According to Webster’s Dictionary, Murphy’s Law is defined as an observation that says, “anything that can go will go wrong.” Well, I freaking hate Murphy’s Law. Unfortunately, that saying seems to be coming true for me this year. For starters, I wrote about the fact that my negligence nearly cost me my beach condo. Additionally, I had to pay my $6000 federal taxes on my credit card. I also recently found out that I haven’t been paying my property taxes on one of my beach condos. So, that was another $5000 expense. And now, I recently got a call about much needed maintenance on one of my rent ..read more

Much like my vacation rental report for Calypso Memories, I am excited to write this report. We have entered the busy season and with that comes the exciting prospect of the condos paying for themselves. Emerald’s Corner is a very expensive condo to own. The mortgage and HOA fees alone are approximately $6000. There are other routine expenses that I incur on a monthly basis as well. So, every little bit helps. Additionally, I’ve reported massive losses since the year started. So, I am eager to report a profit to start chipping away at that massive loss. Although I don’t expect to end the year ..read more

I am excited to write this report! For a while, it seemed as if the slow season would never end. During the slow season, I was forced to contribute money from my personal funds to help keep Calypso Memories afloat. Well, now that we are at the start of the busy season, the hope is that the condo can make enough money to support itself. If so, that would free up my personal funds to do other things, such as pay down on my high credit card debt. Additionally, during the slow months, I typically report a loss. That’s because I have relatively low income compared to high expenses. I am hoping for ..read more

I hate paying the IRS taxes. I’m not sure who loves them. But, they are a necessary evil. I also hate paying property taxes. Property taxes are used to fund the police, fire fights, build roads, etc. They are mandatory. And, when you own property, you are supposed to pay property taxes – duh! Also, I am a creature of habit. I get in a routine and I pretty much stick to it. For me, I am finding that there’s a lot to owning your own property and running it by yourself. It’s easy to mix things. No matter how smart you are, no one is perfect and that includes me. So, let’s discuss how my negligen ..read more

Recently, I wrote about the fact that I owe $6000 in taxes. In that post, I contemplated paying about $4000 from my personal income and $2000 from the sale of stocks from my dividend portfolio. Since making that post, I was able to come up with the full $6000 from my personal funds. So, I no longer needed to sell stocks from my dividend portfolio. In fact, I was able to get my taxes down to about $4500. So, that’s a good thing. But, believe it or not, I chose to pay my taxes with my credit card. Since making that post, Murphy’s Law took effect. I realize that I had another $5000 bill I had to ..read more

Well, recently I posted about the fact that I owe $6000 in taxes. That is still the case. I wish I could say that the amount of taxes I paid was less, but alas it was not. I had to come up with the full $6000. The issue of course becomes how would I able be able to secure the funds to do so. The increase tax amount was not unexpected. I incurred early withdrawal penalties from retirement accounts – which I was expecting. There are other reasons for the taxes being high but that was the main one. My main plan is to come up with the money included using about $4000 from my income, and then with ..read more

Another month has gone by and now it’s time for my dividend income report. Dividend investing is a slow and long-term strategy. The benefits of compounding growth really shines towards the latter end of the strategy. Until then, it’s a grind. A lot can happen during the long-term. For example, recently, I posted on the fact that I owe $6000 in taxes. In order to come out with the full amount, I decided to withdraw about $2000 from my dividend portfolio. Now, the jury is still out on whether I can scrape together the $6000 without having to withdraw anything from my dividend portfolio. Regardl ..read more

Well, it’s official. I’ve completed my taxes and I owe the Government $6000. $6019 to be exact. Because of that, I haven’t filed my taxes just yet. To make matters worse, I don’t have $6000 lying around. Truthfully, it could have been worse. But, this is the last straw to drop so to speak. I knew this year was going to be rough. I knew my taxes were going to be high. I’m just glad that I know the amount and I am working diligently to come up with the funds to pay my taxes next month. So, let’s take a look at why my taxes are so high and how I plan on paying for it. Why Are My Taxes So High? I ..read more

Welcome to the second vacation rental report for the year for Emerald’s Corner. Honestly, I am not looking forward to writing this report. For starters, February is still the slow season. Moreover, because of how I do my accounting, I expect to earn zero income for February, despite the fact that I rented to snowbirds the entire month. Additionally, my expenses for this unit are super high. So, I am not looking forward to seeing what the year-to-date loss is going to be. But, we have to get through this. The busy season starts in March and really picks up in April and May. So, I’ll be excited ..read more

Welcome to the second vacation rental report of the year on Calypso Memories. What’s interesting is that I am actually staying at my own condo while I’m writing this post. One of the benefits of a vacation rental is that I get to use it myself whenever I want. Currently, I’m here with my mom. So, we get to spend some quality time together outside of our house. But that’s not why you’re here. February is still considered the slow season. I am very excited to see how March does but of course, I can’t put the cart before the horse. My goal for this year is to keep my expenses to a minimum. Time ..read more