It all started with a picture of a car. I saw a picture of a 2004 Mazda RX-8 and knew immediately, I wanted it. I wrote up a plan on how I would be able to purchase the  car, and even more impressive how I would pay it off in 12 months. 12 months came and went, and I still had some money left on the loan. But, only 4 months later the car was completely paid off. $37,000 in 16 months isn't bad. It was then that I begin to really see that if you make a plan, and stick to it, you can get accomplish big things.

In 2006 I decided to start contributing to my 401K. I started with 5% and told myself every year I will contribute 1% more. I am at 7% right now (of roughly $60,000 a year) and still sticking to the plan. The firm I work for also contributes a sum at the end of the year based on a pretty complicated formula, but it has been roughly 3-4% of my salary for the past few years on average. I currently have $21,000 in my 401k (down 13% for this year). In addition I have a savings fund of $21,600. In addition, I have $5500 in stocks, and $3500 in my checking account. My 2004 RX-8 is completety paide off, and I bought a condominium at the end of 2006 just before turning 26. I bought the condo for $98,500 using low-income pricing (I was working part-time that year and made under $37,000). Well I received my tax assessment a couple of months ago and it is appraised at $116,000. I have about $2500 in equity off the $98,500.

On the other hand, I do have credit card debit. About $11,700 worth of debt. However this is voluntary debt. I pulled money from these credit cards to fund my savings account (currently 4.44%) since I get intro periods of 0% interest on the cards. As soon as the intro period is up, I'll move the money from the savings account and pay the cards off. I make roughly $75/month on interest off the $21,600 in my savings account. Subracting my credit card debt from the savings you'll see I have about $10,000 in savings. That was my goal this year. So I am now focusing on my second goal for the second half of the year, which is to get my stock account up to $15,000. As long as you have a plan, and follow it, you can accomplish what you want.

I believe I am on my way to becoming a millionaire.