This was a busy year for Mindy and me:
- New house: I’m typing this article in the home we just moved into a couple of days ago. We’ve been casually looking at acquiring more real estate ever since we moved to Longmont and have even made some offers, but none were accepted. Until now. It turns out we needed to find a home with a feature no one else wanted:
- New business: We bought into a coworking space in January. I was tentative about going into business with friends, but the arrangement has worked very well. The business puts a little extra money into my bank account but more importantly, building community and interacting with members makes me happy.
- New profits: In 2018, we partnered with friends to buy a trailer park. It was in rough shape, so for the first year, we reinvested all earnings into improving the property. In 2019, we started taking payments and in the first three quarters, we’ve made $23,404. Not bad for an investment of $170,000.
- New challenges: We’ve only published two videos so far, but creating video content is really fun. It’s so fun that I sometimes wonder if I’ll stop creating written content one day in favor of video.
- New friends: This past weekend, we welcomed a new family to our little corner of the world. Before the year is up, more friends will be moving closer to us. I’m so damn fortunate to have so many great people around me and more arriving all the time.
- New me: I had an interesting conversation with a friend yesterday. I had first met this friend about three years ago on a ski trip. During the course of the conversation, I mentioned that I had visited his town after that ski trip, but was too introverted and intimidated to reach out. I told him that I felt foolish for my lack of confidence at the time. He mentioned that I’m a different person than the one he met three years back; more outgoing and not nearly so shy. I was happy to hear this because it’s something I’ve felt inside for a while. Public speaking is the most important thing I’ve ever done for personal growth. I’m more confident and a better person.
Life is pretty good right now. I look forward to the upcoming challenges of remodeling our new home, growing the YouTube channel, making the coworking space even better, and welcoming new friends to Longmont. These projects will keep me busy for years to come. At the same time, I’m going to take them at a leisurely pace. No more Death Marches For Dollars.
How Are You?
Enough about me. How about you?
- How has your 2019 shaken out?
- Any good surprises?
- How have you grown as a person?
- What can I help you with?
I hope your life is going as well as mine. If not, I hope the ship is turning around and you’ve learned from whatever you had to go through.
Life isn’t always chocolate and unicorns, but the hard times are opportunities for learning and growth. They also make the good times feel that much better.
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It’s a bit early to dredge up my memories of the year but this caught my eye because what year is it now?? “In 2020, we started taking payments” ? I’m easily confused about the date, Carl, don’t mess with me!
We’re in a power outage right now because of the fires and winds so that stinks but we’re all safe and warm so that’s good. We’ve done a bit of travel and spent quality time with friends this year – I used to work so much that didn’t happen regularly. We’ve started hosting friends more to build some community here, results TBD. I’ve stressed far too much over saving and investing enough for the future and keeping spending down because my health has been (as usual), worrying. My kid is growing really fast and tall, my dogs are as healthy as they can be under the circumstances (the older one is a large dog mid teens so he’s basically 104 years old). I’m still thinking about when we might want to sell our rental property, unless we can get a different tenant in who can stop ticking off the HOA.
Our second annual giving drive for supporting Lakota families has been going strong, which is super awesome.
Pretty decent year overall. I’m preoccupied with looking for ways to protect and grow our portfolio so that I don’t have to worry about being destitute if I can’t work as long as we need to in order to hit our FI number. It’s been fun creating some small neat things to sell, shared on the blog, that keeps me from feeling totally helpless in the event I can’t handle a FT gig anymore. It’s the uncertainty that gets to me but having something positive to work toward is a great antidote.
“In 2020, we started taking payments” Whoops! Now that I don’t have a job, sometimes I have no clue what day it is. Apparently, I’m not aware of the year either!
I recently read your “I want my body back” post and can feel your pain between the words. I’m really sad that you have to go through this and that there is no cure, but your attitude seems pretty great most of the time. Health is just something most of us don’t appreciate until it’s taken away.
“It’s been fun creating some small neat things to sell, shared on the blog.”
Can you please point me to the post?
Hehe, even with a job I lose track of days, months, years.
I truly had a bad attitude about it for a while but after 20+ years, I’d be insufferable to myself and others if I didn’t find a way to be less miserable most of the time. That kind of thing only works for say, Gregory House, for a certain definition of “works”. 😀
My paper designs are here: http://agaishanlife.com/rswi
The shirts I designed here: http://agaishanlife.com/2019/08/good-things-friday-27/
Thanks for asking! I figure the learning is worth at least as much as the money they might make one of these days 🙂
Revanche @ A Gai Shan Life recently posted…My kid and notes from Year 4.7
Hello,
Well I had a heck of a 2019. Joined the MMM HQ in March and met some awesome people…One in particular helped motivate me to start a comic website (shameless plug insert here) dadsare.com. Thanks Carl! Had a great summer with my family and took some much needed time off. Did a number of home improvement projects and car maintenance I would normally subcontracted out. I have a feeling 2020 will be even better!
