Live Catch

Daisy Mox is successfully on Craig's list -- I have been receiving responses and I am set to meet with a husband and wife this evening, who want to buy a car for their daughter. Hopefully this is a good fit.

I was very worried about not being able to sell Daisy, but I have received so many interested responses that I feel very confidant about the situation.

Yet another learning lesson: Being scared should only propel you forward to figure it out and understand the unknown.

There is a Spanish saying that I hear among all the Cubans that I have adopted as one of my mantras:

Para tras nada mas para coger impulso.

You only go back a step to get the leverage to go further -- roughly translated.

The people I am meeting tonight sound very interested, and they would like to purchase Dasiy before leaving for vacation on the 25th -- that works nicely because I am leaving in 3 days :)

I would love it if Daisy was in good hands before we wander up to Vermont.

I had a great chat with my business partner today about automating the property management business. It has to be done properly, but I think it can be hugely successful.

That will be something to explore in New Haven...

Shoes: check!

Tonight was my last shoe making class -- 6 weeks of non-stop days and nights. Before this class, I would get home from work around 4 PM and take a nap, waiting for Paul to get home from work.

This experience, in addition to being a lot of fun has taught me so much, about what I can do (despite not being the most artistic of people) and what is important.

I love sleeping -- but that does not mean that is what I should be doing (so much) during my free time. This has taught me a lot about going after what I want, which is a drive and motivation that was lost somewhat, after graduating from college and getting into what can be, the grind.

So now -- I have a lovely pair of mules that I made myself. I am still working on finishing the pumps -- hopefully they will be done before we move up to New Haven.

And on the RE/business/moving side of things, all is quiet on the western (northern) front. We are browsing rentals and still running numbers.

The management firm in CT is moving along, and I had a great talk with my partner (former boss!) about strategy. I want the business in CT to focus on being out-sourced (a la 4 hour work week) and with a strong emphasis on helping buildings become more green.

My car, Daisy, is up on Craig's list and I am hoping to get her sold and taken care of before we leave for our lovely 10 day vacation to VT.

So at this point, a bit has been accomplished, with a lot more planned to be accomplished.

Today I took my replacement out to lunch and we had a chat about employee vs. business owner. It is a bit of a paradigm shift, but one I hope she understands eventually.

And...we're back!

So sorry for the long, unexpected delay. My last day of work is this Friday (which I am excited about, but also sad to be leaving a place where I have grown and learned so much. Sink holes! Lawsuits! Engineering Terms! Leaks!) and with that happening, everything is on hyper -speed.

Except, apparently, the blog.

That being said, I sent in the documents to register as a corporation with the state of CT today, which was really exciting, and also, not. It was kinda of like, of course this is the next step. I had a similar feeling to paying off all the Bad Debt -- happy, but also not surprised.

It feels so good to write again. I really missed this.

On Friday (the 11th) I sent promo materials to my top candidate to hire me as their property manager in CT. We will see how that goes.

Friday was also Paul's birthday -- so we went on a 12 mile bike ride and he is enjoying his nifty new camera.

We are still playing with RE numbers, and contemplating renting for a bit, so that we do not make a rushed RE decision.

I hope everyone is great -- I have missed this much more than I ever expected. Till tomorrow!

What dreams may come

On Friday, the 4th, my last credit card, for Bad Debt, was paid off. It felt amazing. I am so, so happy that the goal is done, over and achieved. It feels great, and honestly, I am so surprised that I started on this journey a year ago. Achieving this goal is a great testament to putting your head down and just working towards a goal.

Here we go, the next goal!

Before the end of July, I will sell my lovely car, Daisy Mox. She is a gorgeous 2005 Honda Civic coupe with 50K miles on her, all lovingly driven. Buying this car was a great achievement, but now in order to reach my next goals, selling her is another stepping stone. On to Craig's list she goes!

A great lesson has been learned with Daisy Mox, and my Bad Debt. Suze Orman strongly recommended buying a used car, as opposed to leasing. So, fresh out of college and all on my own, I financed brand-new Daisy. My thinking at the time was that I didn't have the time to search for a good used car. Looking back, I still think that was the case (at that time) but I now still have the car payments each month.

Moving up to NH, starting a company, I want my carrying costs to be as low as possible. We will either be buying close to school, or renting within walking distance, so Paul will rarely need our remaining car (which has yet to be named...). That car is fully paid off and is a bit more rugged. It fits us and our cat very well (with litter box) so that is the car that we want for our traveling adventures.

Also in the works: starting a branch office of my current management company in New Haven. I have been on the phone with CT today and will be working on the paperwork with my boss later this afternoon to file. It's exciting, and scary, and wonderful!

The question I still have is what will be done when we travel next summer -- I am more than a little nervous about that, but like everything else, I am sure that it will all work out.

A few days off

There have been some work emergencies related to sink holes in parking lots, and personal -- I'll be back on Monday.

Hope you have an excellent 4th -- and a VERY safe time.

Today, today

Today was great. A never-ending training situation for the people who will be replacing me at my job -- but still great.

I sat down to talk with the CT State Gov, and learned a bit as to what I need to do so I can open a management firm, which was excellent. Nothing too crazy, just a few hoops and filing of documents.

As my replacement and I were wandering through buildings today we also ran into a NJ RE investor and the 3 of us had a great chat about buying, selling, the market and the world, specifically, Dubai.

Last night at cobbler school, I was talking with one of my gf's in the class and she mentioned that a friend of her's is working on the unveiling project of Dubai's "The World" -- the cluster of islands that will resemble the world map.

All the possibilities that exist in this world are amazing.

Tomorrow I will be talking with my boss about transitioning out of being an employee, and into being partners with him -- exciting! :)

On Thursday, I had a great meeting with a gentleman I'll call JS. He is a successful entrepreneur, and over lunch he shared some great insights.

One idea he came up with was leverage what you have -- he then followed up by asking a rhetorical question of what do I have at this point?

What do I have? A ton of love and laughter, and thankfully, the advice of someone who has been there and done what I want to do.

He pointed out that I have over a year's experience being a property manager, and a great one at that ;) My current boss is sad with my leaving, as he has hinted that he would like to have me manage the business.

JS suggested working with my current boss to open up a New Haven branch of my current company -- that way I would have support and help while starting a company, and then share the profits.

I loved the idea, and reached out to a Yale kid that I met, who bought a condo in New Haven upon starting law school. I mentioned to him that I was starting a property management firm in NH and would he be interested in hearing more.

He wrote back right away, saying that he would -- and I then spoke with my current boss about the idea -- which he also loved!

That being said, my current boss is on vacation until Wednesday, so I am swamped with what it feels like to really run something.

My entering and exiting plans are beginning to form, and I am working on a business proposal.

The one question I will need to answer, is what will be done over the summers, while Paul and I troupe around Africa. I am looking forward to figuring that out!

When you take a step...

I am so excited, that I just wanted to post to say that everything is working out perfectly.

Stay tuned!!

Enrichment

Today I had a meeting with someone who I have met through my work who has 2 successful businesses and sits on the Board of a 3rd.

Since I am leaving my job in July, we set up a date to talk so I could get a better understanding as to how he moved from the corporate world into being a successful entrepreneur.

What a lovely, lovely meeting. He shared what he sees as important qualities to have to succeed with being an entrepreneur:

1. Persistence
2. Patience
3. Impatience in getting things done
4. Good decision making skills

These are all qualities that I currently have, and am continuing to grow. He and I came up with a business idea for when we move to New Haven, which I am very excited about. I have to do some research and detail a plan, but I believe that this is what I have been looking for.

There are still a few details that need to be worked out, but I am confident that they will be able to be smoothed out.

At 25, this is my first real sit-down with someone older and wiser than me, someone who has done what I want to do (build businesses). This is one piece of advice that I kept fighting -- to actually sit down with someone who has the knowledge that I am looking for.

Now that I have done it once, I am looking forward to doing it regularly. And it will be an honor if someone asks me to sit down with them one day.

Amazing

From CNN:

(CNN) -- Ambitious plans to build a revolutionary 420-meter shape-shifting skyscraper in Dubai have been unveiled by architects.

Each floor of the tower would rotate independently, architects claim, creating an ever-shifting shape.

The 80-story Dynamic Tower, described as the "world's first building in motion," will also be the first skyscraper constructed from prefabricated units, according to a press statement released by New York-based architect David Fisher's Dynamic Group.

Each floor would be capable of rotating independently, powered by wind turbines fitted between each floor.

"You can adjust the shape the way you like every given moment," Fisher said. "It's not a piece of architecture somebody designed today and that's it. It remains forever. It's designed by life, shaped by time." Watch how the tower would spin and twist »

Apartments will sell for around $3,000 per square foot, making each unit range in price from about $4 million to $40 million. Work on the tower is due to be completed by 2010, according to Dynamic's Web site.

