From homeless to home owner in 3 years....
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My name is Sam, this story picks up around September of 2012. I was working as an asset protection associate at a Walmart here in Michigan making $9.10 an hour... hardly a living wage. My paychecks every 2 weeks were $728 before taxes so after taxes I took home around $480... EVERY TWO WEEKS. I had a child support payment of $250 a month (that wasn't taken out of my checks so $125 per paycheck left me with $355 every 2 weeks) I had a car repo company coming after my car which also doubled as my home part of the time cause I couldn't afford rent anywhere. You could say I was in a bit of a predicament.
Now I could've run away from all my problems back to BEAUTIFUL sunny beachy all around wonderful Florida, but that meant leaving my daughter... so while that choice was still there? I never could've left my daughter. But I couldn't afford to move anywhere or get a place, I was still dodging the repo man, and I didn't have enough time in at work to warrant a promotion (even though I felt more than qualified). So I did one of the hardest things I've ever had to do... ask someone for help...
I know right? Asking for help? I'm not talking about the "can you pass me the salt?" or "can you get that door for me?" kind of help either... I'm talking the "my life is in shambles and I need some financial help or I could wind up carless, homeless, and destitute... So, I call my best friend Kyle, told him my situation and he offered to help before I even had to ask. (He was later the best man in my wedding and though I've long since paid him back I still feel I owe him to this day.)
Kyle gave me enough to pay my car off to get the repo man off my back so I could finally sleep in peace. But I was still without a place to stay, due to my financial situation. So due to the fact I had no one here I called the one guy who I thought would have work for me. And lucky for me? He did. I cleaned a medical clinic every day from 430am till 630am, made the place spotless every day. Making $10 an hour doing so. This didn't change my situation, but it was a step in the right direction cause I was now able to save enough to get an apartment.
I looked at a few different places but they all were out of my price range... I finally found the tiniest studio apartment for $425 a month. I applied and was denied immediately cause I didn't have enough history at my current employer... I had to find a co signer for my $425 a month studio apartment. Talk about a reality check.
I was faced with the question, is this the life I want for my daughter? For me? The answer is an apparent HELL NO. I started grinding harder at work, became a candidate for a promotion after just 9 months of being there (normally it takes 2 years), I got another job working security for the Detroit Red Wings, and started doing odds and ends at the medical clinic to get more hours as well. Things were looking up!! But life, as usual, always has some twists and turns for us....
My job as an asset protection associate required me to stop shoplifters and retrieve our items. As you can imagine, this doesn't always go calmly and without a struggle. I had a certain stop that required a bit more physical confrontation to ensure the safety of myself and my other fellow employees. Which wound me up under investigation and possible termination at work... I had JUST interviewed for a management job at another Walmart so this was devastating news. As I'm discussing the specifics of the investigation with a fellow employee my phone rings, it's Ford Motor Company.
I had gone through my testing for Ford back in 2012 and didn't really give it a second thought. I had heard of people taking the test and not hearing anything for years. But yet, here it was. I got a call on Friday "This is HR at Flat Rock Assembly Plant calling to inform you that you've been selected through our hiring process and should show up for orientation on Monday July 29th, 2013." Literally in 3 days. I accepted without hesitations and turned in my 2 weeks at Walmart.
I decided it was best to keep my other 2 side jobs just in case cause I had heard horror stories of people quitting their jobs then being let go on their 89th day. But as I write this story I'm 1 month away from my 4th year anniversary here at Ford, but we will get to that later.
Ford was great, my daughter and I were able to spend a lot more time together, we were insured medically, and actually had PAID vacation time! I thought "this is it!! I've made it!!" I started out making $15.88 an hour, which was a HUGE increase from Walmart. I paid my best friend Kyle back, I was able to buy my daughter and I everything we needed. But I still wasn't happy. Yeah things were easier but my living situation still sucked and while the bills were paid? I couldn't save anything substantial and was still living paycheck to paycheck. It was frustrating, this was supposed to be it! The big 3! You get hired in there you're set for life!! But this was not the case in this day and age. So... what now?
I decided to start researching 401ks and retirement plans cause it's everyone's dream to retire early right?? Well you can know everything there is to know about retirement plans but if you don't have the cash flow to fill them? You're shit out of luck. So the new conquest become "how to I make more money?"
And to be honest? I'm still on this quest. I haven't found my niche, or even a niche I could capitalize on. So I continued to do side work, lawn care, side construction jobs, worked every hour of overtime work offered me. I would'nt sleep for days straight cause I was so determined to change both mine and my families future. And on April 21st, 2015, I purchased my first home.
It had been just under 3 years ago that I was sleeping in the Walmart parking lot, running from repo trucks, not eating for days to ensure I could pay rent and have food for my daughter. But here we are now, and I'm just getting started. I wanted to share my story with whoever I could cause there was so many times I felt so lost, so discouraged, so broken and defeated that had I not had something to fight for? (My wife, who I will get to later but just know she stuck by my side through EVERYTHING and her and my daughter will be given the world) I might've given up. But I didn't, and though I'm not where I want to be? I know I'm well on my way, and wanted to share some of the things I've learned and come across along the way.
I started looking into stocks, CRYPTOCURRENCY, eBay businesses, lawn care, medicinal marijuana, etc. ANYTHING I could think of that could bring in more money... after tons and tons of research, countless hours online, meetings with friends discussing our own thoughts and ideas on what we could do to increase our cash flow we've come up with a few thoughts that I'd like to share with you.
So many people are looking for that ONE thing that's going to make them rich. That grand lottery style deal that will put them on yachts and in penthouses forever. It's simply unrealistic and detrimental to think that way. Granted, there are some people who have made it that way. But more often than not those people you see driving Lamborghini's and bentleys have put years and years in developing MULTIPLE revenue streams to get where than are today. Also, a 15 second google search will tell you the average millionaire has between 5 and 7 streams of income. So the question now becomes, how to create multiple streams of income?
(PART 1) This is something I've been putting together for a little bit now and I'm hoping to get some input on what you guys think so far? Bascially my goal is to share my ups and downs with people who can relate, and to also share my ideas and thoughts on life, money, relationships, etc. and receive input from others to learn as well!