Grab Your Slice of Financial Independence

By Monica Scudieri and Doug Nordman

This book is written for all those that live paycheck-to-paycheck or have been through financial hardship, are tired, and want more for themselves and their families. After her divorce, Monica found herself in just such a position, taking on single parenthood, and $257,000 in debt. Shortly after, she l

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grab Your Slice, LLC
• Release date: Sep 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986345505

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Copyright © 2022 Grab Your Slice, LLC

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ISBN:    979-8-9863455-1-2 (Paperback)

              979-8-9863455-2-9 (Hardcover)

              979-8-9863455-0-5 (eBook)

              979-8-9863455-3-6 (Audio Book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022910102

All content reflects our opinion at a given time and can change as time progresses. All information should be taken as an opinion and should not be misconstrued for professional or legal advice. The contents of this book are informational in nature and are not legal or tax advice, and the authors and publishers are not engaged in the provision of legal, tax, or any other advice.

Front Cover image by 100Covers.com

Book Design by 100Covers.com

Printed by Grab Your Slice, LLC in the United States of America.

First printing edition 2022.

Interior Design by FormattedBooks.com

Table of Contents

Foreword

Dedication

Introduction

How This Book is Organized

PHASE ZERO: Pie? What Pie? Eat Everything!!

Life Before Financial Independence

Goal Setting

The FI Kitchen Rules

Exercise: Define Your Why and Why Now?

PHASE ONE: Take Inventory and the Perfect FI Crust

Year One: Pantry Inventory (Define My Starting Point)

Exercise: Build Your Basic FI Pie Crust

PHASE TWO: Tools and Directions

Year Two and Three: The Purge

Year Four: Downsize and Streamline Life

Exercise: Preparing the Perfect for You FI Pie

PHASE THREE: FI Pie Fillings

Year Five: My First Time

Year Six: Building a Rental Property Portfolio

Year Seven: Re-evaluating the Rental Property Goals

When Is It Enough?

Exercise: Make Your FI Pie Filling

PHASE FOUR: Is the Slice Big Enough?

Year Eight: The Pivot Year

Year Nine: The Road to Financial Independence

Exercise: Is Your FI Slice Big Enough?

PHASE FIVE: Serve and Enjoy!

Year Ten: A Beautiful Day

Exercise: When to Serve and Enjoy?

What’s Next?

Letter to my Younger Self

Appendix A: List of Firsts

Appendix B: Grab Your Slice of FI Pie Checklist

Appendix C: List of Free Resources

Bibliography

Resources

Thank You

About the Author

Foreword

Doug Nordman, co-author (with his daughter Carol Pittner) of Raising Your Money-Savvy Family for Next Generation Financial Independence

I’ve known Monica for over five years. When she first contacted me, she was starting her personal finance blog. She wrote This blog is something for me... to give back... and show from my own life that the little choices one makes in life can have big impacts down the road.

At first, neither of us expected that her choices would lead to this book. Yet with each new blog post, she gradually realized that she had compelling stories and advice to share with her audience.

Everyone takes a different road to their financial independence, and Monica has blazed her own trail. When her consumerism lifestyle ended in debt, divorce, and unemployment, she began the single parent’s journey to find work and pay off her credit cards. She went on to build wealth while raising her family.

Whether you’re struggling with your finances or growing your family, Monica has figured out the path to success. She shows you how to pay down your debt and improve your credit score to buy your first investment rental property. You’ll learn how to assess a building’s condition and analyze its cash flow. You’ll network (both in your local community and online) to build your team of mentors, real-estate professionals, and financial advisors. You’ll figure out your work/life balance among your career, your family, and your properties.

While you’re building your real estate investments, you’ll also grow your wealth for financial independence.

Monica wrote this book to help other single parents build on her success. She made plenty of mistakes, and she shares them all. She explains how to develop your own processes to succeed in both building your wealth and your new life. She enjoys watching her kids grow up and launch from the nest. Her career has been challenging and fulfilling, yet she’s eagerly beginning her financial freedom. We’ve spent hours discussing her plans and how she’ll figure out what she wants to do all day.

She might still feel a little nervous about finally reaching her goals—but she knows how she wants to take her first steps on her new path.

Her journey (and its struggles) has made her stronger. You’ll find your own strength from her experiences, and she’ll help you build your wealth.

Start making your life choices today.

Dedication

To my kids. Without them, I would never have found the strength to be the best version of me.

To my significant other and life partner, who accepts me as I am, flaws and all.

To my mom, the financial magician, who could take $1.00 and make it stretch to $4.00.

To my friends and family who have supported me every step of the way on this crazy journey. You know who you are!

I love you guys!!

Introduction

I’m better than I used to be. Better than I was yesterday. But hopefully not as good as I’m going to be tomorrow.

Marianne Williamson

It was a crisp Sunday evening, the kids (preschool and kindergarten age) were at their dads for the weekend. The house was quiet and still. I sat in the living room with my laptop and my phone. I knew these two days would come. What I didn’t count on was that both happened on the same day.

Friday was the last day at my temp job, and I needed to file for unemployment. Ironically, this was also the weekend I was eligible to file for my divorce (in North Carolina, married couples must live separately for one year before filing).

Luckily, I could file for both online, which was perfect because I was emotionally spent. With no family in the area, I called my closest friend to stay on the phone with me while I handled the paperwork.

