Income: $8,867.35
Expenses: $3,699.27
Savings: $5168.08
Updates to our income report
While I’d love to say our income is continuously going up month over month, we made less than our December income report but still significantly more than we have in the past which is a massive blessing for us. My new sales job hit its first full month of pay so salary alone accounted for $4,510.28 where once I start getting sales rolling in, this number is expected to go significantly higher time and time again.
Since the product we sell is newer, it can take some time for the process to get figured out but all together, it is to the point where the company has a good idea of how to approach each sales call so production should increase more and more. My wife brought in an additional $1,095.67 which is more than I could ask for especially since she’s part-time and taking care of the baby while I’m upstairs working.
I’m thankful for the fact that she’s able to work even to a small degree. While taking care of the baby is the biggest priority, we do have some help which is making the workload manageable. That said, in a perfect world, I would want her to stay home with our baby all day and not have to work but I’ll need to make more income or lower expenses to do so for that to make sense. More on that later 😉
Lastly, our Business income was amazing in January. We brought in $3,261.40 which includes $2021.76 from our Airbnb, and an additional $1,239.64 from both my sports brand sales through my book and affiliate links ($428.44) as well as furniture we sold off to replace with newer modern pieces for the Unit. ($811.2) The plan is to renovate the unit which not only increases equity but also gives a boost in rent. More on that later as well 😉
Updates to our expenses
We have kept a pretty consistent track record of expenses. While there are typically some variations month to month, our average ends up being $4,500 to $5,000 as of now. This month we went on a vacation to San Antonio since our original plans of going to Puerto Rico got canceled for the 2nd year in a row due to Covid.
Therefore, we packed up, used the days we had off, and went to SA for 5 days. It was a blast and we actually saved quite a bit in doing so. The best part is we didn’t need to take any money out of our joint account since all of the savings for a trip were made months prior. Thanks to Rami Sethi and his book “I Will Teach You To Be Rich.”
For the month the most outrageous expense column that was significantly out of the norm was from travel and home purchases like new furniture. But again, by us selling off old furniture, and putting away money months prior, both expenses were virtually “free.” in the sense of not having to come out of pocket from our everyday account.
The trick for us is to learn to live on less than the full amount, automating savings so a portion of our savings are going to work FOR us, and living life as normal. There’s no reason you need to compromise your quality of life to strive for financial freedom. It really comes down to prioritizing expenses, placing value on what you want vs need and committing to a plan. For us, shopping for clothes doesn’t really bring us joy. Why not use the savings from that to buy higher quality food, or save more for a trip somewhere?
Life doesn’t have to be dull and boring. Look at what you love, think of ways to save more for that by eliminating expenses that don’t bring you much joy. For example, if you don’t like going to the movies or eating out, take that extra $100/month and use it on getting an awesome at-home movie setup or badass kitchen tools to make killer meals. You can absolutely substitute something that doesn’t do much for you for something that makes you smile every time you see it.
Changes in mindsets
Moving to Ecuador has become even more of a focal point for us going into 2022. The reason being is;
#1 Healthcare costs. It’s less than $200/m for a family plan with an extremely low deductible and amazing low-cost coverage in Ecuador. Compared to my employer-covered insurance of $600/m for a family plan with a $1,500 deductible and still really good coverage, Ecuador wins by a mile.
#2 being quality of life. Everything there is non-GMO, organically sourced, with very little to no additives that can be harmful. Also, everything is within walking distance of what we’d need. It seems like America is known for having extremely far apart locations so it takes you 30 minutes by car to see different things. While this might not be the same for you, that’s what we’ve noticed. After looking into Ecuador, the weather, mixed with the outdoor lifestyle it brings and the convenience of locations, is the best of all worlds.
#3 biggest reason for us is the cost of living. Again, we spend on average $4,500 to $5,000 a month in expenses for what I would consider being pretty solid. That does include the mortgage but even then, we’re spending around $3,100/month just to live here and we’re fairly frugal. We cook at home 95% of the month, no cable, cars are paid off, I’ve asked for the lowest cost car insurance we can get, there’s not much cutting of expenses left to do.
Now compare that to Ecuador, you can absolutely live an amazing life for $2,500 or less with $2,000+ being on the high side. That’s if we wanted an upscale place to live for $1,000/m private fitness, maid services, etc. Even then, it’s fair to say your dollar goes 2X as far there. Also, what’s nice is our mortgage will be covered because we plan to rent out our home.
Worst case scenario we make $300/M or more by renting the whole home out. Best case, we rent out the Garage Apartment for $1,050-$1,250, and our home pulls in an additional $300 in cash flow after all bills are paid. Our home would be expected to pull in $1,500 on the higher end of the spectrum. Time will tell with this one though.
What lies ahead?
We’ll continue trusting the process and keep doing our best each day. My sports brand is continuing to grow as well as my skills at my sales job. The garage apartment will be renovated fully later this month with new flooring and a kitchen unit which makes it legal for long-term use. The plan as of now on my side is to develop a product to help out my audience.
I know it will be a success but I’m needing a Kickstarter campaign to have proof of concept on the idea before the launch. The other idea we have is to Buy either a storage unit building or a mobile home park. Whichever one we can get for a lower investment we’ll take because both are great investments from a maintenance and cash flow perspective. Ideally, if we could get some storage units, we could put away some of our belongings while we move to Ecuador and not have to worry about paying rent on it. All of that is still in the works but we’re extremely grateful and hopeful for the future! 🙂
Until next time,
- Eric