This month, I joined a book club that’s part of my local real estate investors group. They’ve been supportive about building the cabin in Arkansas, finding funding to rebuild the house in Memphis, and have given me lots of ideas about how to acquire more real estate.

I went to Arkansas to get well + septic installed on the land, put gravel down on the little road, and cleared a site for the future build. I’m looking into DSCR loans and investor financing for some houses near my other properties.

Anyway, I didn’t expect the first book club book to be all that much. I mean, I’ve read tons of similar ones over the years. I don’t know if it’s the group aspect or if it’s just really finding me at the right time — probably both — but 10x Is Easier Than 2x is inspiring me right now.

The premise is that you do things because you want them, NOT because you need them, and that creates simplified focus. That’s currently blowing my mind. I’ve been thinking about what I want and why a lot this month. My biggest factors are all things you can probably guess:

• Have control over my time.
• Not be dependent on outside employers for money and health insurance.
• Spend more time with my kids.
• Make more art (write, paint, dabble in music).
• Create long-lasting assets that I can pass along and have fun along the way.

And as I get into the final stretch of my $500,000 goal, what I want is leading me toward all of this.

June 2025 Freedom update

• Link: Track your net worth with Empower Personal Dashboard
• Link: Join Points Hub — the ultimate points, miles, and travel rewards community — on Circle!

My current net worth stands at nearly $376,000 right now. Just last week, a house with the exact same floor plan as the one I’m inheriting sold for $180,000.

I’m not wanting to count my chickens before they hatch, but that amount would easily put me over my goal if I went ahead and included it.

And even with the cabin, adding a well, septic system, and power lines will increase the value of the land. The cabin, once it’s done, will also have immediate equity. You can see in the photo above where it’ll go. I’m excited to start the framing in the next few weeks.

I’m finally at the place where everything is set to grow fast, which feels surreal after “slogging away” for seemingly so long. I think I’ll fly past the $500K mark and start entertaining the $1M mark.

I don’t care as much about the number any more. Now I’m getting excited for all the projects I can create with my own time instead of making them for other people.

Real estate ponderings

Between now and August 2025, I’m going to add a few more properties to my portfolio. I’ll need to get some type of funding to make repairs and/or build and add new things (fences, decks, rooms). Then I’ll need to pivot quickly into managing the properties: Keeping them rented and flowing cash.

As AI creeps in and I feel less and less secure at my main job, I’ve been feeling like I need to find ways to supplement — and replace — my income. And fast, especially if there are loans to repay.

And sure, the world could explode in a nuclear haze any day now, but I’ll continue to look forward, even though that feels absolutely dystopian.

Other stuff

OK like, what about my Roth IRA? The UTMAs for the kids? My savings account??? Paying down my car loan?!?!

I’m plowing all my cash right now into the cabin:

• $6,000 to clear the land, level the road, and put down gravel
• $6,000 for well
• $5,000 for septic
• $25,000 to frame 16×28 cabin + two porches
• $10,000 for wiring and electrical
• $10,000 to finish, furnish, and appliances

That’s $62,000 to build a 448sf cabin on raw land in Arkansas. Once it’s done, I’m thinking it can generate around $4,000 per month as a short-term rental, assuming a $200 nightly rate and 20 days per month occupancy. That’s 15 to 16 months to pay for itself. Not bad. (And fine if it takes longer.)

As long as everything else can hold for the next few months while I get it built, which it can, everything will be alright. I’ll keep trying to get other stuff going, too. If I spend a couple of years going full-force into real estate to build equity and cash flow, it’ll be worth it. I’ve got a good team together so far.

But yes — I do think about my other financial goals. This one just happens to be taking all my time, energy, and resources right now. And yes, it is what I want.

This month’s progress

During the last month I:

• Contributed $1,000 to my 401k via bi-weekly contributions.
• Officially started building a cabin in Arkansas… will it work? We’ll see.
• Kept making payments on my credit cards.
• Got preapproved for yet another mortgage (potentially my third house purchase).
• Did more cabin research than I’ll ever admit.
• Held the line with my credit cards and other monthly payments.

By the numbers

Here’s how it all looks in rows and columns.

	Current	Last Month	Change	2025 Goal
ASSETS
Overall investments	$311,632	$301,863	+$9,769	As much as possible
Roth IRA total	$50,458	$49,226	+$1,232
Roth IRA 2025	$207	$0	+$207	$7,000 (in new contributions)
Taxable brokerage + UTMAs	$4,368	$4,290	+$78	$25,000 (total invested)
Savings	$42	$64	-$22	$30,000
Investment property #1	$21,500	$21,500	xx	$20,000 in equity
Raw land	$40,400	$40,400	xx	No goal, just including for completeness 🙂	Haven't gotten 2025 assessments yet
LIABILITIES
Car loan	$20,059	$20,059	xx	As much as possible
Credit card #1	$0	$0	xx	$0	COMPLETE!
Credit card #2 (0% APR)	$8,998	$9,291	-$293	As much as possible
Net worth in Empower Personal Dashboard	$375,713	$368,158	+$7,555	$500,000 (overall goal)	Track your net worth with Personal Capital

Short- and long-term goals still include:

• Pay off credit cards.
• Save $7,000 this year in my Roth IRA.
• Build up cash reserves for savings and to buy more real estate.
• Acquire more real estate.
• Develop my land for more opportunities.

June 2025 Freedom update bottom line

This is the summer that I finally step into my personal goals and set the framework for the rest of my life. I mean, I’m 40 now. I’m halfway through this life.

With the kids getting older, I have more time to think philosophically about what the next season looks like. Operating from pure wants instead of needs is such a reframe. It feels luxurious, kinda selfish, very liberating.

All in all, I’m in a good spot, I’m healthy and life is good. I work, play with the kids, sleep when I can, do other stuff when I can. There’s no shortage of projects. And whether by choice or force, I’m working on them one at a time — but they’re coming in at a solid pace. I think Summer 2025 will be a time I remember: When Things Finally Changed. All that to say, all good, still here and grateful for it. Easy does it.

As always, thank you for reading and following my journey. Hope everyone is doing well!

Stay scrappy out there! ✨

-H.

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