Hello everyone!  Happy New Year!  It has been quite sometime since I have contributed to the TWA community but I felt it was a bit fortuitous when Justin reached out looking for coverage in the month of January.  I wish him a speedy return.

In the meantime, I decided to write about my life goals and energy focus, hence the title “Money Talk Tuesdays”.  I must tell you first that, if you forgot, I am a nurse by profession, not a financial advisor so my post are to share information, get some engines revving and for me spring-board into financial freedom in 2018.

In July of last year, I had a harsh reminder of the precariousness of Nurse Life.  We are a vital part of the healthcare community, as long as we are in optimal physical health and there isn’t a lawsuit looming.  Then we are replaceable.  I had a mysterious lump appear in one of my breasts in the early parts of 2017 that gave me new insight into the reality of my life as a single mother.  The fact it took months and some gangster maneuvering to get a mammogram that came back benign was a wake up call that I have become a slave to a paycheck.  It was stressful, anxiety inducing, and depressing.  This is not knocking nursing or my current employer.  It’s more of a reflection on the American dream and how it always borders on a recipe for a nightmare with only a pinch of calamity needed.

So I read some articles, joined a few Facebook pages, and made a rough draft of a map to financial freedom.  The rules are as follows to becoming a millionaire (or at least break the cycle of paycheck to paycheck).

1. Create and sustain multiple streams of income.
2. Live debt free (This is not CREDIT free).
3. Know your worth and exploit it.
4. Stop working for the money and let money work for you.
5. Networking is not a dirty word.

Over the next five weeks of January I will be posting on these topics.  I hope they are informative and look forward to feedback.

Multiple streams of income is defined as individual sources of income.  It is suggested that all people of affluence have multiple streams.  There is usually the average 9-5 and then various lucrative past times.  Real estate is always a factor and then investments.  Through researching various individuals I have found writing books and keeping blogs is a new age income source.  The one I found most surprising was teaching or coaching on the other sources of income or overall financial freedom.

Sadly most people associate multiple streams of income as multilevel marketing or network marketing.  While it can prove to be a “money maker” for some, by very definition it rarely benefits the majority.  Someone has to be at the bottom of the food chain.  I, myself, am dabbling in MLM but my expectations are low from turning a large profit from it, on the forefront.  I’m using it instead as a tax write off at tax time and seeing if it was a worthwhile endeavor.  If my bottom line is the same I will probably remove myself and go back to the drawing board.

I started my own home based travel agency which is a legal business and a write off.  I have a longstanding affinity for travel and more so affordable travel so this is one thing I am all into for the long haul.  Business is slow to start, I am in the red with zero profit because of the one trip I did book was not booked correctly but I’m learning the ropes and using the opportunity to build my network community in future endeavors.  I have cruises planned for this year, a possible trip to Dubai, and now one for Jamaica.  I will do this all for less than $5,000.

Investment is something I am also dabbling in with the uprising of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency.  I follow a young man out of Atlanta, GA who has made quite the profit for himself smartly investing.  For now I am invested in his autotrader, that is him making trading decisions with my money that do involve cryptocurrency but other stocks as well.  Even a pot distillery.

I am also learning to trade for myself though to grow my own wealth and understand better what he’s doing with my money.  It’s very exciting but also time consuming with a head full of nursing material.

I want to try my hand at real estate but I have yet to purchase my own home so the three sources (four if you count the MLM) are my streams right now.  I am never resting because of it.  Every picture is an advertisement of my love of travel and how great my life is now that I own my own travel business.  Every post is catered to entice with its positivity or motivate partners into setting up their own agency (that’s the MLM aspect).  If I am reading it’s how to profit more and work less.

So let’s hear it!  Preferably in the comments below.  What are your streams of income?  If you only have one do you feel it works best for you?  How so?

~Tish Carbonell,

Nurse, Writer, Travel agent, and Entrepreneur.