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.
This is a 3 part blog:
How I Made 2.5 Million Dollars
How I Lost 2.5 Million Dollars
My Depression Struggle
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 2.5 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 300-500k (but can’t access my accounts any longer with them)…
New Total: $2.3 – 2.5 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: $1,390,000
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 $648k 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 $648k 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…
Andrew, you made money at a very young age when we actually play and plan our carriers. And a mistake done without knowledge is not a mistake at all. You were a kid with a lot of monies — kids don’t understand investment do they? Mistake but not a huge one – as you are talented and your friends cannot take away that from you.
I am in India and here they say in Hindi – “paisa haanth ka maila hai” — it means money is just like dirt in our hands – it comes and goes.
Glad that now you are matured and know the value of investment.
Compare this to mistake a man in his early 20s did here recently in a reality show – “who wants to become a millionaire”.
He answered ALL questions correctly till the penultimate one – he could have just walked away with Indian Rupees – 10,000,000. Instead he attemted tha last question for 50,000,000 – and got it wrong!!!! He walked away with just 3,20,000 Rupees.
Dont you think he will rise up again in life??? So will you!!!
Thank you for that.
Hi Andrew, I am very appreciative to read your story and understand more about your ups and downs and how you got there. I have read part 1 and part 2 and I am very interested to hear more about your future plans. I subscribed to be notified of your book and look forwards towards getting it.
I wonder if your downswing was because people stopped using myspace and moved towards facebook. I personally closed my account and my wife’s account on myspace cause it was lame as hell. Maybe your website/seo change was not the culprit, just changing times mixed with a minor SEO bug… I wonder what you think of that…
I am quite impressed with this website and bemodel.com. I think you have great taste for a clean webpage look and feel (UI). Do you design these sites yourself these days or you outsource?
Very interesting story,actually inspiring! My names tyler, 23 grew up in northern California right out of humbolt made some money growing and selling to people that sold to people that sold to cannibas clubs, blew it all on some shit .nothin to your extent…so now im in alaska with some family its been a year clean and sober tiss the life…..anyways…good luck on your new journey ill see you on top, im just about to launch my new website…any advice much appriciated…
one love,
Tyler Zaugg
hey man. I remember watching you make that money in that old apartment you and curtis lived in. my mom is pretty good friends with greg king now, through liberal politics. you should drop me an email sometime.
Damn man, long time no talk a roo!
Daaaaaaam!
Mutha F#$%& gone lost his mind!
I was going to say …if your habit was to spend what you earn, and were never taught when you were young the value of splitting your money into bills, savings, charity etc then those bad habits carry on… but then I realised, at an age where most of us are learning this stuff with a small wage from the supermarket and pissing that away on the weekend, you had biiiig $ coming in so it seems much more drastic when you were doing the same thing we all did.
Take the lesson, move on. Create a budget.
Only mistake to get pissed off over is if you make the same mistake again and again.
Good luck.
This is absolutely great info Andrew. Thank you so much for sharing this very detailed and very personal information. Every aspiring (and established) entrepreneur should read and learn from your experiences. Going public with this information will help many people and hopefully help you truly live a rich life. Can’t wait to read the book! Thanks again!
Greg
Thank you, and I am glad you enjoyed it!
real shit man, real shit… i enjoyed the last part of the list too… im not saying not to help people, but then again, in my opinion, and after much of the same hardship, i have developed the ability to not give my cash to my friends… i just give them friendship… good luck
thank you whery muc
Great read, loved it. You blew your money away on self pleasure, and I’m sure you lived in an incredible manner in those years that an average person wouldn’t even live upto in their entire life.
Fuckin love how you described everything, you’ have a strong mindset on things, and I know you’ll make it up there again. I’m on the same track, Good luck.
Appreciate the comment.
