How did I make my First Million Dollars while keeping my regular job

8 Years ago I was broke, I never thought that thinking in financial freedom was something for me. I could not even dare to dream that one day I would make 1 million dollars. That was something you just hear or see on the tv from artists, important people or anybody else but me. But I gotta confess sometimes In my mind though, sometimes, I would see it as a far away dream. During that year it was the first time I had my first average job, making about 45k a year. I've always had passion for business but for some reason back then nothing seemed to work. So getting this average job was a blessing for me.

One day as I was scrolling through my phone I saw a post about Dave Ramsey, I saw an ad where He was promoting a book. I've heard about Dave Ramsey before, I think everybody that is broke and is trying to get back on his feet has at least listened or overheard about him, but I never really paid attention to Him until that day. He was promoting a book called " Baby Steps Millionaires". Actually I never bought the book, but the title sounded intriguing, are there really steps to make millionaires?. I think that was the first time I thought, maybe being a millionaire is not that impossible after all?. I googled what those 7 baby steps were and somehow at least 3 of those steps resonated with me. So I started to follow the first 3 baby steps and later on took it to a completely different level.

These are the 7 baby steps by Dave Ramsey:

• Step 1: Save $1,000 for a starter emergency fund.

• Step 2: Pay off all debt using the debt snowball method.

• Step 3: Save 3–6 months of expenses for emergencies.

• Step 4: Invest 15% of household income in retirement.

• Step 5: Save for children’s college education.

• Step 6: Pay off your home early.

• Step 7: Build wealth and give.
  

  Like I mentioned before I did not follow all of those steps, but this is how I applied the very first 3 baby steps in my unique way.

• Step 1: Save $1,000 for a starter emergency fund. I saved 2k as my first emergency fund since I thought that is the amount it would make more sense for me. Taking this step really saved me from a lot of trouble. I remember getting into a car accident. Back then I did not mind driving cheap cars, so after my car was considered totaled and having just liability insurance; (yes, it was my fault). I had to use those 2k to buy me another car that would cost me 2k obviously. I mean emergencies are very real when they happen.

• Step 2: Pay off all debt using the debt snowball method. I started to pay my debts off from the smallest to the biggest. I did not have too much debt back then. I was renting a room in a friend's house. I did not even own a property or an apartment and I own a car that cost me 2K, So I can say that my car at least was paid off and I was able to be debt free in a short time.

• Step 3: Save 3–6 months of expenses for emergencies.

This step is where I took things to a completely different level. I thought if I am going to do this I am going to really go for it.

Once I had a 2k emergency fund and did not have debts, I opened a second bank account in a credit Union, and I told my employer to send 50% of my paycheck to this second bank account, yes, you heard right, 50% of my paycheck. If you talk to your HR or payroll department. they can help you to set this up for you.

The intention was to force myself to live under my means and pretty much forget about that second bank account. So every time that I will see my checking account I will just see 50% of my balance, forcing me to think that I do not have enough money to spend, I was broke before anyways so I was not feeling too much of a change. Eventually though I had to find another part time job, because I was really struggling to live with 50% of my paycheck... Like I said I was trying to trick my brain to think I do not have enough and eventually that strategy paid off. I was not making that much money, but in about 2 years it was surprising how much I was able to save. It was around 30k. Also realizing now this was a game of patience as well.

I almost completely forgot that I had the money in that second bank account, and Dave's method helped me to get some savings. Also when I got a better job, the one where I was making 45k, I decided that I wanted to buy a house. I reviewed that old account, and those 30k helped to make the down payment and do repairs when I got that first property.

After I got that first property is when things started to change for me. At the beginning I just wanted a house for me, but the property that I bought had 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The house was a little big for myself. Was a house that I was able to buy as a foreclosure through HUD. They had a program for first time home buyers with relatively low income that got me qualified. Since the house was too big for me, after doing some renovations and making it look prettier I decided to rent one of the empty rooms. I remember I rented that 1st room for $400 to a coworker, since the experience was not bad I decided to rent the other 2 empty rooms. By then the money collected helped to completely pay the mortgage. So I was living for free!. Eventually I converted an empty game room into a full room with a full bathroom. Back then I started to make 2.2k a month renting 4 rooms, when my mortgage was 1.2k.

When I saw that as a great business model I decided to replicate that strategy. I bought a second house the year after. Now, that was not easy there were a lot of hiccups, one was from the finance perspective. I had to show the income of that property in a way that I could get another loan because the banks would tell me that I have too much debt compared to my income. But the one who seeks finds says the bible, in that moment I found a couple of people that helped me to set my accounts right and do the right paperwork. So the bank approved the loan so I was able to buy my second home. There is so much to say about this. I might talk about this experience in another post. Eventually things worked out. It was a great experience and this would be the model that I would follow for a long time. Saving, Buying a House, renting rooms, living for free. Eventually I would rent the whole house when I was moving to the next property, because managing rooms one by one was becoming challenging.

Later I learned that what I was doing was already a real estate strategy called BRRR method, where investors Buy, Rehab, Rent, and Refinance the property to buy a new one.

As I was doing all this I was keeping my regular job and later on I've decided to do flips, which is also another story... I currently own 1.4 Million Dollars in assets, still working on my flipping business while keeping my regular job and investing in online opportunities. Eventually I will be quitting my job, but also what I have learnt is that if you decide to become an investor, cash flowing will always be an issue, you will need a source of steady income until you can generate one that can completely replace it.

I'ts been 8 years since I've started this journey. I am not where I want yet, but I think that will happen soon. There is always a starting point, for me it was the purchase of that very first house, I do not think I would have achieved what I have now if I would have not started that journey. Having a regular job, even working over time, how long would have taken me to have the money that I have now?. If I would have not had the courage to jump into the unknown, I would not be sharing this story with you. But thanks to God, I am glad I did.