As I sit here and get this article started, I find myself stuck on where to start, how to start, and which direction I should even take. The lessons I have on money stem from the time when I was a young kid earning a quarter from my grandpa for running up to the mailbox to snatch his copy of the daily newspaper to becoming a debt free family of four.
This decision to spread the word on my journey with money is what I am here to do because I lived through times of being completely broke to times where we are making a decision or not to buy a boat I only dreamed about my entire life. This could be a 10 page article, so please stick with me as I take you on a journey through my life and how money is wrapped up into it.
From the Beginning
I grew up in a small town in S.E. Minnesota. I have a mom and dad who both worked to support our family and all that we did. I did not grow up in a mansion or with a Farrari and BMW in the driveway. My parents lived a modest life and supported my sister and I through sports, school and an overall great childhood.
From the time I could actually think for myself, I remember dreaming of a mansion with parental quarters, a BMX track in my backyard, a pimp truck with a pimp boat attached to it, and I WANTED TO BE RICH!
Looking back on it… I didn’t have a clue what RICH meant, all I knew is that I wanted to change the direction of my family and have the freedom to do whatever I wanted at any given time.
I learned about the use of credit cards and how layaway worked. I learned how to pay for a car with cash and also how to finance a brand new one every four years. I learned how to make money babysitting, which I hated, and I started to learn what hard work actually meant.
Fast Forward 10 Years
At the age of 14 I got my first job working at the local grocery store. I remember my mom biting the bullet to drive me to work at 4am to stock shelves and make sure the store looked top notch before our customers walked in. If I remember right, I made $4.55 an hour.
This is where my financial journey began. I didn’t know about a budget and I definitely didn’t know anything about investing. The only thing I knew was that I was saving to buy my own brand new bike. Every other bike I had up to this point was a hand me down or something I found in the woods. I had 7 of these pieced together bikes at the time, and my dad was kind enough to fix each one as I brought them back broken on a daily basis.
I worked through high school, I picked up different jobs in between sports and through the summers. I paid for my first car before I even had a license, and I kept busting my butt to be the most independent son I could possibly be.
The Next 15 Years
This is where everything gets interesting. After high school, I moved out of town to be on my own to go to school. I was completely broke. I had a car, zero goals, but it didn’t matter because I was doing what everyone does, attending college. I transferred to three different schools within the first year until I settled in on the school I would eventually graduate from shortly after that.
I worked the entire time I was in college to support my antics and pay the rent, and I had wonderful parents who would bring me a few bags of groceries every now and then. From there I graduated! Boom. Still Broke.
But what did I do? I didn’t put that education to work. I moved to Colorado to fulfil my dreams of living in the mountains and lapping the terrain park. I worked a BS job to keep my dream alive. Eventually a knee injury took me out of the race. I was still broke.
From there I found a job and put my fairly new education to work, but I needed new goals because all I knew at this point is that I still wanted that mansion and to be “rich”. I move to Michigan in a Ford Focus ZX3 with everything I owned and Broke as F!
The Rest of My Story
At this point found the love of my life and knew I had to get my crap together because my goals changed a bit in the fact that I realized I wanted to get married and have some kids. The only problem, I was still broke. I worked a couple different jobs, quit one of those jobs to start a business with minimal money in the bank and kept trying to figure out what the hell I want to do with my life.
There is so many stories I missed out on up to this point. This is a preview and I know there will be plenty of time to dig in on some of these stories.
At this point, my wife and I have two beautiful children, we are completely debt free including our house and now investing into our futures so we can do what ever it is we want to do when that time comes. To this day we still remember the days we were broke and basically still live like we are.
To Get Ahead in Life
As we continue to hone in on our life goals and what we know we want for the future of our kids and ourselves, we continue to live a modest life. Just because we are debt free doesn’t mean we start spending like idiots. Nope. We drive older, used and paid for cars. We haven’t taken on any extra payments. We keep our expenses to a minimum, and we stash our cash before we can spend it.
Living as though you are broke, even if you have money, is what I believe one of the best ways to get ahead. Living within your means, saving every dollar you can and creating goals as a family is what keeps us going.
You also have to get out and work. None of this is easy, and none of it came to us as fast as we wanted. I’ve lived half my life and still do not have the mansion or the boat of my dreams, but I can tell you that we are much closer now than we have ever been. I actually don’t even know if I want a mansion anymore. Bigger things can lead to bigger problems and more work.
We are far from “RICH”. What I can tell you is that hard work and good money management put us in a position where we are finally comfortable, don’t have to worry about replacing a dishwasher if it dies, and we get to give to those in need whenever we feel drawn to.
My dreams have not died. However, I believe we still have a lot to accomplish. I hope this snapshot of my life has encouraged you to believe you can be in the same spot if you put your mind to it. You have to make the decision though and probably have to quit making dumb decisions along the way. The bad decisions always set us back. I am a firm believer anyone can become debt free and life the life they want. It all starts now!
If you need more guidance….
In your finances or your life and not sure where to start. Hit me up and I will get you on the right track. Helping people is where my heart lights up every single time.
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