Hello, I'm Dustin

I kind of just jumped into my first two blog posts without really introducing myself.  So, I'm going to back up here and start from the beginning again.  I'd like to get more active in my blog on BP, so this is my restart here.

My name's Dustin, originally from Fort Wayne, IN.  I lived there until I was 26, which is when I moved to South Korea to teach English to pre-K kids.  People thought I was a bit crazy, and maybe I was.  Many thought I was quite irresponsible.  Which, I can't say that I wasn't.  After all, most of the others making that kind of move were fresh out of college and hadn't started in their careers yet.  I was 3 years into my career...but to be honest, was sucking at it.  So, what the heck, right?  I could always come back and work an entry level sales job again (which is what I was doing).  Why not move across the world?  Just because I was getting a late start didn't mean that I should do it!!

So, that was 8 years ago!  And, I'm still here.  I took the time to get out of a crazy amount of debt.  Found an amazing and beautiful girl, and married her.   Saw a bit of the world and met some amazing people.  Still teaching pre-K kids (more on an upcoming career change later).  And, just added a dynamic to my life that I couldn't imagine not having right now.  Overall, a great move.

So, as for our start in real estate investing.  My wife, (girlfriend at the time) had an internship in Miami in 2013.  So, I went back to my hometown in Indiana (hey, it's closer than Korea!).  I attended a real estate seminar by a turnkey company in Indy.  We were planning on moving back in early 2014, but I really wanted her to hear this stuff as well before we left.  So, I went again and brought her, and she was hooked!  (My dad had Kiyosaki's Cashflow 101 game and she started kicking my butt at it)  

However, we had a wedding coming up, moved back to Korea, I was starting a new job, had a terrible year financially in 2013 that we needed to catch up from, she had trouble finding a job back in Korea, do I need to go on?  All that to say... we had a slow start.  Finally, got married in August 2014, she got a job in November, and managed to save $18K over the following year.  And FINALLY, we bought our first property (2 actually) just last month.  It was a 2 year process, but finally feel like we took that first BIG step!  

Now, we're getting all the financing in place, getting tenants in, property manager, etc. etc.  But, that's where we're at.  

I'm going to use this blog as a platform for my thoughts, mostly on personal finance.  Of course, a lot on our real estate investments.  I've been reading a ton lately, so I'd like to put some book reviews, etc. etc.  I'm not sure where it's going to go, but it will be our journey to financial freedom!