It’s not uncommon to have irregular income as a business owner or self-employed individual. But with different amounts of money coming in every month, how can you budget, invest, or plan? Some months you’ll make a killing, while other months may have huge burn rates. How do you gain financial clarity when running multiple businesses with multiple income streams? What about becoming debt-free? Is it possible with such inconsistent income?

This is how Eric Dunn has been feeling lately. After paying off a significant sum of debt, Eric has seen his income slowly rise and needs help ironing out his finances before he can invest in real estate. Eric has numerous businesses that haven’t been given the accounting love they deserve. Not only that, Eric has been trying to get his safety reserve up to hold himself over during the lean months of self-employment.

Mindy and Scott work with Eric to build a financial framework that allows him to scale simply and with minimal effort. They also talk through self-employment tax, financial planning, safety reserves, renting vs. buying real estate, and more. If you’re a regular listener, you probably have more than one stream of income (or will in the future) making this advice worth its weight in gold so you don’t make some of the mistakes Eric is trying to avoid!

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Join the BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group:
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Grab the Books Mentioned on Today’s Episode:
Set for Life: https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/set-for-life?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
The Book on Rental Property Investing: https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/rental-property-investing?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
The House Hacking Strategy: https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/the-house-hacking-strategy?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
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Past Shows Mentioned on Today’s Episode:
Erin Lowry: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/biggerpockets-money-podcast-81?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
JL Collins: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/biggerpockets-money-podcast-285?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
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Use the BiggerPockets Rental Calculators:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/tools?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
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Connect with Eric:
Instagram: @ericvdunn_ or https://www.instagram.com/ericvdunn_/
Website: https://www.ericvdunn.com/
Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSgqq3li2XsIFpComP6yhJw
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Finance Friday: https://www.biggerpockets.com/financereview?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
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Connect with Scott and Mindy on BiggerPockets:
Scott: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/scotttrench?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none
Mindy: https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/mindyjensen?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none

Episode 286

Show notes at: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-286?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=none

00:00 Intro
05:18 Becoming Debt-Free with Irregular Income
10:06 Eric’s Multiple Income Streams
13:52 Small Personal & Big Business Expenses
19:50 Assets and Liabilities
23:01 Paying Off Debt vs. Keeping a Cash Reserve
26:52 Separating Business and Personal Expenses
40:51 Financial Planning & Prepping for Loans
56:34 Self-Employment Taxes & Avoiding
01:02:25 Renting vs. Buying
01:16:14 Eric’s plugs
01:17:14 Reviewing Eric’s Financial Runway Progress