Fisher said plans to build a second rotating skyscraper in Moscow were at an advanced stage and that the group intended to build a third tower in New York. He said developers and public officials in Canada, Europe and South Korea had also expressed interest in the project.

But some have expressed skepticism. Fisher has never built a skyscraper before. He says he has teamed up with reputed architects and engineers in the United Kingdom and India.

Although he has received a development license for construction in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, he has not disclosed the site of the building. The Moscow mayor's office said it was looking into the project and a decision had not been made.

Fisher has called prefabricated construction techniques the "future of architecture" and says they will radically transform 4,000-year-old "brick-on-brick" building methods.

By using preconstructed parts, Fisher said each story could be built in just seven days, resulting in environmentally cleaner building methods.

He said just 600 people on an assembly site and 80 technicians on the construction site would be needed to build the tower -- compared with around 2,000 workers for a traditional project of a comparable scale.

"It is unbelievable that real estate and construction which is the leading sector of the world economy, is also the most primitive, Fisher is quoted as saying on Dynamic's Web site.

"Most workers throughout the world still regularly use trowels that was first used by the Egyptians and then by the Romans. Buildings should not be different than any other product, and from now on they will be manufactured in a production facility."

Dubai is currently experiencing a construction boom with the Burj tower set to claim the title of the world's tallest building when it is completed in 2009. It is already home to the world's largest mall and -- despite being in the Middle East -- it boasts the largest indoor snow park in the world.

The Deal Deferred

Tomorrow night, Paul and I have a date to analyze our next set of RE deals. I am so excited!

In the meantime, I wanted to share why the deal that we put a bid on didn't work, and the specifics of it.

The deal was a 2 family, with a vacant, build-able lot, close to Yale in a safe area. It was origionally listed at 399K and had been dropped to 324K. We came in at 225K because it would also cost 400K to build a 3 family on the vacant lot.

As an aside, we had checked with the building and zoning departments, a 3 family in that area would have been allowed.

With a 3 family, with 3 bedrooms each and each bedroom renting for 600 (low estimate, most are rented for 650-700) that would be income of $5400.

Going above the 225K price (plus 400K in building) would have been cutting it too close for our (newbie) comfort.

That being said, there are a million deals out there, so we will continue looking.

Another goal: Accopmlished!

I have wanted braces for a loooooooooooooooong time.

In July of 2006 I paid the 5K and got them on. Friday, they came off! I went to the dentist afterwards to get a cleaning -- so all in all, a long day that ended with a headache. But the braces are off! And I am thrilled with the results.

In other news, we are still scouring through RE listings and now we have a (new) short list. We will be going over that again and setting up appointments for either some point during the week, and Paul will go up on his own, or on Saturday.

An idea that came up yesterday is, if we do not find what we are looking for in terms of investment/living at the place as well, in our time frame, to rent month to month, in a furnished apartment. The effect being two-fold.

1. Hello, motivation!
2. Not having to "set up house" -- move everything in to move everything back out.

But, I am focusing on finding a place so that does not even have to be broached.

What I am learning

Follow instincts.

The guy who I wrote about yesterday was fired today. From the moment I met him I was uneasy, and today he was let go.

Translating this to the future, I am going to interview and interview until I find exactly what I am looking for.

Yesterday on the radio there was a bit about people buying items from the back of a van. They then got home with their new flat screen TV, opened up the box and found a bunch of bricks. Several hundreds later.

What you buy, who you hire, these are important decisions that should not be made in haste, or from the back of a van.

Tomorrow -- a surprise! I will not be posting, but there will be a surprise picture on Monday.

Change is acomin'

Sheep in Wolf's Clothing

My hometown is a sleepy, small farming community that barely makes it on to the map. The town is known for having more cows than people.

The landscape is beautiful, but in general, it is a conservative, Republican area. In case you missed it, I am a liberal lefty with a bit of libertarian mixed in. That being said, 2 of my best friends are conservative Republicans and we love to have a great political debate.

Since I am leaving my job in a month from today (!) I am training my replacement. For the most part, we have nothing in common. I have no idea how he will fit in to the company that I am leaving, but I hope it works out well, as I love the people I work with.

Yesterday we were driving around and I was showing him the buildings that I manage. We started to have a political debate and he clarified everything by saying that he is as liberal as they get.

Ahem.

Sir, you are not. Just because I was there to interview you and have the boss's ear on firing you does not mean that you should lie to me to ingratiate yourself.

The more I see it, the more I feel sad when people lie -- it seems like such a waste of time, and I feel empathy for them that they are not secure in themselves enough to say whatever it may be.
Anyway, this is the side observation for the week.

Day 2 -- no celeb gossip!

And the heading pretty much sums it up -- I miss it a bit, but am doing many more things, which are more important. Over all, it has been a great change so far.

One of the great improvements has been a realization.

Last night, I was at shoe making class (the mules are coming along very well) and the TA was asking me what I was going to do in New Haven. I sighed and said that I wanted to rehab houses, but that I didn't know.

On my walk to home, I realized at that moment how silly I was being -- if rehabbing houses is what I keep saying that I want to do when we move up to CT -- then I should be rehabbing houses. It is pretty simple.

I'm not sure why I didn't see this before, but I am happy to have had the realization now rather than later.

With that out of the way, I spent a good part of the day (that used to be devoted to celeb gossip) searching out RE groups in NH and reading the different blogs I have been following, and adding a few new ones to the list.

Then, after a great day, where I hooked a gf up with a potential new and excellent job, my boss asked if I would be willing to work remotely for a few months for him, up in NH.

All in all, it has been an awesome day.

Better Choices

This past weekend was just what we needed -- a lot of lovely, lovely family time. The organizing of the finances, into Quicken, was not done, but it is on the list.

Another important lesson was learned instead. Paul and I both love to read -- we both read pretty much everything, but for leisure reading, he loves comic books and I love celebrity gossip. We were talking about how he gets a little sad when he reads depressing comic books (some of them are really dark!) and how I would prefer if he stays away from those kinds of stories, since we are what we focus on, right? For the most part, he agrees and promises to stay away, which made me think of my leisure reading and what impact it is having on me.

After reading celeb gossip, I never feel uplifted, inspired or motivated. Instead, I feel a little sick, like I have eaten too much chocolate. WAY too much chocolate. So, as of this weekend I have given up visiting the celeb websites and will focus that time on my education and self improvement.

It was my way to chill and zone out, but really, nothing positive has come out of it. I would rather use that time to do yoga and analyze RE deals.

That being said, this morning as I walked into work my fingers itched to check out what had happened in the celeb world over the weekend. Instead, I went to check out the New York Times and begin my day.

This first step does feel good -- I have tried giving up this reading before but have slipped back. I believe that this time will be different because I am really starting to recognize it as the time drain it is.

A little wake up call

I was reading the Millionaire Mommy Next Door yesterday and loved the posting:

Want to Lose Weight, Reduce Debt, Increase Net Worth? Here's An Easy and Effective First Step

an excellent read if you have the time.

The first step, according to the blog, is to weigh yourself every day, because it makes a significant difference since you see any little weight gain. The writer then goes on to say that this is the same with your finances -- if you are checking up on them every day, they will go the way you plan them to.

Since this is a blog about my journey to financial freedom (and clearly, education on the way!) I am a little embarrassed to say that I have become pretty lax about my finances. And grateful that I read the post on the Millionaire Mommy when I did, so I take a better look at what we are doing.

I am down to my last "Bad Debt" credit card, which will be paid off on July 4th. I have savings set aside for when we make the move, along with "seed money" for real estate investment. That being said, I want to focus more closely on organizing my finances so that I can grow them more effectively.

Part of my weekend project will be to organize my finances better and more clearly. Paul has mentioned Quicken several times, so with the inspiration of the Millionaire Mommy, I will venture down that road to set it up. Another great website which I adore is www.mint.com which links all your accounts.

In other news, we decided to hold off on counter-bidding on the house that we submitted a verbal bid for, last Friday. The seller is anxious to sell (I would be too in this market) but the pricing does not work out at what she is looking for. We will watch the property for a month and see where it is, and if she is more willing to negotiate at that point.

We are going to continue to look at properties and go from there. I think that we will be able to close on a deal that makes sense before moving up there.

As a side note, last Friday I took a kitten home from the shelter (Adina -- Addie for short). Right now, both she and the older kitty (Pixie) are a bit sick. With a lots of love and their favorite foods, hopefully they will be back up and running shortly. It is now kitten season at the animal shelters!

Have a great weekend.

Financial Education

This morning on my drive into work I was listening to z100 -- a very popular NYC radio station. They were talking about money, and the head of the radio show (Elvis) was arguing that people dislike talking about money and how much they make. He clearly makes more than the others who were having the discussion.

