about me

The Angry Millionaire…to be.

Life on cruise control

Who is this Martilyo guy and why does he hate debt so much?  Ok, this really isn’t me but it is a good representation of me when my life was on cruise control.  My name is Johnathon Brady Allread.  No, it isn’t Martilyo, but some people think it is…  Martilyo is the name I came up with for a character for the game World of Warcraft.  In my wife’s native language of Tagalog is means “Hammer.” I am just an average guy with a lot of debt and I am on a mission to get out of the hole I created.  My life was pretty routine before I started this “quest.”  I worked, came home and played World of Warcraft, an computer based MMORPG game.  This was my life for a few years.  I gained a lot of weight (242lbs) and went into debt ($100k+) without even knowing.  I barely knew my family anymore.  My wife was becoming distant, my daughter was growing up and I never even noticed.  Fortunately this all changed one day.

One day I logged into my World of Warcraft account and in preparation for the upcoming game software upgrade (Catacylism), Blizzard Inc. changed the game and how each character is played.  It wouldn’t have been such a big deal but I have over 8 different characters and I now had to “relearn” how each one works.  Imagine being a pro football or baseball player and going in to practice at the level you were when you were in high school.  NO FUN…. I got really really mad and I had enough of this crap!  Blizzard had done this to me for the last time!  Bottom line is…I stopped playing World of Warcraft and it was the beginning of a positive change.

Fortunately I took this built up anger and started working out.  Over the course of about 3 months, I lost about 32 lbs.  I never felt better.  Now that I got my weight under control, I wanted a location change.  My job and the economy in Norfolk, VA took a major downward dive.  I was almost vested my the city’s pension program I needed a serious change of environment.  I needed a change to the Dallas, TX area.  So I searched indeed.com and found a city job in Lewisville, TX.  in January 2011, I packed my things, kissed my family goodbye and headed out west.

Fast forward to April of 2011 and I was semi-settled, drove my family to Texas and tried to keep my positive motivation going.  I felt something wasn’t right.  Something was missing.  I found that it was my money that was missing.  I had many leaks in my financial plumbing.  If it wasn’t leaks, I was dealing with money leeches sucking the money out of my income.  These leaks and leeches go by the name of credit cards, student loans and unused/unneeded products and services.

I learned that I had to treat my debt monster that was exploding out of my closet just like my weight problem…  I had to measure it and access the damage.  I created a spreadsheet and laid out every revolving student loan, credit card and mortgage.  I hit the “autosum” button and viola!  I passed out!  OMFG….(the “F” stands for “Flipping”)!!!  I could not believe that I owed over $100,000 in consumer loan debt.  I paced back and forth through my apartment like I was awaiting the results of a tumor biopsy.  I was in shock, total disbelief.  For someone to be self proclaimed “somewhat intelligent,” I felt like a total moron.  Leaving my life on cruise control felt easy and relaxed.  I didn’t realized I missed my turn, metaphorically speaking, many miles too late.

I got angry…I got damn angry at myself.  I got so sick and tired of being sick and tired at looking at that spreadsheet, I knew I had to do something.  I just didn’t know what.  I reverted back to my Navy days of troubleshooting electrical issues on the ship.  Whenever I had an issue I could not solve, I would ponder about it.  Ponder, ponder and ponder until I came up with a solution.  My pondering let me to google.com, personal finance gurus and eventually Dave Ramsey.  I went to Dave Ramsey’s website, listened to a free podcast and I was hooked.  This man seemed to have the answers to my financial problems.  The odd, yet hilarious thing though is that what he said made me feel so much more ignorant.  What he said was common sense about finance.  What he said made total cents (pun intended.)  I listened to over 100 podcasts and read both of his books over the course of a few months.  He gave me a plan for me to make of my own.  Now I don’t agree with everything Dave says, mainly because not everything is tailored for me or everyone’s life, but it was a good foundation.  I looked at his “recipe” and altered it to my taste.

Now that I have the flavor of my “financial” dish just right, it is time to cook it.  Here is where you guys, my readers, come into play.  I want you to come along with me on my quest for financial freedom.  I want you all to encourage me, inspire me, challenge me and even celebrate with me at the end of my journey.  (Notice I didn’t mention pester or irritate )  I want my journey to help inspire your own.  Are you ready?  Let’s go….  If I knew then, what I know now…I would be a multimillionaire.  Now I am just an Angry Millionaire….to be.

Cruise control is an awesome option for your car, but not your life – Martilyo