First off, let me start by introducing myself.
My name is trent, im a married, 27yo with 3 children. I have had great opportunities come and go but i always fail to seize the moment for some reason or another. Whether it be medical issues or financial issues, i cant seem to always get things together. My mind is in the right place as far as i know, but my execution of business plans seems to fail me. Every damn time.
I graduated highschool with a 3.74 gpa, fresh out of school, i went into the construction industry working for a company that dealt with government contract only, which as you all may or may not know, pays davis bacon wages. Couple that with being from alaska, i would make anywhere between 35-50$ an hour(back in 2003). As of the last year i worked for them(2010), my wages were 45.00 an hour, 70 for o/t. go above the arctic circle your looking at 65.00 hour and 90/hour o/t. typical workweek was 7/10s or 7/12s
Thats money. Granted, its not really fastlane, as itll take me 10 years to make my first million. Being that it was seasonal the majority of our work was done in the spring-fall months. Which is around 5 months in that lovely state, and the rest of the year you had off to squander away what money you did save. Which was pretty much already spent by me.
with downtime in between those years of 04 and 09, i only worked there a total of around 4 years. Due to being young, and dumb, i blew through my paychecks every week. 4,000 dollar check? down payment on a new car. another check? another truck. Another check? shit i need new shoes, these ones are a month old. New car audio equiptment.
The standard items a young 19 year old would want. I never had a 9-5 minimum wage job until i was 22. And thats when i realized that there is way more to life than just money. I ended up losing everything i worked my a$$ off for in those 4 years because though i had money, i lived on credit. I went from a low 700 credit score to a 4xx in around a year. One vehicle was impounded, the other was voluntary repo. That 300k loan for a house? lol. Im glad i didnt sign for that. The market crashed within a year and i wouldve never been able to afford those payments.
Fast forward to when i quit the job the first time, in 2006, i get married, have a child, look around the job markets in the area. Nothing worth doing. My time is worth at least 15.00 an hour for a day job. If im not making that why bother. So finally finding a job, i work there for a few months. Realize how mundane this shit is, quit, open a business in the same industry, get boned because i had a no compete agreement with the guy. F*ck me right.
Fast forward from 2006 to 2008 i moved back to alaska. Whats this i find? Spam emails? make money while sleeping? lol no way. Scrape emails from craigslist personals and push adult rebills? Hmm. Sounds legit. Yo i need some tools. Email scraper, email platform. good god how much is that? decided itd be beneficial to learn to program.
4 years later, i program fluently in php/html as well as the .net application framework. I work in databases from sqlite/mssql/mysql and do some java though im not very good at that. Started a business working on peoples computers and designing websites.
My self doubt/lack of confidence has led me to fail in the website division multiple times. As for computer repair goes, i did that for a bit, but i never had a business plan or set prices, so i would do work on peoples computers and my ROI on time invested never paid off.
The execution of my businesses has failed every time for one reason or another. That is why i am here. I have definitely noticed over the years, you are who you associate with, albeit not 100% true, your surroundings have alot of weight on your personal life as well as financial.
As of right now, i finally caved, got into school, went and found a 9-5, and i feel like every other person out there. I feel like i got chains on my soul and whips on my back and i havent even started work yet. :bgh:
I wont say im cut from the fabric of an entrepeneur, but im definitely not cut from the same fabric as a walmart greeter or an entry level IT student. Granted its a job, but its not for me. Theres more to life, and i know that. Ive experienced the ability to buy a new car and that feeling when you pull out 10k and people look at you like whoa. That feeling that when you blow 1000 in a day and know your ok because you made 300$ that same day(made 1300, spent 1000). Or when you get fed up with the shit in your daily life and need an escape you buy a plane ticket and take off in under 24 hours to sip mai tais on a white sandy beach to recenter yourself.
---- thats my story in a nutshell ---
My plans are to be independent financially, without worrying about the month to month cycle of bills. Id like to own a Aston DBS and a nice house(circa 300-400k range) and only have to pay my utility/tax/insurance bills since itd be paid off. More so i just am looking to enjoy the life that the stability of having more comming in than going out.
edit: despite all the shit above, i keep on keeping on. The gap from financial irresponsibility to proper money management was me being broke and having to learn how to budget and live within my means.
Time to get some.
tl;dr - money and i are acquainted, i love the freedom from the financial rat race, want a good life for myself and moreso for family, business model execution sucks, but the mindset is there. &also mai tai's on a white sandy beach.
