Help With My Plan UBG Style

[Aaron Toliver]

There are major holes in my plan that I need to fill out. Point me out in the right direction guys. 

Before I get started I'll tell you guys a little bit about myself. I'm a starving artist although I've never been truly hungry a day of my life, which is a huge blessing given the things I do. My three main sources of income are acting (which pays by the job), dancing (which pays by the lesson), and writing fiction (which pays by the book deal). None of these are consistent and I've been lucky enough to live by them so far. One day, my body and looks will fade, which rules out the most consistent (relatively speaking) of those three trades. 

Things have to change. So my main goal is to build enough monthly income to live on whenever one or more of my artistic pursuits dries out. 

Mind you, that is my short term goal (3-5 years). If I can build income security I can focus more on those pursuits. For example, the money I earn from teaching dance lessons can pay for new headshots, so on and so forth.

Once I've met this goal I'd like to continue to invest in my eventual retirement, future family plans and the like.

I've factored several costs of living into my cash goal, including average rent, food, insurance, and emergency funds, and I need to guild up my passive income quite a bit. $3300/mo.

It's hefty. So I started using the Ultimate Beginners Guide, and here's what I have so far.

Education.

There's a lot of stuff on here, and I'd like to aim my education in the right place. I ALMOST fell for the wholesale newbie trap, but the Podcast got me off of that quick. I need a mentor in the particular field that I would reach my goals with... but I'm not sure exactly what I would get into yet. I'm reading up on all the strategies right now to determine which would be right for me. 

Niche & Strategy.

Niche: Single Home

Strategy: NOT SURE YET

I'm going to skip to a really important part that leaves me breathless...

Cost.

I have no savings, no credit history, and all my money goes into surviving and pursuit of my crafts. I've purchased the book on Investing With Little Or No Money. I'm about a quarter of the way through, and it seems to me like I need to build a particular skill set that would attract Other People's Money. I know I need to be REALLY good at finding great deals, but that's all I have right now.

I'm aware it's all going to take time, but the longer it takes for me to act, the further down the road my goals will be. 

So my questions are...

1. What strategies have worked for you to generate monthly income?

2. What skills do I need to nurture? Vague mantras are nice, but specific and small skills that I can work on now are preferred.

3. Is my short term goal unrealistic? Being able to build even half of that would help me immensely.

Thanks in advance, everyone.