Carragee Consulting

Years ago I used to occasionally read Mr. Money Moustache’s (MMM) blog.

There was a big movement (FIRE) to establish Financial Independence (a huge net worth which generates passive income) so you could Retire Early.

When I graduated from college I had $25k in student loan debt at extremely low (subsidized) interest rates.

I was fortunate to start a corp job making $42k in 2006 with free standby flights. I moved into a 2BR 2BA apartment with heated underground parking with another guy starting at NWA the same time me.

After living in Burlington, VT in a 560 ft apartment with my roommate and boyfriend the new place felt luxurious, and thankfully cost less than my college housing.

Later my income grew as I changed jobs, but my expenses stayed low as I continued to live with the same roommate and we moved into a rowing teammates house for extremely cheap rent.

My sports focus shifted from snowboarding (daily lift tickets) to climbing (dirtbagging is glorified). I still travelled a lot, but I took up road trips.

Over a decade I owned several used cars and spent plenty on fixing them until eventually I bought a 2 yo Ford Ranger.

I bought my first house in 2010, and then a foreclosed condo nearby as an investment.

A few years later I moved into a climbing friend’s duplex, we affectionately refer to as the cube for its lack of design and rented out my house for a few years. My portion of the “rent” was $300/month when I quit my job at Vendavo the first time.

Over the course of the 18 years since I graduated college I’ve moved at least 10 times as I acquired new properties or lived with friends.

My property management business became a larger financial and time drain, consuming most of my cash flow from my other work and way too much of my mental/emotional energy.

Now, St Paul has capped rents, interest rates are so high and the stock market has been on such an upswing that I’ve almost entirely gotten out of owning and managing rentals.

I’m not sure how the details of my “career path” can be helpful to others, because you will get better advice from Morgan Housel or Vanguard, but a few principles are:

– make more than you spend
– invest the rest and allow for compounding
– try wanting what you have, not having what you want

Consulting/ freelancing only works for me because I don’t need the stable paycheck to pay daycare and my mortgage. Consulting can provide huge upsides in project variety and autonomy, but it’s inherently lumpy income.

Annuities or CDs or rental properties are supposed to be stable income so they complement consulting, just remember that property management is real work and can detract from your focus in other paid work, family life or personal development.

At some point saving and investing a big portion of your earnings can result in greater financial return from “unearned income” than work — this is capitalism for better or worse.Activate to view larger image,