Nontraditional Methods for Paying Off Debt & Growing Your Investments with Carly DeFelice

Foreign.

This is the no Closer show where you get the latest developments in distressed note investing and learn the secrets of how you can control millions of dollars worth of property. For panties on the dollar. Get educated and entertained by someone who has closed thousands of deals and lives to support you in achieving the same. Now here's your host CEO of We Close Nodes, Scott Carson.

Hey real estate investors. If you have ever wanted to dive into the sexy side of real estate and become a note investor and not just somebody that owner finances properties or buys and sells on terms, but somebody who's actually buying debt from lenders, mortgage bankers, hedge funds on distressed real estate on both residential and commercial properties. Now is the perfect time. And guess what? We have our upcoming three day workshop here in just a few days on July 25th, 26th and 27th. That's right, that's a Friday. Saturday, Sunday. You can join me live on Zoom and our Note Buying for Dummies workshop. We'll go through the Fs of how to find fund and flip non performing notes at huge discounts without having to use your own money. And we'll show you all the different ways you can make money being a note investor. Day one's all about how we find these deals from banks, hedge funds and how you can automate the process of connecting with these people and get tapes and listen to you over and over again. Day two is all about raising capital and marketing. We'll show you how to tap into thousands of IRA investors who are looking for deals to fund and how to communicate and how to contact them and get them to fund your deals. And day three is all about the flip the exit strategies putting deals together. We'll mix in due diligence. We'll mix in the marketing side along with the structure side. So much stuff in three days live on Zoom with yours truly, the note guy, Scott Carson. Make sure you get signed up by going to Note buying for dummies.com or click on the three day workshop tab on our workshop. Get signed up today as we're still running discounts and you too can soon become a no buyer.

Foreign.

Good afternoon and good evening everybody. Hey. Welcome this episode of the Note Closure Show. As always, Scott Carson jacked up for today's episode and I know many of you will love this episode because it's definitely for me. I was really excited to get this guest on and we've been friends for a while. We're both in the fincon family of stuff. We've known each other for I guess about two years. Now, but what I love is what this entrepreneur is hard working gal has done. And her story was recently picked up a couple months ago by msnbc and it's all over the place. Maybe even saw it. But I know when I talk to new investors out there, you guys are often like, I really, I want to start investing because A, I want to have a better life, but B, I also want to pay off debt or do some things I got pay off student loans. Well, this gal, she took maybe the non traditional approach to things and I love it. But it's paid off in the long run with a lot of sacrifice and a lot of great things. But I really am so glad to have her. Now, who am I talking about? Well, she's known as the founder of the best money class ever. She is a UT grad. Go Longhorns. But that's great. She's my friend. Carly DeFeliso, join us here today. So what's going on, Carly? How you doing today?

I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. This is amazing. I love talking.

I know. Who doesn't love talking money?

I love talking money. Well, there are people who do not want to talk about it. There's shame and remorse and all that. And I'm here to be like, money's fun. This is amazing.

Well, but it's funny that you bring it up because that is one of the biggest issues out there. And we've been doing this series kind of lately. We had about 30 people on from Fincon that talked about a variety of different things, you know, like accounting and finance and bookkeeping and investing, stuff like that and budgeting, stuff like that. But I'm really glad to have you on here to talk about kind of your journey and how you took the approach that you wanted to pay off student loans and debt and cars and, and start sucking money away. But you do the non traditional approach. So we'll put a link to the, the YouTube video that was all the rave out there. But talk about kind of your journey a little bit for those that are listening.

Yeah. So I'm Carly. I studied finance and I graduated in December of 2008 with a finance degree, conveniently when the entire financial market completely crashed. So talk about perfect timing, right? Um, I owed about $35,000 at the time. It was student loans and a car loan. And I just remember, like walking into my finance professor's office hours like, oh my gosh, what am I going to do about this whole like, job thing? I have debt, economy's in shambles you know, people are losing their job, the housing, you know, crap, everything was just like chaos. And so more than ever, I really wanted to get my, my financial house in order. So I really made it a priority as a young 20 something to pay off debt and build savings. So by age 26, I was completely debt free and then saved my first 100k. And what I am most proud of is during that time I was only earning like regular income, like 50 or $60,000. So I thought, hey, if I can pay off debt, if I can invest, then anyone really can with just a little bit of an education and a solid plan. So, so literally like coffee in hand and my laptop, I took what I learned studying finance and then I created best money class ever. So I'm a little biased, but I do think it's the best class ever.

