Young & Stupid: How I Lost My Millions
I am trying to get back into regular blogging, and would appreciate feedback and support, comments, suggestions, and ideas, please subscribe as well!
I am starting a new category, called Young & Stupid, it’s a struggle I went through, it’s a depression I am currently going through, a big lesson I learned at a very young age on my own. I am writing a book on everything I went through, how I did it, how I lost it, and how I got it back, it’ll be a semi short book 100-150 pages… But for now the category on my blog, will be a collection of stories and lessons I’ve learned, and to help me realize myself. Now that it’s been a few years, it can be a lesson or a reminder to myself.
Anyways, this is a question I get a lot, and it’s funny, people in the back seat always say… “I would of done it so different, I can’t believe you spent all your money, blah blah blah.” Okay, I’m sure you would of right? People on the outside always think they are the smart ones till their in the drivers seat, especially when it comes out of no where, self made, young, and stupid. No financial education, no family, no father, and a full time working mother. I do wish I would of done things so different, I’d literally be a multi-millionaire right now, but what’s done is done, lessons learned, and moving on. I highly recommend reading How I Made 1.8 Million first.
So where did my millions go, and why am I at the bottom now? Why have I lost everything, and why the hell am I in debt, that’s honestly a good question, this will be an eye opener for me too, because I will be revealing and trying to reminisce where I put my money. Judge me how you want, say what you want, but try to keep the comments some what respectable. You’re entitled to your opinion on how everything went down, so let’s find out where my money really did go?
Money Earned (Approximately)
Here is the checks that were paid to me via Yahoo.
Here is the money earned via Google.
Total Yahoo/Google Earnings: $1,833,705
I also sold 3 companies, I sold MySpaceCity.com for $140k, and hit to split that with a partner, so I made $70k, I sold MySpaceSupport.com for $75k, and PerfectionApparel.com for $25k.
Total Earnings: $2,003,705 – I also made various income from banner ad companies such as ValueClick, CPX, TribalFusion, etc… Probably another 50-100k…
New Total: $2.1 Million’ish (I thought I made around 1.8M, lol)
Expenses
Taxes paid personally, $400k
Taxes withheld from Yahoo, $50k
SEP-IRA, $10k (weak I know)
Partner in Canada, I think around $250k
Employees, maybe around $30k
Site redesign, $20k
Drivable Investment, $120k
beModel Investment, $8k
Attorney transaction fee for website sales, $20k
CPA, $10k
Average monthly mortgage + utilities for 4 years, $4k x 48 months = $192k; This includes my mortage, san diego, los angeles, just imperative bills.
This is all of the expenses that I can think of that were basically imperative for me to do…
Total Imperative/Semi-Imperative Expenses: $1,110,000
Money Left: $990,000
So apparently I blew 1 million dollars in cash… Time to figure out where it really all went… Now there is so much more I could of done with this 1 million I had in cash, lmfao, honestly, I could of purchased a 30 unit apartment building with 300k down, 100k in hedge funds since I would be an accredited investor, invest in a good company, and possibly start another business of my own, and be sitting in Hawaii sipping pina coladas… But I didn’t do anything to smart with that 1 million unfortunately, I attempted, but failed to do so… Let me tell you though, it is absolutely the best feeling being able to do what you want, how you want, when you want, where you want…
Where could my money have gone?
Alright, honestly, I have an idea of where it went, stupid shit of course, but it’s hard to believe I went through 990k and managed to keep myself in debt, shopaholic I guess. Laugh out loud, ugh, how is that possible. Let’s start with the obvious expenses.
My house, $93k
BMW 2006 330xi + mods, $60k
BMW 2006 M6, $120k
Nissan Titan, $40k
S13 240sx Drift car + mods, $15k
House upgrades; venetian paint, $80k
House upgrades; basement, $40k
House upgrades; landscaping, $30k
House upgrades; garage, $25k
House upgrades; library, $15k
Vegas, roughly $30k
Strip Clubs, oh godddd, ummm, $20k?
