The Financial Realtor - Lifes Playbook

If you struggle with your finances you are not alone! According to CNBC nearly 70% of Americans stress about their personal finances. I used to be one of them. So, I took the time to write this post in hopes of helping people take their first step to a better financial future.

My Vision

The financial realtor is a vision of mine that allows me to speak freely about personal finances and not only real estate.

I am not a financial advisor. “Well if your not a financial advisor why would I take financial advice from you?” You might ask. Let me take a moment to explain what I have achieved financially since beginning my journey back in January of 2020.

My Accomplishments Thus Far

*Since January of 2020

Paid off over $30,000 in debt including vehicles, credit cards, and medical bills.
Opened a high yield savings account with Capital One, and invested $10,000 in emergency funds.
Opened a Roth IRA and Individual Brokerage account through Charles Shwabb, and invested close to $4,000 in a SEPERATE retirement account
Accumulated $40,000+ in my 401K.
Had two kids.
Bought a house
Got my associates degree
Obtained my Realtor license

As of right now the only debt that I have to my name is my house. No credit card debt. No car payments. No student loans. Here’s the catch. I did all of this making $30,000 a year. How? I knew I wasn’t going to make enough money to satisfy my goals at my full time job. I began to think about what else I had to offer to the community. I cut grass, cleaned gutters, did fall and spring clean ups, helped out family members and friends of family with some chores around the house and most of all stayed focused. I obtained my realtor license in early 2022. Having that as a second source of income has help me tremendously in reaching my goals. It is very important to keep looking for ways to increase your income. This economy is ruthless and inflation continues to rise.

Education

To begin my financial journey I didn’t know where to start. I began reading and listening to books about personal finance, real estate, flipping, investing and psychology. I didn’t have a clear goal at the time. I began learning the difference between assets and liabilities. I shifted my mindset from being negative about money and ignoring it. I was ignorant to facts of retiring. I was one of those people that thought “well, I might not make it to 60 so I might as well spend my money now since I worked for it”.

What’s Next?

Now that I have paid off my debt, and secured an emergency fund that I am comfortable with the next step is to start and in some cases continue investing my money into assets.

A big reason for this post and even blog is to hopefully help others reach their financial goals. I know there are a lot of people out there that want to be homeowners and it may feel like it is out of reach for you. But, I am here to tell you that if you buckle down and get serious about your finances you can make that dream become a reality. Cut out all unnecessary spending, don’t eat out so much (this is a huge one), increase your income, and save, save, save.

Situation Based

I understand not everyone’s situation is the same. I started out at Val’s moms house paying a small amount for rent. Her allowing me to pay that small amount helped me focus on paying off debt and of course I am grateful for that. Shout out to Val’s mom lol. Aside from that we moved into our home in 2022. Our family helped us so much with baby showers and gifts for the house and kiddos. This allowed me to continue focusing on my financial goals. I had some help, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Accept help when you can, because some day you will be in a position to return the favor hopefully. This took me a long time to understand and I still struggle with it time to time.

I know people have kids, and day care is expensive. Medical bills, tons of debt, maybe you can only work so many hours because of this or that. So I get it, it’s hard may even seem impossible sometimes. But there will always be an excuse, and if you look hard enough there will always be a reason not to get serious about your finances. You just have to do it. I promise the more you focus the easier it gets over time.

Contact Me

If there’s anything you would like for me to blog about or touch more on please mention it in the comments or send me an email directly. Help me help you reach your goals.

Sincerely, The Financial Realtor

*Full disclosure I am not a financial advisor and I strongly recommend that you reach out for professional advice if you plan on making any significant moves with your money.