There is no one way to Financial Independence. However, if you want to speed up your timeline to Financial Independence and Early Retirement - one of the best ways to do that is to increase your income via a side-hustle or a small business. 

Today we share one of our favorite side-hustler extraordinaires, Julie, from the Millennial Boss blog and The Fire Drill Podcast. 

Not only is Julie killing it in her regular jobs, but she blogs, podcasts and has found multiple ways to add income into her budget via other side-business, like an ETSY shop. 

We have been SUPER inspired by her story and hope you are too! 

AND you are listening just in time to hear that the courses she has mentioned will be opening up again soon in November.  If you would like to get on the list to be notified of when they open, follow the links below. 

When you use our links, it is tracked and we get credit for a portion of the sale if you eventually decide to take one of their courses. 

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The proceeds help you support our show and we thank you in advance for showing us a little love.

As a show of our gratitude, when you sign up using one of our links, we will email you a copy of our printable Financial Planner Bundle for FREE. 

(You must have a confirmed purchase via the link to receive the download for free.) 

If you would like to purchase our Money Foundations Financial Planner Bundle, you can do that HERE.

Patrick Aime grew up in poverty and unrest in Rwanda but he had a dream of coming to the United States to make his own destiny. 

His pathway to the United States was via sports. First, he finished high school in Belgium and then came to the United States to play basketball in college.

In this Encore Episode, you will hear how Patrick achieved made his way to America - achieved success, made a lot of money and then lost it all.  It was devastating, but Patrick used the grit and determination that got him to the U.S. to rebuild himself a second time. 

This time he understood the value of money and what he needed to do to rebuild his future. He saved and spent well.

Now Patrick has retired in his forties, he is Financially Independent and spends his time between one of his residences in Cabo San Lucas and San Diego. 

This week, we speak with Dan Shaw.  In this encore episode, we will hear how Dan engineered his retirement in just five years.  He was working 60-70 hours a week and was miserable.  He decided he had had enough and after a particularly hard day at work began executing a plan to become Financially Independent. 

He and his wife buckled down on their spending, ramped up their retirement accounts, optimized their taxes and increased their income via rental properties.

He and his wife hit their goal in five years! Now Dan is retired and gets to spend most days with his two daughters as manage his rental properties and projects at home. 

It's a really great episode to hear some excellent tactics you can apply to your own FI/RE journey. 

In today's bonus episode, Wendy and Curtis discuss the fourth tenet of the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) Movement - which is to increase your savings rate.  

In previous episodes we discussed the previous three tenets which are: 

1. Rejecting Consumerism

2. Redefining Retirement 

3. Tax Optimization 

A good portion of the United States population has saved less than $200,000.00 towards their retirement. 

Many will simply have Social Security as their only means of income upon retirement. 

In a recent CNBC article, they state that many experts recommend people save seven times their annual income for retirement.  This is stark contrast to the minimum suggested by the FIRE community, which is at least 25 times your living expenses. 

To achieve that number, it is not unusual for members of the community to save upwards of 40%, 50% or even 75%. 

If you are not able to save that much, does that mean you are excluded from the FIRE community?  OF COURSE NOT.  The point is to strive to increase your savings rate as much as you are able to. 

One step we have taken to increase our savings rate is to allocate all raises and extra income earned to our retirement.  This automatically increases your savings rate. 

We hope this episode has been helpful to you.  If you want to help create a solid money foundation and get your financial house in order, we invite you to participate in our FREE 7-step Money Foundations Course. 

Eleven years ago Dawn Holley found herself single after the unexpected death of her husband.  As anyone can imagine, her world was turned upside down. In this episode, we have a candid discussion with Dawn about the challenges of parenting and picking up the pieces of her life financially unprepared. 

With no safety net, Dawn had to make very quick decisions about what items she could sell in her home - just to survive.  She packed up what was left and moved herself and her son into her parents home. 

As she and her son attempted to pick up the pieces, Dawn took the first job she could find, but the pay was not much and covered just enough for daycare for her son and for food. 

Dawn knew that she needed to increase the income she was earning at the time, of about $20,000.00 to at least six figures. 

