Greetings to Jen, who's been checking out my blog....click on the post title to see the guitar (I didn't know how the link worked...first time and all)
Still kinda sick, but I went to work today (half day). To answer the question, I got a free guitar from Fender for selling so much Fender stuff over the Christmas sales season. It's a pretty nice guitar (not terribly expensive, but no cheapie either), and I'm going to re-learn how to play guitar now.
I'm also messing around with Japanese. Did you know they have three distinct alphabets? Crazy. But I'm starting to recognize characters in Japanese writing, and learning a few words too. All thanks to Shareaza (you can find ANYTHING on there).
Thinking about contacting my real estate agent this week...There's a couple of inexpensive houses D and I are considering....we might be able to get them with little down, and they would produce great income (nearly as much as I make at my job right now). They would put us on the fast track. Then we could get a house of our own in the summer....
But money's been tight the last few months, and we're just getting to the point now (recovering from buying the first two houses) where we'll have some extra cash to put aside. Just wondering about our 'comfort zone' and whether we should push ourselves as much as possible as quickly as possible. So far we've been safe, but these two properties (we'd only buy them as a pair, from the same seller) would put us outside of our safety zone (more mortgage than we could handle by ourselves, if we received NO rent whatsoever), but they're solid investments that would give us enough cash flow to get something good this summer, plus a property of our own....
So D and I will discuss it this weekend (she's loaded with work, and no prep time at all!) and I'll come up with a solution to the smoking tenant problem. If done right, these next two houses could really be the properties to push us forward over the edge and into financial freedom in only a couple more years....
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label economics. Show all posts
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Introductory Post
Here it is.
Since I just sent out a mass email to most people on my list, I'll briefly update my situation.
Living back in North Bay, working at the music store (D is teaching at Widdifield), trying to figure out how to really do what we want to do (or as the books all say: "retire rich, retire early"). So I'm busy taking care of a couple of houses (3 apartments, plus where we're living). Part of this blog's purpose is to let people know what the plans are, to help light a fire under my ass, and keep me moving; part is to keep those people I don't regularly communicate with informed about what I'm doing (and maybe help me increase my correspondence with my friends); part is to document my progress towards my goals (I've never been much of an effective goal setter).
So, working, landlording (yes, it is now a verb!), trying to find some sort of balance in my life (with all my so-called education, I'm still seriously lacking in the sort of knowledge that brings actual happiness) although things are outstanding between D and I (nothing but blind luck there!) so at least something is working for me.
Two important goals for me are to gain control over my weight and my bipolar states. I need to find some middle ground instead of constantly swinging between mania and depression, without the aid of medication or psychiatric intervention. Also, D and I are looking for a way to earn a living without selling our lives (beginning with apartments and ending with total passive income, but what's in between). Oh, and if you don't know what I mean about passive income, you need to email me!!
Again, with my so-called education, I never actually learned how to take care of myself, either emotionally, or financially. Well, the last year has been eye-opening, in terms of gaining some competence concerning financial matters. Current projections put us at retirement (from having to work) at 5 years, and millionaire status in about 10 (not that really matters--it's just a number), but I'm stating here and now, for the record, that these are our timelines, and they're entirely realistic.
Emotionally, I've been working for a long time, and Buddhism (as some of you know) has been my method of investigation. I'm continuing down that path (one that had become somewhat of a blur to me over the last few years) but with a more modern tilt to it. Living authentically and holistically is my main goal, hence the new focus on financial issues, which was until recently, the most neglected element of my life.
NEways, I hope this brief introduction helped give perspective to things, and I hope to hear from many of you whom I haven't had much contact with in awhile. Send me the links to your blog, and I'll post them here. Hope everyone's doing well in the new year, and here's to a fantastic and productive 2006!
~James~
Since I just sent out a mass email to most people on my list, I'll briefly update my situation.
Living back in North Bay, working at the music store (D is teaching at Widdifield), trying to figure out how to really do what we want to do (or as the books all say: "retire rich, retire early"). So I'm busy taking care of a couple of houses (3 apartments, plus where we're living). Part of this blog's purpose is to let people know what the plans are, to help light a fire under my ass, and keep me moving; part is to keep those people I don't regularly communicate with informed about what I'm doing (and maybe help me increase my correspondence with my friends); part is to document my progress towards my goals (I've never been much of an effective goal setter).
So, working, landlording (yes, it is now a verb!), trying to find some sort of balance in my life (with all my so-called education, I'm still seriously lacking in the sort of knowledge that brings actual happiness) although things are outstanding between D and I (nothing but blind luck there!) so at least something is working for me.
Two important goals for me are to gain control over my weight and my bipolar states. I need to find some middle ground instead of constantly swinging between mania and depression, without the aid of medication or psychiatric intervention. Also, D and I are looking for a way to earn a living without selling our lives (beginning with apartments and ending with total passive income, but what's in between). Oh, and if you don't know what I mean about passive income, you need to email me!!
Again, with my so-called education, I never actually learned how to take care of myself, either emotionally, or financially. Well, the last year has been eye-opening, in terms of gaining some competence concerning financial matters. Current projections put us at retirement (from having to work) at 5 years, and millionaire status in about 10 (not that really matters--it's just a number), but I'm stating here and now, for the record, that these are our timelines, and they're entirely realistic.
Emotionally, I've been working for a long time, and Buddhism (as some of you know) has been my method of investigation. I'm continuing down that path (one that had become somewhat of a blur to me over the last few years) but with a more modern tilt to it. Living authentically and holistically is my main goal, hence the new focus on financial issues, which was until recently, the most neglected element of my life.
NEways, I hope this brief introduction helped give perspective to things, and I hope to hear from many of you whom I haven't had much contact with in awhile. Send me the links to your blog, and I'll post them here. Hope everyone's doing well in the new year, and here's to a fantastic and productive 2006!
~James~
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