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Welcome Adam! I hope you find these forums as helpful as I do!

I have not read this book, but it definitely looks interesting. My journey to riches just recently began and although my husband and I make a decent living, my eyes were opened to how easily you can spend more than you make without even blinking and I'm a CPA! You would think I would be better at it....I use Quicken and everything!

Based on my studies thus far, I think the first step to accumulating wealth is to control your spending and make yourself stick to a budget focused on paying yourself first, saving for a rainy day and to accumulate money to invest.

Just since I have done this, we are spending WAY less money! I have found is that being aware causes you to ask yourself, "Do I really need this?" when you pick up something in the store.

(The following is not a sales pitch as I am not related to either of these products in any way, just want to share some great tools I found by visiting different forums and such)

The Grocery Game (google it and you should find it) = This woman has franchised the ol' coupon clipping routine. She keeps a database of sales, etc and prints a list every week that matches sales of local stores with the coupons that come in your Sunday paper. I don't really do all of her techniques, like stockpiling my pantry. But, the cost is a $1 for a four week trial and then $8 for one store every 10 weeks, so basically less than a $1 a week. Trust me, there are 2-3 Free Items on that list that more than pay for it. I have saved 30-40% on my grocery bill both times I shopped using her list. It is great for people that don't want to deal with the work involved in coupon shopping, the list does it all for you!

I found the Grocery Game through another website when I was searching for a budget software. I have been using Quicken for years and years but have never been successful in using the Budget Features. They really aren't easy to use, in my humble opinion. I found YNAB (again google it). YNAB stands for "You Need a Budget" and it is a software program (really cheap at $20 for the spreadsheet version and $40 for the full windows version where you can download money mgmnt software files from your bank). It was invented by a CPA, a young guy that loves Excel and was looking for extra income so his wife could be a stay at home mom. He is a fan of debt free guys like Dave Ramsey and incorporates some great budgeting rules that are reinforced by the software. We follow most of the rules and although we believe it is best to be debt free in terms of consumer debt and auto loans, we really aren't looking to pay off our mortgage right away, so whatever your personal goals are, the program still works. My husband and I have been using it for a couple of months now and love it! We went ahead and bought the full Windows version.

Now that our cash flow spending plan is in place in our home, I am fervently working on our cash flow earning plan in Real Estate!
:lol:

Hope you all find this info helpful

Has anyone had experience using an AMEX Blue or other AMEX high limit card to help with leveraging a purchase?

Some friends of mine are at the James Smith seminar this week and basically said that all they have really learned so far is getting high limit credit cards around 100K limit. She is a mortgage loan officer and on average she said conventional financing will only get you 80% down (as an investor on average) and the high limit credit cards can possibly get you 15% and you can put 5% down in cash. The idea is that the LTV you get on refinance is higher (more like 95% compared to 80%) so you refinance after you purchase.

Anyone use this method? Does it work? Any thoughts on pitfalls, etc?

Thank you for all the wonderful welcomes! I look forward to learning a lot and sharing what I know as well.

Hello All!

I have been reading in the forums for a couple of weeks now. Here is my story:

I am 34, a wife and mother of a 16mo old daughter, and work as the CFO for a small real estate development company in San Diego that specializes in small tract development. I started my career in 1996 in public accounting and worked for two of the Big Four and a large local firm. The company I presently work for was one of my clients at the large local and I have worked here for about 3 1/2 years. In public accounting, I always specialized in real estate and worked on the tax side of the business. I consulted many real estate owners on 1031 exchanges and tax planning as it relates to the real estate business. I even helped write (with no author credit) an internal guide when I worked with one of the Big Four for the leading guy of the firm in San Fran that specialized in 1031 (I was low on chargeable hours and needed a project). So needless to say, I have already afforded myself a great education in the land of real estate.

I recently, Finally, read Rich Dad Poor Dad by Kiyosaki. I had heard about this book for years but have always been the skeptical accountant steering clear of gurus and the like. Well, I have to say that this book awoke a sleeping giant within me! It has motivated and helped me realize that I have had the knowledge and tools to some extent all this time but was more focused on just being a good employee, finding a husband, getting married, buying a house and having a baby. And, I probably will be looking at expanding our family by one more after the first of the year. Well, I am now motivated more than ever to get going on building wealth.

So, I have some education under my belt in some areas but am looking at how to start small and to start using what I have learned. Obviously, the tax knowledge I have will help once we own, but I need to learn how to find the deals. I intend on going to the local real estate investment club meeting in a couple of weeks and start networking, but I have no idea where to start to research what area I would like to specialize in. I am looking for some guidance on any type of book or program that will give me a good overview of different areas (i.e. wholesaling, bird-dogging, short sales, pre-foreclosure, notes, etc.) so that I can see if one of them seems appealing to me. But, as you seasoned investors already probably know, the amount of information on the internet and in book stores is overwhelming! Although I don't mind spending some money to get good information, and I definitely intend on frequenting this site and reading as much as I can, I would love some recommendations. Also, based on the fact that I live in a higher priced market and now that you know my background, maybe some of you have some suggestions of what you think I might be good at or would possibly find some interest in.

Sorry for the long post, but I am eager to start narrowing down the focus of my research and get moving. My husband works for the same company as I and he is a licensed real estate agent. Oh, and I am a licensed CPA.

My goal is to have enough in five to eight years to not have to be employees anymore. We will have cash after the first of the year, probably about 50K to use, but of course are also interested in learning how to use OPM as well to leverage the best as possible.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!