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Thursday, May 30

More Simplifying...

This is really taking hold lately.  In the last couple of weeks I've done even more to simplify my life:

Finances

These days I'm focused on eliminating recurring transactions.  

  • Paying off Student Loans.  Even though it isn't the smartest money move (I only pay 1.625% interest), I've decided to pay off my student loans.  In May I paid off the smaller of the two loans.
  • After paying my student loans, I will start paying down the mortgage I have on one of my rental properties. 
  • I canceled my $9 Fare Club membership with Spirit Airlines.  It was due for renewal and I realized I had never benefited from it.  Easy decision to make.
  • I'm taking a hard look at all the recurring expenses.  Up on the chopping block are our Busch Gardens annual passes.  It gets harder after that:  nearly all the remaining expenses are mandatory ones like utility bills.

Investing in Recurring Income

While tackling recurring expenses, I want to grow recurring income.
  • Investing in our Airbnb.  It's still earning us significantly more rental income than a traditional rental.  With the dog days of summer upon us, I expect to have some unfilled days.  This will be the perfect time to do some work on the house.  Since the house was built in the 50's there are plenty of things that need to be done, from managing the overgrown back yard and dilapidated fence to replacing the ancient windows.
  • Shifting to more passive recurring income.  While the Airbnb certainly isn't a passive investment, I definitely want to put income generation on auto-pilot.  As an example, when I sold the townhouses, I used some of the funds to invest in Realty Mogul.  I'm a part-owner of an apartment complex in Raleigh, NC now, but I have zero responsibilities as far as maintaining the property or handling tenants.  Removing myself from day to day management frees me up to focus on other things.

Eliminating (More) Things

Next on my list is the garage.  Now that we sold 5 townhouses, I'm considering getting rid of some of my tools.  We also have two mopeds that we never use.  The list goes on.

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