Trips, LA, New York, London, Disney World, Hawaii, ummm…. $20k easily…
Fixing wrecked M6 cash, $40k
Fixing wrecked 330xi cash, $15k
Birthday parties for Rose and I, $15k
Bruce’s birthday present, $5k
Helping a friend, $15k
1997 BMW 540i for friend, $9k
Old jeep for friend, $5k
Photography stuff, $50k
Obvious Totals: $742k; umm wow… LOL, this is starting to become a little more clear now…
Now if I am mistaken, that leaves me with like $248k cash, now there is a lot of non obvious expenses, food, girlfriend, clothes, toys, random shit, over the last 4 years, let me think… Now after all these retarded expenses, I could have bought a car, a smaller house, and invested the rest… WTF? This is just upsetting me, looking at this list, I see me being stepped on, walked on, and helping people way to much. The only explanation for the time being I can think of for the remaining $248k is just pure bullshit over the last 4 years… Like I said, clothes, toys, trips, expenses on trips, girlfriends, toys? Ugh, the pain!
Conclusion
The obvious lesson here is don’t act on impulse. I’ve always been an impulsive, adhd, I want it now type of guy. So the money coming in every month, felt like I was on top of the world, felt like I couldn’t go wrong at this point, I mean fuck, I was young pulling in over $100k a fucking month. So, I was Young & Stupid and I spent my money foolishly, not ever thinking of investing. I thought I would save later, but that never happened, it was to late. They money only came in for approximately a year, and then it stopped. I got cut off from the company, and then my site fell of the map because of a huge SEO mistake. So everything was butterflies, then poof, out of no where, it was gone. I was still 18 too, all I knew was how to build websites, program in almost any web language, and how to spend money. I’m sure everyone knows now, especially at my age, how to spend money wisely, and how to invest, at least I hope so. I learned the hard way, and lived the high life for a short few years, it was pure ecstasy for fucking sure. There is nothing like the uncertainty of what’s going to happen, and the certainty of having it all. I could do anything at any given time, I could rent a Jet, I could of bought 3 lambos in cash. I could of bought 1 house, 1 lambo, and also purchased a 30 unit apartment building, and be set for a pretty good amount of time just from that apartment building alone… One solid commercial investment, I would of been fucking set. I was blinded by money, it ruined my habits, it ruined me, I worked my ass off, and now I think it comes easy. I grew a habit I am trying to break out of, it’s called “The Art of Doing Nothing,” it doesn’t work so well, trust me. Ever since I made all my money, I’ve outsourced everything, and have grown to be insanely lazy… Lazy in a sense of just wanting to hire someone else to do it for me…
I need to take control, and do shit myself now, if I want to reach the top again. I have to do what I did in the first place, spend every waking second working, busting my balls. Money does buy happiness, money buys time, time is wealth, wealth is being happy. If you have the time to do anything, having fun, loving your family, loving your significant other, whatever it is you would like to spend time doing. Money brings it to you. So I tell myself, and I tell you, come up with a vision, build a company, and don’t stop, be so persistent, people think you’re crazy, be so persistent, people will say you work way to much, work till they called you a fucking nerd. My entire life I was a nerd, I wasn’t popular in high school, but I sure built an image in the real world. I had a taste of the high life, someone is testing me, and I won’t fail this test. And neither will you, if this is what you want, if you want to be rich, be rich with me 
Let’s get our own jet, buy our own island, buy a loft in Dubai, spoil our lovers, and live life to the fucking fullest.
Persevere Please… Let me know what you think, comments are appreciated <3 Mr Fashion…
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21 Responses to “Young & Stupid: How I Lost My Millions”
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[...] by, Andrew hit it big with ad revenue from his website, MySpaceSupport.com. He was pulling in $100,000+ ... juniorbiz.com/interview-andrew-fashion
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We all make mistakes its just that very few ever end up in the position like yours to make what most would consider huge mistakes. It requires having a lot of money to lose a lot of money and most people will probably never get there. I like this new series of blog posts. keep it up!
blogs are great and all, but what the shit happened to your BeModel drive!? get back on it playa!!
i’m loving this series of write ups andrew…i too have been in much better situations than i am in right now..and i’m working on starting my life over from completely nothing. and from nothing i mean i lost everything. the only thing i have left is me and my determination, however i too am trying to break out of the same art form of doing nothing, and get back to reaching for the stars, and riding them like a cowboy on a bull. this time i will go the whole 8 seconds and not just the 4.3 i rode before. back to surrounding myself with others that are positive and goal seeking. it really helps keep the motivation, and creative juices flowing. regular blogging is on my agenda as well seeings how since i started my new site my work has been occasional at best. only taking jobs when they come to me…time to change some things and would love to bounce ideas and suggestions.
later
tb
Rayan: Thanks man, appreciate the feedback, glad you like the new series!