My name is trent, im a married, 27yo with 3 children. I have had great opportunities come and go but i always fail to seize the moment for some reason or another. Whether it be medical issues or financial issues, i cant seem to always get things together. My mind is in the right place as far as i know, but my execution of business plans seems to fail me. Every damn time.
I graduated highschool with a 3.74 gpa, fresh out of school, i went into the construction industry working for a company that dealt with government contract only, which as you all may or may not know, pays davis bacon wages. Couple that with being from alaska, i would make anywhere between 35-50$ an hour(back in 2003). As of the last year i worked for them(2010), my wages were 45.00 an hour, 70 for o/t. go above the arctic circle your looking at 65.00 hour and 90/hour o/t. typical workweek was 7/10s or 7/12s
Thats money. Granted, its not really fastlane, as itll take me 10 years to make my first million. Being that it was seasonal the majority of our work was done in the spring-fall months. Which is around 5 months in that lovely state, and the rest of the year you had off to squander away what money you did save. Which was pretty much already spent by me.
with downtime in between those years of 04 and 09, i only worked there a total of around 4 years. Due to being young, and dumb, i blew through my paychecks every week. 4,000 dollar check? down payment on a new car. another check? another truck. Another check? shit i need new shoes, these ones are a month old. New car audio equiptment.
The standard items a young 19 year old would want. I never had a 9-5 minimum wage job until i was 22. And thats when i realized that there is way more to life than just money. I ended up losing everything i worked my a$$ off for in those 4 years because though i had money, i lived on credit. I went from a low 700 credit score to a 4xx in around a year. One vehicle was impounded, the other was voluntary repo. That 300k loan for a house? lol. Im glad i didnt sign for that. The market crashed within a year and i wouldve never been able to afford those payments.
Fast forward to when i quit the job the first time, in 2006, i get married, have a child, look around the job markets in the area. Nothing worth doing. My time is worth at least 15.00 an hour for a day job. If im not making that why bother. So finally finding a job, i work there for a few months. Realize how mundane this shit is, quit, open a business in the same industry, get boned because i had a no compete agreement with the guy. F*ck me right.
Fast forward from 2006 to 2008 i moved back to alaska. Whats this i find? Spam emails? make money while sleeping? lol no way. Scrape emails from craigslist personals and push adult rebills? Hmm. Sounds legit. Yo i need some tools. Email scraper, email platform. good god how much is that? decided itd be beneficial to learn to program.
4 years later, i program fluently in php/html as well as the .net application framework. I work in databases from sqlite/mssql/mysql and do some java though im not very good at that. Started a business working on peoples computers and designing websites.
My self doubt/lack of confidence has led me to fail in the website division multiple times. As for computer repair goes, i did that for a bit, but i never had a business plan or set prices, so i would do work on peoples computers and my ROI on time invested never paid off.
The execution of my businesses has failed every time for one reason or another. That is why i am here. I have definitely noticed over the years, you are who you associate with, albeit not 100% true, your surroundings have alot of weight on your personal life as well as financial.
As of right now, i finally caved, got into school, went and found a 9-5, and i feel like every other person out there. I feel like i got chains on my soul and whips on my back and i havent even started work yet. :bgh:
I wont say im cut from the fabric of an entrepeneur, but im definitely not cut from the same fabric as a walmart greeter or an entry level IT student. Granted its a job, but its not for me. Theres more to life, and i know that. Ive experienced the ability to buy a new car and that feeling when you pull out 10k and people look at you like whoa. That feeling that when you blow 1000 in a day and know your ok because you made 300$ that same day(made 1300, spent 1000). Or when you get fed up with the shit in your daily life and need an escape you buy a plane ticket and take off in under 24 hours to sip mai tais on a white sandy beach to recenter yourself.
---- thats my story in a nutshell ---
My plans are to be independent financially, without worrying about the month to month cycle of bills. Id like to own a Aston DBS and a nice house(circa 300-400k range) and only have to pay my utility/tax/insurance bills since itd be paid off. More so i just am looking to enjoy the life that the stability of having more comming in than going out.
edit: despite all the shit above, i keep on keeping on. The gap from financial irresponsibility to proper money management was me being broke and having to learn how to budget and live within my means.
Time to get some.
tl;dr - money and i are acquainted, i love the freedom from the financial rat race, want a good life for myself and moreso for family, business model execution sucks, but the mindset is there. &also mai tai's on a white sandy beach.
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum:
Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