I have been following The Secret for the past year or so and I am a true believer in it and how we make things of ourselves. Who we are is based on our thought process. If we are positive we can’t be kept down. What you have gone through is an eye opener for us who live lives trying to make our dreams reality and who want money… Like you said investment along with spending is the way to go…All the best in your endeavors to get back to the high flying life…I’m sure you will and I am one of those rooting for you to make it back…once again all the best…I will check back to see if you have…
Thanks for your support!
The Secret rocks 
So legit. Definitely inspiring and motivating.
Thank you
Very nicely described..,,.It’s nice to see atleast you have an idea where exactly everything went, so I won’t say you were not aware how you were spending money but may have missed the market flow at some point and couldn’t keep with change as somebody mentioned above, everything was shifting from myspace to facebook, twitter and I geuss now to Google+, Anything that goes up..comes down. But I see you enthusiastic about new projects, which is great as long you know “Never Back down”!..good luck!
Thank you! I always try to stay positive!
Andrew,
Not much I can say.
Best of luck for http://www.bemodel.com/ Time for something New
Thank you!
Wow! Your story is so interesting. I’m looking forward to reading your book. Thanks for being transparent and letting us in on the details. There are so many successful entrepreneurs and those who have failed miserably that won’t tell the truth behind how they succeeded and how they failed.
I also build websites, design, and develop brands. I’m working around the clock, growing my business as well. What I love the most about being young and pursuing my dream is the autonomy. Having the freedom to spend every waking moment doing what I want, how and want, and when I want while getting paid to do it is what I call an *Epic Life*.
Thanks again for posting.
Andrew,
I read your website. I knowxactly what you’re going through; I went from making maybe $90k/year to making between 1 and 2M average for the last 8 years or so. I blew through tons of cash in Vegas, but I lalways made sure I had money socked away. Own your house and things you buy, so they don’t own you. I am a multimillionaire, I pay my taxes quareterly and overly. I’ve lived the high life, but have toned it down significantly, private jets to THE Playboy Mansion; the best suites in Vegas, trips and doing whatever I want/wanted. But where you’re wrong, is that money does not buy happiness. I always adhered to the rule that the only people who say money doesn’t buy happiness, simply do not have any. I always thought I was the smartest guy around, but remember, there are many, many smarter people out there. You need to find pleasures in what you’re doing at the moment. Working and putting in a solid day’s efforts, whether that is helping someone, or trying to reach your financial goaols first – it doesn’t matter. The more money you have, the more people try to get their hands on it. You’re other problem is that you were living like you were making 10M/year not 1M – I make at least $100k/month and sometimes more, obscene, but I live like I make a few hundred k/year. Don’t spend your money to impress other people. Those same people will treat you like a rock star to your face while you’re picking up the tab, but will laugh their asses off behind your back. Private jets, anything you wanted, you fell into the trap. A million dollars will always be a lot of money, but it isn’t a lot of money, if you hear what I’m saying. I’ve worked my ass off for years (since I was 12) to get to a point where I would be in the position I am in now; I am a multi-millionaire, well-respected and its a big let down if you don’t have the relationships; friends/family to be there with you. So all I can say is that, the past is the past, it doesn’t make you better than anyone, it doesn’t make you worse than anyone. It makes you, you. Learn from it and don’t make the same mistakes. Don’t surround yourself with people who are leaches, surroound yourself with people who are good-hearted. You’ll be a richer man for it. I wish you luck.
Sincere story, I really enjoyed reading it…Success at the end is not only money…every entrprenerur should read your story…
Thank you for the Message. It’s amazing what can happen when we have the appropriate information. Mis saludos desde Peru y Tailandia.
Hi, Andrew.
I read every post in your blog and i like your story. I can see that your are a very smart man but not only for all your reached goals, but due to the fact that with all the money that you owned, you say that you never abuse of the drugs and alcoholic drinks, and helped to your friends and also gave gifts to they. I have 8 years working from home via internet, i am working day and night until 17 hours non stop, without make more than a very few dollars monthly but my debt are very high now. I speak spanish but only a little english, i can read and write well but speak is for me to much more hard.
