I am new to this forum and the site, the title is definitely something I believe in. I am an investor and financial advisor in New York, working primarily in real estate, buying and renting out residential properties. I have been doing this for 6 years now and have never been happier working for myself. For the past 2 years I have started to teach other people how to do this, as well as helping them solve other financial problems. I have been writing financial articles on a site called Factoidz, and I am now the Moderator for the Personal Finance channel there. I enjoy reaching out to others and helping them improve their lives financially. Please feel free to email me, and I hope to learn more while I'm here

Welcome to the GRS Forums, Benjamin.

Thanks Jethro

Hi, I'm Jonno from Sydney Australia, been trying to get my own niche internet business up and running so that I can quit my job and focus on doing the things I love doing: acting and exploring.

Looks like a great place here.

Hi i am newcomer in this forum and just want to say hi

Hi!
I'm Avistew, I've commented a few times on the blog.

My real name is Alice and I was born and raised in France but now live in Alberta with my husband, who is Canadian. We have a cat. He earns our only income as I'm waiting to become a permanent resident and don't have a work permit. He earns enough to support us but it's frustrating at time, I wish I could work and save up more. We're debt-free (never had any to begin with which makes repaying them much easier )

I lived in Canada for a year in 2006, and have been back for 3 months. Otherwise, I've spent all of my life in France (I'm 24).

Oh, and we moved in our own place a month ago (we were living with his parents' before that) and started using the envelope method.

I think that should cover it all. Glad to finally be here on the forums, I don't know why I haven't registered earlier.

Or Alice, whichever you prefer My name is Benjamin, its always nice to hear about people who are living debt-free and the methods used to maintain it. I had a brief comment regarding your work permit, I had another friend who was attempting to do something similar and was frustrated with the time it was taking. They discovered that if instead of a work permit they applied for a permit to operate a business which would employ other local people, they got the needed permits (this was not Canada so of course it will vary) much faster. You might consider this, although its a more complicated process it provides more incentive for the host country because you will be employing more than just yourself. Good luck!

Hi Benjamin, thanks for your advice! I'll look into all that and see if there is a faster route. And people on the internet tend to call me Avi but whatever you prefer works for me.

No problem on both counts I'd be interested to know how it goes, please let me know.

Hi,

I'm new here, let me start reading and checking out the various posts.

Just wanted to say hi before I begin.

Bob

Hello everybody, my name is Rick. I'm new to the forum and look forward to learning the GRS way of improving our family finances. I'm married with a beautiful wife and 2 daughters and a clinician by profession. I'm fascinated with the subject of creating multiple streams of income and developing financial security(especially in this economy). Look forward to watching, learning, and interacting with a great group of folks -- Thanks everybody!!!!

Good to see you here, and I share your fascination with creating multiple streams of income...I've managed to keep at least 10 or so income-generating projects pretty steadily for the past 3 years and I occasionally trade up or trade in when I feel the need Good luck!

Hi I'm gardendebtor and I am so excited to find this forum, looks like just the place for me and my debt. Can I interest anyone in a little of my debt, seems I have planty to go around. No? Oh well then maybe a little advice on how to eleminate said debt. I'm about 9500 in personal credit card debt as of today. (12500 3months ago)38 years old, recently married and self employed. Most of this comes from legal expenses (8000) I incurred from a DUI 20 months ago. By the way I haven't had a drink since that fateful night and I'm so lucky I didn't injure anyone or myself. The rest is well just credit card crap. 3 months ago I decided to get serious about paying it off and I've made some headway. I'm also trying to save for an emergency fund and my roth ira. I have 4700 in savings and about 3500 in my roth. I'm extemely lucky in one respect, I live rent and mortgage free just utilities and taxes. I live in family home that my mother owns outright. She is generous enough to let us live here for free when she could be renting it to someone. I can't imagine trying to do what I'm doing if I had a mortgage at this point. I know my situation isn't as dire as some and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My husband and I would like to buy a house of our own at some point and know we need to save for that too. It all so daunting sometimes, if I had it to do over things would be different but if I've learned anything in this life it's that you can't change the past, you can only move forward. I'm trying to do just that everyday.

Welcome to the forum, it does seem like you're in the right place at the right time. There are a lot of things you can do with your debt, believe it or not many companies usually are interested in it and will take it off your hands (well, really of your current creditor's hands) for the right price. It sounds like you're making good progress on your own, and building an emergency fund and roth ira are also good moves. If you do want to speed things up, may I suggest getting a personal financial advisor, someone who will regularly look over your finances with you and help you continue to move towards being debt free with money in the bank. As you say, these things can be daunting and an advisor can help you maintain the momentum while offering insights that can accelerate the process. Good luck whatever you decide.

Hi everyone, I'm SB. I'm 25, active duty Air Force, married to another Air Force member, and we have 13-month old twins - boy & girl. We have lived in (assigned to) Alaska for the past 6 years with our 2 cats and now our 2 kids and LOVE IT!!! I found this site a couple of weeks ago via several link clicks from a USAA article. Ever since, I've been absorbed in reading all the wonderful articles here. I've checked out and enjoyed other finance blogs and advice sites, but so far this one is my favorite. I joined the forum here to ask a specific question, but don't want to clutter up the intro thread with it. So howdy folks, and I look forward to chattin on these forums with you all.