2016 was quite challenging, but also exciting.
During the first half of 2016, I lost two beloved family members. My grand uncle and my grandmother left us after long illnesses and I miss them a lot. I'm coping by thinking about how much they loved me since the day I was born and about how thankful I am for my family. That helps a lot, but still, they were wonderful people and just aren't there anymore.
With those losses came tremendous challenges at work. We are at the final stage of a huge structural reform, and while my position is not at stake, this comes with crazy responsibilities and every two to four months, my workplace changes. My colleagues are regularly crying at work, people get seriously ill, and the big bosses officially stated that our workload is not manageable with the amount of people we have left and that they made a planning mistake. Not that easy to deal with.
On the good side, I bought my second investment property, which we renovated over the past two months and that is now ready to be rented out. I'm really happy about it :-) it was in quite a bad condition and now it's a beauty. I love getting neglected places back into shape and seeing the results of our hard work!
Also, I was able to travel quite a bit with my partner. We went to Vietnam, France and Croatia this year, it was awesome :-)
I'm also looking forward to next year. The big challenge will be not to let pressure and stress at work get to me, but to take care of myself and stay calm. We are planning a trip to Israel in spring :-) other than that, I just joined Weightwatchers last week and already lost 4.5 pounds in one week. I'm planning on staying on the program for 6-9 months, as I have about 35 pounds to lose. At the moment, I'm confident it will work, and so looking forward to going to the lake in summer feeling great in swimwear (yes, that's girly, but what can I say, I'm a girl ^^). We are also looking for houses, so maybe there will be a move next year.
Financially, I'm happy about this years progress. Both of my properties have been increasing in value, and also my other investments have been progressing. I have two mini-mortgages, which have been reduced quite a bit this year. For next year, I plan on saving for a bigger property emergency fund (has been raided to fund the renovation), maybe buy another property if a good opportunity occurs, and other than that to save for a newer car. I hope my old little student car will have another 3 years, but don't want to risk having to tap into my emergency funds if I have to replace it earlier.
My other goals for next year are to finish my PhD thesis (finally) and to expand my side business. Quite a year ahead, let's rock and roll :-)
