About 7 years ago we moved into an RV to save for our first house. We did that for 2 years then bought a condo in 2017. We lived in the condo until last year and purchased a house and are now renting the condo. Rent in our area has skyrocketed and the condo cash flows about $700.
For my business this is my first complete year with $31k in revenue probably working on average 3 days a week. My main goal has been to break down customer pain points when dealing with contractors. So far that has mainly been accomplished through housecall pro which keeps the customer in the loop throughout the whole process. I also have a decent looking website. My pricing is probably on the higher end but that’s my goal. I’m currently working on a basic calculator that I can incorporate on my website to allow folks to get a ballpark estimate and book a slot on the calendar. It will kick out a number range, they can select an open date and pay a deposit with a credit card and I just have to show up and clean. Probably won’t get implemented until late this year and maybe during the offseason.
I’m now focused on processes that can be repeated and taught easily for hiring. Just purchased a wfp as I think that is the easiest method to teach. I’m trying to break down everything from start to finish so the system can be easily repeated but also keeping an open mind to allow an employee to utilize different methods. Basically focusing on results.
As far as investments we have a strong focus on Real Estate currently through our actual properties and REITS. We max out a ROTH IRA each year and that is in a target retirement account with some overweight allocation to AMD, Ford, LYV & PLAY currently.
We are also working on ways to “house hack” our current place with either an Air BnB trailer or a pottery studio with throwing wheel that we can rent out.
I’ve been trying to reduce the amount Time i work every week . Last 4 years I was doing about 30 hours a week , this year I’ve reduce it to 24 hours max ( 4 days , 6 hours days ) . Eventually trying to get down to 3 days then 2 days a week.
I don’t think I can retire or stop working . I’ve been working my whole life , I would probably develop severe anxiety if I stop working. Who knows.
We have made tremendous sacrifices, though we will not budge on sacrificing spiritual activities and family time . We don’t buy many things full rice , we don’t shop at the mall or fancy department stores. Our clothes comes from Ross , Costco , outlets stores , my kids get a ton of hand me downs and we welcome them . Sometimes you have to put your pride down . We try and cook at home as much as possible and if we eat out we usually will share a plate and order waters , or we’ll pick up . It’s not about being cheap , it’s just about being smart with your money . Why spend money full price on kids clothing’s when they’re gonna grow out of it in a couple months .
Where to invest my money ? I think it’s all about your timing . And unfortunately I believe Rn is not a good time to put my money in stocks , crypto , gold / silver or real estate. I remember what someone once told me , buy low sell high . Everything is so inflated rn , I feel like it’s going to burst . Rn is a good time to stash your money and buy when things get lower .
The hard thing about being self employed if we will not get a pension , Social security will not exist in 20 years . So yeah we have to think outside the box about our retirement. I do believe the only options will be having an automated business or having rental properties. Having a duplex to rent or back house , rent your property and move to Mexico or Philippines is a good option also . Who knows
Millionaire next door is a good book , i usually go by that book for my financial stuff
My wife and I are big in to this, when I say FI or FIRE to most people they look at me funny. I think as for our goal, I want to be FIRE by 60, I’m fine with coastFI and BaristaFI before then. I consider window cleaning to be my BaristaFI and though a nice balance would be to build a week of biweekly route and take off every other week. We have paid all our debt off, we are heavily invested in blue chip dividend stocks that I bought during the Covid crash. We are also looking at relocating 4 hours away to potentially pay a new to us house off with the sale of our house. This would put us debt free at 32, but I’d have to travel for business while building in a new location. I’m hoping my current investments will be $750k-$1mil by 60 but I imagine we will add to it on the way. There’s a chooseFI Canada group on Facebook if your interested.
I work 72 hours shifts a week as a firefighter. Then between 25-35 hours the rest of the week cleaning resi windows, and servicing my commercial pressure washing accounts. I am working hard to expand our commercial pressure washing/window accounts for every two weeks and every four weeks routes. Main goal is to grow to the point of having 2-3 tech working 5 days a week. Leaving me to only do the the admin side. We live just fine from my fire job, maxing out my retirement. I am able to retire in 13 years at 50. All of our salary from the business goes to maxing out me and my wife’s personal IRA’s plus our companies 401k. We also are saving the rest to buy a bigger place with a shop to run the business out of. Then we would rent out our house. Second goal is to walk away into the sunset at 50, sell everything and buy a big’o spread in the mountains and raise cows until I go into the ground.
