Finally, with the help of family, I finally landed a job and although it’s not a job in the industry I went to school for (actually the job doesn’t require a degree, and since I had one it almost ruined my chances of getting this job) it still pays close to $50,000 a year, much more than $9,000 a year I was making at my part-time job.

This job isn’t glamorous and consist of physically hard work, but it has opened the door way to me for many financial opportunities. Thanks to the increase in income from this job I’ve been able to begin paying down my student debt more aggressively and about a week ago set up a 401k account to start contributing to!

Yes! Finally, I’ll have a 401k! One thing I want to point out is that my employer unfortunately doesn’t have a matching program for contributions to a 401k. This is because they provide a pension to employees, but an employee has to be employed there for a minimum of five years before they can begin receiving the pension benefits.

Now that I have finally set up a 401k account I plan on contributing the maximum amount allowed to it each year, which is $18,000 as of 2015 and the IRS just announced that it’ll stay the same in 2016.

The post I Finally Started a 401k! appeared first on Drunk on Moolah.

Well, I personally don’t want to put my life on hold so I can go to work everyday to make a mediocre wage while making somebody else rich.

I decided I would no longer fantasize about someday traveling the world and actually do it. No more of the same old excuses like “first I need to get a good career and make a lot of money” or “I can’t because I have bills and student loans to pay.” These excuses are weak. I refuse to wait until I’m old and gray to finally enjoy all the experiences and thrills that life has to offer.

I been wanting to do this for awhile and like many others I read The 4-Hour Workweek, but I never put together a plan on how to I’m going do it. So, I’ve constructed a deadline of when I’m going to drop everything and leave the 9 to 5 life behind. The Deadline is January 1st, 2017. This gives me a little over a year to get all my affairs in order and get done what needs to be done for this deadline happen.

I decided in order for this to really happen I would need to have a detailed plan in place. This plan lists exactly what needs to be done and how to do it.

The Plan… 

1. Reduce Clutter

In order to drop everything and just leave, I’ll have to get rid of all the excess stuff in my life that have no meaning and just take up space.

Sell Everything. By selling everything I don’t need and rarely use I’ll be making some extra cash and at the same time reducing clutter. I’m currently listing two items a week on craigslist. By only listing two items a week on craigslist instead of trying to sell everything at once I won’t be overwhelmed.

Donate Everything Else. Whatever I can’t sell I plan on donating to charities.

Throw Away Everything Else. Things that can’t be donated will be thrown away.

2. Mobilize My Income

In order to fund my adventures, not have to worry about money, or go broke while traveling, I’ll have to mobilize my income. Now this is a tricky one and will be somewhat difficult. I’ve have no experience when it comes to making money online or running a mobile business and decided to do some research in this field.

If you Google search “How to Make Money Online” or “How to Make Money While Traveling” you get millions of results. Many of the results are unrealistic or only pay pennies on the dollar and are not worth doing. There are a few I discovered and want to give a try.

Blogging. This blog for instance (I currently make no money from this blog, and do not intend to anytime in the near future). Besides this blog, I’d love to start a blog to document and write about my travels.

Teaching English. When traveling to non-English speaking counties that I plan on visiting for awhile, I could pick up a job teaching English.

Travel Writing. While traveling, enjoying good wine, and going on wild adventures, and having the time of my life I could write some awesome articles for some cool websites about my travels and experiences.

Freelance. I’m no expert at online marketing or web design, I am however decent at it and know more than the average person and could offer these type of services to others.

Find a Job. I could always find a temporary job while traveling and who knows I might discover a job I really enjoy and learn new skills.

3. Open A Bank Account for Travel Expenses

I’m going to open a bank account specifically for funding my travels. The deadline to drop everything and just go is January 1st, 2017, my goal is to have $10,000 in this account by that time. This is going to be extremely difficult but doable.

As that deadline gets closer I’m sure this list will go. Whether or not I’m actually able to save up $10,000 or not in my travel fund is to be determined.

The post How I Plan To Mobilize My Life and Travel appeared first on Drunk on Moolah.