Originally posted by @Thomas S.:
I have read through all the posts in this thread and have come to the conclusion that most have given advice on the path you need to take to turn your life around and in most cases you have given reasons and excuses as to why you do not want to change. The path you prefer is not open to you and will not be open to you until you change your life first. Real estate may be at the end of that road but definatly is not in any way a option at this point in your life.
Change jobs to increase your income, take on a second or third job if necessary, fix your credit, live conservatively, stop putting your efforts into helping strays (people) and accept the reality that your present life situation is completely self imposed.
Harsh maybe but the reality is you want to change your life but deep down you lack the true motivation to do what is necessary. You have freely chosen to be where you are.
Living pay check to pay check without savings is self imposed and by your own choice as indicated by your reluctance to do all that is necessary to improve your life aside from reading about a pipe dream of investing in real estate.
Fix what is broken in your life, adjust your attitude and maybe some day you will have the luxury of being able to invest.
I would just like to clear the air here, Thomas, and for anyone else here who has read into my comments that I don't want to change. Maybe I don't make myself clear enough, maybe my writing is not the best. I have mentioned several times that I'm willing to make the changes necessary to get out of debt and fix my credit so that I can eventually put myself on to the path of REI. I have no illusions of becoming a RE mogul. All I want is to get myself set up eventually with a nice little stream of passive income from rental properties, so that I don't have to be worried about my finances when it comes time to retire.
I have already mentioned that I'm willing to give up Starbucks, which is a $100 a month habit, and to give up cable TV, which will save me another $80 a month. I can also cut back on other little things here and there, although there isn't much more that I spend my money on. I don't go out to eat, I go to the movies maybe once or twice a month, and that is at the $2 theater, and I don't buy anything to eat when I go. My job allows me to eat most of my meals at home, and if my schedule happens to change where I'm not able to get home for my brunch (I don't eat breakfast, but rather brunch), then there was always QT where I can get a breakfast bowl for $2.99 plus tax. I have a car that I have to pay insurance on, but I don't have a car payment. I have to pay for health insurance, my cell phone bill, food and household expenses, lot rent and utilities, student loan payments and IRS debt payments.
As far as finding a better-paying job is concerned, I could do that at the expense of my sanity. Right now I'm thinking seriously to get my Arizona realtors license, but first I need to save up enough money to take the classes. That might take me a few months, but I know I can do it. I'm pretty sure selling real estate is something I'd be happy doing. I have a friend in Massachusetts who has been a broker and realtor for years, and she's quite successful at it. She keeps trying to encourage me to get my license and get into it myself, and I keep thinking that that is probably what I'll be doing.
As far as selling my place is concerned, I keep coming back to thinking about that, but I'm still on the fence about it. I hate the thought of giving it up, because I like it, and it's in a nice neighborhood. I'm not worried about displacing my tenant, because I'm sure he could find someone else to live with.
I've been financially irresponsible all my life, and I'm finally trying to do something about it. As a matter of fact, I've learned to be a lot more frugal than I ever was in the last couple of years since I moved here to Arizona. You see, I had to sell my parents home, the home that I grew up in and had dreams of staying and for the rest of my life. It was in major disrepair, and I was behind by about $10,000 on the taxes. My father died in 2013, a day after I lost a job that I loved and that payed decent, that I had had for 11 years. I went into a deep depression. I took a cab driving jobs that I enjoyed, but it wasn't enough to pay the bills. I rented out rooms in my house, and I could tell you some horror stories there.
Anyhow, it came down to me having to sell the house, because I just couldn't cut it anymore. I decided I would move back to Arizona, where I lived back in the early 2000s for a few years, and where I had a couple of friends. I ended up having to sell the house way under market value because of all the repairs it needed. After splitting the profits for ways with my siblings, as per my father's request in his will, I had just enough to buy the place I'm living in now and for my moving expenses. I had a lifetime of accumulated things from my late parents to go through in the moving process, and if it wasn't for the help of my realtor and many friends and relatives, I just would not have been able to do it. It was an emotional and stressful time in my life, but it's over now, and I've been needing to move on.
I'm very motivated to make the changes needed in my life to get out of debt and fix my credit so that I can eventually get into REI. As I mentioned before, I'm not interested in becoming a RE mogul, but I would like to get some rentals to get that passive income eventually.
When I become this motivated about something, are usually dive right In and learn as much as I can. A little over a year ago I was diagnosed with diabetes, and I was determined to take control of it and turn it around. I did not want to become one of those people who died of diabetic complications, and I did not want to be on diabetes medication for the rest of my life. I took it upon myself to learn everything I could about reversing it. I took control of my eating habits, a lifetime of abuse to my body, major changes. I'm happy to say that in less than a year I have totally reversed this disease. Not that it's been cured, because there's no cure, and I will have to continue to eat the way I do now for the rest of my life, but I'm determined to keep it in remission. I figure if I can do this, then I can do anything I put my mind to.
