The Blueprint

Ever since I've really sat down and starting thinking through what it would take to actually become financially free by 30, I've been dreading to to write out a plan. Just wrapping my mind around what actually needs to be accomplished in these short 5 years scares. the. hell. outta. me. ​

I'm glad I went to church this past Sunday, because the message was just for me: "Good is the enemy of Greatness". Basically don't be content with just 'good'. Not going to lie, I was almost sold on having a good life - I'm a good employee for a good company making a good salary. I go to church a few times a month so I can be a good christian. I have good relationships with friends and family. I make good pork chops... I want to be great. 

Pastor's steps to greatness are Select > Start > See > Seize. I've selected to be financially free by my 30th birthday, so I need to start working towards it. Here it goes...

End of the Year

• Increase monthly income by $200 - I was searching the internet for legitimate ways to make extra cash and found a few different things. Amazon Mechanical Turk is a website run by Amazon where you can do tasks and surveys; such as associating keywords with images, marketing surveys, or transcribing audio. Pay ranges from a few pennies up to $100 a task. Work as brand ambassador. Brand ambassadors are those folks in retail stores/sporting events/concerts giving away samples, demonstrating products or taking surveys. Some of these gigs pay upwards of $20/hr and none really last longer than 6 hours a day. Go to Facebook and search "Brand Ambassadors of" and whatever major metro area is near you. I guarantee you there is a group and they have jobs within driving distance of you. Ride sharing services like Lyft, Uber, and Amazon Flex. If you're really comfortable with sharing your vehicle you can register it with Turo which is car rental platform, where everyday people can rent their cars. 
• Pass (1) ARM exam - ARM-e (Associate in Enterprise Risk Management) is the  premier designation  designation for insurance and risk management professionals after the CPCU. The program consists of 5 courses and after completing my CPCU, I only need to take four. I will spend my hour lunch breaks studying. Earning my ARM-e will allow me to command higher pay or to find a better job within my industry.
• Add an additional $1,000 to emergency savings - To do this I will only eat out once a pay period and automatically contribute $200 to savings from each of my 5 remaining paychecks. This will keep me from using credit card in case of an emergency. (Thanks unk)
• Reduce/Eliminate 3 bills - Closed mouths don't get fed. I'm going to call my various service providers and see if there are any promotions or credits I'm eligible for.

Year One: 2017

• Pay off Credit Card - To do this I will commit 80% of both my performance bonus and income tax return. I will also take the $200 savings from each paycheck and apply it to my credit card on top of my regular monthly payments. Using this system, I should have it paid off by late May or early June.
• Pay off an additional $3,000 in principal on my car - After paying off credit card, I will apply the roughly $500 of credit card payments to my car principal. Should be accomplished by end of the year. ($500/month * 6 months)
• Complete 3 wholesale deals - Wholesaling is a real estate investment strategy. These deals can net anywhere from $3k-$8k each (let's say $5k on avg.). I will attend monthly local Real Estate Investor meetings to learn some tips from those actively investing. This should add approximately $15,000 to real estate savings.
• Earn a working salary of at least $65k - To do this I need to continue to hit company goals and be able to explain why I am worth $65k. 
• Add an additional $3,000 to emergency savings - Contribute extra monthly income from the different odd jobs mentioned above and tentative pay increase to my savings

Year Two: 2018

• Pay off car - I will commit 80% of both my performance bonus and tax return to my car principal. I will also continue to apply the $500 from my credit card payments to the principal balance. Should be paid off in first quarter.
• Complete at least 5 wholesale deals - approximately $25,000 to add to real estate savings
• Perform first house flip using short term funding (OPM is the way to go!) for a profit of $10,000 - $15,000. An average of $12,500 added to real estate savings
• Purchase Residential Rental Property - using $30,000 in profits from real estate savings as down payment or for minor repairs. Looking to earn $250 -$300 monthly after mortgage, emergency maintenance savings, and property management fees. If purchased mid year, should add approximately $1,650 to real estate savings.
• Add an additional $8,000 to savings -  Car is now paid off, so I will contribute the $500 credit card payments, $360 car payments, odd job income and difference in pay from pay raise. Approximately $1,200/month for remaining 8 months if car is paid off in first quarter. 

