Learning and saving but what next?

[Matt D'Arco]

Hi all.

So I write to you today out of frustration. And I'm sure it is a frustration that you are all very familiar with (otherwise you wouldn't be on this site). I got up today at 5:45am, got to work at 6:30 and worked until 7pm. I got home at 7:30pm tonight. I would say I wasted 13 hours of my day but I got paid for it and that money is going to future real estate. So it's not entirely wasted. That being said, I spent 13 hours straight doing something that I do not care about for people that annoy the heck out of me all for $16/hour with time and a half after 8 hours. And when I get home, I don't get to workout (which is important to me) which messes up my workouts for the rest of the week. It interferes with my personal and social life. So it's very frustrating to be tied down somewhere for that many hours of my day.

I have a few questions. First off, I have a four year degree in business. Currently I am not using my degree where I work. I am currently looking for a new job that uses my degree even though the thought of working at a desk kills me. Hence the reason my current job doesn't use my degree. I have been working full time for a year and have saved $10,000 for a down payment and am getting my credit back on track (after maxing out credit cards for school books during all those years). I am about half-way through Scott Trench's book Set for Life.

In his book he mentions getting a job that basically has no financial ceiling such as a sales job. So I'm thinking of looking into insurance agent or possibly a real estate agent. That being said, I could just take a desk job that pays $60k a year. What would you recommend I do? Have any of you reached financial freedom in 5 years while earning a 5 figure salary from your W2 job? I want to make sure I make the best possible decision now to get me in the best position to reach financial freedom in 5 years. And I understand that that's going to take a lot of work. I am just looking to hear from the community as to what you guys have done that got you there. 13 hours a day, even 8 hours a day doing something that doesn't fire me up and make me excited or motivated or feel passionate is killing me. I need to get there. It's not a want anymore. I look forward to hearing from you all and appreciate your responses!

Matt