Originally Posted by TaylorPilot

Why wait if you can spend $500 a week on it. That is a pretty good budget. That is atleast 2 lessons a week. I would get the IFR knocked out now, and build time as a safety pilot. Split the cost with the guy under the hood, and you will be able to fly atleast 8 hours a week on $500 doing that...it will add up quick to about 235ish hours. Then it is just getting ready for the COMM and CFI....Do all your COMM CC time in a complex or TAA and kill two birds with one stone.

Right now I would get the IFR written and even CFII written if you plan on getting that in the next year or so (good for 24 months). Then at 2-3 hours a week, you'll be ready in about 2-3 months....If you are lacking on your CC time for the instrument, get someone who is already IFR to fly with you, split the time, you learn, he gets half price hours, but you have to do the take offs and landings so you can count the time as CC. Remember, only 15 of it has to be with an instructor, so if you are a proficient instrument flyer, it may go quicker than you think. The secret is to find someone else to split time with who just finished their IFR, but is still needing that 50 or so hours to get them to 250.