Wow, you had a busy year.
This year was pretty mild for me.
Instead of expanding, we’re consolidating a bit. I sold our condo and moved into our rental duplex. Tried to sell the other rental, but it didn’t work out so I’m renting it out. Life is too complicated to be a DIY landlord now.
I tried coaching my son’s soccer team for the first time. It was a lot of fun. The kids are like monkeys, but we had a decent season. 0.5, our best yet.
I think it’s really great that you’re making new friends and connections. That’s my biggest issue. It’s still really difficult for me to make new friends.
Joe recently posted…Top 5 Essential Skills for SAHD Success
“That’s my biggest issue. It’s still really difficult for me to make new friends.”
It was for me too most of my life. The FI community has been my savior. Maybe get involved with the local Choose FI group?
Very cool, Carl! Glad to hear you feel like you are growing as a person. I’ve felt a bit stuck this year, but I hit that 2 year mark from leaving my job and maybe the honeymoon phase is over? I’ve always been a very task oriented person so “not working” has been a monumental shift for me and truth be told, I think my identity was a little too tied up with my career. I still am super grateful every day that I don’t have a to do list a mile long, though. I’m sort of experimenting with where I want to devote my energy without spreading myself too thin.
I’m very curious about this trailer park investment. $170,000 – was that purely the land value? My opinion, and it’s not an expert one, is that long term that could be a great play especially if it’s in a geographically favorable locale.
“I’ve always been a very task oriented person so “not working” has been a monumental shift for me and truth be told, I think my identity was a little too tied up with my career.”
Oooh, we need to talk more in November. I think you need some good and new work, but choose selectively! I would go ABSOLUTELY BONKERS if I didn’t have stuff to do. I’m so thankful for my silly blog, the coworking space, and my remodeling projects. Boredom for me very quickly turns into depression.
“I’m very curious about this trailer park investment. $170,000 – was that purely the land value?”
Nope! We got a whole bunch of homes with it. This is NOT a good thing, so we’re selling them off. The result of this is that our profits will peak over the next 10 years as units are sold and then shift back down when we just own lots. However, just owning the land is much less of a headache, so our management costs will decrease.
My land value question wasn’t entirely clear. Was the value of the land without the homes on it $170,000? Yes, owning land is much less of a headache, just sounds like you need to have patience with this investment.
I have some projects… lol! I don’t feel like I’m going bonkers, just a bit directionless some days. But having been a good little worker bee for so long the shift has not been seamless. But look forward to hanging out and chatting!
Gotcha! The land sans homes was appraised at $1,000,000 at time of purchase. I’m one of 3 investors and we took advantage of owner financing for the purchase.
We’ve been stuck in a transitional period since returning from our 6-month RV road trip in June of 2018. We want to either get back on the road or move to Florida…but we’re living in our hometown in Northern Illinois near grandparents and old friends. We have life-long traditions being upheld and re-lived by our kids. And we’re living in our “dream house” in the perfect location (for our town). Giving all of that up is just plain hard. We’re stuck in analysis paralysis and can’t seem to get over the edge to a decision – whether that winds up being staying or going.
We had a miscarriage just a few weeks ago. The baby was 7-8 weeks along. We’re taking the loss in stride – and thankful for our 2 healthy & happy kids – but it still stings.
2019 has been an emotional year. Losing a baby hurt. Being in a transitional stage in life is exhausting. And we can’t figure out how to get out of it. It’s probably best to just make a decision and not think about it for a few years.
Ryan @ RoseRelish.com recently posted…Halfway Through October: Grandma’s Birthday & Big Boy Bed
I’m really sorry to hear about the miscarriage, but happy to hear that you have two children who are doing wonderful.
Whoah, that’s a HUGE decision. Why Florida? Personally, if I had family and friends that I got along with near home, I’d find it hard to move.
Wait, I have a solution! Don’t stay in Illinois and don’t move to Florida. Colorado is where it’s at! 🙂
Thanks for the condolences.
Haha! Colorado is beautiful, but we’re ready to be done with winter. We finally realized that our climate is a choice, not something we must endure mindlessly.
And why Florida? Well, we visited 22 states on our RV road-trip. We were evaluating each stop as a potential place to relocate. When we came home to Illinois, it was down to the Tampa/Sarasota area of Florida or Tucson, Arizona. Florida wins because 90% of the year is “pool weather” whereas it’s not quite that high in Arizona. If we’re moving to have endless summer, we want endless pool weather! (Plus, our kids have a set of grandparents in Florida, so it’s not quite a full desertion of family.)