Elvis went on to say that money did not make you successful or happy; investing your money well made you rich, it wasn't how much you made, and happiness can not be gained from money.

Another on the show then said, "Yeah, but give someone who is making 30K a 100K paycheck and they will be happy!".

Everyone laughed and the show went on.

Elvis made a great point about investing -- if you make 30K and have been investing as much as you can for the past 10 years you are better off than someone making 100K who has never invested.

It was interesting to see the "Every-Beer-Guzzling-Man" character make the comment about the 100K paycheck. With a current salary around 50K, I imagined suddenly waking up one morning and starting to earn 120K -- what would I do?

First off, I would totally go shopping. I would spoil my family and friends -- and then? And then I would most likely get bored and think I wasn't making enough, and then start living through credit cards, and on and on.

Money isn't the answer, it is what you do with that money that makes all the difference.

Aside from RE....

Tonight (Wednesday) was shoe class! It was so much fun and my shoes are coming along.

These days are sooooo long, but they are also so enjoyable. I'm up around 8.15 for a 9 AM start at work -- the day goes until 4 and I am home by 4.15 to chill until 5.15 and then off to class, and back home around 10 or so.

Each day, I am uncertain how I will make it through. There are so many balls in the air at this point. Aside from the "Aside from RE" title of this, Paul really liked the NH property he saw on Tuesday.

At this point, we are considering 3 different projects, all of which have their own twists -- and risks.

And then!

Each day is more exciting than the last!

Paul is working on the numbers for the 1st option we have, so we can properly counter-bid.

Then today, a RE investor that I met in New Haven called about a deal that he has in the East Rock area -- remember, the very nice area that is a bit too expensive to buy in. He has a 1 family in that area, so not exactly what we are looking for, but in an area we would love to buy in.

Paul drove up today to check it out. From what he saw, it sounds like a flipper project instead of a long term investment. On the East coast, the whole "single family house" thing is challenging to make work, financially speaking.

These days seem to run one into another; they are so much fun, and so much is happening all at once.

Till tomorrow.

The Numbers

Today and yesterday were such a whirlwind of activity. The rest of the week will be as well.

On Friday, we put the bid in. We offered 100K less than the asking price. The sellers countered with 25K less than the asking price, said it was their final offer, and the property would be as-is.

Our final numbers indicate that we can go up another 25K -- and then that is it. As much as I am looking forward to buying, having a place of our own and being on the road to wealth, I want to make sure that it is the road to wealth and pay the right price.

My gut instinct, with this being our first deal and all, is that these sellers really want to sell because they want to move to FL and want to be liquid. It also seems that there are no other serious buyers on the horizon and we have indicated that we are serious by submitting our pre-qual mortgage documentation.

So, I am praying, that when we offer our next counter bid at some point this week (after we verify a few more numbers) they accept it.

As a side note, we will not be buying anything "as-is". If the walls need to be painted, fine. But if there is a termite infestation that is a different story.

I never got such a rush as when I negotiated to buy my car (Daisy Mox) after graduating from college and I feel very similar now. I identified so much with Trump in his book "The Art of the Deal" -- to paraphrase him, I get my kicks out of negotiating. The hair is a different story.

So -- that is where we are. I feel so tired, but so fulfilled. I am loving taking my classes over the summer, and I am so excited to move to New Haven to start a new chapter in our lives.

Please keep us in your thoughts over the next few days as we tie this one up!

:)

The bid is in!

Now we await the seller's response....

The Deal

Last night was our last call with our Rich Dad Coach. I am praying that all this help and guidance over the last few months pays off in the acquisition of our first property.

We went over some great questions to get the answers to before we put our offer out. Paul is working on getting those answers today (he is so wonderful!) and then...we should be all set. I am nervous, but in a removed way.

I had been saying for a while that 2008 will be the year of change, and funny enough, there are 8 major issues circulating.

1. Moving to New Haven
2. Putting together this first deal
3. Leaving my job
4. Taking classes at FIT
5. Family stuff
6. Engagement Party and Going Away Party (something that will be so fun, but we also need to plan for it)
7. There were two other things when I went through this list last night :)

Lots of changes, all at once.

And speaking of changes, Paul just got off the phone with the Tax Assessor -- and, New Haven is in year 2 of a 5 year tax assessment! That adds an additional $240.50 a month to our expenses. Paul is calling Michelle now, to go over everything with her.

Hopefully, everything will work out.

Have a great weekend!

Ping Pong Ball

I feel like I am bouncing between work, school, sleep, work, school, sleep. Somewhere in there, Paul and I debate about the limit offer that we would present to the seller of the house we are interested in.

We got the expenses yesterday, which is great. We are going to talk with our Rich Dad Coach about everything tonight, to hopefully get some more insight and ideas about strategy. Once we have that conversation, I think we will be ready to present an offer tomorrow. Best case, is the seller will think about it over the weekend (while we pray!) and accept on Monday.

Then we can get all the mortgage hoops out of the way and move on and in! That, of course, is the best case scenario.

The contingency plan, if this does not work out, is to rent month to month until we find something that works.

And now...the work question. I want to be off until September 1st, so we can travel, paint, move in to our new home and generally get adjusted to New Haven -- where is the supermarket, for example.

From there, I have ruled out teaching. From speaking with other teachers it sounds emotionally and physically draining, and that is not my focus at this point. My inspiration is from Jay-Z:

Go with what makes sense
Since
I know what I'm up against
We as rappers (real estate investors) must decide what's most important
And I can't help the poor if I'm one of them
So I got rich and gave back
To me that's the win, win.

Now I realize that there are a lot of people who are not wealthy and help the poor - I am one of them too. But, looking at Bill and Melinda Gates, or Warren Buffett, how much more can you help others once you have built wealth.

So anyway, teaching is out. I would love to find something that I can do on a contract basis, or even remotely, so as we wander around the country and world during the summers that Paul is in law school, I have something I can step away from, and return to.

Everything, it seems, works out the way it is supposed to.

Running

Between classes and work -- I have nothing for today.

Be back tomorrow!

Tenants? Check.

The first numbers for this property are starting to roll in. The current tenants of one unit are paying $1,300. The other unit is vacant, and is where we would live.

Now we are waiting on getting the expenses. The other aspect we need to be working on is getting a sketch to the Zoning Dept for New Haven, to check on a few other issues.

Our RE agent is expecting a July closing date, if all the expenses check out well. My last day working is July 18th, so the closing has to be before then. I want to take off until September 1st to work on the house and get settled.

At this point, I am leaning towards getting a job for a while, so that we will be secure, and then starting something else up on the side. Once that side work gets strong enough, I will leave the job to focus on growing the business.

Now, what shall the business be? I really want to be doing rehabs. As soon as we close on this house, my next step will be learning everything about starting a rehab business. Where to get funding? Which areas are preferable for rehabbing? New Haven has a lot of areas that are in need of some help, so I would love to be working on that.

I am so nervous, excited, scared and hopeful. I am so looking forward to becoming an ace at doing this.

Next?

Great news -- today I was pre-approved for the mortgage for the property that we want to make a bid on. We talked about each holding the mortgage, but since Paul will be on student loans, the mortgage companies that make these decisions, do not count that as income. So, therefore, the mortgage is taken out only under me -- which does open up cool options for us down the line, when we can buy another property with Paul as the only one on the mortgage, thus picking up 2 properties with 3% down.

Ahhh, the 3% down. This is the big debate. We could afford to put up to 10% down, and are approved to put as little as 3% down. The mortgage broker we are working with is emailing us over a list of options today to sort through.

Paul's Mom has also graciously offered to co-sign the loan with us, because we of our current position. This was a really sweet and wonderful offer. I am hoping that we will be able to do it on our own, to make it that much more, our own.

With the pre-approval done, now we can begin the negotiating process with the seller. This New York Times article went into writing letters to the seller. We are certainly open to doing this, but our wording would be a bit different. If we go that route, I will post the letter that we write.

The other aspect that we are pretty set on, is in the (likely) event that we close on this property, we would be living in one of the 2 units, and that unit has 2 bedrooms. We debated having a roommate, and at this point we think it makes the most sense. We can reevaluate each year as we need to, but for now, kidless, engaged, not needing that much room, it is the right move for us.

There is a lot of family drama swirling around right now, and it feels so empowering to be focusing on the next goal, and closing on this property.

Also, I was revisiting the last credit card that I have to pay off -- which is currently at: $1,590.95. I thought I did my calculations incorrectly at one point, and would be paying that off before my first date of Independence Day, July 4th. After looking at the numbers again, I am back to the 7/4/08 day, which I really like for symbolism.

