Resolutions – 2020

It’s a whole new year! You know what that means, right? Time for New Year’s Resolutions. Now, I know some people don’t make resolutions. That’s ok. I for one keep making them every year. Now, I don’t always keep my resolutions, but I always make them. And 2020 is no different. So, let’s dive in to see what my resolutions are for 2020

1. Payoff Consumer Debt Early

One of my goals for 2020 will be to get out of consumer debt. I don’t believe I will eliminate all my debt (unless I win the lotto), but at the very least, I want to eliminate (or greatly reduce) my auto loan. The following are my consumer debts:

• 2018 Honda Civic – $21951 owed at 3.99% interest rate. Payment is $356 per month
  
• Furniture – approximately $20,000 owed at 0% introductory rate for a year. Payment unknown.

I anticipate I will be able to get my furniture at 0% interest for a year. However, I don’t know what the monthly payment will be. Depending on the terms, I may elect to pay off the furniture before the vehicle if, after the year, the payment on the furniture is super high (like around $800). However, if it’s less than the vehicle, then I will tackle the vehicle first.

I won’t be able to start paying off this debt early until I close on the condo which won’t be until March 2020 or so.

2. Start A Business

I have been given this a lot of thought and came very close to formally establishing my business. I definitely don’t want be stuck in analysis paralysis. But, the goal is to start a business and start working on building business credit.

The business I will start will be geared towards real estate investing. I won’t be doing anything real estate investing wise until mid-2020. That’s because I am anticipating personal changes including relocating from where I’m living. In any case, I want to establish a company that invests in real estate.

Part of the reason why I haven’t started yet is because I’m debating whether I want to also have a holding company as well. I’ve determined that I want to establish an LLC, but I’m trying to figure out if it makes sense to establish a holding LLC in addition to an operations LLC.

I’m also considering putting the newly bought condo inside an LLC for asset protection, but also as a means of transforming that purchase into a business. But regardless, I plan on starting a business in 2020.

3. Create A YouTube Channel

As you may realize, I’m not very public. I don’t put my face out there, or even my full name. I’m not really big into social media, although I do have a Facebook Page for Dividend Portfolio. That being said, I’ve been thinking a lot about creating a YouTube Channel.

I don’t believe I would do it under the name of Dividend Portfolio. I figured that I would do it under the Business name. For what it’s worth, I’ve already purchased the business domain, but there is another name that I like. The one I have is more professional, but the one I haven’t purchased yet is a bit more catchy (and less professional). It also costs about $1000 to purchase and so I don’t know if it’s worth buying a domain for that price.

When I create the YouTube Channel it will likely be under one of those two names.

Because I’m not comfortable putting my face out there on YouTube, I’m exploring using an animation software. I might have to put my voice behind the animation, but I think that’s not a bad compromise.

4. Transform My Body

Ok, every year I have a goal of working out at the gym. Every year, I hire a personal trainer and every year I pretty much look the same. But, for some reason, I feel 2020 will be different.

For starters, I figured out how to lose weight. I was at 185 lbs not too long ago starting to show a bigger belly. To help reduce weight, I started practicing Intermittent Fasting, which I’ve done for the past month-and-a-half. The results have been satisfactory. I got to as low as 168 lbs, but at the time of this writing, my weight is 170 lbs. I don’t really have a weight goal, but I want to finally build muscle.

In addition to fasting, my goal is to eat healthier. I’ve already cut out a lot of sugar from my diet. While I do still eat rice, bread and pasta, I only eat them in very small amounts. The biggest (and surprising) change for me is that I’ve stopped going to Starbucks and getting my very expensive and sugar-filled cafe vanilla frappuccino. I had been getting that same drink for over 10 years! Now, when I go to Starbucks, it’s to get black coffee so I don’t break my fast.

What’s more is that I plan to greatly reduce my consumption of alcohol. I think my liver needs a break. I don’t think it’s realistic to completely eliminate alcohol, but I will limit both the number of days I drink and the amount I drink per day. Because I plan to be far more financially conscious in 2020, I intend on spending a lot less on alcohol in 2020. So far, it’s been a successful sober January.

Finally, I hope to control my spending eating out. I’ll be cooking more, or spending a lot less eating out. Again, nothing specific, but the wasteful spending that I’ve done in the past (such as spending $50 eating out at one restaurant for one meal) will remain in the past. All the above will help in me transforming my body in 2020.

5. Buy A Primary Residence

Ok, this one is a stretch, but one of the things I’ll be looking at is the possibility of buying a primary residence in 2020. Because I just bought a condo, the banks are going to want to see whether or not I’m making or losing money. One way they do that is to analyze my tax return for the year. The problem is, I won’t be filing my taxes that relate to the condo until 2021. So, the initial problem will be to find a lending institution willing to work with me, given the above constraints.

The other problem is that I won’t really have the money for closing costs, even if I have the money for a down payment. I’m exploring things such as using my Roth IRA to help with the finance of a primary residence.

In all likelihood though, this won’t happen until mid-2021. That way, I’ll know if I’m really making or losing money on the condo. Additionally, some of my other debts would hopefully have been eliminated or greatly reduced, which would improve not just my cash flow, but the all important debt-to-income ratio.

There are other reasons why it would make sense to purchase a primary residence as one of my 2020 resolutions, but I’ll leave that for another post.

6. Resume Dividend Portfolio Contributions

Given my lofty get-out-of-debt goals and real estate investment plans in 2020, it’s hard to imagine there being money left over for more resolutions. I’m hoping there is. Even if it’s a nominal contribution (such as $50 monthly or $100 monthly), I do intend on resuming my contributions to my dividend portfolio.

Over the next two years, I plan on buying a primary residence and at least one other investment real estate property. Whenever I buy the primary residence, I’m hoping it’s a duplex, triplex or fourplex. My preference would be a fourplex. In addition to renting out the other three units, I would also take in a roommate in my side of the fourplex as well. That way, my tenants are covering the mortgage. This is called house-hacking. I did a similar thing with my first house, where I had roommates covering the mortgage, but that was a single family residence. I can’t wait!

As I mentioned earlier, I plan on relocating from the very expensive state of California. More on that in future posts, but if and when that happens, I’ll be in a much more advantageous position to invest in a more reasonable real estate market closer to where I’m living. The positive cash flows from all the real estate investing I’m doing will hopefully free up enough cash from my personal income to afford me the opportunity to resume my contributions to my dividend portfolio.

Conclusion

There you have it. For some reason, I’m just very excited to usher in a New Year and take this new motivation I have to fulfill all my resolutions for 2020. It won’t be easy, but it will definitely be worth it.

What did you think of this post? Did you have any resolutions for 2020? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below.