Thank You, Thank You Thank You!

A couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted a boat.  I already had a boat but I wanted a better boat.  The boat that I had was 8 feet long, made of plastic, and could accommodate two anglers uncomfortably.  It was great for fishing farm ponds and small lakes and I still use it for those purposes to this very day.  The reason that I felt a need for a bigger boat was because I wanted to expand my horizons.  I wanted to fish bigger lakes and have the ability to take out Wendy and Waylon or Mason and Cody or Collin and Wendy.  Those were just not possible in my small Bass Baby.

After some taking some time to make sure that this was a road that I actually wanted to go down, I started to look at this purchase from every angle.  Where was I going to store the boat?  How big of a boat did I want?  What type of boat did would fit my needs?  What was my price range?  There was plenty of planning and problem-solving prior to even looking at boats for sale.  

Eventually, a plan came together.  Wendy graciously said that I could store my boat in the garage.  I was limited on the size of the boat by the size of our garage so that put me at a 16 foot boat.  I chose a jon boat because I wanted something durable, simple, and easy to customize.  That is exactly that I wanted and that is exactly what I got.  I bought from Anglers Port Marina in Warsaw, Missouri and had an outstanding buying experience.  I ended up with a 16 foot G3 that was almost 10 years old and a Yamaha 20 horse motor that was about 8 years old.  Both appeared to be in great shape and looked like they had years of service left in them.  

At the time, I had the cash to pay for the boat outright but that would have left me, as my dad would call it, "cash poor".  I was still in the middle of building back my savings from what I had spent on my graduate degree and after spending some money on my house.  I chose to finance the boat, which is rare for me.  My dad taught me to always count on having a house and a car payment.  He said that anything after that can be saved for and purchased with cash.  He taught me to not ever overextend myself financially...but I made an exception for the boat.  

I took out a personal loan that was set to be paid back over a 5 year period.  It was my goal to pay the loan off in two years.  I didn't want the money to pay the loan back coming from my "general fund" which I consider my teaching paycheck that I receive monthly.  Instead, I decided to put the money that I earn from "side jobs" towards paying the loan off.  The following is my list of "side hustles":

Google: I make a very small amount of money from ads that are displayed on the blog, but everything helps.

Online Fly Shop & Custom Fly Tying Orders: This is where the bulk of the money for my boat came from.  I've filled a lot of small orders and a few really big orders but almost every penny that I have earned has gone right towards paying off the boat.  The two exceptions are that I bought a couple of fish finders and boating permits that I need to get on a few lakes in the Kansas City area.

Mowing Yards & Odd Jobs: This helped out almost as much as the fly tying jobs.  I have mowed for my in-laws in the past and I'm currently mowing a couple of yards for some nice folks that live in my neighborhood.  This is my last season of mowing yards though and I will be turning the small business over to my oldest son, Mason.

My Book, Tangled Fly Lines and Untangled Stories: This was what put me over the top to pay for the boat.  If it hadn't been for book sales, I would have had to wait a few more months to pay off the loan.

From the very beginning of this undertaking, I have believed that I would be willing to do some extra work for a boat, which I consider to be "an extra".  This was not something that I needed, but rather something that I wanted.  I decided that I was willing to earn this want and that's just what I did but it has taken a lot of people to help me along the way!  I am grateful for every fly that was purchased from the online store, every book that was bought through Amazon, and every mowing as well as odd job that people gave me.  Because of their generosity, I am happy to announce that my boat is officially paid off as of last week.  Like my dad taught me, if you're willing to work hard for something and be patient, you can do anything that you set your mind to.  The only thing left to do is enjoy my boat and perform proper maintenance to protect my favorite toy.  However I'm still left wondering...could I fit a four wheeler in the garage too?