New Mustachian, new life questions

[drunkenNoodles]

Hi Mushtachians. After lurking for a while, I became a member and wanted to get involved on the forum. i wanted to give a backstory for some context:


Age 29, Single, no kids
Residence: New York City
Graduated 2008 B.S. Accounting
50k Student Loan debt (my only debt)
10k savings (total assets)


Since graduation about 8 years ago, I took a slew of different jobs after hating my first stint as an accountant in the city. I took a job as a barista, then bartended for several years, traveled Central America, became certified and taught hot yoga, had a failed agricultural startup that depleted my life savings, and currently work for a dog-walking/petcare company.

As i near the exit of my 20's, I am a much different person. I got to really live it up and I have no regrets but i am now ready to get it together. I'm now single-mindedly focused on paying off my debt, increasing my income, and working towards FI. In the last year I have cut all my bad habits (jeeze...so many) and significantly turned my life around. What I'm struggling with is my career path.

I've now been out of school for 8 years. My resume is seriously lacking. From my current jobs I've made some connections and have been considering getting back into finance. It's highly competitive and i'm not overly passionate about it (although I do love personal finance), but I now have different priorities (financial independence), and am looking to pick something, stick with it, and create significant income.

I've also considered starting my own dog-walking/petcare business and teaming with another business owner. The money can be great, I know the business, and i love entrepreneurship, but I'm at a point where I'm hesitant to take any more risks.

I've also considered a career in Computer Science. My brother studied CS in college and I was always intrigued with programming. I have spent some time doing self-study of Python and Ruby. It also doesn't hurt that there's a huge computer engineering presence here on MMM. I know this doesn't happen over night. it might be a year of dedicated study before i could even consider applying for an entry-level job, but I do enjoy it and I'm not THAT old...I think. In a few years I could be earning quite a nice salary.

I'm really stuck in making a decision. I'd love any criticism, advice, or general interest concerning my decision. I'd also love to hear from anyone who finds they have anything in common with my story. It's sad I didn't find this community earlier in life, but I'm focused on the future now. I'm eternally grateful for the wealth of knowledge this community and MMM has brought me.

[MonkeyJenga]

Come to a meetup! The NYC group meets somewhat regularly. That should solve all your problems. :)

That aside, I would continue to study programming in your spare time and get more solid numbers around each option. If you think you can use your connections to get a job in finance, do it. How much risk is there really in starting a dog-walking business? There's presumably little startup capital needed, so are you worried about investing your time into something that won't be profitable? Is it something you can do in off-hours, so you have a day job which minimizes financial risk while still working on it?

Bullet form:

• Set a stretch goal on the programming side. Get serious about it.
• Create a business plan for the dog-walking business. Evaluate all potential risks and upsides.
• Shoot for a finance job. The worst case scenario is you don't get a job. The second-worst case scenario is you get a job that you don't absolutely love. Join the club. You can always quit if one of the other options takes off.

[mozar]

I LOVE DRUNKEN NOODLES!!!

And do what MonkeyJenga says.

[dilinger]

You love being an entrepreneur, and you love personal finance - is starting a business helping people with their finances an option?  Despite lots of free information online (like MMM's site), many people still need a kick in the pants from a professional that they're paying.  See also: the entire personal trainer profession.

[zolotiyeruki]

If I were you, I'd:
1) get a job in finance to pay the bills
2) keep earning extra dough with the dog walking
3) if you're interested, start learning to code.  Be advised that it isn't for everyone.  Yes, there's a bit of bias here because of the heavy population of IT-related folk here.  Go ahead and explore, but don't bet the farm on programming.  It may be great, but it also may be a drag.