I got a complimentary book, autographed from Alan Cory of “Million Bucks by 30″. So I’m reviewing in and giving it away. Leave a comment if you are interested in winning the book and I’ll draw it next week Friday 08/08/08!
Alan describes himself as a frugal, cheapskate who worked 9-5 in order to make a $1 million bucks by 30. He overcame a “useless degree, crap job, stingy parents” to be rich. This was a fun, lighted book and a super easy read. Done in a couple of hours, it’s amusing and quite funny. I can definitely see myself doing many of the “cheap/frugal” things he did.
You can buy the book at Amazon, press on picture, but if you want to take this book to heart leave a comment to win it, or better yet borrow it from your local library. I got the book from leaving a comment on another blog and then Alan Corey sent it to me for free. If he hadn’t I was going to borrow it from the library, so I’m passing the karma along.
I had a few caveats about the book. Most people won’t be able to duplicate his achievement because he made the bulk of his money due to the real estate boom in New York City. Second, there is a fine line between cheap and frugal and stealing. Some of the methods in the book are outright stealing. Funny, but still it’s stealing.
Making up stories to appear on Jerry Springer for a free trip is stealing. So is pretending to a journalist to score free tickets to a concert. I also think stealing free internet from the neighbors is a bad idea. Your better off going to the library for free and legal internet. So is feigning complaints about service to get free stuff. Also reusing a popcorn bag for 3 months to get free popcorn at a theater with free refills and movie hopping is stealing.
But onto the good stuff. So how’d he make the million then? Well by investing in real estate. Basically he fell into poop and came up smelling like roses. If not for the real estate boom of 2000-2005 he would have been a very well off, soundly invested, above average 20-something. He was correctly investing in a 401k and Roth IRA, as well as saving a large portion of his paycheck for emergencies, a car, etc. Basically Alan “paid” himself first by setting aside 50% of his paycheck for savings and the rest for living.
He lived on 39% of income for about 2 years by being very frugal. He managed his money carefully by using cash to limit his spending. He made it into a game with a friend, over who was thriftier. The friend who was a graduate student usually won in making more money but wasn’t as frugal. I think I’m in that category.
He learned how to stretch every penny, by staying at home, playing video games, and doing free entertainment. I have to say that I’m a female who stays at home and plays video games with her DH. So there are a few of us frugal fannies out there.
Also he got dumped because he tried to help a girlfriend see that the money she was spending could be invseted for the future. He made an excel spreadsheet for her, personally I thought it awesome, but she dumped him probably for being so cheap. Lesson learned? Try to date other frugal people, opposites about money will have problems meshing.
He was always looking for new streams of income or freebies. Not many people would want to be on reality tv shows, but he did. He was on Queer Eye, the Restaurant, Jerry Springer, Chain Reaction, and Change of Heart. He did it for the money and had a blast too. Very creative thinking for ways to generate extra cash.
He also studied a lot about real estate. He calls it the “Corey Open House Formula.” It’s where you learn the real estate market but going to many, many open houses and learning the true market value of homes. Why a home with a remodeled bathroom can get $75k more. He read everything he could get and spent hours learning about real estate. Not many people have this discipline to learn about real estate before they leap into buying a home.
It was this foray into real estate investing that he really made his money and his million. Basically he got lucky and made $800k in real estate in 5 years. He had saved at age 28 only $35k in a 401k after working 6 years and $15.8k in a Roth IRA. He did however have $17.7k in a mutual fund and $25k in a savings account. He had another saving account of $172k, but from reading the book, the majority of it came from flipping a couple of buildings. So without real estate booming where would he have been?
Who knows. But it was extremely fortunate that it happened. It allowed him to gain financial freedom and the opportunity for him to quit his job and start setting up alternate streams of income. He was able to buy and own a bar, work in a comedy routine, and continue looking for real estate deals.
I’m not sure if he’s still into real estate, but perhaps that would make a second book novel. Flipping homes during down times – the Corey method. Also he’s not debt free though he is a millionaire based on equity in the homes. So I guess in this case networth is what counts instead of debt free.
