The Beginning of My Journey Towards Financial Freedom...

        My story started with a hunger, with a drive. Not really knowing how to channel it but always feeling like my abilities were never quite fully being utilized in the most optimal way. I have always known in my heart that I wanted to work for myself. Every job I have ever had, I have butted heads with a boss at one point or another because of my leadership quality. I also never wanted to have to be forced to show up to a job that I didn't enjoy for 35+ years of my life just to hope that social security would be around for me when I retired and spend the best years of my life, grinding out a paycheck instead of living life on my terms. I hated the feeling of not being able to provide for loved ones because I was just barley getting by on measly pay. We only have one chance to make our mark on this earth in the fleeting moment that we are here. I know that if I have the financial means to do so, I can leave this earth a little better off while I am on it. I want to make a positive impact on this world and be able to give back to people. These are all things that I thought to myself while i was laying awake in bed at night in a roach-infested studio apartment in San Marcos, Texas. The 400 square foot studio apartment was all I could afford on my wage as a server. So how did I end up there? 

        Well, when I was 25 years old, I made a promise to myself, that no matter where I was in life by 30, I would be out of my parents house and out on my own. So after leaving a miserable job working for the Post Office as a mail carrier assistant in the coldest months of a New England winter, it was time to make a change. I was sick of bouncing from job to job and sick of the winters and high cost of living that Massachusetts has to offer. I packed my car with some clothes and an air mattress and for 30 days, I traveled around the southeast part of the United States. I was in search of a new home and the Carolina's, Georgia, and Florida were my initial targets for possible places to settle down. 

        During the month of February 2016, I would go into a town and get a feel for the place by going to some local restaurants, bars, and historical attractions. I would speak with the locals that I met in those locations to get their version of what it was like to live there and then spend the nights sleeping at a local truck stop in the back of my Kia Soul on a twin sized air mattress. As I was on my road trip, I heard enough people talk about Austin, Texas that I decided to head out west for the second half of the road trip. 

        I spent a week in the Austin area and finally had the feeling that this was it, Texas was the place for me. It had everything I was looking for, warm winters, big music scene, lots of attractions, great rivers, nice people, and of course, amazing food. The cost of living in Austin is a bit expensive though. I ended up finding San Marcos, Texas after the San Marcos River came up as a suggestion of top things to do in the area from the TripAdvisor App I had on my phone. I decided San Marcos, which is 30 minutes south of Austin, would be a perfect balance of affordability and proximity to a lot of awesome places in Texas. So I drove back home to Massachusetts, got my tax return of $1,500, and moved to San Marcos on May 19, two days before I turned 31. I stuck to my promise and kicked myself out of the house. Now came the time to either sink or swim...