So at this point, I am almost a month away from being Bad Debt Free. The future is brimming with possibilities.

A round of applause

I have the new Rihanna song in my head, "Take a Bow" -- which, like Madonna's, is about a failed relationship.

There is a line in it that I keep singing to myself, "How 'bout a round of applause..." it goes on, but as mentioned, into the whole miserable lover situation.

Anyway, the round of applause is in reference to...the paying off of $1,020.00 on my AT&T card. I have one card left, and then I will be done, done, done. I am so excited. I am so pleased that I have been able to stay on track with this and chart my progress. I have the lined sheets of paper, hung on our bedroom wall that shows when each payment was made, and for how much. I am so excited to get home and cross off another one!

Paul has been working with mortgage brokers today, and I am looking forward to a quiet weekend, filled with writing invitations to our engagement party and going to a high school play.

Enjoy!

Balls in the air

This past weekend, we found a house that we want to make a bid on. We did the remaining research, and emailed a list of questions to our agent, who forwarded them on to the seller's agent.

They came back with: let's see your pre-approval before we go answering any questions.

We have spoken with a mortgage broker, who basically said that they would talk to us once I had a job lined up. While there are a million more brokers to speak with, we would really like to do owner financing on this one.

So today I applied through Lending Tree -- just so I can have numbers and pre-approvals. I am debating including my credit score to the seller, but that seems like TMI.

Today I will also be researching FHA loans, which is also a possibility.

This weekend, we are supposed to be meeting with a well connected person in New Haven (I called him this morning and not heard back yet) and I am looking forward to getting some insight on employment, in terms of teaching or companies that he knows of that do rehab work. One requirement is summers off -- so we will see.

Last night's shoe class was awesome, awesome, awesome. I am so excited to be engaged on a creative and intellectual level. Going forward, I will remember this and continue to take classes -- in New Haven, I will be able to audit classes and get the stimulation that apparently, I crave.

And tomorrow -- another huge milestone -- I pay off my AT&T credit card. That means I have one left, and then, Bad Debt Free! It feels awesome to be achieving my goals, and setting myself up for future successes.

When I first sat down with all my debts, almost a year ago, I couldn't believe that it would take a year of scrimping and cutting back to the minimum to achieve this goal. And yet, here I am. There have been slip-ups and other expenses that have come up (kitty eye surgery) but somehow, I have been able to make it work and stay on track, with paying off debts, saving for investments and still having a great time.

Till tomorrow, and the achievement of another goal!

Wealth

What drives people to greatness? To wealth? To create? There are always reasons behind our motivations and it is when we begin to examine those that we truly get to know who we are and what drives us.

To me, my family has always been the most important thing. My beautiful, perfectly imperfect family, filled with craziness and crazy stories. There are so many families like mine, or that have even greater issues. But growing up with the issues my family has, has deeply motivated me to become wealthy, very wealthy, so that I could make the world a better place and always provide for them.

In my quest for this goal, I have also learned boundaries. What do you do when you have the money to help someone, but money will never help? If someone has an emotional issue and has refused treatment, all the money in the world will not help them. It will help me provide a more comfortable life for them, and I will be content with that as I have stopped trying to change people long ago.

Paul and I started to work on our Treasure Map to Riches. It felt so good to work on something that was bringing us closer to our future, and to clearly, visually, identifying our goals. In the midst of the personal drama, it is reassuring to know that we make choices for ourselves and that we can create any kind of life we desire.

Speaking of which, tonight is my first shoe making class! I am so excited about it -- and nervous! But best of all, I know that tonight and my first class in shoe making, is a step in the direction of my future, and that feels great.

Questions, questions

This past weekend was awesome -- every thing about it.

Friday, we had a much needed date night at our favorite Indian place, only to finish our lovely meal and run into people that my heart is still working on forgiving. I must say, it felt great to see them. I feel so secure in the life I am leading and the choices that I am making, that to see them and for them to see me in the place that I am, headed in the direction I am going, felt great.

Saturday, we woke up early (relatively) and headed back up to CT. We had some places lined up to see, and we found what we think is, the one. The first one, that is ;)

It is a 2 family, with some bonuses. Before I write all about them, I want to get this deal all locked up. It will be interested, because it will involve seller financing and a lease option -- if everything goes smoothly.

Paul is working on getting some questions answered today, once he regains his eyesight. He went to the eye doctor today (his Dad) and had to get the drops that make your pupils HUGE -- and somewhat blind. So, once he can see, he will be doing the legwork that is needed to finalize our numbers.

We should, with a bit of luck on our side, write a letter of intent this week.

I am excited to write more about it, once we have it all settled!

Okay, so.

I finally mustered up the courage to write to the guy who showed us the first property that I was very interested in. After much debate, Paul and I decided that it would be a great project, but too much to chew at this time. Besides being on the edge of the good/bad area, and more in the bad area than the good, by the time we got the house up and ready for rental, our market of students would have already had their housing. We could, in theory, carry the mortgage for a year without tenants, but that is not part of the plan. It would have been a fun project, but luckily, there are a ton of great projects out there!

The email to him just said that at this time, the project would be too big for us, but that if he needed an extra hand with the rehabbing, or knew someone who did, to please pass my contact information along. It's funny, it's just an email, but it took some mustering to be able to write that, and actually ask for a chance.

He wrote back quickly, and said that he looked forward to working with us to find a property -- no mention of the request to learn what he does. I feel good that I extended myself like that and am really looking forward to rehabbing.

Looking at the lives we plan to lead over the next 3 years, I have a few ways to go about employment.

1. Get a job and then leave, when we need to travel. I do not like this, and do not consider it an option, but want to get it out of the way because it seems the most easy. Over the summers, we will be traveling for Paul, to either work at a law firm or go wander off to Brazil to find out how judges work over there. In either case, we want to be together over the summers, and I would not feel comfortable taking a job that I knew I would be leaving a few months later.

2. Teaching. Funny, how this is an option. I never thought I would seriously consider it. We are meeting with someone who knows quite a bit about New Haven, over the weekend of the 30th. I will talk with them more about this option then. Summers off! Free to travel, and a nice, secure job to obtain mortgages. Not to mention, helping the community. Win/win.

3. Doing rehabs. This scares me a lot, but it is what I want to do the most -- or with a combo of #2. NH has so many foreclosed homes, and I would love to work in this area.

4. Last resort. Bar tending, temping, etc. Clearly a last resort, but a good reminder that there are always so many options out there.

This weekend we are looking at more properties that make sense on paper. There are 2 that we are really excited about.

Have a great weekend!

The life we know

I was hanging out with one set of plumbers yesterday, and another set today. Before I go on, let me say that I love all of these plumbers. They are the best guys, and I feel so lucky to have had this position, and have had the chance to get to know them.

What struck me today was how happy the plumbers were with their jobs. They really seemed to love exactly what they were doing, what they were discussing. It made me reflect on how important it is to love what you are doing, because you spend so much time on your job. You damn well better be spending your time on something that you enjoy, or that is building towards your goals. It must be so hard to live another way.

Tonight we spoke with our coach. We are almost done with our coaching sessions...and I can't believe how quickly they have passed. The crux of her advice was to stay away from bad areas and only invest in a place where we would want to live.

After we are more established, I would love to work to invest in an area that is depressed and help revitalize it.

In the mean time, we will stay in the safer neighborhoods.

So for this weekend, we are going up to NH and will be checking out properties that fit our criteria. We had a great start next weekend, and I am looking forward to continuing that trend this weekend. Pursuing this, is bringing me that happiness that I saw the plumbers display as they argued about pumps and pressure valves. Everyone has something that gives them kicks.

Options, options, everywhere

I have not kept my end of the deal, with writing every day. I could weasel out and say its because there isn't enough to write about, but in fact, its because there has been so much going on -- so much to think about and act on.

We keep looking through properties, and I feel like after each great deal that we find, there is another one. It looks like New Haven has been hit much worse than NJ with the whole sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Tonight, we found many properties that we are going to look more closely at. I am so excited to go up to New Haven this weekend.

Today at work, I mentioned to one of the plumbers who I call a lot, Ameer, about moving to New Haven. He was very sweet, in saying that he was sorry to see me go, but offered to help with anything I may need up there, in terms of rehabing or estimates. He is a really great guy, and we talk often about family matters.

He then mentioned that one of the plumbers who works for him, David, has connections in New Haven because of family living in the area, and that he was up there all the time and could help us out if anything ever came up.

David then called his uncle, who is connected to the New Haven government and local community. His uncle (Tio) and I spoke for a while and are going to get together, not this weekend, but the weekend after, when we go up to New Haven. He seems to be a wealth of information and I am looking forward to speaking with him at length.

