Wow, has it really been almost 3 years since I've looked at my List?

Ok, you might think this is horrible, but I'm betting I'm not alone in starting a blog and not getting back to it. So here I am, adding something new to my list - Machu Picchu ...always meant to go there, and I've seen so many friends go recently, now I gotta go! lol.

Who's with me?? 

#115 - Buy 6 properties and own a real estate empire!! 2 down! :)

Ok, I should be farther along on this bucket list goal, but hey...better late than never! :)

So I reviewed my 2011 goals in Dec, lol, and saw that one of my big goals was to buy another prop already. So I start looking and next thing I know the duplex next door is up for sale! Talk about the Law of Attraction!! lol.


It's a plain looking 3/2 duplex on the outside, but inside it turns out to be a gem - original hardwood and woodwork, stained glass, french doors, buffet, updated kitchens, and super clean! Best of all it was going for 20k under assessed value, I was able to roll in the closing costs, got under 4% interest, and figured out a way to only put down 3.5% to seal the deal!!!

So once I close this deal I'm 1/3 the way toward finishing my master plan. I know, I know...many of you are saying "I don't wanna be a landlord. It's not worth the hassle." But I say, no pain, no gain, baby! How can I say no to investing 5k in and getting 200k back?!! Think about it!! ;)

I'm a TOUGH MUDDER, baby!

Yes, I did it.
10miles up and across a muddy ski mountain in 95 degree heat, with 5,000 pumped up and motivated crazies like me.
And after 3.5hrs and 20+ obstacles, including mud, fire, ice, and electricity, lol, I can say I did it!!

Actually, no, correction - We did it!! Our team - the Mil-Town Mad Dogs, our lil band of brothas and sistas, determined to say Yes to the challenge and No to every worn and torn fiber in our beings wanting to give up!

More details later, but for now...I urge anyone and everyone to try this. It's not a race, but a challenge. It's only as hard as you want to make it. Sure, it's 10miles!!! lol. But you'll be amazed what you can do when you're surrounded by supporting like-minded people, bent on seeing u succeed as much as themselves!

Do it. Join me next year, and when you run, walk, or even crawl across that finish line, you'll see how it could really change everything for you!

Ok, it's been way too long, so I'm going to start posting again soon!

Since my last post I've done lots of stuff, including my skydive!
And now I've added the www.TOUGHMUDDER.com challenge to my list. This is one of the toughest physical challenges out there - 10miles, 17 obstacles, up and down Devil's Head mountain in WI.
Check out the website, and let me know if you want to join my team!! :)

Go on a Spending Diet (or Spending Fast)!

One of the items on my list is to make enough money to be able to do everything else on my list.
In my mind there are two simple ways to make that happen - by making more money and/or spending less money.

1. Make more money - this is generally what people think they need to do. Just make more money and all your money problems will be solved! Not really...in most cases we let our spending rise to our income. I'm not saying we shouldn't try to make more money. Absolutely we should...but that won't solve a key issue - our terrible spending habits. With that in mind, I recently decided to focus on the other side of the Debt/Wealth coin -
2. Spend less money - this seems logical enough. But few if any of us realize how much we spend on a daily basis on pointless purchases and expenditures. The reason for this is that we're creatures of habit, we continue to do what we've done and rarely give pause to the fact that "if you keep doing what you've done, you'll keep getting what you got." So, to break that habit I decided to go on a Spending Diet for a week. It's a simple exercise that can be surprisingly hard to do, but unbelievably eye-opening. All you have to do is not spend any money on anything for a week! Here's what I did and how I did it and what I learned.

• I stated publicly, on FB, that I was doing this - I strongly urge you to tell everyone. There's power in the pressure of everyone knowing you've set a challenge for yourself. People were checking in on me and challenging any spending I considered doing. It helped! lol
• I decided to not spend on anything except the bare necessities - only gas to get to work and utilities because you have to keep the lights on! But no additional spending. No food shopping (we ate what was in our pantry), no movies or entertainment that costed anything (unless someone else offered to treat - then go crazy, lol), and no other spending that was non-essential, in any way. I made do with whatever I had at home, and that was it.
• I looked for free things to do for me and my girls - there's tons of free stuff to do in most any city, from free music festivals, to going to the beach or the park, and going to the library. Visiting family and friends was also good to do. And to be sure we didn't get tempted to spend, we ate well before every outing and took bottled water wherever we went, just in case. 

Ok, what I learned -

• First - FOOD - I have more than enough to eat at home. The temptation to go shopping for food we wanted was at first hard to get over. But once we decided we're eating what we have, we found tons of food in our frige and pantry. It's amazing and a little sad what we take for granted here in the US.
• Second - ACTIVITIES - there are lots of things to do without spending. We went to the park and threw the frisbie, went to a local festival on free day, saw fireworks at the lake, played tennis, and went to the library more than once and had fun each time. Local folks, check out www.onmilwaukee.com
• Third - PEOPLE - it is a little weird telling people, "Sorry, I can't, I'm on a spending diet. But if your honest with people and explain you're trying to change some habits to control spending and reverse the debt cycle, they can relate - cause most everyone we know is in debt and in trouble, lol.The average American has 10,000+ in debt and less than 1000 in savings. So most everyone you know can relate or is just lying to themselves, lol.

So...I don't want to get preachy or long-winded here, but I do want to impress that going on a spending diet is about much more than money or debt - it's about breaking a habit and taking control again.
So take 7 days and give this a try. It could really change your life. At the least, it'll make for an interesting and enlightening week!

15,000 feet and falling!

Well folks...it's really on! Sunday, August 15th it's going down, or I'm going down, lol.
- I bought the skydive tickets through Groupon.com for $110.
- I posted it on Facebook, and so far 3 of my friends will be jumping with me.
- We'll need to be there by 7:30am, so we're gonna have to be up and out by 7, since it's about 30 minutes away, in East Troy, WI.
- I'll be doing a tandem (strapped to an instructor) so it will require minimal training. So from getting there to jumping should be around 2hours or so. 

Some of you may be asking WHY? For me this is an ultimate challenge. I did the Bungee, and that was terrifying, but it went so fast I really didn't experience the cognizant feeling of free fall - so I need to try the skydive.
Plus, this is one of the things I know I'll regret in my old age, if I don't try it now. Just don't want to look back and wish I had.

So, we have a month to mentally prepare, it's relatively cheap, and this place has tons of experience - who's with me?!

Oh, it is oooonnn!!