I have the last 3 years in tears since my dear wife have severe hypertersion since 15 years back , we could not have children due my wife also have other wealth problems.
Also i have a disorder named (TOC) ann my life is very difficult due to this. The Internet is my only source of profits. I believe in God. But also a believe that still exist to much good persons in this world. I can see that you are one of theys Please Andrew help me. Give me a tip, council or any other form of help about how can i make not millions, i need make only $100 daily. Please say me Its this possible for me? How can i reach this goal? I will wait your kindly and sincere help. And not worry about your current situation, since you will be again a rich man very sooner. This is an absolute certainty.
God bless you Andrew. Sincerely Erick
Thanks for your feedback. It’s very easy to make money on the internet, don’t give up. I suggest looking into affiliate marketing.
bonsoir mon ami
ne regrette rien tu as gagne une fois tu gagnera une autre fois ta chute ta ouvert les yx sur tout c’ dieu qui l’a voulu mais je sens que tu vas a nouveau gagne courage
j’aimerai te connaitre mon ami je suis patrick de paris portable0661826149
peu etre a bientot mon ami je te salut avc respect
ton ami francais
patrick
tre bon commentair monsieur! je suis d’accord avec toi
andrew, congratulations, you have had a wonderful life and im sure will become even better. thank you for sharing your mistakes with all of us, you are so generous. On the other hand, you are young, im not that much, im 41, my only advice will be: make billions if you want but dont let money to rule your life, you dont want to be multi-millionarie and feel empty and alone.
Appreciate the feedback
You’re not stupid, but a leader for a lot of us, even though I’m older than you (27) and perhaps we will never meet personally it’s been a great experience to read your blog. Your Story will be a big lesson for a lot of people b4 they go thru it… therefore it was not a waste.
Now that you’re ‘poor’ I’m pretty sure you found out who were your real friends… there’s a million of people out that waiting for a friend, a leader, a person that has something to say a support, have you not noticed you are a great person that has all this in it?… now go and hunt friends… I’m pretty sure you’ll be a millionaire again not of money but of people that cares about you.
Regards from El Salvador
thank you for your kind works!
[...] Part 2: Young & Stupid: How I Lost My Millions [...]
[...] Make sure you have read “How I Made 2.5 Million,” and “Young & Stupid: How I Lost My Millions.” [...]
Had a similar experience but not with those amounts haha, last year made 5k from had work from selling watches, gambled and lost 2.5k in less than 2 weeks, is a lot for me, but now working on this: http://www.relojesfashion.com hope to have it fully up in a week, hope to get back up with you Andrew, have faith in no one but yourself and thanks for the inspiring story.
Money is money, if it’s all your money and you lose it, no matter the amount, it hurts. It just stacks up in weight when losing more.
have you ever thought of telling your story through TED (ideas worth spreading)? I think theres solid material to share with your story…
greetings from Colombia (south america) and I hope the depression is over and you’re on your way to the top again…
thank you for your feedback, I love TED! And I am definitely on my way back up!
That was a truly amazing read for me Andrew because I am too with ADHD, I also dropped out of highschool because I wanted to make money of the internet, I’m 18 and working day and night on my new project. I can really relate to you man, talk about fate huh.
I even knew about The Secret before I stumbled on your blog
You’re on the right path then!
I advice you to trust in God, because I think that you can release your economy on his first way.
Good luck and for it, you’ve to work hard again.
Bro ur self made. U made it once you will make it again. No doubt. I read ur story and its really something. Honestly i feel empathy for u and ill be happy for u wen u become rich again just dont fuk it up this time haha. Ive been thinkin of using the secret to winthe lottery but i want to make my own money by myself u know. Im 19 and i want to dropout and become an entrepeneur but i think u have to go to college to learn those things. I ask da universe and god to give me dat million dollar idea dat will benifit alot of people. I go into silence everyday and im just waiting for dat idea to hit me. Wen dat inspiration hits me im taking action i cant fukin wait dude. Ur just a sign from up der. Good luck though seriously
Appreciate the kind works man!
amazing story bro! btw if you had invested the leftover 1 mill to buy apple stock back in 2007 for $90 a peice, today you would have made $8.1 million in profit. I think that would have been the best possible investment you could have made.
