The first question people ask me when I tell them that I invest in Real Estate is “why did you decide to start investing?” Although my purpose has changed since I made the decision. It all started because of my budget. I purchased my current home in 2017 after renting for a while. Then I bought a new car in 2018. Yes, I bought it brand new and after buying the car, I started looking at my monthly budget and noticed that I wasn’t saving as much money as I used to nor that I wanted to.

Of course, me being the over analyzer that I am sometimes, I took a deeper dive into my finances as a whole. I looked at how much I was spending on everything. I created an Excel spreadsheet to look at how much money came in and out of my bank account. Every month after I looked at the money I would have left after I paid all my bills, I took the remainder and either put it aside or I invested it. I did this process for about 8 months and was helpful to know where I can take some risks with investing and saving.

For anyone looking to invest, I highly recommend that you analyze your monthly finances first. I often hear people asking questions such as what should they invest in or how much money do they need to start investing. The answer is simple. What can you afford?