Save for rentals rather than school, but still go to school.

[Jordan Kelly]

From the time I was 12 years old mowing lawns my mom would always take half of my money and put it in a savings account for college. At the time I hated it, as I hard to work twice as much to get the things I wanted. Although I hated it at the time it was nice when I was finally going away for school(Thanks Mom). I moved down to Indianapolis for school and got an apartment with a friend. After one year at my apartment my savings was down about 75% and I still had a few years to go. The next year I moved into a cheaper house with 4 roommates. It was cheaper, but not exactly my ideal living situation. I had been working while in school so I decided I wanted to buy a house as our landlord was charging us $2250 for a four bed and I knew I could get my friends to pay me rather than him. With a a little more than a month left on our lease I found my house and closed just before our lease ended. I got a fully renovated house for $75K with 3.5% down that was worth 110K. I rented out the remaining rooms to my friends and was able to cash flow $400 a month while living for free. Now my cash flow goes into a savings account till the semester is over then I use it to pay for school. Since buying my house in I haven't taken on any new debt and I continue to watch my friends take out loans to pay for their living situation and school.