But that's, but that's great. And because here's the, here's the great thing. You walk the walk before you share.

Yeah.

So, you know, in some people's mind, they're like, what, 50 grand a year? They're living in Ohio. They're like, I'd be living in Highlands.

This is Austin, Texas.

This is Austin, Texas.

This is Austin, Texas.

So let's talk a little about that because I love what you. I mean, you walked in your finance professor. Now what did you want to do when you graduated? What would been your ideal job in the finance street when you graduated? You know?

Yeah. So I wish I was someone who like, knew exactly, you know, I wish I had like this mastermind, this master plan. And I honestly didn't exactly know. And so for anyone, if you're, you know, a new grad or even if you're like midlife crisis and you're like, I don't know what I want to be. You know, you're like 49 and like, I don't know what I want to be. Kind of to take you back to the mindset that I had was, I'm not sure. And there was a finance professor and I was just like, I like her, I trust her. She was an investment banker and she semi retired, about the age that I am right now, which I'm 38 now. She had retired, semi retired and became a professor. So she had also like walk the, you know, walk, and wasn't just an academic, she actually was in finance. And I just had this trust and rapport with her where we would have these conversations, office hours, and then we'd even grab coffee sometimes. And so I really, really, truly believe in the Power of mentorship, finding people that you trust and seeking advice from. From that. So to take you back, when I was in college, I actually did a crazy summer sales internship. It was face to face, but direct sales. But it was literally like door to door. And. And so when I was in college, I was recruited to do this, this sales, like, direct sales, door to door sales. And I kind of bought into it because the number one skill that people lack when you graduate is communication. And so what better way to develop those communication than like walking up to a random person's house and like selling them something. And so I sold home security systems. And. And my first summer, my sales were like, so. So the next summer, my sales increased. And then it clicked. I became like a selling machine. I became a top sales rep in an Inc. 500 company, one of the 500 fastest growing companies.

Wow.

And so my finance professor knew this experience and she was like, hey, you know the industry, you know how to sell. Why don't you go out and just start your own company doing that? And so that's something that never would have crossed my mind to go from college student to entrepreneur. I couldn't really think of a good reason why not. And so the only problem was I was like, okay, who's going to do the installs? So at the heat of a recession, I literally, like rolled up my sleeves and trained myself how to install home security systems. So. So it was a wild journey. But yeah, I definitely. I know there's a lot of online marketers and other money coaches and like finance people, but Yeah, I. For eight years, I actually 100% was an entrepreneur doing that business. And so that was definitely the mantra that I have for my best money class ever. Students is whatever your day job is, is to become CFO and manage your money like a boss. And so I definitely was this literally CFO CEO is like a one, one, one woman show, like home security business. But yeah. Yeah, that's awesome.

Now, did it take a lot of capital? Because, you know, most people don't think about starting a business right out of college. You know, it's. I know when I was graduating back in 01, it was going on all these interviews and I'm work, we're going to benefits, and you're like, you know, I'm gonna get a new job or new apartment, you get the new car and stuff like that. What kind of capital did you need to start that? Was it limited capital or could you sell and then go buy the stuff that you need to install it? How'd it kind of.

Yeah, sure. So a lot of people like don't know how, you know, like there's adt, there's all these security companies, don't exactly know how the industry works. Kind of a little insiders. Basically how it works is for most of these companies the customer signs up for typically like a 36 month agreement and it is a little bit similar to how more the mortgage. You sign up for a mortgage and then the bank actually sell your mortgage to another company.

Yep.

So essentially my customers would sign up for a 36 month agreement and that's kind of looked at as like an asset. And so basically I would get paid out on what's called a multiple of. Because it's recurring revenue that they're committed to the legal document that. So they're going to pay like it was like 49, 99 or something for 36 months. So so basically the way that I had the business set up was I had a monitoring company that would then right away buy that agreement and I'd get paid out in full on that contract.

That's a note. You set up a note agreement. Basically a 36 month note.

Yeah, yeah.

And then you just sold it in the secondary market. This is awesome.

