Short and random: A scatter-brained blurp

Challenge....FAIL

I didn't write yesterday. Booooo me. But such is life. Here I am now.

Want to know how much of a scatter brain I am? Tuesday night, I signed up for a free online typing class (because I never learned to type properly) and spent nearly four hours taking lessons on and off during down time at work. This was in anticipation of my new venture as a freelance transcriptionist to make some extra money on the side. It was going so well, I thought, "Hey, I can do this every night to improve my typing skills."  Wednesday, guess what I did?... Not practice my typing. I spent all of my free time at work researching Contract Deeds for Real Estate. You see, my husband and I have a single family rental that we are looking to sell, and the interested parties don't qualify for adequate financing. We figured that we could finance the deal and help them on their way to home ownership, and we would be no worse off than renting to them. Regardless of how different and unfocused the tasks that I choose to do during my downtime, they are both very relevant to the things that I am trying to do with my life in the short- and long-term. Hopefully writing will get me back on the path to being more focused and mindful.

While I'm thinking about it, I'm going to go to that website to practice my typing right now. Challenge: Write again tomorrow. Perhaps I'll share my musings about this whole Contract deed thing.

It has been too long, but what's new?

I always go months between writing in my blog, which I really should not do because writing really helps me to organize my thoughts and my vision for my life. I admit, I can be a real scatter brain. Therefore I am going to take to my blog yet again to help me to refocus and hold myself accountable.

Here is a little of what we have been up to and what I really need to focus on:

      1.      We are looking at houses to buy as a primary residence.

If looking for houses is not enough of a headache, try going into it not knowing exactly what you want. This is the problem my husband and I are having. After looking at a few homes, we finally narrowed down our lists:

-          Less than $150,000 (even though we are aiming for much lower to stay below our means)

-          Taxes less than $6000- This is the unfortunate reality of living in the Chicago suburbs

-          4 bedroom OR 3 bedrooms with an extra living space i.e. finished basement, family room, or den.

-          Master suite with on-suite bathroom

-          At least 1250 square feet

-          Awesome backyard/outdoor living area

Thankfully, we settled on a suburb where all of this is possible.

      2.      I am looking to acquire a rental property by the end of the year.

I would like to buy a 2-3 flat in the City of Chicago. Maybe even two. My ultimate goal is to have cash flow from real estate as a supplement (or main source) to my retirement. I am at the age where I have to start now if I want to own these properties free and clear by retirement age. I know, this is a lot of buying property for one year, and no, my husband is not Daddy Warbucks. I simple have a dream and I believe it is within the realm of possibility. It just takes careful planning and financial discipline. Which brings me to my next goal.

       3.      Clear up all of my debt.

This may be the easiest of my goals to accomplish considering I have been working very hard to keep my debt low anyway. Between my car loan, a small loan I took out for our first investment property, and a couple credit cards that I let the balances get too high to pay off in one month, I have less than $4000 worth of debt. By no means is this insurmountable. This is not even the most unsecured debt I have ever carried- when I was 19 I racked up $6000 on ONE of my credit cards and I was bringing home nearly a quarter of what I make now-, I’m just at the point now where I no longer feel comfortable carrying balances on my credit card. I need to pay that mess off each month. I would feel a lot better if I can put the money I have been paying towards credit cards for the last 10 years (minimum payments or more) towards my emergency fund or any other fund that will bring value to my life. I would much rather save for a vacation or another property. I don’t know about you, but using credit cards always made me feel like I was paying for something twice. I KNOW THAT’S NOT THE CASE, but psychologically I feel like that is what happening. Therefore, for my sanity, I am going to change my relationship with my credit cards. (When you think about it, I do pay for some things twice when I carry the balances and have to pay interest. Bleh!)

         4.      Find a secondary source of income

I believe it was Suze Orman who said that every woman should have a secondary source of income. I totally agree with her. Although I don’t yet know her reasoning, I’m guessing it’s good. My reasoning is that my primary source of income is not really enough. It’s a good income for me to live off and save, but I don’t feel like I have financial freedom. What is financial freedom? I haven’t figured out what it means to me yet, but I figure there is no better time to start increasing my earning potential than while I am willing, eager, and ready.

I called myself increasing my earning potential at work by working more hours, but that proved to be a disaster. Spending those extra hours at sometimes left me too tired to even drive home, and I was too tired to tend to my family. It was a tough few weeks, but it wouldn’t be worth it in the long run. Besides, eight and a half hours in that place is enough! If I am going to make extra money, I need to do it somewhere else. Here are a few of the prospects that I am considering:

-          General Transcriptionist (At-home)- This is no cash cow, but if it’s obtainable extra money, I’ll do it.

-          Property Management (At-home)- for which I would have to obtain my real estate license. This would also be beneficial for acquiring my own rentals in the future.

-          Housekeeping for Short-term rentals. You know, like the ones you rent from Air BnB or HomeAway.

That’s enough for today. I challenge myself to write a post tomorrow. #Accountable