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It's January and with the new year comes a chance to revisit our plans.  For me 2010, is a new beginning. I was laid off in 2008 and took a year off.  In late 2009, I returned to work.  I'm am grateful and blessed to have learned financial lessons about 15 years ago that made taking a year off one that I could enjoy with peace of mind without worrying about loosing everything I worked so hard to create.

We have several properties that have negative cash flows.  While in the past, it was okay because we had others with positive cash flows.  The overall portfolio breaks even, or so it did until the economy took it's toll on our tenants.  The bad news is that after 18 months, I'm having to dip into savings for the first time in order to pay the expenses this month.  The good news is that I have a savings account for this.  You see, one of the benefits of following a financial plan is that when times get tough, you have a reserve fund to get through the storm.

As you know the real estate market has also been hit hard during the past two years.  Many people have lost a lot of equity and we too lost equity on our properties.  However, I'm grateful that I learned from other investors that one of the keys of investing is to ensure you have positive cash flow.  We have some properties that have negative cash flows, but at the time it made sense to purchase them.  I was working at a great job, the properties were in great locations, and overall our portfolio broke even.  We were "saving" for our future.

So, 2010 is a new beginning because I've learned during the past 18 months some very valuable lessons.  Lessons I want to share.

1.  Following the principals of financial freedom taught by Suze Orman, David Ramsey, and John Cammuta is one of the best decisions we ever made.  We started living the life style about 14 years ago and have been blessed with financial freedom as the result.

2.  We consider each purchase from a needs vs wants perspective.  We consider buying used rather than new.  We save for purchases rather than buy on credit.  Using this principle, we now own all our cars, our house, as well as several of our rental properties.  In fact, the only debt we carry is the mortgages on rentals.

3.  The emergency fund is one of the best things anyone ever pulls together.  In tough times like these, it gives you a peace of mind and a sense of freedom.  Because of the emergency fund, it is possible to weather the storm.  It makes it possible to get through being laid off without loosing everything.  It makes taking a pay cut easier.

4.  Because we are careful about planning finances and monitoring our savings and investments, we were able to purchase additional investments while prices are great.

5.  Cutting the budget is easier when you already have mastered the fundamentals.  It's never easy, but when I lost my job and later took a new job at 30% of the salary I once had, I was able to regroup and put together a new budget.

So, for me 2010 is a new beginning.  It's a time to be grateful for having been taught by financial masters how to save and budget.  For me, I'm stepping back and re-evaluating our current investments and deciding what new options are available to us to ensure our financial strength as well as our continued peace of mind.