Yeah, so I had very little knowledge on that and until, you know, as a college student I, I learned from. So I highly encourage people to learn about an industry by doing. And so yeah. So in terms of my experience graduating, having student loans in a car loan, I definitely wanted to avoid standard like debt. And so I did not take out any debt, did not get any outside investors. I literally just cash flowed the business. So the one upfront cost, which was not, it wasn't nothing is the physical equipment, the inventory for the security systems, like the panel, the sensors, the monitors, I would personally buy that up front but then get paid out, you know, within like a week or two the entirety of the agreement. And so yeah, so it was a, you know, cash flowing, cash flow in the business.

That's awesome. And you did that for, for a number of years. So yes, many folks. What, what would you. And then you, you really kind of, I won't say hamstring yourself, but you limit yourself to pay off the debt, stuff like that. And we're talking like the biggest thing I think is that you didn't go out. I'm gonna go buy a house or I'm not gonna rent, you know, a big fancy apartment. Can you talk about some of those things that you, you limited yourself on? And I mean that in a Good way. Not in a bad way, obviously, but limited your overhead, I guess you could say. Living, cost of living stuff too.

Yeah, so. So I know when people think of like budgeting or like, oh my gosh, how did she save 100k in just a few years only earning 50 or 60k? And so what I teach with my class too is like with Personal Finance 101, you can save on a million little things, the lattes, this, that. But really it boils down to if you get two things, right? If you get your housing, your car, everything else falls into place. So if you have housing that you can afford, which you know is important, and then from that moment, I, I had decided I'm no longer going to have a car payment, so paid the car off and then, you know, drove that car as long as possible and then outright by the next car. But if you get your housing in your car, right, then everything falls into place. So. So when I was paying off debt and saved my first 100k, I actually had a roommate. So there's no shame to the roommate game. And I mean, that's like hundreds and hundreds of dollars every month and thousands over the years just that I had been able to save. And I tend to be an extroverted person, so I just like having company. Anyways, so then I reached, I guess pretty early on 26, what's called Coast 5. And so by 100K. So basically, if I had never invested another dime, by standard retirement age, I'd have a nest egg. And so kind of really, really, in terms of getting your finances in order, like the best thing, whether you're 20, 30, 40, 50, whatever, the best time to start is going to be like now, right? So if you're listening to this, you're like, oh, I wish, you know, I'm 50, I am too late. You're not too late. Now's always the best time. But that did allow me. In my 30s, I ended up having a really rough patch. I went through some hard things. So then I was able to. I ended up selling everything that I had and was like, I'm going to take a pause and. And I did, I guess what you could consider almost a sabbatical or even like a mini retirement where it wasn't like, I'm never going to work again, but it was like, I'm going to take a few months, pause travel. So I ended up staying in Hawaii for a month and that was amazing. And then after that I ended up coming back and I bought an RV with cash and an SUV to cool it. And, and to this day, so that was 2019. I bought my RV. I actually still full time live in my RV in Austin, Texas. And it is a whirlwind of an experience. It is crazy.

So I love that. But I love that. I mean, because that's we as entrepreneurs, you, you run, run, run, run, run. And when you're out there selling sales is door to door. Sales is difficult, especially in the heat of our summers here. Physically, physically demanding. Yes.

Yeah.

But that's the thing. You, you worked your security, job security monitoring, you did that well and you made money. Cash flow, you put some money inside, you took on a roommate when you were living not in the rv, you didn't have a roommate in the rv, but where you were living before.

Yeah, no roommate in the rv.

You'd be living on top of each other. But anyway, but that's the thing is that you said, okay, let's try this out. Let's try a small living out for a little while. And then you came back to Austin, said, okay, I want to stay here and buy stuff. Stuff. And then you've parked it. And I love that, you know, we've all been through things and I love your journey. Last year you talked about how you didn't have a car for a while, you know, and you were riding your bike all around stuff. But, but those are sacrifices you made. Now you probably had the money. You had the money sitting here safely if you wanted to go buy something brand new or buy a used car, but you chose to. Tiger. Both said, hey, I'm, I'm going to walk the walk a little bit more here, right?

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

So I love that, you know, where do you. Did you. Are there times that you feel like, oh, this is just getting ridiculous or I'm just going to go buy it. But what, you know, there's. Because a lot of people, especially in today's world, it's such a. We don't have the patience for most people. Like, oh, it's instant gratification. I'm going to order it on Amazon, have it shipped to me immediately. I'm sure you're, when you talk with people out there that you coach through your best money class ever.

Yeah.

