If you are willing to give up spare time outside your day job and perform work other than electrical, it can be a good way to get a step up financially.

I hope your 2015 goals happen with a little more time to spare:)

Books, podcasts, blogs, forums, networking, etc....I'm doing my best at expanding my knowledge, and once I land back in the States (in February) I'm hoping to hit the ground running, find a great job in the real estate investment industry, and keep moving forward with my own personal investing goals.So if you have a spare minute...I'd love to hear from anyone who wants to connect!

During the tax season they are usually preoccupied and cannot spare time to talk(make sure you pay for the consultation).

We downsized from a mortgage-free $600K home in a pricey market to a $100K home in Las Vegas, and have the excess available for investing. These two homes are the only ones we have ever owned. I'm not comfortable with...

Scheduling viewings and showings to work around your spare time is going to be a challenge.

You should definitely spend it sparingly and make sure once you get your first deal that you will have to invest most of that back into your business to have a chance of keeping it going.

@Harinder Singh you can long term rent, AirBnB, house hack, flip, rent out your spare bedroom, whatever.

But want to start practicing on some deals in my spare time. 

I rent out spare bedrooms in my place and just leave it at the "willing to take a background check" because it does weed out people who have something to hide from my experience.