30 Goals to Achieve

Tomorrow I turn 29. I haven't given it much thought up to this point and I'm a little ashamed to admit that I'm starting to think quite a bit about now. Although, all it took was a simple Google search to quiet my rising concerns over the issue. I stopped clicking on the Google results after running across five other blogs that shared a common theme. They all were describing the things in which the authors thought that they should have had worked out by this age. Apparently these five people had a set of goals for their lives and they didn't really know that they had them until this 29th birthday came about. So, they spoke of their determination to get these goals achieved in the next year.

I, on the other hand, am rather content where I am in life and what I have accomplished. There is only one goal that I know that I had made in my early twenties that I don't see happening by the time I reach the big 3-Oh. I had wanted to be in a house for five years by that time so that I could have enough equity built up in it to sell it and buy a few acres. I then wanted to use the property value to acquire a construction loan. I would then build a house on a one acre plot of this property and live in it for a minimum of two years. This way, when I sold it, in my thirties, I would avoid Capital Gains tax and be able to build another house on another one of the acres and repeat this process a couple or three times. It's a great way to make good money as long as you leave yourself with enough capital to pay for two mortgages until the house sells.

Well, I didn't get approved for a home loan for many years because of a poor credit history. Jodi and I had to work at it to get our credit good enough for approval. Because of this stumbling block on our path, my plan had to change. But, I'm happy to announce that the plan is no less profitable. I thought that I'd have to live in a house for 5 years before I got enough equity to do anything like this, but that's not true. Jodi and I have proven our shared love for home remodeling and have managed to stay dedicated to it in every way including financially. It's so easy to get that tax refund and go out and buy some new toy. But, we've started new projects every time we got a large sum of money and even some times when we didn't. The result is an ever-improving house that scarcely resembles the one in which we bought about 16 months ago.

I'm thinking now that the appraised value of our house will be much higher than what we had originally estimated. And because we're doing all these home improvements with available cash rather than taking out a loan or racking up a credit card debt, we stand to come out much prettier. This all means more equity which can be used to acquire another house to do it again or some land to do the previous plan or whatever we decide.

Every other goal for 30 is already achieved, so I can concentrate on and enjoy my life rather than feel the pressure of a set of goals left unfulfilled. Stay tuned tomorrow for my actual birthday as there will be a fun little game for you all to play. The winner will receive an honorable mention in an upcoming blog as well as a possible cheesy gift that has yet to be determined. Even though it's my birthday.

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