Money Matters

All this talk about running and weight-loss and creams and I haven't even touched base with my main reason for doing all of this!
Money.
I have decided to become a millionaire.

It started a few months ago when I was going through the latest in a long list of financial crisis. A friend of mine decided to quit her job and trade stocks on her own dime and time. There were times she would make $2000 a week. To me, making $450 a week after taxes, this seemed as magical as winning the lottery. But lots of people make money through stocks, so why not me? So I headed out to the library to see if I could find a book to teach me about trading stocks.  I walked away with many books, but the one that had the most impact was a book called The Millionaire Maker. Now, I have to say this book really makes it seem easy and totally plausible to quit your job tomorrow, start a business, that will obviously be an immediate success, bringing you extra money, which you can then invest and save, making more money which you then use to re-invest in rental properties that will bring you additional income, etc... etc... that will generate this whole money-making cycle. Making you a millionaire in just 3-5 years. Provided you're not in debt. 
Yeah...
All of this sounds completely possible and these seem to be sound business practices to reach your millionaire goal. In theory. However, most of the examples in this book, even the examples of people deeply in debt, had some kind of assets to work with. 401K plans, savings, work history, houses or cars. Some kind of assets to trade, cash out, refinance, or borrow against. But I was very inspired. I wanted to quit my job immediately, start a business and jump in feet first. So I started to take a good hard  look at my life, financially, and realised... I have none of these things.
No savings, no disposable income to speak of, sometimes I have less than $5 in my account at the end of the week and its a struggle just to buy milk, no car (as I live in NYC), also no house or apartment. I rent a room on a week to week basis (that's probably not entirely legal) in what is easily the crappiest apartment I have ever lived in. (Another entry in and of itself.) I cashed out the $700 I had in 401K the last time I was laid off, so no valuables to speak of with which to sell, and I work 10-13 hours a day, 6 days a week, which leaves no time to work a second job since finding time to do laundry or buy groceries is a challenge, and since I changed careers a little over a year ago, I have very few skills and experience to pull from. Also, I have a mountain of debt, around $33,000.
So. How does someone with almost nothing become a millionaire?
For one thing, I have decided to start this blog. Partly to keep me focused on my goals, partly to inspire others in my situation and, in turn, be inspired by my readers, and, yes, partly to receive extra money from ads posted here. That's right my little sweater-monkeys, I fully intend to use all of you as part of my springboard to success. Muuah-hahahahahaha. ha. In an ethical, honest, up-front kind of way, of course!
According to The Millionaire Maker book there are many steps to becoming a millionaire and what step you start with depends on your current financial status. At the moment my only assets are my limited skill set and my job. Ideally, I will use these assets to make a money making machine (i.e.- business). My goal is to get some kind of passive income (i.e.- investments where my money works for me instead of me working for money), get out of debt, and build some kind of savings.
So first of all, I called all my credit cards and negotiated with them to lower my APR's, allowing me to make more than just the minimum payments and pay off my credit cards faster. Now, I know you can also get credit unions and debt consolidators to do this for you but so many of them are just shady con-men, out to get your money. And why pay someone else to do what you are perfectly capable of doing yourself?! My most ambitious success was when I negotiated the biggest credit card with the highest debt and APR from $260/month to $210/month. I know this doesn't seem like much, but they also lowered my APR from close to 35% (outrageous by the way) to 5% (Amen, Hallelujah)! Meaning that almost all of that $210 was now going towards paying off my balance instead of paying off my banks' salaries. They also closed my account, but the hit to my credit was a small price to pay considering I would be out from under this ginormous debt in as little as 5 years!
Unfortunately, my next highest balance refused to go lower since they were already pretty low at 9%. And my last credit card also refused to go lower. Although I don't know why. And while it was not my highest balance, it is still my highest APR at 16%. And this has earned them a place in my sights. They are now at the top of my list to pay off. I also have subsidized government student loans at the tune of $14,000 but I got very lucky and locked in an APR of 2%. And since student loans are not considered 'bad debt', I'm not too worried about this one.
BankRate.com, that will compare rates from all kinds of banks and all kinds of accounts- very helpful. I would also  suggest reading a book called, Young, Broke, and Fabulous, by Suze Orman to teach you the basics of managing your money. It's very easy to read and understandable.
Now my next step is to start some kind of cash machine (i.e.- easy money), some kind of business with a low start up and overhead, using skills I already have, which will give me money to put towards following my bigger passions and goals and starting my dream business. To do all of this though I will need to find a different job that will give me less hours and the same or equal pay to what I'm making now. Spending more time on a money making business!
So away we go my little money-makers!
And just to prove that my life is not a total crap-fest, I will share with you a song I first heard only a few short weeks after I decided to become a millionaire. I took it as a sign and I hope that all of you will enjoy it as much as I do... 
I Wanna Be a Billionaire

Ignorance is Bliss?

Today I was thinking about the creative process, my process in particular, and how knowing too much about something tends to put me in a kind of writers', or artists', block. When I was studying fashion, getting to see how The Greats work and getting involved with all the cutting edge trends. I would find myself utterly lost on how to proceed with my own designs! I was on information overload, bombarded with too many images and trends going in every possible direction. Finding my own direction and inspiration seemed impossible. I felt cursed by the infinite possibilities and options. Which one was the 'right' direction, or option, or whatever?


Now I can't speak for everyone. And I know there are plenty of people out there with completely different views but I will say this... What's wrong with not having the perfect product or idea?! Sometimes we get so bogged down in getting things 'perfect' that we never actually launch our idea/product/design etc. at all! I mean haven't you heard of Betas? Also, I can say from personal experience that sometimes Ignorance is Bliss. If I had known then what I know now, I never even would have tried to change careers the way I did.

Basically, I did a Google search for the best bakeries in NYC and just went down the list, cold-calling to see if anyone would be willing to teach me if I worked for free. I was on unemployment at the time, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford to make that kind of offer. As I got rejection after rejection, I finally got someone willing to interview me. He was a French pastry chef with an amazing reputation and was leaving his current job to help open an upscale Italian restaurant. He started me off on a trial period of 3 weeks to see if I worked out. Well, he must have seen something promising because I've been there over a year now! "There is just on snag," he said. "You have to be on the payroll for insurance purposes." Turns out all those restaurants were rejecting me because I wouldn't have been covered under their insurance if something happened to me in their kitchens! I would have been a huge liability! Thank God for crazy French chefs who know nothing about American laws! I couldn't believe my luck! I was actually getting paid to learn! And if I had known about the insurance situation before I started cold-calling, I don't think I would have even tried and I would not have had the amazing experiences and knowledge I have today. (Including how to say "burnt" in Italian, Spanish, and French!)

So, in some ways, yes, I think ignorance is bliss. How else can you achieve the impossible? I know many would argue that it was just blind luck, but I like to think it was because I had the gumption to put myself out there, take that first step, and jump feet first into the unknown. If no one tells you you can't do something, then maybe you can! Sometimes it's ignorance that lets you solve problems and meet your goals in fresh and exciting ways!

If you have a similar story of gumption, please email it to me and I will share the most inspiring in my next post!

And for those of you who love food as much as I do, I'm adding a page dedicated only to Foodie Films only added to my decision to pursue a career in cooking. Movies that inspire me. Maybe it's just the romantic in me, but I'm sure these
If you have your own foodie films, let me know and I'll try to add them to the list!