How do you help people overcome that, that need they think they need versus a want. A want versus a need. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Well, so one of my specialties is helping people pay off debt within 36 months or less. And, and then not only I'm not just like, oh, be debt free I'm like, be debt free and build wealth so that invest. And so whenever I have a two hour. So best money class ever is a four week class. It's live and virtual. I like talking to a human and be able to ask questions. So that's how I set up the class. And so there is a two hour lesson. Each lesson there's a challenge. And so one challenge is all about becoming debt free and then stopping. Like you're talking about emotional impulse bias. And so there's definitely a lot that I can say on that. But a really quick tip that comes to mind is procrastinate. Okay. So it comes oh so natural to all of mankind to procrastinate. Right? If there's something you got to do, you need to do it, but then to wait till the very last minute to do that. And so when it comes to the Amazon buys or if something breaks and you gotta fix it, procrastinate buying, right? So wait, almost anything can just wait. Like you can get whatever it is that's in your cart that you're like dying to get, but just wait until, I mean a kind of no brainer is when you buy something you should have money, right? And so just waiting until you can pay for that item in full. So that's the easiest thing. It's like kind of re wiring of like, okay, I waited on this random assignment with work making this slide debt, you know, I can wait on this other random item that I think that I need to buy right now.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense too because one of the biggest things came out was the whole buy now, pay later aspect you have with a lot of Amazon and ebay, which are getting people in financial trouble because they're, oh, I only gotta pay 8 bucks. Well, no, it's, it's a lot more than 8 bucks because if you look at. And that adds up and it's, it's the opposite effect. How you talked about the beginning, there's a lot of little things you can cut back to save and invest. It's also the death by a million cuts on a lot of these little expenses, the recurring monthly charges or this fine now pay later stuff. So it's, it's, it's definitely having, you have to, it's a balancing act in a lot of cases.

Right, sure, for sure.

Now does having the RV also stop you from buying more stuff because you may not physically have the room for it there too?

Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. So I live in a 20 foot travel trailer. It's 20ft by 8ft. So it's very tight quarters. I literally like, there was no closet when I bought the rv, so there were actually bunk beds in a queen bed. In the bunk beds, I thought initially, like, oh, I can have like a little reading loft and like a lounge area or something. I don't know. And then one day I actually climbed up on these bunk beds and they're like not real twin. It's like half a twin. And I'm like, I can't even roll around. Like I not comfortable. So I tore the bunk beds out and ended up building myself a closet. Like that's how little storage there was. There wasn't even a closet. So I built myself a closet where the bunk beds were. But. But yeah, I basically. I feel like when it comes to just buying stuff, you actually need a lot less than you think that you need. You really don't need a million different shoes. You don't need all the gadgets, all the things. So I really focused on building relationships with people. My friendships, the memories, the experiences. Those are the things that matter versus actual things. Right?

So true. Because eventually those things that you think you own, they end up owning you. And it's the dragging around, it's the now I got to find a self storage facility because they don't fit. I got a house now that I got outside my house to fit more shit in it, you know what I mean? Versus the living aspect of it. And that's, that's the biggest thing I commend you on is been there, done that, and realizing like you do save on the little things. Don't get me wrong, you get, we, you and I go to enough conference, we get enough free T shirts there, you ain't gonna buy another T shirt again, you know. But that's the thing. It's like, okay, you don't need if you got some good core staples. Yeah, it makes all the difference in the world versus having to get the newest, the newest outfit and stuff like that. That's a lot of us need stuff. Always jokes when we go to sport events. I'm always getting a T shirt at sporting, man. I got like this whole thing underneath my bed of just T shirts from sport events. Like it's a memory. It's great. I got the room for it. But if I was doing like you were doing like I used to, I wouldn't be keeping those. I'd be like, oh, wear them for a while. Throw them away, you know?

Yeah.

Now you also are a big advocate too of the pay first aspect of things. Paying yourself first instead of waiting till the end of the month, you often are. One of your biggest expenses, I should say, is the investing side of it. Can you explain that a little bit for our listeners?

