A Million Bucks by 30: How to Overcome a Crap Job, Stingy Parents, and a Useless Degree to Become a Millionaire Before (or After) Turning Thirty

by Alan Corey

At twenty-two, Alan Corey left his mom’s basement in Atlanta and moved to New York City with one goal in to become a millionaire by the time he was thirty. His parents and friends laughed, but six years later they were all celebrating his prosperous accomplishment–at a bar Corey owned in one of Brooklyn’s hippest neighborhoods.

No, Corey didn’t climb the corporate ladder to build his fortune. In fact, he worked the same entry-level 9-to-5 job for six years straight. But by pinching his pennies and making sound investments, he watched a pittance blossom into a seven-digit bank account. In A Million Bucks by 30 , Corey recounts his rags-to-riches journey and shares his secrets to success.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO BECOME FILTHY RICH.

“What a steal . . . For any entrepreneur the advice  in these pages is worth more than a million bucks.”
–Barbara Corcoran, founder, The Corcoran Group

“This is the best personal finance book I’ve ever read. Part self-help, part brass-tacks money guide; Corey’s confessional tales of making it to the million dollar mark are as hilarious as they are helpful.”
–John Reynolds, writer, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Money, Finance, Personal Finance, Self Help

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Atlanta-based Alan Corey is a well-recognized author, entrepreneur, and investor managing over $40 million in real estate holdings. Alan teaches the concept of House FIRE and other real-estate related early retirement strategies at TheHouseOfAC.com and on "The House FIRE Podcast."

Reviews

[Diana Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, I like the author's spirit and personality. Although I don't think I will ever find myself living in the projects or eating raw oatmeal and ramen for every meal - the author makes it clear that if you really want something and make sacrifices towards that goal, anything is possible - even becoming a millionaire by 30, making only $44,000 per year. With a combination of luck in real estate, being well-informed of his decisions, and his extreme cheapskate ways - he shows his version of becoming a millionaire. Its definitely hilarious and there's certainly some great insight.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mildly amusing tale but not to be taken as "how to" book on making a million. He had lots of luck with timing (got into real estate at the start of the recent boom) and did things hardly anyone else would willingly choose to do - live in the projects, appear on multiple reality shows, never go out to eat, etc....

[Nick Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cool book by Alan Corey discussing his hustle to make it to millionaire status by his thirtieth birthday.

His story takes some abstraction to pull out the nuggets needed to make it worthwhile to your own life. He's life and goals may or may not have much to do with your pursuits, but I think you'll be shortchanging yourself some great real-life examples on how to do it big!

In my particular case, I took away the following points for Corey's story:

- audacious goals that kind of scare you are a must if you want to achieve anything worthwhile
- real estate investing may not be your interesting to you, but to achieve wealth (particularly in a short period of time) you have to have some sort of entrepreneurial hustle
- sub-goals are a must to achieve your big, audacious goal
- regular, consistent action is needed to achieve
- start small and then build confidence, expertise, understanding, and life
- be willing to put in the work to achieve success
- What are you willing to sacrifice to meet your goals?
- Sacrifice is a necessity to achieve anything of worthwhile
- Knowledge is power
- (Calculated) risks are a necessary
- You gotta' want it
- Plans are essential to achieving a particular goal

I drew all of the above points from Corey's story. You may not have an interest in achieving a million anything let alone dollars, or flipping houses, but the above principles are applicable to your story regardless of its intended destination. Why not take a look at someone how set out to get what he wanted and did just that?

Favorite Quotes:

"Be a deal maker. Always be on the lookout for a way to make things work. I didn't want to pass on a property because it was priced too high; I wanted to pass on a property because it was a bad investment."

"Trust your own knowledge, as you could be just as good as or better than the experts in one area, like finding the next great location. But you should also recognize when the experts do indeed know more than you do in another area, such as in pricing and selling your home."

Pros:

- Easy read
- humorous

Cons:

- Alan Corey's story on becoming a millionaire may not have the same impact for someone who is not interested in real estate investing
- Along with the easy read his writing is not sophisticated and doesn't necessarily pull you in

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book that makes you think about where your money is going. The author was in a real unique position to get a million dollars by age 30. He took on quite a few real estate ventures that the average person could not do or have the means to do. But over all it made me think about doing some small investing to at least help my future (retirement) be better. Fun, quick, read.