Eric: It’s there, lol, just need cash to get it going
TBJ: Definitely man, glad you like it as well, seems were both in the same boat almost, maybe just a different magnitude! All the best to you as well, and definitely keep reaching man, you’ll get it. Hit me up sometime!
I knew you on MySpace pre the earnings. ECA Andrew, if I remember. I’d later hear stories about the money, and wanted to send you some urging to be BANKING some of it. You were probably at a time in your life where you might have been above taking advice, but after reading this I wish I’d offered some.
It takes some courage to write about how you basically took a great thing and fucked it up. Keep writing. Along the way I’d love to see some reflection on the many people I suspect helped you spend, vs those who advised you to slow down. You’re one of several people I’ve known who’ve made money on the net, only to lose it all. In all of the other cases they definitely had help spending that dough.
Looking forward to more…
Thanks for the feedback and compliments man. Glad you like the blogs, and trust me, much more to come
Andrew don't be so hard on yourself…
This whole episode of your life makes for a great story & its sounds to me like you learned your lesson from it.
Next time you make a million I'm sure you will be more responsible with it.
Although I do gotta say… $20K on strip clubs???? WTF!!! LOL
Haha, ya that is definitely for sure… Ya the strip clubs… I got carried away, lol, I mean, it's hard to explain, but when you can go to any strip club in vegas and just hook your friends and yourself up, it's hard to resist when you have k's in the bank… So I kind of lost control, at least it wasn't on drugs and alcohol! LOL
Great stuff, found you off Mixergy.com interview. The honesty always makes for great blog posts! And I've read enough of these now to the point where I hope when I do make the millions I have restaint, thanks for sharing it so openly!
Brian
Thank you man, I appreciate it! You will make millions, don't worry, and not spend it like I did
Thank you very much!
Great, inspiring blog. I think the biggest thing to take from it, is that that you didn't become rich by stroke of luck or lottery, you did it by running an efficient business and providing a good quality service to consumers. With that being said, you'll [almost] always be able to make that money back. Regardless of how much money you have/save/invest/spend, you know how to fish, and you'll "eat for a life time." Thanks for the point of view.
I respect your transparency. Not many people can be so open and brutally honest about their mistakes. I’m sure you’ve learned some incredible things (the hard way) through such a rollercoaster ride in business. What a story!
Thanks man, I appreciate the positive feedback. How you holding up ty?
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I knew you on MySpace pre the earnings. ECA Andrew, if I remember. I'd later hear stories about the money, and wanted to send you some urging to be BANKING some of it. You were probably at a time in your life where you might have been above taking advice, but after reading this I wish I'd offered some.
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Good Stuff and very therapeutic.
I made a good real estate decision that made me and extra $120k, then I made a decision in real estate that cost me $250-300k. Still caught up in the lost, but the wound is healing on that project because I fired everyone who was bleeding me and now I’m slowly finishing the work myself and learning more carpentry everyday, got 9 stitches last month to prove it. I have a full time IT job, but working up the energy to get a web venture going so I’m not dependent on the job because the employer is just cutting back more and more each year and the pay is getting less under the disguise as furlows, beside all the continuous layoff threats each budget cycle.
Yea, the do nothing cycle hit me too, but my wife hits me harder when I sit still too long. I keep thinking and talking myself into the notion that I have time, but I really gotta find a new perspective.
This is very interesting and I do think that it’s a shame what happened, but what’s done is done and all you can do now is get back out there, try again, and hopefully do it right this time.
Fascinating post and I am sure you hear all the time that everyone else would have done it differently, but of course how could any of us know what we would have done in that position without being in it? Thanks for the interesting read.