This reconfirms Paul's outlook, on telling as many people as possible, what you are up to, because you never know who may know what, or in this case, who. I feel so lucky to have a group of people around me who is there to help me succeed. It is a great feeling to have support in this process.

A bun dance

Options, options, everywhere.

The past weekend in NH was awesome. We checked out the first place, which needed some work. We went on from there to check out a rougher neighborhood, where there is a 6 fam for sale. The cashflow on that property is excellent, but a 20-25% down payment would be needed. This would be lovely to work on in the future -- and as a side note we are not interested in being slumlords, if we buy in depressed areas, we would ensure that it is a place that we would be proud to show others.

That property falls into the Big Deal category, and we could get the financing together, along with the needed partners, but it is not our focus. So -- onwards.

We checked out the East Rock area, and I would love to live there. Many homes are very overpriced. Saying that, I did find a bank-owned in that area that would make sense, so I am excited to check that out this weekend when we go up.

There is a neighborhood just outside of New Haven where the numbers are really making sense -- it is a suburban area with no walkable downtown, just strip malls. We would not live there, as it would be too far to Paul. As it turns out, Yale has very little parking, so we want to be walkable/bike-able distance away. This is a great possibility if we buy out there, and rent in East Rock. We will also check out this area more next weekend.

And then -- drum roll! The B&B Paul took us to stay at is for sale, and it is lovely. To own and run a B&B has always been one of Paul's dreams, and I think it would be a lot of fun while he is in school. The couple, who now wants to retire, used to rent out each floor as apartments and have tenants. They found that it was more profitable, being in the area that they are in, to have a B&B and that it is less wear and tear, lower utilities, etc. This would be a lot of fun, but we would need to learn a lot more. They would owner-finance, and would be moving down the street and offered to watch the Inn anytime we needed to go away (for the going rate of $75 a day).

On the ride up, we prayed for great opportunities to be presented to us on our trip. We got everything we asked for, and more.

Coming into Light

I can finally see a direction of where I am going, of where I am headed. This weekend, to celebrate our engagement and my birthday, we came up to New Haven to check out the RE scene. We both lined up several properties that made sense, in different areas so we would get a better feel of the area.

There was one which really struck my fancy, it was an ad on Craig's List (and I love Craig's List...that website has been one of the greatest tools in my life to date) that just said, "Wholesale -- New Haven" and a phone number. So I called the guy, who I liked from the first moment. I'm not sure how to describe it but there are people I like right away, or people who I want to stay away from. This guy was one of those people that I could talk to and enjoy a great conversation.

Anyway, this was the first property that we had lined up to see on Saturday morning. I had been warned that the property had some damage done to it because of a burst water pipe. I was also told that the furnaces and electrical systems would need some work. I was also told that this property was on the edge of a good part of town and a bad part of town, but that the former owner had rented it out to college students at Yale and another college in the area. It was a house that was purchased by a company in pre-foreclosure. There is still a lot of stuff inside the house and we were told that the house was rented as furnished to students.

I fell in love, as soon as we walked in.

This is not the kind of place that needs to be gutted, this place needs some work, some sheetrock, some locating of the burst pipe and repair, some electrical, some furnace work. It would be a project and something that I would love to do and oversee.

Reasons I love this:

Improve a neighborhood. Right now, a vacant house is a target for vandals. Not to mention, who wants to live next to the scary, empty house?

I have always wanted to rehab. I love the idea of bringing a home back to life, to restoring it to a welcoming place to live.

Cashflow. The money works on this place, and works really well. I still need to dig up a few numbers, but it is looking good right now.

Challenges:

The area of town. It is on a dangerous street. The street is also a main drag, so I feel more comfortable than the other pretty, quiet streets in NH where people are mugged at gun point because there is no one to see them...or hear them scream. Solution: assuming that the numbers come out like roses, we would not live there. Or, we would live there as some work was going on, but rent closer to school. There is an area right by Yale that is way over priced, but beautiful and lovely and pretty cheap to rent. That is where we want to live, but the homes there are similar to downtown Manhattan - a bargain may happen, but it is unlikely. I'll keep watching, though ;)

The scope of the project. This is something that we both feel like we can handle, but we have never done it before. Solution: DIY websites. Kidding. I want to ask the person who is selling it if he will adopt me as his mentee (word?). I then want to do the deal with his supervision and guidance. I would have all the risk, I would get to ask him all the questions. He has a bunch of great contractors in the area, and that saves us several steps, in terms of finding them.

Financing. I am still worried about this -- both because of my job situation, Paul's student loan lifestyle for the next 3 years and the bank situation. Owner financing is not possible for this one, but there are hard money loans -- I would like to find a way around this, that does not kill my credit score (i.e. putting everything on credit cards). I want to have strong credit so when the next deal pops up, I can jump. Right now, both of our credit scores are excellent. My ideal situation would be to get a mortgage through a bank, for as much as they will give me, but let's say it is for the asking price. Then, get a hard money loan, or get some credit cards through the LLC that I would have for the property and pay for the renovations that way. Reassess, refinance and relax for a bit while the cashflow rolls in.

My one question on this is; what happens if the property is valued today at X. I do the steps described above, and then have it reassessed, but due to the crazy RE market, the property is not reassessed at a higher amount. I do not think this is likely, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about this -- and how to handle it.

This has been such a great weekend. We have more properties lined up for Sunday, which I am looking forward to. If only I could sleep.... :-D

I can taste the future.

On the Eve of 25

Tomorrow, I turn 25. I am very excited about this birthday, each year I feel how much I have grown, and that I am closer to my goals than I was the year before (or have achieved them!).

This weekend, we are off to New Haven to check out properties (at least 10, hopefully more) and to get a sense of the different neighborhoods. From Wikipedia:

The city has many distinct neighborhoods. In addition to Downtown, centered on the central business district and the Green, are the following neighborhoods: the west central neighborhoods of Dixwell and Dwight; the southern neighborhoods of The Hill, historic water-front City Point (or Oyster Point), and the harborside district of Long Wharf; the western neighborhoods of Edgewood, West River, Westville, Amity, and West Rock-Westhills; East Rock, Cedar Hill, Prospect Hill, and Newhallville in the northern side of town; the east central neighborhoods of Mill River and Wooster Square, an Italian-American neighborhood; Fair Haven, a neighborhood that is with majority Puerto Rican families and other Latino groups, located between the Mill and Quinnipiac rivers; Quinnipiac Meadows and Fair Haven Heights across the Quinnipiac River; and facing the eastern side of the harbor, The Annex and East Shore (or Morris Cove).

This is all super-helpful. Each neighborhood has a certain feel to it, and students will live in certain areas, and not others.

East Rock is the most desirable area -- and in general a bit over-priced (location! location! location! if I see that in one more ad...). We want to get a better sense of Edgewood, West River and Westville. Paul, with his Cubano heritage, is very interested in the Fair Haven area, which is largely Latino. But in addition to kickin Cinco de Mayo parties, there are a lot of guns there, and thus, a lot of gun shot wounds. It will be a hard sell to me, but I'll take a look.

This all feels...overwhelming. I keep thinking about baby steps, and just keep moving forward. In addition, I keep praying that this all works out. I am so ready to own. So if you have a moment, please send good vibes our way!

I keep thinking about the part from the ABC's of Real Estate Investing, when Ken writes how finding the first property is like writing the first term paper, and you walk into the library and are overwhelmed with all the books -- but by senior year, you are a pro.

Progress

Yesterday was great, in terms of making calls and getting things moving.

Paul and I each took a day to schedule seeing homes. I have Saturday (goal: see 5 serious possibilities) he has Sunday (same goal). I have 1 home scheduled, which is one of my top picks. It is in a desirable area and could use some improvements.

Today I will be making more calls and also getting pre-approved for a mortgage. I am nervous about the mortgage issue, but keep reminding myself that there are many, many ways to finance a deal. It still seems like owner financing would be optimal.

The other aspect I have been thinking about is work in New Haven -- I have mentioned that I am interested in being a project manager for a rehab company. However, I have also been thinking that Paul will have off over the summers, and we would love to travel. Not to mention spring break, winter break...

This has led me to consider teaching, which is not a path that I thought I would consider. But this would work well with timing and us traveling. I am going to look into what kind of opportunities New Haven and CT have for "alternate routes" for people who are not certified to teach.

Paul has been working on the RE issue quite a bit this week, which has been great. He has found a broker who works specifically with investors, which I am really excited about. I am looking forward to checking out the properties that he sends to us.

And a pause...

This weekend was great -- lots of needed family time. It is amazing how much you can love people, yet how they know exactly how to push your buttons. I guess it is a skill ;)

Today was rushing, rushing, rushing. I interviewed a woman to take my place, you could say, when I leave my current job. She had her stuff together, and said one thing which I thought was interesting, in terms of creating businesses and being financially independant.

