And the mortgage ate up a lot of the income.

While I was watching it I ate a king size candy bar with a 16oz sugary drink.

I went to school full time, worked full time and drove a 1987 Volvo and rented, left with 40k in student loans, there was no vacationing or buying things I didn't need, I ate ramen for most of it.The idea that we need to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and suck it up isn't the problem, it's the skyrocketing cost of education and student loans.

That pretty much ate all the cashflow on that property until the 401k loan was paid off. 

Daniel Castellanos Jason Wyatt Rus Davis hey Daniel your list is my exact farm area to a tee.

Rehab ate up my cash to pay down the HELOC, so I'll have little to use as a down payment when I get to SD.My problem in the past when applying for mortgages is that the bank wants to see the money needed for closing in an account with all large cash infusions accounted for.

They had something acidic in the tub and it ate away the glaze.

We ate the cost.  

Over the course of a year my wife and I fixed it up, rented to friends, ate peanut butter and jelly, did everything we could.

Yes every unexpected expense ate into my profit but this was meant to be a learning experience not necessarily a get rich quick ticket.