REI Lifestyle Blog | A Real Estate Investors Finances

Today we're going to tackle the mystery of getting your EXPECTED expenses under control a little bit better. With anything this is a constant ongoing battle, that takes at least some of your focus a couple times a month. Want to buy a new iPhone, but don't casually have $2,000 laying around? Need new tires on your car, but not sure how to come up with $800 overnight?  These are issues I fought with for years and continue to fight to stay on top of. They're not necessarily emergencies, but I feel like I'm loading up the credit cards I just paid down! We're taking a second look at how to take care of that little bit of extra money you have each paycheck. The Envelope System Most people know about this simple system we used as kids to organize our money into things we wanted to do vs things we needed to do, like paying bills or saving up for our starter car. That idea should easily transition into adulthood, but doesn't always translate well. With different emerge

It's that time of year again! Not the time for cheer and happiness, but the time right before that where we're expected to shell out hundreds or thousands on decorations and gifts for loved ones. Along with that comes a new spark of impulsive spending with the excuse that "my sister will love this" or "I deserve nice things for the holiday's too!". All of these things are true, but respecting a budget and keeping your investing goals on track is equally important. The Trap Everybody expects you to be as everybody has always been. Remember 98% of America can't retire  because they've always done what everybody else has always done. We're here because we want to do things differently, and it's never been easy before so why now?  Family will get upset that we're not blowing the hard saved money that's been accumulating through our discipline. Greed and entitlement will be at an all time high with the easy question in the back of our

  My credit journey started off a little bit different than most, which included many struggles, but has been a interesting story so far! What I'll lay out for you guys here is how I tackled the basics of getting a qualifying credit score and each item that comes along with that. Most people know there are 6 sides highlighted in the credit worthiness process: Delinquencies  Age of Credit Utilization Payment History Inquiries/Hard Pulls Accounts (Opened AND Closed) I've listed these items in a very particular order and paying attention to this order is extremely important. Many people get obsessed with keeping Inquiries at a very low number and let everything else fall to the side. The truth of the matter is that if you keep everything else in check, Inquiries will be nothing to worry about. I personally carry 9 inquiries at any given time and have a very solid 770 credit score. Currently my biggest hits are from carrying a balance on certain credit cards from month to month a l

So you've taken the plunge to eliminate debt in an educated way . You've dedicated hours to reviewing finances and cutting expenses. You stopped going out and drinking designer coffees every morning wondering "when will it end?". It's always nice getting that final email notifying you of your $0 account balance, but now what?  You've probably noticed it's a little easier to come up with extra money each month, because you're not slowly being eaten away by credit card fees, payments and monthly interest charges.  You can finally take a deep breath! Below I'll outline a couple great ways to spent that extra money that continues adding to that retirement fund, and also let me know which topic I should dive into further in the comments! If you're struggling getting to this debt free point, then now is NOT the time to stress and start impulse buying . You're doing great! Emergency Fund I know this isn't the most exciting part of becoming deb