experienced challenges in our work situations, COVID-related and not, and realized that we don’t want to spend the next 30+ years of our lives in a 9 to 5 job.

Like many do, we made ourselves New Year’s resolution goals, but unlike previous attempts, we printed them out and stuck them on our fridge. Some were finance related, some not. Some we reached and some we didn’t. And some we surpassed. Overall we worked hard and are pretty proud of ourselves.

In this post, we want to share last year’s goals, show you where we are one year later, and end with our goals for this coming year. We also plan on sharing quarterly updates to keep ourselves motivated and accountable.

5782 Goals

Goals	Results
Increase monthly savings from 10% to 25% of our net income.	We now save 30%  in part thanks to changes on the work front.
Brush our dog’s teeth 3 times a week.	We try, but it’s more like once a week.
Reach 15% of our FI number.	Reached 18% of our target (even with the bear market).
Get rid of any investments considered problematic for US citizens (PFIC).	Sold them all and bought US domiciled ETFs instead.
Earn 500 shekels per month through side hustles or passive income.	Yes, on average including dividends, doing surveys and assorted one-offs. We reinvest all of it.
Do more DIY projects at home.	We have done some painting and basic installation, but we also recognize our (current) limitations and hire a pro when needed.
Avoid going shopping as an activity.	YES we did! And we have way less Max Stock crap in our house now. (Cutting this area of spending significantly boosted our investments.)
Clean the oven / fridge / windows once every other month, not on the day we clean for Shabbat.	We try.
Make a will.	We had a hard time making a few decisions on this. Planning on getting it done in the next few months.
Go on fun family trips.	We went to the US, did some day trips in Israel, had one lady vacay weekend, and are planning a family vacation for this fall.
Have more creative date nights at home.	Yes (including writing this blog together) and because of this we order in a lot less as well.

Seeing our own successes on last year’s goals inspired us to reach even higher for this coming year. This year, we’re posting our New Year’s resolutions on the internet as well as on our fridge.

• Keep our savings rate the same or raise it to 35% of our net income.

• Reach 25% of our target FI number.

• Increase our annual charitable donations by 50%.

• Do more day trips, one family vacation, one lady vacay with lady friends and one mancation with man friends (while the other holds down the fort).

• Get ourselves a new bed frame.

• Make our significant other feel appreciated.

• Brush our dog’s teeth at least 3 times a week. (We paused to brush her teeth while writing this post.)

• Digitally backup all of our documents and keep minimal documents as hard copies.

• Make a will. (We’ll do it. We promise.)

While we’d love to reach and surpass all of these goals, we hope that we reach some if not most of them. Having them in front of our faces for the past year has helped on the accountability front. Cheering each other on and believing in ourselves and in each other has definitely pushed us ahead. It’s not about reaching every single goal, it’s about challenging yourself and doing your best.

אם תרצו אין זו אגדה.

We want to end this post with a heartfelt wish to all of our readers and supporters for a happy, healthy, enjoyable, fulfilling and financially sound new year. Our blog is young but we couldn’t have made it this far without all of your loyalty and encouragement. Thank you.

What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 5783?