Yeah! I am finally done with my downpayment. It was super hard to let go of that money. It was hard to let it go because I am in economic/income limbo right now. I need to bring in some money. Pronto! But perhaps the pressure will help me.
updated goals:
1. keep $1425 in an emergency fund
2. save $2500 for a home down payment
3. pay off $16000 house (plus interest)
4. pay off student loans (?50000) AND invest ($100,000)
Last Stage – Permanent Wealth
5. invest $1 million.
for $16,000 (plus interest) I can have 25% ownership of a duplex house. – actually tenants in common. My girlfriend will be selling me half of her half.
Currently I pay half of her mortgage in a deposit account and then she later transfers it to her mortgage. Meanwhile she continues to pay her mortgage. This of course means that she gains a larger amount of equity if I continue to rent. And if I am a co-owner she won’t be getting the money. ($2100)
The next thing I want to do is to own a home. Someplace where I could feel secure. Grow fruit trees, paint and garden. reduce my expenses for housing. Add solar panels and/or wind turbines so my utilities will also go down. Feel Peace and security. My rent is my largest expense. When that is done I will have a very nice existance. The next thing on my list will be investments. Either a flip or rental house or mutual funds. most likely realestate first and then mutual funds. Then I will be about done and ready to have children.
I also have an outragiously huge student loan debt to pay. I think I should pay that off in one lump sum right around the time I invest, which is next after I own a home.This home does have some special issues 1 someone else lives in the duplex. there is a shared roof, foundation, wall and water system. Me and my girlfriend/ future wife would need to agree on decoration and such. So far I think we do ok. when we are ready to have our family we will rent out this place. i think after it is all put together it could rent for about $500 a month pretty easily. maybe even $600- $625. anyhow. I think a house, even if only tenants in common is fine.
oh yeah, one last thing, the roof will need replacing and I will have to add that to the price.
This month I restocked my primary emergency fund. I used to think that 200 was plenty but then I had to use the emergency fund and I went through it so quickly that I decided to build it up further. So I built it up to $425. This is my the high side of my monthly budget (low is $295).
The security of my house was threatened and I had to buy some security stuff. I am glad that I had some money in my emergency fund but i went through it so quickly that I realized that I actually need a more substantial fund. I think 200 plus my required rent and phone (175 + 5o) 225 for a total of 425 would be more appropriate. This month I will bring in 1000 I would like to 1) rebuild my primary emergency fund and build up to 425 – 275 more leaving 725 2) pay the bills leaving 300. 3) split this 300 into gardening supplies, car, and business suits.
Finally I have sent 1000 to my money market emergency fund. Took me way longer than I initially thought. I’ve made less money then I thought I would. But with my complete safety net in place I have $1250 in case s**t happens. Makes me feel good. But, it took me SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO long to complete this that I really don’t want to use it.
I still need to create my business safety net.
I barely scrapped together 10 dollars to save this month. It felt good putting the money in though. Makes me feel like I am still fighting the good fight.
My boss is going on a vacation for the next week or so. He was on vacation for the first 1/2 of this month. So I barely worked any. On top of that he wanted to do these unrealistic, very minor, “estimates” for the time I have scheduled for work while he is away. So by the end of the month he owes me at least $100, probably $200. Which, he would like to pay at the end of Feb. now. Some times he is just so damn stingy. Always trying to get me to “donate” my time. So, I might not even be able to save $50 this month. Which really sucks! Next month i can “catch up” on my savings but I’ll still miss that little bit of interest from the market. oh well. I also am having slow art and even cd sales, so I am about $75 short for my liciense fees. In the end I just might have to take it out of my food budget.
I still have some hope because I can go to the emergency fund if I have to for the liciense.- but I hate to do that because I don’t think it counts completely as an emergency. I also can finish that web site and I am supposed to get a good tip, but I have no idea what that might be.
In the begining of feb. /end of jan I hope to add another $200 to my money market savings so that I will have $1200 total, which is 10% of my downpayment for my starter house.
I may only be able to save $100. but if that is the case then I will catch up by mid jan.
I have saved up $200 for my license by selling things that I own. I need $100 more.
1. Earn Money
2. Keep my basic overhead low
3. After essentials save 1/2 of what I earn. Spend half.
4. Use saved money to invest – initially in a money market till I save 12000. Use this as a down payment on a 60,000 house.
5. Save $100,000 and invest it in businesses with average return of 8% after inflation. Giving me $500 a month FOREVER!!!!
6. Own my home completely. Produce most of my own food and alcohol. Produce most of my own energy. Own my transportation.