Yeah. So when it comes to investing and managing your money, the most important thing is for you to start as a basic finance concept. It's called the time value of money, which means a dollar saved now is going to be worth more later because of interest earned over time. And so when it comes to investing, I know it can seem like a foreign language, all the terms, but you don't need a degree in finance to understand it all. This is a concept that I have not like coined myself or anything. It's just personal finance is basically a strategy called pay yourself first. So what happens is everybody knows saving money is a good idea. Like, no one is going to go through my class and be like, oh my gosh, Carly had the nerve to advocate saving, like investing. Like, no one's gonna say that's a bad idea. Everybody knows putting money away for the future is, is a good idea, but what happens is you end up paying your rent or mortgage. You have streaming for like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, but like all the things, a happy hour with a friend, something breaks, there goes a thingy. Bob. And then comes the end of the month. There's absolutely nothing to save. So kind of like one of the questions that I ask my students like, what is the first expense that you have each month? And people normally will say, oh, the rent, all that. And I'm like, nope. And then I like blast on like soldier boy when he's like you like the first expenses you. And so before you have the opportunity to spend the money, I want you to automatically put money away for, for your future. So for most people, the, there's analysis paralysis, like, should I pay off debt? Should I invest? What do I do first? So I created the finance plan, which is your step one, two, three and four with money. I do have a free guide. I can, we, if you want, we can link to it. It's like a 20 page guide and. But yeah, the first step is put 10% away for your future.

Yeah, that's, that's the biggest thing because what will happen is that you'll end up cutting expenses naturally that you don't need the extra, you know, all the, the streaming services. Yeah, you know, all the, you know, I love the fact too that I think you, you put a little bit of money of cash in, in your pocket each week or every month. Always 120 bucks or number like that hundred twenty dollars. If you don't have it, you don't do it. Which is most people are. Well, let me just put on my card. And that's not the case. Right.

Yeah. Yep. Yeah. So make your finance doesn't have to be overwhelming. Like most everything that you spend is literally known, 100% fixed and in your control. Like it's not a shocker how much your student loan is like, you know that like your rent, like you signed up for that and so make yourself a fixed set expense and automate that. Just make your plan automatic.

Yeah. That's the beautiful thing. Now do you still talk to the finance professor from University of Texas you still keep up with?

Yeah, she's. Yeah, we, we don't talk as much as we used to, but yeah, we definitely are still in contact for sure.

Awesome. And who's. Who's also been a mentor out there, somebody that you follow or admire that has been a big ad or it's been impacted you in other ways out there.

Yeah. So the first person who comes to mind who has really impacted me and this is someone like online. This is someone I have not met in real life. But I really look up to the ladies who know this. Sarah Blakely, the founder of Spanx. So she also sold door to door and basically she sold fax machines door to door.

Yeah.

And she took $5,000 that she had in savings. She also took out no outside investors or debt or anything. And she cash flowed. She became the, the youngest female self made billionaire.

Yep.

And I just love the way that she runs her, her business and everything about her. I'm just like, she's amazing. Like I want to be Sarah when I grow up.

Yeah. I love the story where she took 5,000 of her own money and called her friends up across the country, said, hey, go buy, go in and buy this or go online and buy this. So it looks like I have orders coming from all across the country. I'll pay you to go do that. Which is, which is genius. And her whole. She was just interviewed by Roland Frazier on the breakfast or was it the business lunch podcast? And Rollins have been a mentor of mine for years. It's just, it's a great story yet check it out. Maybe we'll put the link in there. But who else besides Sarah Blakeley are you a big fan of?

So I like Sarah Blakely. I also do listen to myself some Marie Forleo. I don't know if you've heard of Marie. She, she has a YouTube and podcast and she is all about helping specifically female online entrepreneurs grow businesses. So I really like her content. For sure.

Good stuff. Now with your best money class, you teach it live. Now, how often do you teach it or how long do you, how often do you host the classes?

Yeah, so this year I'm actually opening up the best money class ever and hosting it live quarterly. So I had one round of the class in January. I'm gonna have another round starting here in April.

Awesome. We'll make sure put a link to that. I mean, I love it too. You've got some great testimonials and I know as a, as a coach, I love it when I see my students find success and then light. Well, what's the biggest thing that gets you excited about? Is it people investing more, paying off debt or a combination or just the. Maybe the, the light at the end of the tunnel becomes much brighter for folks where they see there's a way out of the debt aspect. Huh.

