- Get your financial house in order first.
Expenses & income--You have to organize your expenses and income like a business. Determine how you can reduce expenses and increase income. I read a lot of Robert Kiyosaki for help with this. I also went to a local Meetup about investing and we learned about personal finances there too.
Expenses:
Two major mindset changes need to be done. First, rethink your personal definitions of "wants" and "needs." This is a difficult one. Some things I changed from needs to wants and could therefore get rid of were cable TV, eating out too often, getting new clothes I didn't need. Shopping at major chain stores when I could get the exact same things at dollar stores or discount stores. And, eliminating shopping as an activity and only when I had something that I identified that I needed. In addition to the discount stores, I even turned shopping at Goodwill type surplus stores into treasure hunting. My girlfriend at the time even got into it. I saved hundreds of dollars a month with those changes and they were mostly painless.
Instead of cable TV, I read about real estate investing, online investing, and digital nomad living. I also spent that TV time on exercising. Getting out of my apartment more often. Seeing friends more often (they might not have liked that as much! LOL).
I needed to get rid of my credit card payments. I needed a car that worked but without a car payment or expensive insurance. I bought a scooter and used that for 80% of my transportation. It was a blast!
I adopted a frugal mindset. When you do that, giving up things like cable TV doesn't seem like a sacrifice, but more like a relief! It freed up time to be outside more. To read more. I'd hop on my scooter, ride to the park and read or exercise. I cancelled my gym membership then studied online about options for outside exercising.
I read about being frugal and was proud of it. To me, being frugal wasn't about being cheap, it was about not wasting money when you don't have to. Why pay $3 for a box of soap when you can buy it for a $1 at a dollar store. My girlfriend and I would have picnics instead of going out to eat. I had s shopping routine. I would go to stores in the following order, from least expensive to most expensive-- 1) Dollar store. 2) Discount store 3) Surplus store (if applicable) 4) Regular chain stores.
So I paid off my credit cards. I only kept the no annual fee Visa-Mastercards and my Amex card. I never charged anything I couldn't pay off that month and I never carried a balance. I kept my Amex because although it has an annual fee, it is great for traveling and online ordering.
I have disputed numerous things though Amex and they were awesome. This includes a botched car repair that the shop tried to charge me almost $2,000 for. In addition to reporting the shop to the state licensing, I disputed it through Amex because that's the card I used to pay for the repair. I forwarded the state complaint to Amex and after their investigation, I won the dispute and did not have to pay the $2,000. The shop also paid for another shop to do the repair the correct way. Amex has helped with other legitimate online disputes in the 20+ years I've been with them. Once a website charged me double for an item. Amex took care of that dispute for me too. So, I find their card invaluable for being a Digital Nomad.
Income:
I had a good job and it offered unlimited overtime. Unfortunately the job was a high stress job so I only worked about 8-10 hours of OT a week. That was about an extra check every month so all that money got included in my other savings.
If I didn't have the OT opportunity I would have gotten a part-time job somewhere. I don't care what it would have been, it could have been working at a retail store on the weekend or anything to get extra money to put towards my move abroad.
I learned about tax advantages and worked with my tax person each year to get good tax refunds. That went right into savings too.
I gathered everything I wasn't going to take with me and what I could sell on craigslist and ebay, I did. I used craigslist for easy to sell or large items.
I went to ebay with some other things that I needed to reach a larger audience with. I sold things I never thought I would. I had a bunch of old camping gear. It was all still working, just old. I put it together and sold it as a lot to a Boy Scout leader. I sold old car manuals from a classic car I had. I even sold my beloved classic car on ebay. I sold an old bike rack for a car. I spent a buck on spray paint, cleaned and painted it, and sold it on craigslist.
It became a challenge to see what I could sell. I priced the things reasonably and it all sold. I sold all my old sports and camping gear and more. The things I didn't sell I gave to various family members who wanted them. Anything that was left I gave to my parents who were going to give it to a neighbor who was having a garage sale. I let my parents keep the money from those sales.
My next post will be on banking and investment preparations before you move!