In 2005, John Schneider and David Auten had grown accustomed to a lifestyle they say was "fabulously gay," replete with designer clothes, gourmet meals, weekend brunches and expensive vacations. There was only one problem: They couldn't afford it.
"We were telling clients all the right things to do," says Auten. "But it was 'do as I say, not as I do,' because we weren't putting money into our 401s. We weren't saving for a down payment. We didn't have an emergency fund."and a lease on a basement apartment in Denver, Colorado. "We realized at that point that we were physically and financially living in a hole," says Auten.
Since both began working on the business full time in 2018, it has generated close to half a million dollars, they say. Overall, their net worth is now north of $1 million. They also cut their budget by eliminating what they call "superfluous" spending, including exchanging gifts with friends and family members of adult age and any travel that work wasn't paying for.
"But rather than funneling as much money as we could toward debt, we were putting as much as we could toward our investments, whether it was emergency savings, saving for a down payment on our condo or into our 401s." The goal is to grow each income stream so it could cover 50% of your living expenses. They idea, says Schneider, is if you're having a down year in any one side of the pyramid, the other two can keep you covered without having to dip into savings or go into debt.