So, yeah, I think for me, what really fires me up is hearing actual results and like people telling me like, this has changed my life. Like, this is something that I felt so much anxiety about. So stressed. So like doomy, gloomy, like horrible, like stuck, trapped. And then the fact that they not only have a feeling of hope, but there's actual real results they get. So. So yeah, one couple that came to mind is they were newlyweds, hadn't really merged finances, had some student loans, didn't really have a plan, but they were able to pay about $24,000 off and then build a six month emergency fund and then start maxing out all the retirement accounts and within like two years that actually look like them, like tripling their net worth. So I'm not just like a debt free coach. I'm like, let's actually build wealth and have a secure future. So seeing that is so something that. I'm a very competitive person. I know maybe I might like, look bubbly and. But I'm like, no, let's, like, let's actually do this. Let's. Let's turn things around. So I really. That fires me up hearing stories like that.

Yeah, I mean that's, that's, that's one of the most amazing things out there is when you see people, because it's, I think sometimes we feel like we're just talking into.

Yeah.

The abyss of folks. And when you see people taking the opportunity and taking the lessons that you teach on a regular basis, it's a phenomenal thing. And I'VE got on the screen here, your website, the bestmoney class ever dot com. Yeah, you can actually go here and click on the link to download the free guide that Carly was talking about there. Can you talk about some of the things that are in the free guide maybe that we haven't discussed or whatever like that? So folks know what.

Yeah.

Why they want to get that.

Yeah. So basically the guide is. That's the guide. So what I found with people with money is a feeling of overwhelm. So another example is I had a young engine, an engineer, and he had debt. Basically when they merged finances, the couple was spending about $3,000 a month on all their debt and they really had no idea where to start. They were like, should I pay off debt? Should I invest? They looked at like he actually ran like four or five different spreadsheets of like, okay, the fastest way to pay off debt. Or what if I get into real estate first? Or what about the emergency fund or what? You know, like, we're young, you know, maybe we should just splurge and go on the like a gap year and spend money. You know, there's just like so much that they ended up making no decision at all. So I did create. It's the finance plan. It's your step one, two, three and four with money. So it's the kind of order of operations of investing debt, payoff, building an emergency fund, saving for a home or car. So it kind of lays out a step by step plan and roadmap. And so in the guide there is the plan. You'll get 20 pages and it's interactive so you can kind of have like a debt tracker, you can have an investing checklist and there's a ton of good stuff. There's actually a money survey so you can find out if you're financially healthy or stressed. But yeah, so there's so much in the guide.

There's a lot. That's definitely a lot. And I really encourage you guys to check it out. Whether you're watching this listening, go to bestmoneyclassever.com we'll have the link below in the description. Yeah, the podcast, stuff like that for you. Now I got to ask you a question because, you know, a couple questions here. Maybe off the wall with. You live in your rv.

Yeah.

And enjoying it. Do you think that's the way to fix a lot of the affordability for homes is setting up tiny, more tiny communities across the country in different areas that are near amenities that people can walk to or ride the bus or Ride their bike. Yeah.

Well, I do want to say it is one way.

Right.

But it is not the solution. So I do want to say and remind people in my initial journey of debt payoff and building my first 100k, I had a regular apartment. I like I said I did have a roommate. And I do know people go out and do RV life and they are like, okay, I'm gonna buy this rig and it's gonna be like, it's like a ninety thousand dollar house basically. Yeah. And then they're like, well I gotta haul the rv, so I'm gonna get this big truck and it's like a fifty thousand dollar truck and they're paying for that. So RV life is not necessarily a low cost thing. Right. I actually did a trip up the Pacific Northwest and I'm telling you like the amount of money that I spent hauling that RV across the country, I could have gone to Europe or you know, like, like the flight and like a whole euro trip would have been just as much as like the gas money for the rv. So with that said, I am not going to be like, you know, the roadmap to building wealth is it sell everything and live in an rv. That's not like the solution. It is for sure. Like right now my, I paid for my RV in full and so I don't have a payment on that. So in Austin, the RV park that I have, I pay for the little lot. It's $750 a month. So some people in different parts of the country are like, oh my gosh, my mortgage is that much? That's crazy. That's high. That's, you know, expensive. But if you actually live in Austin, Texas, like you can't find anything.

No. Well, that's the thing is, is median rent I think is somewhere between 2,500 to 3,000 bucks. And Austin is one of the most expensive rental cities to live. Especially you're, you're downtown. We're not talking.

Yeah.

Out in Manor or Taylor or Hut.