But leaving family & old time friends is difficult. Is the happiness we’d gain from better weather worth the sadness of leaving? It’s truly a tough call. Our oldest starts kindergarten next fall, so we’re thinking of that as our self-imposed deadline…
Ryan @ RoseRelish.com recently posted…Halfway Through October: Grandma’s Birthday & Big Boy Bed
I like Florida, but man oh man, those summers! To each their own, but I’ll take snow over heat any day! I’m pretty sure that most sane people are more on Team Heat than Team Cold, so call me crazy. 🙂
Good luck with your decision. Perhaps you can find some way to still spend significant amounts of time back in Illinois should you make the move? I’ve always thought that geographic independence is one of the best parts of FIRE.
Like you Carl, I’m pretty introverted. So making friends is nearly impossible.
That’s OK though, I don’t mind! Our year wasn’t quite as busy as yours, but it still felt really “full”. There were several big house projects I completed, and Tako Jr. had a great summer hanging out with me. We traveled for almost the entire month of August, did some fishing, made and ate a lot of great food.
Generally I’d say we had a pretty good year. I’m content. Other then a few minor ailments we’re mostly healthy and our attitudes remain positive about the future. 🙂
“I’m content.” <<-- That's most of the battle right there.
Tile. You could help me with tile. I’m only half kidding, I live in Longmont. I have the skills but it’s more fun with more people. Food and beer provided.
Tile! Oooh, probably my favorite project! What room are you tiling?
The kitchen wall and backsplash with an oval-ish shape. We’ve done 2 of our 3 bathrooms so far. One is in a parquet pattern and my husband swore it would be simple subway in the kitchen this time but I convinced him this would be way more fun.
I’ll show you mine if I can see yours. Our tile jobs.
2019 so far
+ First rental purchased and rented as s8
+ Completed RAGBRAI with friends
+ Spent lots of days with dad during his final months
+ Backpacking in Marion Bells
+ Got a hardtail fatty and have been MTB lots this year
+ Maxed 401k / HSA and Roth before July 1
+ Got a hitch from park and ride last night in 10 deg temps as there wasn’t an Uber in sight
– 2018 federal taxes was a nice hit to saving
– during August and September I was an extraordinary ( beyond my usual) dick to peers
– Corp work seems to be a merry-go-round of Saṃsāra
-/+ present as dad took his last breath
Oh man, sorry to hear about your father. It’s great that you were able to be there for him though.
We need to meet up again sometime.
Sounds like some great financial and personal growth. I’ve enjoyed the YouTube videos so please keep them coming as I have finally added ‘Real Estate Investor’ to my bag of RE tricks. And thanks for helping me to be less introverted by making yourself available to me and my son when we flew out to Colorado over the summer. Longmont really is Tha Bomb!
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Had our baby…currently being held down by him as he naps.
We set up a machining shop in the back utility room, and husband is currently centering the (free!) Lathe I found.
Three year old is in preschool and is THAT kid that’s besting all the other kids up. Sigh.
Work now no longer requires me to fly in to dc every month, thanks to some lobbying on my part and working with a senator and a satellite office director.
We are still looking for another house to buy…two in a nearby town say “motivated seller”, but both have HOAs. I hates HOAs. And prices are still $750k+. So a video logging your work will be very helpful to us. I’m hoping to redo our windows soon and learn how to do that.
2019 will be the year that my wife and I remember the most. I became a financial coach and started a blog. (I used to work in IT.) My wife started a subscription box business and an eCommerce website this year and is filling in as a teacher in our preschool in the mornings because of an emergency there.. Because of that, my 22-month-old daughter hangs out with me in the morning. Life is great!
Ryan Schlomer recently posted…How to Budget with an Irregular Income
Making progress…
Last day of working for the man was Thursday (10/31)! First three days of early retirement have been less than optimal since I caught a bit of the creepy crud (head cold) but still hope to head out on my celebratory road trip Monday. Hope to be checking out Longmont on Wednesday!
Earlier this year I moved some more cash into the market, but I still need to get more invested. Got closer to getting my father’s estate settled – 3 years and 7 months later and we’re almost there! One of the biggest reliefs is having my daughter move out of Grandpa’s house and getting a buyer for it! Closing is scheduled for November 29th. ??
The last two months of the year certainly will be a time of transition – wish me luck!
Whoah, big congratulations on your departure and getting the home sold. See you on Wednesday!
We started a blog in April to document our travels and FIRE journey. I quit my job and started a business in September. Our son got accepted to a big college in October and then we finally cracked the $1M portfolio mark. So not much happening.
2019 was the final stretch of my goal to get to $0 net worth. As of this post I am worth $282 and change. Considering my -$250,000 starting point 10 years ago, I’ll take $282.
All in all, a good year.