From there she was very deliberate in deciding what type of career she wanted.  Some of the requirements Dawn decided on were: 

1. They had to be within driving distance of her parents so she could continue to live for free. 

2. She had to have the ability to earn six figures. 

3. The program had to be free - so she would not incur any debt. 

Dawn eventually found an accelerated federal program that was one year and was free. (AMAZING RIGHT?) 

She then treated every clinic she worked in while she was in the program as a job interview.  Her thought was that she was building relationships that could help her after she graduated. 

After several years of hard work and of strategically moving her way up - Dawn reached her goal of six figures. 

She is now focusing on creating multiple streams of income as she pursues Financial Independence. 

In addition to her income from wages, she is building her rental income portfolio and other business endeavors.  

Where Can You Find Dawn: 

Stepping Stones to FI 

Dawn's Favorite Read: 

The One Thing

In this encore episode, we discuss how to use real estate investing as a means to Financial Independence.  As we dive into our first go at real estate investing (well, really our second - but that's a whole notha' story), we thought this was a perfect show to come back to as we update you on our progress.  

David Greene of Bigger Pockets was our guest on this episode and it is a great overview of the BRRRR method of real estate investing. It's a really great show. 

We will see you all back here on Friday! 

Where you can find David: 

His Website

Instagram 

Facebook

As the FI/RE movement becomes more mainstream, explaining what the core values and beliefs are can be daunting.  In this episode, Wendy and Curtis explain six of the core tenets of the community. 

Each tenet also embraces specific actions, mindsets, and strategies that flow from the core tenet. 

THE SIX FI/RE TENETS

1. Rejection of Consumerism

2. Redefining Retirement 

3. Tax Optimization 

4. Increased Savings Rate

5. Community 

6. Life-Optimization 

In this episode, we discuss the first tenet, 

REJECTION OF CONSUMERISM 

• Embracing frugality - but not at the expense of things that bring value or joy (not deprivation)
• Not keeping up with the Joneses
• Minimalism
• Materialism does not equate to happiness
• Elimination of Debt
• Reduction of Spending (cutting cable, reducing housing costs, buying used cars, cutting grocery/food  expenses)

YOUR WHY 

One of the first steps to embracing this journey is to really understand WHY you want to obtain Financial Independence. 

What is your reason?  

For us - it is Legacy and creating a different future for our children. 

We are doing that by saving more, spending less and increasing our income. 

In today's show, we are investigating a hot topic in the real estate investing world, we are looking at Airbnb investing and asking the question, "is it still a viable option for short-term rental investing." 

You cannot have a conversation about real estate investing without, eventually, having it turn to people wondering if they can take advantage of the popularity of Airbnb and VRBO as options. 

Erin has been renting out properties as short-term rentals since 2014.  At that time she and her, now husband, decided to serve the market and become experts in the short-term rental market. 

We wanted to know if Erin thought the market is saturated.  She says it really depends.  You have to know your area and it varies from city to city. 

One of the reasons for this is due to city codes and ordinances that prohibit short-term rentals (rentals 30 days or less). 

If you are considering diving into the short-term rental market Erin suggests the following:  

1. Do your due diligence. 

• Know the law
• Contact your city planner office 
• know the HOA and other community requirements 
• Get insurance quotes for short-term investments
• Include utilities and other services into the calculations 
• Know your upfront investment and long term costs

2. Research the Market 

• Research the vacancy rates
• Research rental rates 

OTHER TIPS

If you are going to be a "hands-off" - hire a property manager and KEEP THEM and TREAT THEM WELL if they are good at what they do.

Provide a 24/7 way to get in touch with you in case of emergencies 

Make sure you have the correct insurance for short-term rentals

OTHER RESOURCES 

AirDNA - is a paid service that can give you projections on Airbnbs 

Mint - great for tracking your spending

Personal Capital - tracks your spending and track your net worth

ERIN ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS

One Money Lesson Erin Has Carried Over Into Her Financial Journey

Erin's Favorite Lifehack That Brings Her Joy 

Be engaged with your hobby and if you can find a way to make money doing it - DO IT! 

