New Year’s 2017 Resolution: Establish a Second Source of Income
For as long as I can remember, I have always made a New Years Resolution. I have committed to this ritual longer than I’ve committed to celebrating my own birthday. From early in my life until last year, my resolutions typically revolved around some sort of personal vanity – usually setting out to lose weight (some years being more successful than others). However, this year will be focused on something that will help my overall posture in life… and still help with my hit-or-miss weight loss goals.
Option A: Purchase a Multi-Unit Home
This option requires money up front in form of a down payment, and the return will not be immediate. I am currently ramping up for a career change, so I would implement this plan in tandem with the new career. Wherever my career takes me (God willing overseas -fingers crossed-) is where I will look into purchasing real estate.
Best case scenario: I will find a 4 unit home (or the maximum allowable by the state for home to still be considered residential), live in one of the units, and find steady tenants.
Although other scenarios may not be as ideal, I intend on ensuring that I can afford the worst case scenario – no tenants at all!
Option B: Start a Side Business
I have successfully had a hand in developing a few businesses and have tried to dabble with starting my own business a few times, but never gave my ideas the time they deserved. I am still not in a position where I can commit myself full time to an idea, mainly because I need a steady source of income at the moment, but I can start making the motions towards it.
I recently discovered that there are some companies that let you (they want you to..) sell products for them without requiring you to purchase an inventory. Basically, you can sell the product, tell them where to ship it to, then pay your cost to the company within 30 days. Yes, there are caveats to this (each company has their own specific rules), but that’s not something that should deter a legitimate seller.
The way I see if, even if I only make $100/month as profit – that’s $1,200 after 12 months. This $1,200 can help pay for student loan/credit card debt, a small investment, a quick vacation, material item(s), or it can be saved for something else. The beauty of these extra funds is that it would be up to me. This money will be applied toward debt, if it still exists by then, or for a plane ticket overseas. We’ll see at the end of the year.
I guess what I should really say that my New Year’s Resolution is to find my freedom. I hope everyone works towards their freedom as I am now.
Happy New Year!
In case you’re curious…
I am 32 years old and only now getting serious about my life’s position. I may have made the mistake of squandering my 20s away and refuse to repeat the same mistakes in my 30s. So, I am now focusing my attention on my finances.
My parents raised me to save my money for the big things in life, but for some reason the habits never stuck. I love to shop. I love to go out to restaurants. And, I love to drink (or, used to). All of this costs money. I was foolish and spent both money that was mine and money I didn’t have. I wound up in a ton of debt (close to $20k in credit card at one point), and can talk about it in a way that would somehow showcase me as a victim as opposed to an out of control spender. Okay, so what? I still had the debt on my shoulder.
Without having the emotional or financial support of anyone I trusted (at one point, I can say I didn’t trust anyone), I fell into a slum. My debt continued to grow, I continued to suffer in many ways (from gaining weight to developing anxiety – a little back story: I used to be an NCAA soccer player who was the life of the party). I didn’t sit in this ‘undiagnosed depression’ for a few months, instead it lasted for many years, and the problems continually escalated out of control.
The cliches are true – hard times will show you who your real friends are. I am one of the unlucky ones who truly felt alone. I have been told by some that I can rely on them, and so I’ve made the call, but it hadn’t been met with the support I was looking for. Instead, I had my best friends encourage me to continue spending, drinking, shopping, etc. My childhood fear came to life. No family (long story, but they’re all alive), no friends, no lover, no pets… truly nothing. Then something happened – I can’t say it was divine, but I can say that I hit a figurative wall. One where I genuinely had enough of ‘it’, whatever it was. I saw the light. Just get out of debt. My debt had caused me to not be able to enjoy my life in any way, but it also showed me what life is really about.
I guess this type of moment happens to all of us, some sooner/later than others. And, the aftermath of the clarity is just so rewarding.
I’m not here to sell a product or system. I only want to share with anyone reading that it is possible to make a change. We are all taught to focus on our own happiness and that money can’t bring happiness, but money has made me see that a lot of grief is associated with both having and not having it. I grew up in an affluent family who could have very easily helped me through a tough time without it impacting the family’s too negatively, but opted not to. This is something that was detrimental for roughly a decade for me. The reason for this decision was not based on teaching me a lesson, but more founded on the idea that it did not belong to me – it was my father’s money and he wanted to spend it the way he saw fit. That day, I learned a valuable lesson on what family means.
Thank you for reading.
iamelmhurst.wordpress.com 