the richest man in atherstone

Here we are, two thirds of the way through the year and it's time for my second tri-annual progress review of my goals for 2007.

Goal 1: Save at least £3000 - I've saved £2000 so far this year and have budgeted for a further £1000 (£250 per month) to go into my Lloyds TSB Monthly Saver in the remainder of the year so this goal is very much on target.

Goal 2: Set up a Savings Account for my children - Although my first attempt to open accounts for the kids ended in disaster, I have since set them up with Nationwide Smart accounts. Goal complete.

Goal 3: Donate 1% of my gross salary to charity - I've chosen my charity (BDF NewLife) and have budgeted to give 1% of my income to it (at the end of the year), so this goal is very much on track.

Goal 4: Set up and run a Limited Company - This goal is still incomplete and planned for the final third of the year. See below for more details

Goal 5: Earn at least an additional £5000 of income - This, too, is incomplete and again, see below for further details.

Goal 6: Invest £1000 in an investment which will earn more than the top savings account - I invested in Lloyds TSB stock, which is looking on target to fulfil this goal over a twelve month period.

Goal 7: Complete steps 9 to 16 of my Doubling Plan - So far I've completed steps 9 through to 12, with the rest (and more - see below) planned for the next four months.

I have found that having two goals to earn money (goals 5 and 7) is a bit of a psychological stumbling block because whenever I've earned money it's been difficult to choose which goal the cash will go towards. The result has been a divided focus that has slowed progress in both goals. For this reason, I have decided to combine the two goals and aim to reach step 20 of my Doubling Plan by the end of the year. This will take me to the sum of £5000 in this project.

As I go through the Doubling steps, I plan to start a business or two to create a legal structure for my financial pursuits which will bring Goal 4 into the mix. The businesses I want to start should be highly profitable and have systems in place to take away as much human workload as possible. As soon as my businesses are generating an income comparable to my current salary, I plan to quit my job for reasons highlighted in this post.

So, it looks like I have a busy few months ahead of me