167: From Fired to FI Couple in 2 Years with Josh and Ali

Most people are told the same thing growing up, “go to college and take out a loan, get a car and take out a loan, live in a nice apartment even if it’s expensive”. This is exactly what Josh and Ali, AKA “The FI Couple”, did in their 20s. They racked up over $100,000 in student loans, had two car payments, and lived in an apartment outside of their means.

Josh grew up without much money, causing him to not have much of a financial foundation when he reached adulthood. Ali grew up middle class, but didn’t have any financially savvy role models to look up to. As they started dating and later got married, they realized that they had to take care of debt soon, or they’d be swallowed whole by it.

Josh stumbled upon a book that changed his financial view forever. A book one of our hosts is VERY familiar with. It was Set for Life, by our very own Scott Trench! After Josh read through it, he knew he had to share the information with Ali, but it took him time to find out her specific “financial language” and the best way for him to get her excited about financial independence.

After they were both on board for FI, house hacking was their next stop. As you’ll hear in the interview, they acquired four units in a short amount of time, paid off a big chunk of their student loans, and now have passive income rolling in, every month. Talk about a rags to riches story!

In This Episode We Cover

• How debt can anchor you to a life that you don’t want
• Why getting fired or losing a job opportunity could be a great catalyst for change
• The importance of keeping your expenses as low as possible
• Finding a house hack that works for you (and your partner) so you both love where you live
• Using FHA loans to secure house hack properties with a very minimal down payment
• Making debt a “common enemy” when you and your spouse are working to reach FI
• And SO Much More!

Links from the Show

• BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group
• BiggerPockets Forums
• Finance Review Guest Onboarding
• BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast
• ChooseFI Podcast
• BiggerPockets Bookstore
• BiggerPockets Investments Calculator
• BiggerPockets Money Podcast 34 with Andy Hill
• BiggerPockets Money Podcast 157 with Scott & Mindy
• Mr. Money Mustache
• Mad Fientist

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/moneyshow167

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