In the context of the job, she said, "I know what it means to work for someone else" -- she wasn't implying anything other than she knows what a job would entail, but it solidified exactly what it is that I want to be doing -- creating my own empire, not toiling on someone else's pyramid. However, let me clarify to say that I believe that creating true wealth means working with others, and helping others.

What I am getting at is that I want to be in a place where I am helping someone, and also being helped to achieve my goals.

I will be at my current job for another 2 months or so -- but it already feels like the rush is coming, to get all the projects done before I leave, which leaves me feeling like I do not have enough time to put aside for RE research.

There are 3 houses which I am really interested in seeing this upcoming weekend -- I am planning on setting up at least 10 serious possibilities of properties to see.

We are planning on bringing up our bikes to bike the area, to get to know it better.

So tomorrow, I will be working on setting up appointments and getting the ball rolling. We will also be working on getting pre-approved for mortgages, so we have that in hand.

Onward and Upward

Today, the GM credit card was paid off! The remaining balance for that card was $390.50. That means I am down to 2 cards with Bad Debt. This feels really great. I am so focused on getting this monkey off my back that is hasn't really sunk in yet. Also, the banking switch to Wachovia still needs to be made comfortable. I had spent so much time with ING that the shift seems dramatic.

I realized the other day as I was driving that my goals were too scattered. I was thinking of paying off credit card debt, researching my family history, the upcoming shoe classes, real estate in New Haven when I had the jolt of clarity that I needed to refine my goals and what I focus my time on.

This is a work in progress, but right now, in order:

1. Finances
2. RE in New Haven
3. Monetizing this blog (I need to learn how to do this)

After that, I still have a huge list of things I want to do (find a job in New Haven, determine how we will be visiting Yellowstone Park this summer, hang out with Pixie -- who in cat years is 82.5 years old at 15). But these 3 goals give me a finite amount of room to wiggle in.

There are always so many things, vying for attention -- almost like advertisements on the radio or TV and when you pay attention to each one of them, you loose valuable time where you could have been accomplishing goals.

So, that being said. We are off for a weekend at my Mom's house for Mother's Day. My sister Emily, her husband Marc and their son Mike will all be there, in addition to my lovely Aunt Maria. It should be a great weekend, filled with more self reflection. And we are bringing Cashflow!

See you Monday!

Ask and you shall...

I am a little embarrassed to admit it, but I had a hard time figuring out how CT real estate websites work. It took me longer than I thought it would, but today I made progress.

We are moving to New Haven, which is very similar to New Brunswick, NJ where I went to school at Rutgers (Go Knights!). On the island of the Brunz, as we affectionately called it, there was the campus, the bars, the downtown, the off campus student slums, and then the slums where people would get shot and students would never think of living.

New Haven has a very similar lay out and there are clear, well known boundaries as to where students are or are not willing to live. Since our target market is students we will be looking in those areas. I found 2 promising homes today (out of 80 offered in the 200K-400K range). One is a 2 fam with expansion possibilities, meaning an attic that could be converted. The other is a 4 fam. The 4 fam is more in the area that we are looking, but the 2 fam is still within the range of possibilities.

It felt great to get started on all of this and begin to really focus. As I was looking through listing after listing, I kept seeing the agents listing that a home would quality for the "Yale Home Buyers Program" -- so, Lord Google (Clifford!) answered my questions about this option. It is for employees of Yale, and it is a generous compensation program so that employees of Yale buy homes and live in New Haven in an effort to revitalize the city.

Interestingly, the story behind the downfall of New Haven is similar to Newark, New Jersey -- previously it competed with New York City in terms of being a desirable city to live in -- then the race riots came and the city is still recovering.

In any event, there is this great program through Yale, which I am going to learn more about to see if we would qualify with Paul as a student, or if one of us needs to be employed, and if so, in what capacity (does Paul being a TA count?).

As I continued to look, I found another program called Empower New Haven. This is a program designed so buyers do not pay PMI -- which is awesome!

Tomorrow will be filled with calls to the Yale program and the Empower people to find out all the gritty details.

Ask...and you shall receive.

Ahead of time

As I slay my credit card debt, I daydream about where that money could have gone instead. I want to be prepared for next time, if I want to dig myself into some bad debt, to instead have visualized goals that I am working on achieving instead.

I was reading Glamour yesterday and this month, along with Jessica Simpson's impressive use of the word "accolade" they have written about money habits. Some scary facts: 40% of women have "never talked about their spending habits with their partner". I wonder what they talk about when the check comes at dinner? I wonder about their future. Also according to Glamour, "The average young single woman spends all but $628 of her annual income, " and that "people struggle to resist impulse purchases when they 'use up' self -control elsewhere," -- which I am assuming to mean diets.

As we were going through all the things to throw out this past weekend, I found old paperwork, including, my 2 old credit cards with a total starting balance (of when I started focusing on paying off my debt) at $13,114 in June of 2007.

Now, when I want to buy shoes ;) or even start thinking negative thoughts, I stop myself and re-focus myself to think about the house we will be buying in New Haven -- what it will look like, if there will be parking, what kind of backyard and on and on. In puts me in a better mood and reminds me of positive goals, so I having been spending money more wisely. 

There is a lady at work who will be 50 this year and her finances are very worrisome. I think about her getting older and not being prepared for not being able to work and make an income. On the back of Kim Kiyosaki's Rich Woman there are more statistics about women and how their standard of living drops drastically as they age.

This is a great motivation for me to plan very, very well now.

Productive Weekend

This past weekend was awesome. Paul and I had a fun date night on Friday going to see Ironman (which was great, but with a bit of violence and things crashing -- needless to say, I was hiding for a good part of the movie) and then we buckled down for the weekend.

On Saturday, we went through the collection of things amassed -- in total, we are donating 4 huge bags of items to the Salvation Army. All my shoes are going with that collection.

It felt very refreshing to clean out the forgotten attic. I have a fantasy of just filling up my Civic coupe with all the items we own. At this point, we would need a couple (dozen?) Civics. This was a great first step, and I am looking forward to paring down further.

I also went through my book collection (gulp) and about 20 books are on their way to the Salvation Army. The paperwork pile was attacked, along with my filing "box". Everything is neatly organized and makes sense. So when I got mail on Saturday, the first thing I did was go through it, filed what needed to be filed, and shred the rest.

There is a lot of paper recycling this week!

We also played Cashflow on Sunday. This is the first time, in a long time, that we broke it out. We had a good time playing, and it made me want to put aside the time to play more often. I always feel like I learn quite a bit.

So...it was a great weekend, and now for this week, I will be focusing on the house hunt. I will write tomorrow about the results of my quest.

Moving on Up

The shoe situation was handled yesterday, as promised. I started with 48 pairs and whittled it down to 36. There is a bag filled with shoes which will make its way over to the Salvation Army. 36 still seems like a lot of shoes -- I parted with my pink converse sneakers and first prom shoes. I was not able to get rid of my first pair of Doc Martins, which were a gift from my sister.

Yesterday I also went through the paperwork that has piled up -- or rather, a pile of the paperwork. I will continue to work on this through the weekend.

Today the minimums on all 3 credit cards gets paid, so I am left with:

AT&T: $1020
Citi: $1033.95
GM: $390.50

Which totals: $2,444.45

I am always so surprised that I have made so much progress. With accomplishing this goal, it has really helped to just keep my head down and put aside the money to pay off this debt each week. I am so excited to move to New Haven with no Bad Debt.

We had our Rich Dad Coaching call last night, and it turns out that my Coach reads this blog! How exciting :) I am looking forward to doing our homework for next week, and playing Cash Flow.

This weekend Paul and I will also be putting together our visualization board, which I wrote about yesterday. It seems like the more you verbalize or identify exactly what you want in life, it starts coming true. Writing this blog has been wonderful for many reasons; one great aspect of it is that after I write that I am going to organize my shoe closet, it is set out there, it is a goal and so I want to accomplish it even more.

Now for the multi-family in New Haven..

Have a great weekend!

The Outlook of Shiva

I wanted to share one of the best passages so far in "The Courage to be Rich", where Orman writes, "The notion of stating your goals in the present tense rather than as an expression of future intent is neither my own invention nor is it new. It actually dates back to a tenth-century Hindu text called The Outlook of Shiva, written by a scholar called Somananda. In it, he instructs us to act as if we already embody our goal, no matter the disparity between what we are and what we wish to become. It is important not to allow doubt to cause us to abandon out intention but to maintain 'an unwavering awareness' by affirming out goal with confidence and conviction. In this way, Somananda explains, out being aligns itself with our intention, and the goal becomes manifest,".

