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We were distraught and scrambling for a way to make it all still work. We had signed on a duplex four blocks from the Plaza District, an awesome area in the urban core of Oklahoma City. The closing for our duplex house hack had been pushed back at least 5 days, ad we had strategically organized our calendar to allow for a week and a half of cosmetic fixes on the poorly remodeled before we were to set to move in with our two kids and before closing on the sale of our home.
The not so ideal solution – occupy prior to closing.
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 In late December 2016 I began this blog hoping to focus more on the financial aspects of our life and our journey toward financial freedom one day. I pumped out 4 articles in a month and thought I was set to continue on that path…. then I had to make a decision regarding how I was to spend my free time.
The problem was, this free time was almost nonexistent.
 It’s amazing how our priorities can change in such a short amount of time. In 2016 we were blessed with our first child, Abel and, almost immediately, we knew our career goals and priorities were shifting.
 One of the biggest reasons behind starting this blog was personal accountability, and what better way to do that than laying all the cards on the table?
2016 was a huge year in many ways. The first was that Allison left her job to stay at home. In 2015 we set a goal that by our son's first birthday, he would no longer be in daycare. We also started 3 Nails Designs, which opened up the opportunity. We crunched the numbers, and... $700. That was our break even, "if an emergency pops up (they did) we're screwed" number. I did have a backup plan, and I was prepared to work as much as needed to make this work. To us, having our son at home far outweighed our financial goals. Our savings rate struggled, we had to dip into our emergency fund a few times, I made some real estate investing decisions that were borderline gambling, and we added a second child to the clan. We weathered the storm, the lessons were worth it, and things are back on track now, in huge part from 3 Nails Designs starting to pull in $1,300-$3700/month from June on. Now that the cards are on the table, let's talk about them.  What are your financial goals? Wait, let me back up... do you have financial goals? I'm not sure about you, but mine don't include retiring at 65 (or 70 suggested by this article), watching The Price is Right every day, and wearing out a recliner. There's far too much life to live, passions to pursue, places to see, and time to spend with family to be working for a paycheck for the next 30-40 years. The solution: Financial Independence & Retire Early (FIRE) Financial Independence (FI): Creating enough passive income that you no longer have to rely on your normal W-2 job. Many times this leads to the pursuit of other passions. Early Retirement: Creating enough passive income to have the ablilty to stop working and enter retirement in a more traditional sense, just at a much younger age. So what do these options offer you? Freedom.  Student loans suck. Debt sucks. Here’s the real question though;
What are you doing about it? Action is the most important step in your entire debt free process. Here’s what my wife, Allison, and I did to give our student loans and consumer debt the middle finger while still in college. Debt breakdown My Student Loans: $9,355.85 Allison's Student Loans: $22,591.11 Motorcycle: $5,022.21 Consumer Loan: $3,500 $40,469.17. All gone in less than 15 months! |
Pursuing financial freedom & embracing the Renaissance lifestyle
AuthorFather, husband, entrepreneur, real estate investor, and Renaissance soul. Archives
September 2017
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