[Roxy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's obvious that real estate is the way to go to get rich, but considering all the real estate issues since the economic downfall it will be much more difficult to get rich Alan's way.

[Matthew Donovan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decently written book and I enjoyed the author's writing style, but the reason for my rating is that from a practical perspective, I believe the book fails to recognize 1. the luck the author faced with regard to real estate appreciation during his specific time period and 2. the actions or behaviours that, while may be well-enjoyed by the author, would almost never be followed by others (i.e. making up a fake story to be flown out for a spot on The Jerry Springer show).
If you're looking for a light read to pass an hour, this might be it. If you're looking for advice or tips/tricks to learn from, I would suggest another book.

[Rachel Bertrand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid little book. Not super practical anymore, but it was interesting to see how Corey amassed wealth and cut corners to reach his goal.

[Maryam Momenin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was easy to read and it was fun. I liked the sense of humor . At the end i was inspired and learned alot.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard about this book on NPR, a long time ago - I think? It's been on my list and I finally got a hold of it and got the urge to read it. Most of the book is dedicated to real estate investing and reality tv stunts. That's fine, but nowhere in the title or cover is this really emphasized. Read the first few chapters and get a quick overview on investing, since that's something everyone can take advantge of, but don't bother with the rest unless you have folks who can lend you $10 to invest in real estate (and now I'm not sure you would even come close to having success in real estate). But, even if you do read the whole book, it's a quick and entertaining read and very easy to understand for a financial newb.

[Crystal Velasquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually find books that are in any way related to business extremely boring. But this one was such a light, fun read that I just zipped right through it in one weekend. He's basically just telling his own story about how he came to NY a 22-year-old kid with a mediocre job to a 30-year-old retired guy with property, a book deal, and almost half a mill in the bank. Some of what he did was pretty extreme and most people in their right mind wouldn't do it. But he does offer a lot of food for thought and it might inspire you to at least examine your spending and saving habits if nothing else.

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my god. This dude is a complete nut. This is probably the most hilarious, most entertaining book I've ever read on someone's account of personal finance. His book revolves largely around his ridiculous personal experiences, some of the wiser choices he made at investing, and being an absolute cheapskate. All in all, it was a very entertaining book, and while I'm not all that interested in living in the projects simply to save money like this guy did, he did make some very good points. The book is also very good at explaining financial terminology in layman's terms.

[karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally entertaining and engrossing. Who knew you could make a million bucks with a 40k a year salary in NYC? I have definitely implemented some of his budgeting ideas, although not to his extreme. I dunno how successful the real estate flipping strategy would necessarily be in today's economy, but the advice is certainly useful.

[Adele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about how to get, well... a million bucks by 30! So far, which is not much, the author explains how he had to live in a bad part of New York City, buy used clothes, furniture, and pretty much make a lot of compromises, after getting out of college to save money in the end. He has a bad job that he doesnt like and right now I am reading about 401k.

[Jen (Remembered Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never say no to a free book, even if it’s a cheesy-looking personal finance one like this. I was pleasantly surprised though: amongst the traditional “Be cheap, remember to save” stuff were amusing stories about getting on reality television and having too many roommates.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read, some good and creative ideas for savings and investment strategies, and the amount of research and legwork is obvious, but he also benefited a lot from focusing on real estate at a profitable time.

[Bela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun, fast read. I was sorry it was so short. Alan corey is an entertaining guy. I got even more inspired to do even better on my own personal finance mission/war.

[Belinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

How to be unbelievable miserable eating ramen and get lucky in a good real estate market. But the guy does have that "take a risk and success or die trying" attitude that I like.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

All you have to do is flip a bunch of houses, and do it before the economy collapses ...

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun read! Filled with humor, yet surprisingly inspiring. Not your typical, dry personal finance book.

[Peter Moelius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Earns an extra star for readability.

[Nelson Mays · Rating 3 out of 5]

This guy was Hardcore about becoming a millionaire. He is a very creative guy. Read and you will see what I'm talking about.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad. Amusing.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great quick read.

[Shankar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt like reading someone's interesting and a well written blog...

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

worked for me till he started talking about flipping houses... yeah, not going to happen for me.