Year Three: 2019

• Increase salary to $85,000 - Earn promotion/new position as Sr. Underwriter
• Complete at least 5 more wholesale deals- should add approximately $25,000 to real estate savings
• Perform at least three  home flips using short term funding - should add approximately $37,500 to real estate savings using avg. of $12,500 profit per deal.
• Begin making additional principal payments on my mortgage - Using the amortization schedule, my principal balance 01/01/2019 will be $169,218. I will apply the $1,200 monthly savings plus the $600 pay increase to my principal balance.
• Rental income - add approximately $3,300 to real estate savings
• Commit full bonus and tax returns to mortgage principal - approximately $16,000

Year Four: 2020

• Perform at least 2 home flips per quarter using short term funding - Approximately $25,000 per quarter or $100,000 for the year added to real estate savings
• Complete at least 5 wholesale deals - approximately $25,000 added to real estate savings
• Purchase 2 residential rental properties - using approximately $60,000 from real estate savings as down payment.
• Purchase small commercial rental property - using $50,000 from real estate savings and investment from potential partner as down payment. Looking to earn $1,500-$2,000 monthly ($1,750 avg) after mortgage, emergency maintenance savings, and property management fees. Will be able add approximately $875 (half of $1,750) to real estate savings monthly
• Continue making additional principal payments on my mortgage - Principal balance will be $128,864 on 01/01/2020 after making $40,400 in principal payments in 2019. I plan to refinance the mortgage here at a lower interest (assuming 3.75% interest, 30yr, $10k down payment from real estate savings). This will lower my mandatory payment from around $950 to $550. The $400 in savings will be added to to principal payments. Approximately $2,200/month will be applied to the principal.
• Rental income - add approximately $13,400 to real estate savings (3 residential properties at $275/m for the full year and 1 commercial at $875/m for the last quarter)
• Commit full bonus and tax returns to mortgage principal - approximately $16,000

Year Five: 2021​

• Perform at least 2 home flips per quarter using short term funding - Approximately $25,000 per quarter or $100,000 for the year added to real estate savings
• Complete at least 5 wholesale deals - approximately $25,000 added to real estate savings
• Purchase 1 residential rental property - using approximately $30,000 from real estate savings as down payment.
• Purchase small commercial property - using $50,000 from real estate savings and investment from potential partner as down payment.
• Continue making additional principal payments on my mortgage - Principal will be $81,478 on 01/01/2021 after making $44,585 in principal payments in 2020. 
• Rental income - add approximately $34,400 to real estate savings ( 4 residential properties at $275/m and 2 commercial at $875/m for the  full year)
• Commit full bonus and tax returns to mortgage principal - approximately $16,000

Year Five (1/2): 2022

• Perform at least 2 home flips before May 14th - Approximately $25,000 added to real estate savings
• Complete at least 3 wholesale deals before May 14th - Approximately $15,000 added to real estate savings
• Rental Income - add approximately $14,250 to real estate savings (4 residential properties at $275/m and  commercial at $875/m for 5 months)
• Pay off mortgage - $40,470 last year's and this year's principal payments (amortization and $2,200/month principal for 17 months) $32,000 (last year's and this year's bonus and tax returns) and $9,000 taken from real estate savings.
• Take $100,000 of the roughly $200,000 in real estate savings and purchase another small commercial property, creating additional monthly income of $1,750.

So there I am 30 years old. No mortgage, no car loans, no credit card debt, $100,000 in savings and $4,600 in monthly rental income. Goal. Met. You're probably thinking I'm nuts and that there's no way I'm going to be able to do all of this in 5 years. Seeing it written out - I have the same thoughts. I know it won't it be this easy or as straight forward because there's too many unknowns. What if my blog takes off and produces income? What if I buy a winning lotto ticket? What if I lose a job? What if interest rates sky rocket? What if one of my flips has a hidden mold contamination? I'd spend 5 years trying to plan and account for every little thing.

This is not meant to be an exact plan of how I am to liberate myself from wage slavery, but more of a guide to keep me on track and to challenge myself to keep pushing. 

​Shoot for the moon, land among the stars.

Thoughts? Questions? Ideas?