One of many awesome gifts Mrs. Dollar received
I’m going to get a little personal today. I hope that’s alright with all of you. 
We had a party on Saturday night to celebrate Mrs. Dollar’s “corporate retirement”. We’ve been preparing for this party for weeks and it was probably the biggest get together we’ve ever had. About 30 people came and the house was packed with friends and family, the buzz of conversation. We did a champagne toast and there was food, beer, good people, and good times.
To me, this is something that I really enjoy. If I’m going to spend money or time on anything, I like to spend it on gathering with the ones I love and making memories. Experiences always trumps Stuff, in my opinion. Stuff wears out but memories can last you a lifetime.
Since she left her job a few weeks ago, the Mrs has been using some of her new-found time to work on the house and plan the party. In many ways, this event actually marks the beginning of our new life as a one-job, but not one-income, family. It’s almost like, now that we’ve celebrated the occasion, it’s become all the more real.
"Oh, were you trying to write a post??"
And she’s got a some busy weeks ahead of her now that the party is over! We’ve got not one, but two different partners who want to buy houses with us. Plus, it’s been almost a year since our last acquisition. We shifted our priorities to prepare for her taking the plunge and now we’ve ready to get back in the market. I want to buy at least two houses this year with our own money, so combined with the partner deals, that’s 4 houses she will be looking for in the coming months. She’s up for the challenge, though, and this is definitely doable now that we have someone who can focus on our business during business hours. Maybe we can even squeeze in a 5th before the year is over, who knows!
It’s easy to get caught up in life. We get into a routine and it’s hard to stop and appreciate what’s important to us. When we hit a turning point like we have now, I think it’s important to celebrate and reflect. I can think of no better way to celebrate then a get-together with all the people who have provided us with so much love and support throughout the years!
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Personal is always good in my book
Congrat to both of you!! It’s always interesting for me to read about stories where people are enjoying the fruits of wise choices they made years before. It gets me excited to think of where my own life will be in a few years from the choices I make today. Wish you guys an exciting and rewarding year with many more memory making occasions.
The Stoic recently posted..Changing Your Life By Working Abroad: The Financial Benefits
Thanks so much for the kind words!
Does corporate retirement just mean what everyone knows as traditional retirement from a corporation? Or is it her decision to stop working at a company to concentrate on your other endeavors. I’m just curious… It seems awesome either way! Congratulations to you both!
Analytical Planner recently posted..Re-launching Your Career After a Career Break
Thanks!
. She’s going to be growing our real estate business as well as freelancing.
We used the term “corporate retirement” because she’s still going to be working, just self-employed
DD, how are you planning to structure partnerships? Who puts up the money? Who makes the decisions? Who deals with tenants and does the work? And what sort of legal agreements?
Partnering is an option my wife and I are expecting to explore in the near future (likely with family members).
I’ll probably have a series of posts detailing our experiences with partnerships. Of the two, one partnership is formed and ready and the other is in the discovery phase but I think he’s pretty serious.
In both cases, they will put up the money and the credit and we will do all of the work and management. We split the cashflow 50-50 and when we sell, they get their investment back before we split the profits. Also in both cases, these are people who are interested in real estate but don’t have the time or inclination to pursue it. We’ll keep you posted!
Congrats to your wife! I love parties like that too. It may hurt the budget for a minute when you buy all the food, but once everyone is there and happy, you realize it was worth every penny.
John@MarriedWithDebt recently posted..Make Big Changes for Big Results: Rule 5
Thanks! I absolutely agree: it’s worth all the money *and* time! Plus it makes us clean up the house
Congrats on such a great and brave and exciting move! How is your wife feeling about it? Is she nervous a little? Excited I bet! Keep us updated on her progress. And of course, Good Luck!
Aloysa @ My Broken C recently posted..Some Jobs Pay More Than You Think
She’s definitely excited and nervous at once! But she’s doing a great job managing her time and she absolutely loves not having to commute for 2 hours every day!
Thank you! Yes, I am everything all at once. I have grown quite accustomed to going to an office, interacting with co-workers, and working on structured projects in a corporate setting. It’s SO different to be the main motivator for myself, to not have to commute anywhere, and to not really have a consistent group of people I interact with. Good and bad in there. I’m a rather social person, so I’ll be eating lunch and working out with friends during the day!!
I’m glad DD thinks I’m managing my time well, I guess that means I’m successful so far.
Now off to do some dishes after some much needed lawn care!
congratulations to you and Mrs. DD.
shortly after our daughter was born my wife hung up her corporate job to as you so well put it “work for the family.” best decision we could have made.
she drifted back into paid employment by way of volunteering at the local grade school about 7 years later.
you guys will do just great and I, like others, look forward to hearing more about your partnerships.
Tonight we’ll open a bottle of wine in your honor. cheers!
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Thanks, JC! We’re really excited and while it’s definitely a leap to go to one income, I think it’s one that we are ready for. I’ll probably ask her to do a follow up post at the 6 month mark so she can tell you in her own words how it’s been for her. Cheers indeed!
Cheers!
Congratulations to you and Mrs. DD. As others have mentioned, I’d love to read a post or series of posts about real estate partnerships. The bf and I are very interested in real estate, but don’t know a lot about partnerships and have heard some mixed (mostly bad) reviews of partnerships that have failed/gone sour.
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