Gameplan?

So, we're your typical newlyweds. Still trying to figure life out. Z and I have both grown up with a strong background in business, hard work, entrepreneurship, and people skills. We've known for a while that we wouldn't be the underdog in a company for our entire lives. We had a goal of business ownership and financial independence. Well, you've heard all about Z's business ideas if you've followed this blog for very long. The past couple weeks have brought him a new idea. And I'm more comfortable with this one than any so far so I gave him the go-ahead on it. It's in an area that he has expertise, and wouldn't need to do mounds of research to develop. So.. we have a plan. (!!)

Of course, any business requires investment, so that means we need to do some serious saving! Which shouldn't be too bad, because we can easily live on less than half of our income. We did a little looking at real estate last night- we want a place that has a nice house with room to grow (3+ beds) and a good amount of acreage as we want to have the business on our property, but not too close to the house. We found a few places that would work, but quickly realized that we need to do some saving for a down payment before we get ahead of ourselves. So, we figure that if we save for 6-8 months we'll have what we need and we can start looking seriously at real estate. We'd like to do it before Dec. 31 because of the first time home buyer tax credit.

I can't tell you how good it feels to finally have a plan in place for our future! Before we have kids we want to have the business bringing in enough $$ to replace my income so that I can be a stay-at-home/work-from-home mom. I'm looking forward to it so much.. especially the whole getting to decorate our first home part!

And speaking of decorating.. lately I've been toying around with the idea of going back to school in a few years.. for interior design. In my opinion, not a ton of schooling is needed to be good at this- you either have an eye for it or you don't. Of course, you can develop that eye, but if you don't have a knack for it, I personally don't think you'll ever be better than mediocre. I (humbly) think I have a decent eye for it and and just need a bit of training.

So anyway- I'll keep you posted on how everything goes! Hang on! It's going to be a fun ride!

How long did it/do you think it will take you & your hubby to get a solid plan for your future in place? Or maybe you just had it super together & knew before you got married? Or is it just always changing and evolving?

Other Random Bits:

*I'm going to be studying & taking the test to become a notary public (for work). Is it just me, or would that make you feel a bit like a more dignified citizen? :)

*I think I have a problem. Ever since getting a Post-It pop-up dispenser for my desk, the sticky notes are EVERYWHERE! Case in point:















*Z and I are heading to Michigan today after work. My family went up there yesterday and we're going to join them staying with my aunt and uncle who live there. I went to college in the same town, so we're planning on going to the beach where we had our first date! yay! The sad part is that tomorrow afternoon my family will be heading back to the great Northeast! I'm going to miss them so much, but plan to go visit them this summer.

And, to close, here's a couple pictures of that first date on the beach (we'd known eachother forever & phone-dated for a while before I moved to MI- that's why we were so "friendly"):