Quarter Life Crisis Please Help

[Ryan DeWitt]

I need a bit of guidance with some of these questions/concerns I have with the path im taking in life! I'm so confused right now. I'm trying to save up the money to buy rentals at the moment but I'm having a problem with how to save up the money... I just started in the Carpentry union making 11/hr... and I'll get a raise every 6 months with great benefits and a good fall back career, but I used to work trailer factory that made me 25-35/hr. Which I wouldn't make in the union for a couple years unless I worked 60+ hours. I'm very good at saving money and would like to save more, but I rent a house with my girlfriend which is 600 a month and about 250-300 in ultilites and there is nobody else we can live with, we have tried, and moving friends in doesn't work. Now we made the mistake of getting cars and we each have a payments. Hers- 2014 Chevy Cruze 320/mo Mine- 2010 Jeep Wrangler 380/mo

Right now she works in a factory making 18/hr, which I hate her having to do that so much... She hasn't been able to go to college like she wants to and that's all I want for her. We are trying to find a house to live in for the moment and then rent out when we live all while buying more rentals while we stay there. I get advice from people who don't exactly have the best lives and haven't really done much for themselves and it just makes me feel stuck. So my question is what do i do...? I need some help. I don't have family and barely any friends and my girlfriends family isn't the entrepreneurial type. I've been listening to bigger pockets for about a year or so and been reading as much as I can. I'm dedicated and self made. I just need help from at least one person and everyone on here is so helpful. There are so many choices to make I'm just so stressed on figureing it out idk what to do. This is my first time asking anyone for help. Thank you.

[Linda Weygant]

I think you know what your first step is.

Sell those cars and buy something cheaper for cash.  Better yet, if you live in an area with good public transit, then see if you can make yourselves a 1-car household.  Together you're making decent money, but you're spending almost 15% of your pre-tax income on cars.  Not smart.

Next.

See if your girlfriend qualifies for Pell Grants or other tuition assistance.  If so, then she can register at a community college for on-line classes for nights and weekends.  (I did this when I was 21.  Took me 9 years to get my bachelor's degree, but I was able to work full time and raise my kid.)  Try to avoid loans if at all possible, but if there's no other choice, then you may need to do so.  Make sure her degree is something that she can actually earn a living in and pay back those loans.  Too many people get degrees in something that makes no sense.  French Literature may be fun and interesting, but when push comes to shove you aren't going to make a living with it.  I encourage her to start school sooner rather than later.  Education is one of the best investments in your future.

At the same time.

I know you're exhausted from working all day, but get a second job at night and/or weekends.  Your girlfriends second job is her education.  Yours is to pull in more money.  Stock shelves in the grocery store, work at Home Depot or get your own side gig mowing lawns, or fixing something you know how to fix or whatever.  The best way to get ahead is by earning more.  Cutting expenses is smart too, but nobody ever got rich by nickel and diming themselves into misery.  

Learn/Improve/Spend Time Wisely.

Learn the difference between leisure time and wasting time.  Video games and movies and tv are fun, but ultimately they do nothing for your future.  Instead, spend your down time (what little you'll have after working two jobs) learning about something fun.  Learn some skills you'll need for owning houses, like plumbing, electrical, tiling.  Read up on landlord/tenant laws in your state so that when you're ready to start investing, you're really ready to go.  Listen to Robert Kiyosaki (he'll explain why those car loans are such a bad idea).  

Good luck to you.  When you ask a bunch of old farts what they would have done at your age knowing what they know now, you're really going to get some good stuff.