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February 16, 2009

I'm Housin'

This entry comes rather late. You see, I wanted to talk about this the day I moved in. Well moving is a pain in the ass, so many things are put on hold.

Red and I moved into our new house about four months ago. House. Never thought I’d be saying those words at this stage in my life. Needless to say we’re still a little speechless.

I wanted to share the reasons we suddenly came into a position to even consider purchasing a house. Because it’s nothing terribly special. Just hard work, some patience, frugality, and being on top of our finances:

  1. Save until it hurts. I’m serious. Don’t save a little. If you want something badly enough in life, you’ll do everything in your power to make it work. Cut as many corners as you can. I can guarantee you hindsight is 10x less painful than during the process. Starting right after I moved to Orlando - three years ago - I made it a goal, regardless of my income, to save a certain percentage. Red did the same, though probably not as insanely as I did. It worked.
  2. Invest. Saving your money is one thing. Hell, any chimp with a stick and a hollow tree stump can do that. The trick is to take your hard-earned savings and multiply them. High-yield savings accounts worked well for us. Once we hit a certain limit it made more sense to invest in CDs, and even some stocks. Bottom line: keep thinking, keep learning about investing, and take action.
  3. Eye on the prize. Yes, I’m a fan of The Secret. I think it’s a slightly dumbed down version of positive thinking, but I definitely believe in it. What is positive thinking more than simple faith? Have faith you will reach your goals. Know you will reach your goals. Assume you will reach your goals today. Suddenly “today” really is today, and it’s happened. Why? Because the more you think about reaching your goals, the more you focus on your goals. The more you focus on your goals, the sharper your determination.
  4. Luck. I’m slightly joking. I don’t believe in luck at all. I feel we are our own luck. Whatever events happen in our lives, no matter how insignificant, they all relate to where we want to eventually be in life. Yet I still say “luck” because it’s the notion of seemingly random events that help turn a corner. Both Red and I came into large sums of money, simply out of the blue. Some can call it luck. Whatever. It happens to all of us. When these lucky fortunes shine upon us, act upon them.
  5. Learn from the best. Do I know anything about real estate? Hell no. I can talk shop about design all day, but when it comes to houses, I know diddley-squat. Work towards finding people you can trust and learn from. Through constant research and inquiring, we found a kick-ass realtor. Through him we learned more than we really should know about real estate. Through more research we found a great broker. There are plenty of trustworthy people who can really help you out. Find them.
  6. No more “I can’t”. It’s a bullshit statement. It comes true because we believe it. Stop saying it. Stop thinking it. “I can” comes true just as quickly.

That’s about it. Rocket science it ain’t. In whatever you’re trying to succeed, I wish you the best.

Clamoring






    
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