The Money Hunt

So here’s the thing … the lifestyle that I envision for my family and I is one rich in experiences where money is not the limiting factor for us. I see trips to exotic locations, dinners in fine restaurants with remarkably interesting people, beautiful homes scattered around the world, yachts and fine cars, clothes that turn head, and a bank account that commands respect.

Enter reality. Oh cruel reality. Well, life isn’t quite like that … at least not yet. My wife and I are currently getting use to an adjusted income while she is on maternity leave. We’ve made it game to scour the weekend newspaper and seek out coupons and plan our Saturdays around saving pennies here and there. We’re not sure if we’re quite winning the game, but we’re doing our best to enjoy the experience. I figure that if we can optimize our spending now, then when my wife goes back to work and we return to a full income then we should be sitting pretty (well kinda). I’m also taking this year as a challenge my own entrepreneurial resourcefulness. Each week since my daughter was born, I’ve been spending time looking for new creative ways to make money for us. This is a game that I really do enjoy and I hope to be able to do some amazing things in the near future. My goal is pretty simply:

1. Find 1 new service that I can offer to the marketplace
2. Find 1 new product that I can offer to the marketplace
3. Actively invest in the stock market.

The first two goals are going ok, as I’m in discussions with some people now and hope to find some interesting services and products to add to my signature over the coming few months. The stock market is a different sorry though. I guess you could say that I’m the ‘preparation phase’, as I’ve cracked open my old finance and investment textbooks from business school and have indoctrinated myself the teachings of Ben Graham, Warren Buffet, and . … yes ... Mr. Jim Cramer (Boooya!). . I guess the biggest challenge for me at the moment, is that I lack the capital to really get going and every time I start thinking about taking a position in the market, I start considering the opportunity cost of investing versus spending on my wife and daughter. So at this point in time, I think I’m heading in the right direct by developing my investment strategy and waiting until I get some extra coin together (hopefully generated from my new services and products) before I invest. I can’t wait to move from the virtual stock market that I practice with into the ‘real world’.

I imagine that others father who want to provide for their families think about similar visions and goals. I guess it’s the old ‘provider mentality’ that lurks deep within each of us that is responsible for this drive. So I’m raising my glass to any father who shares my challenges and goals and hopefully we all find the success we want (however we define it)!

Cheers,
the groovy daddy

PS. If any of you have any thoughts or ideas ... I’d love to hear from you.