I know, yeah, I'm like a 15 minute ish drive from downtown, so. So yeah, so I do kind of want to give the, you know, like this isn't the only way, but it is an option. I mean it's an option if you do it with a plan. And it's, for me it was more of an experience. It was something that I would just watch hours after hours of like RV renovation, tiny living. And I just, I just loved everything about it and the opportunity came where I had the freedom to do it. So so, yeah, it's definitely. If you're, like, thinking about it and wanting something like a challenge or a different lifestyle, go for it.

Well, how long. What. What are your plans in the long term for that? Are you planning on doing that for a while longer? Are you thinking about buying or traveling more? What's kind of the next step for you, Carly?

Yeah, so I did my travel with the rv, and I did it as a solo female traveler, which I think is like, yay, girl power. Like, it was super empowering to, like, get the tow hitch and, like, haul that thing. I was like, yeah, I can do anything.

Right? Right.

I'd, like, gas up at a gas station, and, like, men would walk out and be like, are you hauling that? I'm like, of course. Like, what?

Duh. Yeah.

So. But yeah, so I kind of got the travel bug out right now. I'm totally happy with just being what's called stationary. I'm literally kind of, like, not moving that thing. I'm just doing the tiny living. If I had it my way in the next year or two, I'd find a partner and do kind of the. Go back to, like, the standard, like, if the cards align, you know, have a family and all that. And there are so many people who do RV life with families. For me, though, I think that if that path opens up, I don't think I would want to do RV life with a family. That's me personally.

That's no problem at all. That totally makes a lot of sense there. Now, you've also mentioned, I think, somewhere about having an aficionado for power tools. In a lot of cases, they're like, what is. What's your favorite power tool? And what's one that you're looking to maybe add to the arsenal?

Yeah, so. So I. I like just standard, like, jigsaw, like, cutting wood, cutting wood, building things. So I've built a lot. I built, like, I said, the closets, and then I built a table. So, yeah, I like the jigsaw.

Cool. And then one. There are power. Maybe we can get somebody from our audience. You got a power tool that you're looking at maybe to divide updated jigsaw or new sanders or a reciprocal saw or anything like that? I'm being serious, 100%.

What's, like, what. What's one tool that I'm, like, looking?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You didn't expect me to ask you?

I don't even know the name.

Well, I say. Say jigsaw is great because it allows. It's mobile. You can Cut a lot of things on it.

Yeah. You know the funny story, whenever I started my home security business, people were like, oh, Carly, she must naturally be handy. I asked my mom, I was like getting everything ready. Like, oh, I need, you know, wire, I need electrical tape, I need a screwdriver. I need the, the flat kind and the star kind.

Right, right.

It's called Phillips Carly. It's called like, so. So the whole power tool thing, I'm literally like learning as I go. Like, I have very limited.

Well, maybe that's the next series in Power Tool. The best ever Power Tool class by Carly, therefore. That's. That's awesome. That's awesome, Carly. What's the best way? Is the website the best way social to connect with you and follow in your journey?

Yeah, definitely. Best buddy class ever. Download the guide. If you're looking to. The number one thing I recommend is just starting a plan. Overcome that analysis paralysis. I'll email you that guide and then you'll get literally a step one, step two, step three, step four. It's like a. You'll get four emails back to back with this plan and with the guide, it'll tell you what to do each day. And then, yeah, if you're on social, Best money class ever is on Instagram and Tick Tock. So I also have my free. So best money class ever starting April 24th. And then my, um. I want financial education to be something anyone can access. And so I know there's kind of like the natural, like, why would you spend money to like learn about money or people think that. But so I want everyone to. To have a financial education. So I actually made the introduction to the class free. It's called the ultimate guide to Managing Money. So that's coming up, so feel free to register with that. I'd love to have, you know, have you guys join me for that.

So awesome. Good stuff there. Yeah, we'll put all those links in the description for everybody up there. This has been. This has been fun. It's great to know more of your journey, Carl. I look forward to hanging out here in a meetup, group or conference for too long there. So go guys and gals out there. Take what you. You heard from Carly here. She did a lot of things that were great for her and as you heard her say, may not be the best thing for you, but take the opportunity. Download her money. God. I guarantee there's some things in there that you can implement. You can cut some expenses and start putting that money towards your emergency costs, towards debt or put it towards your investment accounts of some sort there. So go out, take some action, everybody.

Yeah.

And we'll see at the top. Thanks, Carly.

Yeah, thank you so much, Sam.

Sa.