It’s hard to believe, but five years ago, Joe Franz, a Maryland schoolteacher, paid cash for his first home.
Of course, it’s not a giant mansion or even a modest suburban rancher. The entire home is actually only 180 square feet — about the size of his old one-bedroom apartment. But unlike that old apartment, Joe’s new house is his. He owns it.
The house, which was built new, came with a full kitchen, washer/dryer, bathroom, loft-style bedroom, and plenty of living space. But the best part is that if Joe ever wants to move, he can take his house with him.
You see, Joe’s new house was built on a flatbed trailer. And while he has no plans to move it anytime soon, the option to do so certainly offers Joe a tremendous amount of freedom and flexibility.
Not a bad deal when you consider the entire house cost him just $39,000.
That’s right — for $39,000, Joe was able to buy a new house, pay cash, and have the ability to take that home with him if he ever decides to move. Not a bad deal, especially these days when so many folks are looking to save a little money.
A Small Fortune
Joe’s small home is now parked on a half-acre lot in the county. He pays $2,500 a year to have his home there, and the lot includes access to electric, water, and a sewer line. Those services run him about $600 a year.
So basically, with his lot rental and utility bills, Joe spends just over $3,000 a year — or just under $260 per month.
Can you imagine spending just $260 per month for all your lodging and utility needs?
It’s no wonder Joe’s been able to amass a small fortune over the past five years.
Sure, he still spends money on food, clothing, gas, insurance, and a few non-essentials, but overall, Joe has been able to build his wealth quite rapidly.
Part of the reason is that downsizing his lifestyle has enabled him to funnel more of his take-home income into smart investment opportunities.
From $22k to $334k
Joe’s take-home is about $40,000 a year. He makes pretty good money for a teacher, and his benefits are top-notch.
Of course, some of his colleagues who make the same amount of money are ponying up $1,800 mortgage payments every month, along with $200 to $300 monthly utility bills. Not surprisingly, these folks have little to no savings, and most are drowning in debt. But not Joe.
In fact, he’s been able to use the money he’s saved by avoiding high utility bills and burdensome mortgage payments as investment capital. And thanks to some very smart investments, Joe’s portfolio, which started out with only about $22,000, is now worth more than $334,000.
How did he do it?
Simple. He just disciplined himself, and he invested about half of his investment capital along the way in stocks my colleague Keith Kohl recommended in his Energy Investor advisory.
How did that work out for him?
Here are just a few of Joe’s winners based on Keith’s recommendations…
- Brigham Exploration — 392.9%
- American Oil & Gas — 90.66%
- Petrobank Energy — 27.12%
- Continental Resources — 40.09%
- Enbridge, Inc. — 62.71%
Of course, none of this would’ve been possible had Joe not initially decided to downsize.
When I tell folks about Joe, the first thing they say is, “Oh, I could never live like that.”
My response is simple…
“Live like what?”
A smart investor? A man who will be able to retire comfortably by the time he turns 50? A man who now has enough money that he could quit his day job?
Joe tells me his plan is to keep working for another eight years, at which time he’ll hitch up his home, drive to Florida, and spend the rest of his life sipping mojitos and playing his guitar on the beach.
Of course, Joe doesn’t have any kids, nor is he married (although he is engaged to a lovely woman who now lives with him in his tiny house — and loves it). So certainly, that makes things easier.
But it doesn’t change the fact that by downsizing his lifestyle, becoming extremely fiscally disciplined, and investing in the right opportunities, Joe has transitioned himself from a debt-burdened, lower middle-class schoolteacher into a man who will soon boast the label of millionaire. And he’ll have reached this end result in less than twelve years.
To a new way of life and a new generation of wealth…
Jeff Siegel
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Jeff is the founder and managing editor of Green Chip Stocks. For more on Jeff, go to his editor’s page.
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