Hello Mustachians,
I have enjoyed a frugal and somewhat mustachian lifestyle for quite some time. At times I have been frugal only because I had to be. I value my time and freedom over money or anything it can buy. I understand this blog is about making smart financial decisions to earn a lifetime of freedom. The army taught me to appreciate my freedom. I took seven vacations last year with no paid time off.
As I am approaching my third decade of living, I am looking for a career field that will continue giving me freedom and flexibility while also giving me an income to work towards financial independence. I enjoy serving the community that serves me, and I enjoy helping others. I enjoy an active work environment to compliment an active lifestyle.
I enjoy my freedom too much to have a career in the military. I did mechanic work and support during Operation Iraqi Freedom which earned me a lifetime of free health insurance from any VA hospital. I believe that was a wise investment with my time. I do enjoy working on vehicles, buying and selling them. I have thought about gaining some knowledge, wisdom and experience from a local mechanic shop.
My sister introduced me to this site, and she suggest that I look into radiology technician programs. She and her husband work with nuclear medicine, and I believe a hospital job will give me an active work environment while providing a valuable service and many opportunities all over the country. I have taken two years of pre-requisites for this two year program, and I have been on the two year waiting list for, you guessed it, nearly two years. Tomorrow morning I will be going to a local hospital to sign of for volunteer work.
Since I was unable to get into community college classes this semester, I have been looking into other ways to further my education. I talked to a team leader with Keller Williams who informed me that Keller Williams will reimburse 80% of my tuition cost for the 6 week real estate classes. The classes cost $850 which was supposed to come out of my tax return. Since the classes start on Thursday, and I have not yet received my return, I need to find a solution.
I am currently doing warehouse work for pillows.com. This is a temp job, but I think the owner would be happy to give me a check on Monday or Tuesday instead of Friday, so that I could get these classes started. I am also making deliveries for Denver Delivery Dish, providing meal deliveries all over Denver. I do enjoy making a little extra on the side from buying and selling on craigslist and ebay. Instead of purchasing a tv, cable, netflix, or hulu, I have a profitable hobby of buying and selling collections of dvds. I have also flipped laptops and cell phones.
I have worked for too many restaurants for the last ten years. While I enjoy the restaurant industry, the people, the freedom and the flexibility, I need to work towards a career with stability and growth potential. Real Estate may not have a whole lot of stability, but I can create and grow my own business with plenty of growth potential.
The temporary warehouse job could be over in a few weeks. I do believe my delivery job and side gigs can support me while learning and getting started in real estate. Where do I go from here?