26 responses so far ↓
1 Ashley @ Wide Open Wallet // Jul 31, 2008 at 10:42 am
Sounds interesting. That sounds like a good idea to go to a zillion open houses and get a feel for them.
2 tom // Jul 31, 2008 at 10:48 am
count me in… i’ve been wanting to read this book… thanks!
3 Kristy // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:07 am
It sounds like something I could read! I will see if my library has it when I get a little free time!
4 Sara // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:26 am
I figure I can de-lurk for an opportunity to read a new book! Thanks!
5 Kerry // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:32 am
Count me in as well please. I’ve always wanted to be on Jerry Springer (NOT!) haha.
6 Jim ~ mydebtblog.com // Jul 31, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Sounds interesting but it seems this guy did some pretty low stuff to get to where he is today. It was probably difficult to hit that first million, but after this book he is probably looking for the next way to cash in. All people need is a good book deal of their life story.
7 Angie // Jul 31, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Hmmm… Sounds interesting. I’d be curious to read about some of his frugal tips, but I can’t imagine voluntarily being on a reality show for any reason. And hey, the sales from this book may just put him over $2 million!
8 Lisa // Jul 31, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Sounds interesting. Not sure if it applies to the real world, but I can always use more frugal tips!
9 Kim // Jul 31, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Please count me in too. I want to read his frugal suggestions – I’ll skip over the stealing though.
10 GrnMtnGirl // Aug 1, 2008 at 2:25 am
I’d like to find out how he lived on about 20k/year. Count me in! I’m going to go finish reading your site…thanks!
11 Sarah // Aug 1, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Count me in – I will have to check this out from the library if I dont get picked
12 Z // Aug 1, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Sounds like an interesting read! Enter me in the drawing, please.
13 Rachel // Aug 1, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I wouldn’t mind reading it either– so if I don’t get it, I’ll have to see if the library has it. Thanks!
And FYI, I put my email on my blogger profile, as I didn’t realize it wasn’t on there.
15 Zombie Money // Aug 1, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I could read a new book
16 Prince of Thrift // Aug 1, 2008 at 11:07 pm
sounds interesting…I would love to win and rad this book myself.
17 Miranda // Aug 2, 2008 at 9:51 am
This sounds like a good fun read! I’d love to win it! If I don’t I plan on checking to see if my library has it. Thanks!
18 Dana // Aug 2, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Sounds like a funny read. Please enter me!
19 Kristen // Aug 2, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I would love to read this book. Count me in!
20 Tammy // Aug 2, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Was he was one those people that was too cheap to buy his own ketchup so he took all of the extras from Wendys!
21 Candy // Aug 2, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Thanks for the chance. Sounds interesting!
22 Dusty // Aug 2, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Frugal is a frugal does! Count me in please.
23 Barb1954 // Aug 3, 2008 at 12:21 am
I’m in my 50′s so I’m not the target audience for this book. In fact, I could probably write my own book on how to achieve financial success. It certainly would not include, however, advice on how to be a cheap son-of-a-bitch who got items for free by cheating, lying, or under false pretenses. If this is the way the younger generation thinks they need to follow to get ahead, then I fear for us all.
24 Erin // Aug 3, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I just put this book on my Amazon wishlist today, what a coincidence! I’d love a chance to read it.
I just subscribed to your blog today, as well (there’s a central theme to this lazy Sunday morning), and I love all the info. Thanks so much!
25 Stephanie // Aug 5, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Sounds interesting and entertaining.
26 chris // Aug 7, 2008 at 1:29 am
Count me in too. Two things. First, I want the first million or two to be liquid and not in hard assets.
Second, the hard assets or real estate assets to be as debt free as possible and not leveraged. Don’t want to end up like so many real estate guys who have the million + net worth only to be wiped out like the current real estate market.
Finally, as others have pointed out, I want to do it with my ethics in tact.
How do I generate passive income - Personal Finance Forums - Aug 1, 2008
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