I was scared, overwhelmed, beaten down, and tired. Once the divorce and unemployment paperwork were filed, I set out on an adventure that, in my wildest dreams, I could never have imagined.

Wild because this is where I started. Below is a snapshot of my net worth at that moment and where my story began:

DEBT:                                                             $ 257,000

$ 122,000 House Mortgage

$ 135,000 Other Debt

ASSETS (Cash - Liquid):                                  $ 104,050

$ 20,000 non-retirement accounts

$ 7,000 savings account

$ 77,050 retirement account

$ 4,500 529’s

ASSETS (Property – Non-Liquid):                  $ 325,000

$ 325,000 House (Purchase Price)

That Sunday night, after filing all the correct paperwork and saying good night to my friend, I stared at my net worth and all the debt that was now squarely on my shoulders alone. It was devastating. $257,000!!??!! That’s a quarter of a million dollars!!, I thought. How did things get so bad so fast? I was never going to get my share of the American dream with all that debt. I was never going to get my own slice of the pie if I didn’t make some life changes.

That night, I made a promise to myself and my kids. I would never allow us to be in such a vulnerable position again. My priority was to get back our security and achieve financial independence. In my mind I thought a net worth of $1,000,000 would give me that.

From that moment on, I focused and inched my way toward this arbitrary goal and was able to grow my net worth substantially. Did I hit that million-dollar net worth? Here’s my story.

How This Book is Organized

I like pie. Do you? What I like about pie, other than the taste, is how versatile it is. There are so many fillings to choose from and yet the basic pie crust generally remains the same with flour, butter, salt, and sugar. They must be added in just the right way for a flaky crust that can hold the densest of fillings without falling apart. Picking a crust and filling combination is kind of up to you. What is your favorite filling? Are you a traditional apple pie enthusiast? Will you make an elaborate lattice top crust or leave it open so you can dig right in? Creating your own path to Financial Independence (FI) is, in a lot of ways, like making a pie. Here you will have all the tools (and ingredients) you need to make your very own pie, of financial independence that is. It’s a FI Pie.

To demonstrate how to make a FI Pie, this book is organized by phases. Each phase starts with my own recipe then outlines steps to make your own custom financial independence pie. There are six phases to move through.

Phase Zero: No Pie. Mindless spending and there is little to no pie, i.e., savings or investments of any type.

Phase One: Take Inventory and Build a Crust. Define the financial starting point and take the first steps towards building a solid foundation to achieving financial independence.

Phase Two: Tools and Directions. Understand what tools are available in the toolbox and begin experimenting with fillings, i.e., different ways to build income streams.

Phase Three: FI Pie Fillings. Customize the recipe and build out the financial independence pie that supports the perfect-for-me lifestyle.

Phase Four: Slice Size. While the FI Pie is "in the oven", begin planning out how much monthly income is needed for Financial Independence to support the perfect-to-me lifestyle and how much the income streams (filling) will yield monthly.

Phase Five: Serve and Enjoy. Serve and enjoy a big fat FI slice with confidence and joy. That could mean quitting your day job, or not. The choice is yours.

As you read this book, you will find that my FI journey was not a straight line. In other words, I experimented with many fillings that did not work out before creating the recipe that supported the lifestyle I wanted. In many ways, this is how a master baker learns. There were many setbacks. But with persistence and commitment I was able to achieve my own definition of financial independence. I wrote this book so that while you are on your own journey to financial independence you won’t be discouraged at going backwards for a little while before going forward again.

Here are some truths to keep in mind while perfecting your FI Pie recipe:

No one-size-fits-all: Each person has their own favorite pie. In the same way, your definition of financial independence is unique to your lifestyle. What works for one person may be completely different for another. There is no one-size-fits-allrecipe.

It takes as long as you need it to: For some, baking skills come naturally, making the process of producing delicious pies stress-free. But the experience is not the same for everyone. It’s because of this that there is no set amount of time to go through a phase. Each person’s starting point, circumstances, and grit will play a role in how long each phasetakes.

There is no straight line to success: You may find yourself advancing to the next phase only to take a step back and revisit a previous phase before ultimately moving forward. This is all part of thejourney.

You are unique and so are your tastes. Be truthful and honest with yourself. Raise your standards. The more you can do, the more amazing the journey is. What got you to this point will not get you to the next level. Be all you – strong andbrave.

Celebrate the wins. You worked hard to take steps and move forward, small, or big. Take a moment to acknowledge your courage and perseverance. Treatyourself.

Customizing your FI Pie recipe takes time and patience. But I promise you, once you settle on the right-for-you recipe, with enough grit and perseverance, nothing can stop you from making it and grabbing your slice of financial independence.

Life Before Financial Independence

I am a first-generation citizen and grew up in the United States. I point it out because it was a heavy influence growing up. My parents came to this country, without speaking English, without money, without family. They became US citizens seven years after emigrating here.

What they lacked in language, cash, and support, they more than made up for in courage, grit, and perseverance. Something they passed on to me just by watching. As a young adult, I didn’t do a lot of listening to my parents’ advice and wisdom. I thought I had it all figured out. I would think, "what do they know? They didn’t grow up here. It’s a completely different experience."

Part of that is true; growing up in the United States is different from, well, most other countries. My parents both grew up poor, and in difficult families. But they