I’m 33 years old, and I have worked for the past 20 years without interruption and have always had a passion for personal finance. I attended university three times, each time obtaining a different diploma – starting with Mechanical Engineering, then Business Management, and finally Business Administration (MBA). In my early teens, I did community work, like clearing snow in the winter and mowing lawns in the summer for neighbours and nearby businesses. I also delivered papers and flyers for the local newspaper every weekend. At fourteen, I worked as a groundskeeper at a hotel over the summer of eighth grade and then worked at a fast-food restaurant until the end of the tenth grade. I resigned from the fast-food restaurant to join a home improvement store where I worked throughout high school. Throughout college, I worked two jobs – one as a forklift operator at a grocery warehouse, and one supervising the computer lab after-hours at the college campus. Although my parents helped with tuition, shelter, and food, I was responsible for my transportation costs, books, clothing, activities, mobile phone, etc. which consumed most of my income. However, balancing two jobs and full-time studies allowed me to graduate debt-free. I recall having only a few hundred dollars in my bank account upon graduation which got me through until my first paycheck arrived later in May. Though I was broke, I had developed a personal finance mindset from the years of working and budgeting financial responsibilities.

At twenty years old, my friend’s financially successful parents had told me that they largely credit their financial success to having paid off their home by the age of 30 and being fully debt-free. Fifteen years later, as they encouraged me and my friend to do the same, we were sitting in the very same home that they had paid off in their twenties. This accomplishment, along with maintaining a modest lifestyle enabled them to focus their income on investments from which they prospered. That day, I set myself two ten-year goals: be debt-free and have a paid-for house by the age of thirty.

I am happy to say that without winning any lottery, or inheriting money, I accomplished both goals. We (my wife and I) paid off our final debt (our home) fifty-eight months into the fifteen-year mortgage – one month before my thirtieth birthday. Since then, we have been working towards our next financial goal of purchasing a home in a more desirable neighbourhood. We are remaining prudent and trying not to allow lifestyle creep to affect our goals. This requires dedication and continued delayed gratification. There is no lack of desires – from nicer cars to beautiful holidays – we continue to remain focused and realize that acting on these desires can delay our next financial goal. 

Contact me at info@fiscalparadigm.com