HOW TO REACH ERIN: 

James Carlson Real Estate - [email protected] 

Denver Graffiti Tour - [email protected]

Erin's Favorite Read 

7 Habits of Highley Effective People 

Brandon Cunningham has an incredible story of determination, second chances and of finding financial freedom after divorce and two close calls with death.

At 27 years old, already a husband and a father, Brandon had a devastating stroke.  His recovery was slow.  But he was still able to finish college without significant delay and then began a career. 

Sadly, over the years he and his wife grew apart and the marriage did not survive.  After the divorce, Brandon found himself in debt and raising two children. 

It was at about that time that he found Dave Ramsey and he began working very hard, living frugally and making sacrifices and eventually paid off his debt. 

He remarried and he and his new wife combined their family and finances.  Unfortunately, his wife was still paying off debt, so Brandon found himself, once again paying off debt. 

The fortunate thing was that his wife was on board with becoming debt-free and building a financially independent life.  

Brandon suggests, that if at all possible, do not enter a marriage with debt.  At the very least make sure you and your potential spouse are on the same page. 

He and his wife worked very hard to become debt-free and invested consistently over the years to become financially free. 

Last year, Brandon began feeling a pain in his shoulder that would not go away.  Eventually, he went to the emergency room after some convincing from his wife.  It was a very good thing his wife insisted he go because he passed out in the hospital and it was soon discovered he had a 99% blockage in his arteries.  The blockage was serious, it is commonly referred to as the "widowmaker." 

Brandon underwent surgery pretty quickly and thankfully made a full recovery.  

Having two significant life-threatening health events, helped Brandon and his wife to understand the importance of having their affairs in order.  

It has also given them an appreciation for life and the desire to experience time with their family. 

Brandon spent a little time after his surgery getting his coworkers prepared for his departure and after about six months he was able to retire at age 49 - one year prior to a life long dream of retiring by 50.

What Bradon savors now are the special moments he is able to spend with his children and grandchildren. He appreciates the importance of being able to spend time with his family.  

Financial freedom has given him the ability to spend whatever time he has left with the people that matter the most. 

BRANDON ON THE FINAL QUESTIONS: 

Lessons he wants his children to carry over into adulthood: 

Take risks now while you are young. Be all in.   Time is on your side. 

Money lessons from his own childhood that he has carried over into his Financial Independence Journey: 

He did not have good financial education growing up. However, he did learn that ignoring finances will not make things better.

Favorite Reads: 

Automatic Millionnaire - David Bach

The Millionaire Next Door - Thomas Stanley

Where can you find Brandon:  

beyondtherut.com

In this episode, we update listeners on how the sale of our home has added $2800.00 back into our budget and payoff all our consumer debt. 

The decision to sell the house was difficult but after much thought and running the numbers, it was the one decision that could super-charge our progress and help us achieve our long term financial goals. 

With the proceeds from the sale, we paid off all of our consumer debt.  This included our cars and all of our credit accounts.  The only debt that remains is our student loan debt. 

Added back into our budget: $1700.00

The other big decision that came from selling the house was the decision to rent instead of purchasing another home.  Not only would we be paying  $790.00 less in rent, but we would also save on energy costs since the rental has solar and a whole house fan. 

Added back into our budget: $1110.00

What remains in a fairly good chunk in our savings account.  

Next Steps

For this next phase of our journey, we are focusing on two things: 

1. Purchasing investment properties that cash flow, and 

2. Increasing Wendy's income. 

WHAT WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IN TWO YEARS

In the two years since discovering the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) community, we have eliminated $10,000.00 from our monthly budget. 

This has not only helped us increase our savings rate and pay off debt, but it has also allowed me to quit my law practice and be home with my kids. 

Giving them the best of us and being able to leave them a legacy is what matters the most. 

We are so grateful to this community for giving us hope.  

If we can help you on your journey to become Financially Independent, we have several resources to help you. 

RESOURCES

7-Step Money Foundations FREE e-mail Course

Our no-nonsense workbook, Shut-Up and Budget

Downloadable and Printable Workbook, Budgeting Sheets and Saving/Debt Payoff Trackers

Our Private Facebook Group