Between you and me, I have a hard time imaging Suze Orman picking up dusty Hindu texts, but stranger things have happened :)

The message in this to me, is very powerful and a bit more eloquent than "Fake it till you make it".

I am following the Millionaire Mommy Next Door's Baby Step #1 and this is a similar theme to Somananda. With the first baby step, you create a poster of all the things you want your life to be, and change it as you achieve those goals and move on to bigger/new/different ones. Right now we have goals and motivational quotes all over our bedroom. I am looking forward to creating a poster board, if not tonight than this weekend with Paul.

Now, I am off to organize the shoe collection (glup) and the assorted paperwork that I have effectively squirrled away. I don't know about you, but in the past, I was very adept at burrowing paperwork away. I am excited to be changing this habit.

As a side note, my weekly paycheck are now being deposited to Wachovia. I am keeping a log of exactly what money gets deposited and what gets withdrawn, and why. The one aspect I miss about ING is the ability to transfer money between a million different accounts with their own name. I will be keeping money in my Wachovia "savings" account for now that will be for longer term goals. I will be looking for new places to store that money while it builds to all of the goals. At this point, I think I will keep track of what money is in that account and why on Google Docs.

Onward to shoes! (I will post pictures.)

Looking Up

As I mentioned in previous posts, Paul and I are working with Rich Dad Coaching -- which has been helpful. This past week's assignment has been learning about different financing methods for mortgages. Each week is surprising in this course, as it is better than the last.

At this point, we feel like we have a good grasp on these concepts, and there is another homework assignment coming in 2 weeks which will also focus on this. I am excited to tackle that, and our phone call with our coach tomorrow evening.

I have been reading Suze Orman's "The Courage to be Rich", which thus far, has been great. One of the items she keeps mentioning in this book (and others) is the idea of being financially organized. This is something that I am working on becoming much better at.

The part of the book that I stopped on today was when she talked about having order in your life, and eliminating clutter. Once I read that, I put down the book and started working on cleaning up all of the clutter that has built up over time.

The shoe collection is still in tact, but that will be addressed tomorrow. For today, I weeded through boxes that I had from college, filled with pictures and old papers. I tossed what needed to go, and (finally) put the pictures in albums, which felt great. I cleaned out all underneath the bed, which also felt wonderful. Paul's mom, Nora, is really into fung shei and she always talks about the importance of not storing anything under the bed. Great theory, harder in practice. For the time being, there are things under the bed, but they are very neat. I have never figured out where slippers fit into this theory :)

So -- more progress. I am down to 3 credit cards -- which feels GREAT. I am so excited to get all of that Bad Debt eliminated. My savings continues to rise and I am more and more excited about the future.

Next Step

The whole engaged situation has been a lot of fun. I am really enjoying celebrating with everyone and telling and retelling the story.

I am looking forward to continuing to savor these months (years!) as a fiancee -- now I am refocusing on the real estate pursuit.

We are moving to New Haven, CT this summer. My goal is to close on a multi-family property by 7/1/08 in New Haven. Specifically, I am interested in an owner-financed, 3 unit building on the "good" side of the tracks. We want to rent to students in the area for the time being.

There are a few areas that I will be looking at more closely in the upcoming days. Paul has been at home relaxing, now that he is off from work until law school. After he enjoys that time to his fill, I am looking forward to analyzing the properties together that he and I find separately, while I am at work.

In terms of achieving goals, I will be taking classes at FIT this summer, before we move, on shoes. This is completely a side-venture, but I would love to design shoes.

I will be working on monetizing this blog, as per Clifford's suggestion, and starting more websites that are income producing.

Finally, after brain-storming for a while, I have decided that the next job that I take will correlate with my life goals...so.... *drum roll* I will be looking for a job as a projects manager. I would prefer to work with a small rehab company in the area, but will also consider jobs with larger construction firms.

After working with contractors at my current job, and reading about other's doing full scale work with them, I have decided that it would make the most sense with my goals to become better at herding cats :)

Engaged!

Paul proposed last night -- it was lovely, lovely, lovely.

He took me to the place of our first unofficial date, which is a gorgeous place that overlooks NYC and proposed.

We then went out for dinner at Tavern on the Green, following with a carriage ride through Central Park.

When I woke up this morning, he had 3 beautiful bouquets of flowers waiting for me.

We will be going away to a bed and breakfast in upstate New York next weekend to celebrate (I had really, really wanted a quiet weekend this weekend after all the traveling we have been doing).

I am so very, very lucky!

The ring is gorgeous, but much more importantly, Paul is amazing. I feel so lucky to have found such a wonderful, thoughtful, love.

I am so excited to build a life together.

Creating Wealth

Yesterday's post about ING made me want to buy shoes. I pride myself on not been into material things (too much!) but shoes are another story. Each time I wander into my closet to throw a pair out, I start to admire how beautiful they are.

That being said, most of my shoes are purchased at Payless.

When I had that feeling creep up on me yesterday as I left work, I thought about the recent advice I heard on the radio on a long drive. It was on a great radio station that we do not get in the NYC area and in addition to 50's-6o's and 70's music, they also dispensed advice on how to be happier.

Suggestion #1: People who exercise outside are 70% more happier after doing so. People exercising inside are 40% happier after.
Suggestion #2: Eat spinach.
Suggestion #3: Think of a funny movie, a funny experience, or funny people. Doing so will make you happier.

After reflecting on this, instead of shoe shopping, I drove home and then enjoyed the beautiful weather outside with a walk to the library. I am very friendly with most of the library staff, and seeing them really brightened up my day. I picked up books that were waiting for me and Paul, and then checked out the financial section as promised in yesterday's blog post.

While I am still not 100% sure about balancing a checkbook, I am armed with the books to learn how to.

I was reading the Millionaire Mommy Next Door today, and she has a great post of overcoming difficult circumstances to live the life she loves so much. It was inspiring to read that as things come up and ING shuts my bank account down, that lessons will be learned, move on from, and new doors will open.

I just signed up for a BoA account for which I get $75 for opening up the account; I found this deal on My Money Blog which is a great website.

So what have I done today to change my life? I opened the BoA account and am looking forward to playing Cashflow with Paul tonight. I will also be reading some of the books that were picked up from the library, which should be great. First on my list, Suze Orman, "The Courage to be Rich".

Oh no! Not another learning experience!

That was my favorite mentor's bumper sticker in college. It was boldly displayed as the first thing you would see when you walked into his office. Many times after making mistakes, I would walk into his office and grimace.

So...ING Direct. I have been a very loyal customer for years now, and am sad to say goodbye. Today they closed my bank accounts, and will be transferring all the money back to Wachovia. It seems with all of this Bad Debt paying off, I have still not learned how to balance a checkbook.

This is something that will change today. I have never learned, but I know that I will.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had multiple accounts with ING with saving accounts for each item (car payment, car insurance, cell phone bill). Apparently, you are not supposed to do this. Oops. So anyway, with that being my first "offense" I then had some mishaps with the funds in each account.

For example, on Friday I made the last payment on my Chase credit card (which felt great!). I then went up to New Haven and bought some spiffy Yale clothing with my ING card. The money was crossed, I did not deposit enough to cover all of this (although it did exist in the individual accounts that were ear-marked for such things) and alas, no more ING.

I considered going crazy on them, after all, they said they wrote me unrequited letters (which I did not receive) and they told me that they sent one again, just yesterday!

The whole process has given me a bit of a headache. There are always growing pains, and if I am to be as financially intelligent and have the knowledge to be financially independent, this is something that I will master.

It sounds so silly, but at 24, I have no idea how to do this. I am looking forward to browsing my library along with the internet tonight.

I am searching for better ways to organize and keep track of this (I love mint.com). In addition, I will be looking for a new on-line bank. I appreciate this very much, as a lesson to learn now, as opposed to 5 years from now and messing around with more substantial figures.

"work" vs. Work

I was reading Clifford's blog when I remembered one of his earlier posts about working at his 9-5 and multi-tasking with real estate deals.

I graduated from Rutgers in 2005, and worked in politics for 2 grueling years. I took 4 months off and figured out what I wanted to do. I had read Rich Dad, Poor Dad but had been too busy with politics and trying to survive to think about it too much.

During those 4 months off, I read Rich Woman, by Kim Kiyosaki which re-motivated me to make my life happen on terms I was happy with. On a whim, I looked at the management section of Craig's List and was lucky enough to find a great job with a management company, managing condo buildings.

This has been a great situation since March of 2007. I work with plumbers, electricians, engineers, supers -- everyone involved in keeping a building running and standing. I wanted to do this so I could get a crash course in "what does a good roof look like; 101" or "how you know a boiler is fried; 202". I have been very lucky.

So often people can get caught up in running so fast, but running no where. I see this all the time with friends and family, who are so worried about keeping up that they keep running in circles and accomplishing for others, but not building long term wealth.

