Life of an Investor

9 January 2009

New Ventures and Personal Goals

Wow, it has been over a month since my last post. Impressive, isn’t it? Just so you have a good understanding of what this means, I’ve included a chart.

Post Days

I wonder what percentage of blogs have charts that look like this? I’d venture a guess of around 95%. I know that it’s true for every blog that I’ve ever started. The main reason that it looks like this for me is not because I have lost interest, but because I have focused on the next big thing, well maybe. I mentioned in my previous post an idea that I had for a new site that would keep me accountable to posting multiple times weekly. I spent some time setting the site up, and I’m not done, but I’m getting there. I just need to finish up the last few things and then pull the trigger and “launch”. I was just going to give you a link to preview the site, but I only want you to visit the site if you’re truly interested so I’ll give you a little riddle. The website address is xxDollarsAWeek.com, where xx represents a number. The binary representation of this number is 110001. Check the site out if you want and hopefully I can make an announcement about it’s launching in a few weeks. (Hint: If you don’t know binary or don’t know how to use Google to find this info, then I will let you know that the advanced mode of the windows calculator can also convert from binary to decimal).

Now on to the personal divulgence. So, we do have the fourplex now and we have rehabbed some of each unit and are essentially done with two of them fully. Until we get some interest in the units, we are going to hold off on finishing the rest so that we don’t waste any more time/money until we have some potential income to waste. A couple weeks before Christmas is probably not the best time to start marketing apartments for rent, but our hope is that this month, we will start to see some interest.

On an even more personal note, I have made it a goal to pay off all of our non-mortgage debt (then start on the mortgage as well, maybe next year). I plan to actually follow the Seven Baby Steps from Dave Ramsey, even though I’m too lazy to actually go through one of the classes. I’ve been offered the opportunity at both church and work, but I’m not willing to invest the time. Hopefully I have enough of a financial education and enough self-motivation to see myself through the steps. Step 1 is to put $1,000 in an emergency fund. I had more than that in a savings account already, so this is done. Step 2 is to pay off all debt except the house. This month, I cleared out my savings (except the emergency fund) and paid off all other debt. This included two different store charge cards and my general use credit card. It’s also worth mentioning that although some of that debt was a zero percent interest, I feel that it was worthwhile to get the emotional boost from eliminating two extra monthly payments. All that’s left is 12 months of a car payment that I hope to pay off in about half of the time. Then I will begin the next step of saving three to six months of living expenses. This one will be tough. Thankfully, I’ve also almost completed step 4 (invest 15% of income into IRA or 401k) thanks to my company’s generous matching and I have already completed step 5 (saving for college funding).
If you want to see a success story of how putting some of these principles into place can change your life, then read this story from MoneySavingMom. Have you ever considered the possibility of paying 100% cash for your next home? Now that’s impressive.

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If you like, or can at least stand to read what I write, make sure you add my RSS Feed to your list so you don’t miss a single post. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this.

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If you like, or can at least stand to read what I write,
make sure you add my RSS Feed to your list so you don't miss a single post.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read this.
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5 Comments currently posted.

Chris Sumpter says:

Hmm, for some reason, I can’t get to your new site. I’m quite certain I have the address right, but it keeps saying “Address not valid.”

Chris Sumpter says:

Never mind. I got there okay now.

Devin Rose says:

1. I like your goals- very noble, biblical, and I hope you get there: partially to give me hope of attaining mine as well.
2. My friend is a little “off”- which is why the video made me laugh… actually, he kind of reminds me of you

MJ says:

Linked over from your comments with Guzzo. I like the idea of your new website, publicity wise it may be grand. Personal finance may be risky, but it is exciting.