Hey man! Ive been working on my projects for about a year or two and make a couple thousand a day at festivals and pride events. Your story amazes me in the fact you blew all that money lol Im to much of a stingy bastard to spend money because im all about cash flow and commercial property just drives me crazy thinking about it haha
Ive been wondering were some good places are to learn to code like you ?
Thanks
Inspiring, I cannot wait to read your book.
Thanks man!
Dear Fash,
I was good to read your experiences. You have a God-given ability to grind out and work hard, couple with your proven track record of success, I see your career as more of a Sine wave than a downwards trajectory.
I have had a few ideas poached literally from my Brain to the market in the last 2-3 years. The last one really stung as, my focus on a professional degree has meant that my focuses lie far outside the world of programming. I have a few exemplary ideas and would appreciate any form of dialogue, realistically, everyone who reads your blog, sees this post and has an idea in their head, will ask for the same, and i apologise in advance for the wealth of emails that you will receive — howeverrr,
Residing in the UK, I have connections on both sides of the Atlantic and a dogged determination to transform the utilisation of the internet in my field. Without skills in programming however, I’d like to have some dialogue with you and hope that you can contact me via email.
if not, all the best for the future anyway!
Take Care
AO #SKCGROUP
Hi big bro’!!!
u know what happened to u is a lesson for every one…
But it was said that whatever does not kill us, makes us stronger!!!
my man, u’re still stand and mo strong!!!
Pliz inbox me, have some plan for u!!
Peac up
Orkido Fiktif
Thanks man, appreciate it!
Love how this thread is still going strong after all these years!
I just announced my retirement on my site, and wrote a book entitled, “How To Engineer Your Layoff: Make A Small Fortune By Saying Goodbye”.
The one message I have is for everybody NEVER to quit their jobs, but to figure out a win-win scenario to get let go.
Hope the fashion biz is going well Andrew!
Best,
Sam
Andrew, I have two project ideas that are brewing and since you hae experience, Im looking for a mentor and partner so to speak. Email me. Thanks
Please contact me using the contact form!
Came across your story on a self-made-millionaire site. And to be honest, I was truly inspired by your methods of even achieving something so big. I’m almost 16 years old (15.9 to be exact lol) and I’m highly interested in the details of what you did to make that kind of money per month and per year. Specifically in the websites and how you constructed them/managed them. And also how you made money off of them. I’m a media type of guy; I love doing my own photography as a hobby and cinematography as well. I figured the two combined would make a pretty significant website for a first. But I don’t want to use any of these free site building web sites. Because it seems as though every name brand website has been made originally from a creator them self that knows how to code and what not. I’ve never messed around with coding or anything but I’m not afraid to try something new. I’m young and my goal is to just make a lot of income. I take a couple AP classes and honestly things are getting repetitive and I’m starting to realize, along with many others, that there’s a certain amount of education you need and that you don’t necessarily need college. Not that I plan on dropping out but hey, if I made a few million why not? LOL. Thanks for the help if you or anyone else replies
-Derick P [Sclera]
Hey man, appreciate the feedback. I made most of my money from advertising, and still do make most of my money from internet advertising. The internet game is a great one, from website, to marketing, to iPhone Apps, etc… All I can tell you is, research, and keep learning. The internet game by far is the best, and the quickest way to make a buck.
[...] Young & Stupid series was in December of 2009: Young & Stupid: How I Made 2.5 Million Young & Stupid: How I Lost It All Young & Stupid: My Depression Young & Stupid: How I Will Get Rich [...]