My sister, Emily, just started working as an accountant part time, and a real estate agent part time. She is loving the flexibility to do with her time what she sees as more important than being a desk monkey (spending time with her adorable son, yoga, personal real estate deals).

It seems that the objective "What do you want to do when you grow up" consumes so many, that they forget about the "What would you like to accomplish in your life" question.

When I think about the next step in my life, I do not know exactly what I will be doing, but I do know what I will accomplish.

Starting companies
Buying investment real estate
Financial independence by 30 (2013)
Having kiddies and kitties (more long term -- in my 30's)
Philanthropic work

The big question now is, do I get another job when we move for Paul to go to law school, or do I go in a different direction? This will be a question that I will continue to come back to over the next few months as it is figured out.

Just Over Broke

With law school on the horizon for Paul, the question becomes, what will I do when we move? I have been working in property management for over a year now, after leaving politics.

My strongest inclination is to not get another job. However, I have no idea what I would do for cashflow in the new town. It looks like we will be moving to New Haven, CT.

I have thought about writing, event planning, real estate, working with a property development company.

At this point, I know that I am looking at the forest and am having trouble seeing the trees. This huge move is a little overwhelming and I am a little intimidated, though I long for the change.

Paul and I have talked about buying a 3 family by the school to rent out to other students. This is something I would love to do.

At this point, I am very open to suggestions. Let me know!

Delicious Celebration!

After 4 months of working at it, this morning the remaining $542 was paid off of my Chase credit card. I have been aggressively paying it off since January 8th, when the starting balance was $3661.54. The only way I can describe meeting these goals is delicious. A moment to revel. Now that's done, I have 3 credit cards left (all at 0%) to pay off. The next one to pay off is an easy-breezy GM card which has a balance of $405.50. That will be paid off May 2nd.


Next? I mentioned yesterday that I would write about saving for my Roth, but not contributing for 2007. As of April 11, 2008 I had the 4K limit saved up. However, when Paul was working on law school finances, he spoke with a real estate investor/financial adviser on planning for law school. He brought up the idea that the 4K we could put away now in a Roth would be more beneficial put into real estate. I thought about this long and hard, and while I do not think it is the right decision every time, it seems to be the right one for us, this time around.

Yesterday was the spouse dinner for those who with the accepted students. I went and there was 1 couple who bought a condo -- everyone else rented. We are set on buying (great time, great area to invest in terms of always having renters with high rents) but need to dig more to see if it would be a condo we would buy or a multi-fam.

The other issue is proximity to the school. The closer we are to the school, the better the rents, but also the higher the sticker price.

Paul and I have been working with Rich Dad Coaching. We have a coach named Barbara who is very sweet and very knowledgeable. Paul and I always talk about how the information receiving from the coaching is good, but it is being held accountable each week in your 30 minute phone call with your coach that keeps us motivated and moving forward.

We spoke with Barbara yesterday, but had not completed our assignments, due to a death in the family. She was very understanding but I think that understanding inspired us more to get our stuff together and do this. Paul is leaving his job to have some time off before law school on April 25th. Luckily, my job is both close to home and flexible, so I am looking forward to spending more and more time on this project.

Happy Weekend!

Planning the Future

Last night was a date with myself. My live-in boyfriend, Paul, was away visiting a law school so I decided to take that time and do things that I normally would not do.

I went to Marshall's and spent $64.14 on things I didn't really need (teapot! hat to protect me from the sun! sunglasses!). I then went to Home Depot where I picked up some potting soil and seeds for basil, thyme, and parsley. A bit more reasonable at just over $10.00. I really considered getting some Indian for dinner, but decided instead to have a quiet night with the cat (Pixie) and have some cheese, crackers, meats and wine.

The whole shopping expedition made me realize one fund that I do not have. I have been so focused on my "Bad Debt Free" account, my "Senator Roth" account for my Roth IRA (which I chose not to fund even though I saved the $4000 limit -- tomorrow's post on this), or the "Dominican Republic Wedding" fund (a lovely wedding in February for a family member that I needed to save $1200 for). I never established a "Friday Night Date" fund, or "Because I want to go shopping" fund.

At this point, I have my weekly paycheck being automatically deposited into my ING. From there, I have 13 "sub" accounts that money is withdrawn from my primary account each week. So by the end of the month, I have the money for my car payment, car insurance, student loans, gas money, cell phone bill and on and on and on.

This means, when it is all said and done, that I have $6.59 in my bank account to use each week. I realize that this is not sustainable forever, as right now I am living rent free and I rarely shop for groceries.

At this point, it looks like the money I have coming in each week is allotted for each of its slots. There isn't play money for dates or shopping. This is something that, once the Bad Debt is eliminated, I will have an account for.

So my Bad Debt will be gone by 7/4 and there is a chance that we will be moving this summer. By May 1st I will know if we are moving (for law school) or if Paul will go to a school that is more local. If we move, my last day of work would be 7/11. I will have a comfortable savings account of about 9K that I have been saving while paying off debt to get resettled with (and buy either a multi-family or condo, depending on where we end up).

New Goal: Keep my hands away from my mouth. I recently overcame biting my nails, now I have just been playing with my braces all the time. Not only is this unattractive, but it makes my nails more brittle. I will keep you updated on that ;) As a reference point, Paul's aunt (Madrina) is a psychologist. I asked her about this habit, and basically it comes down to being insecure and self destructive. I want positive habits, so this is one I will change.

Until tomorrow...

Journey of a Thousand Steps

I was so scared when I finally sat down to look at all of my credit card debt. I knew I had a lot, and honestly, I had a good idea that it was bad. I had started supporting myself at 16 and moved on to college knowing that I would put myself through. Once in college though, I met a bad influence who started bemoaning all their credit card debt, and as silly as it seems now, it looked to glamorous. To have "real" problems -- to have moved on from the little woes of college, onto the adult thoughts of debt and minimum payments. And so, I started to dig myself into debt.

Out to dinner with friends? No worries, guys -- I'll get it, plus an extra generous tip. New bikini? Of course! With a bag, sunglasses and a towel to match. Nothing was too much, and I didn't quite get the memo that I was living dangerously beyond my means. I remember one night, when I was rushing to an ATM, so I could withdraw cash on a credit card, to deposit in my bank account to pay a credit card that I thought maybe this was not the only way.

My sister gave me a copy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad when I graduated college in May of 2005. I gobbled it up, but it wasn't enough -- I wasn't ready. First I went through 2 difficult years working in politics and earning next to nothing. At that point, I wasn't thinking of gorgeous dinners, only about how to pay for basic groceries and my gas bill.

Then finally, a break through. It was the summer of 2007 and I decided I didn't want to continue on this path of self destruction. I'm not sure what it was that pushed me over, but I had decided that I was done.

I sat down with my lovely boyfriend and weeded through all the credit cards. I devised a plan to put the entire balance on 0% credit cards (lucky me, my credit was still good enough to do this) and pay them off, in order of when the 0% promotion would run out. I was putting more than half of my salary to accomplish this, but I was also beginning to sleep better. This process started in July of 2007. I will have everything paid off, along with comfy savings, as of July 4, 2008 -- my own Independence Day. Promise, I did not plan for the 7/4 date, it just has worked out that way with the aggressive pay-down approach I have taken.

The 1st credit card was easy -- I paid off $2,500 and felt proud. The next one, my Discover card, had $1,600 but I was getting my holiday bonus which made that one easy too. When I looked at my Chase card, the one with the largest balance, my reserve quaked. I had started off at $4,200 and just by paying the minimums each month while aggressively attacking the credit card whose 0% was going to run out next, I had reduced it to $3,600.

Still, I was terrified. It was at this point that I really thought I could not do it, could not pay it down and might as well go back to my old ways. But I hung tough and decided to just make the payments that I had planned for myself and would see how it went. That was a few months ago, and on Friday, April 18th, I will have paid off the Chase card. I have 3 more cards to go.

There have been slip-ups too. Days that I will wander into Target and buy things I don't need; but those days have decreased rapidly. And I get a kick out of being able to go into a store, look, and not buy one thing. The days when I run over my budget, I write down how much I owe myself, and I take it out of extra bonuses or other unexpected money. Currently, I owe myself $12.15.

I am working to put together my future, and it feels so good. My sweet boyfriend will be starting law school in the fall, and we are planning on buying our first piece of real estate so we can live close to the law school. My mom would always say, if you fail to plan you plan to fail. Growing up, that saying drove me crazy. But with a few more years under my belt and a bit more experience, I now believe that the only way you will succeed with anything is by planning goals. And the only way to accomplish your planned goals, is by taking the first step.

I have let the faith in myself guide me, it has been scary and hard at times, but it is well, well worth the reward.