Thanks a lot!

Tom

Kudos on your success and thanks for the inspiration!

Dollars Not Debt

Nice combination of luck and smarts.

I took my leap at 25, bought a duplex. Best decision (financially) of my life. It wasn’t always easy, but the impact was huge to my finances. From 25 to 33 I used duplex living (my tenants paid my mortgage) to pay off debt, save for retirement and get ahead.

Trust me, it wasn’t smarts that made me make this decision, it was a leap of faith.

You have to believe in yourself and just go for it sometimes.

I admire that you got creative and that you were willing to change your lifestyle and standard of living to get out of debt. Big changes often reap big rewards, and big changes are often useful in highlighting the error of our past ways.

Good luck going forward!

My suggestion: Continue prioritizing a frugal lifestyle so you can save for international travel! You’ll never regret it!

I like stories like this. So often when you look at people who ‘can’t get ahead’ you see people who really aren’t willing to sacrifice and compromise their lifestyle: give up a car, move to a smaller place, etc.

Thanks for the comments and encouragement.

@ Kelli # 3
Thanks for the compliment

@ Francis # 10
Rent you collect is taxable income, however you designate your rental property differently for tax purposes. As long as the rent you receive isn’t drastically more than your mortgage cost, you’ll likely end up taking a “loss” on your rental property, which is beneficial for tax purposes. I was worried about this as well, but it worked out pretty good.

In addition, depending on the bank, you may end up being able to short sale the house (i do these all the time) and walk away from that debt as well! Depending on the bank, sometimes they’ll pay all closing costs, everything, SOMETIMES to close out the loan.

My 10 cents. I admire your hardwork and hope to achieve as much! I just got a raise of 40%, and I’m going to continue living on the small amount and do the debt snowball with every extra penny!

Being single, no kids, in debt, what have you got to lose? But still you made the choice and you learned life long lessons.

It’s people who are older, more set in their ways, not thinking outside the box are the ones that really need to take the chances.

For quite a while when I was starting my own business, I shared a 1BR apartment. Living space was tight, but the price was right, and that’s what mattered. So many people say they don’t have enough money to start their own business, but their life is full of high mortgage payments, multiple car payments, etc. Less money going out every month means more freedom–and living inexpensively can give you the chance to pursue your dreams.

-Erica

You should really retitled this blog entry to “How I Snowballed my Snowmobile.”