How to make and manage money
Sorry, this one was kinda interesting so I thought I would share.
Are you Foxy? Subscribe to our Newsfeed!instruments of trade but a parcel of needles. Those of the master shoemaker anime myspace layouts professional to furnish him, for a certain number of years, with a certain pet food
As mentioned in a previous post, I recently read a book called “Stop Working, Here’s How You Can“. This book inspired me to start investing in the stock market for the first time. The problem was that I had no idea how to do it. Where do I go to buy stocks? How do I choose a good company? How does it all work?
I solved that problem by reading a couple of books on the stock market, these books talked about how to get started, how to evaluate the companies that you are investing in and what kinds of things to avoid.
The first thing I found out is that I needed a brokerage account. I also found out that there were different types of brokerage accounts. The more traditional option is the full service brokerage account where you get one-on-one guidance and advice from a qualified broker. These brokers will give you stock tips and even make purchases on your behalf. The downside is that you will pay hundrends of dollars in comissions for each trade that you make and there is always the risk that you are getting biased advice from someone who will benefit from your decisions.
Another option is to get a discount brokerage account which is more of a self serve type of service where you can buy your shares online. This only costs $29/transaction (sometimes less) but you have to do all of the research yourself. There will usually still be a lot of company financial infomation available to you with these types of services.
Since I am starting with a small amount of money, I decided that it would be best for me to set up a discount brokerage account. I did that through my bank and then found a stock that is currently paying an annual dividend of almost 14%, has a high growth rate, and has a long history of high dividend payouts. I am going to start with that one.
So now I am all set up. I have my discount brokerage account, I have $1000 ready to go and I have my company all picked out. Tomorrow I am going to invest in the stock market for the first time. I am so excited! I will let you know how it goes.
Are you Foxy? Subscribe to our Newsfeed!I’ve noticed some people coming to our site wanting advice on how to get other people to pay off their loans for them. I thought this would be a helpful topic for most people so I’ve put together a list of possible ways that you may be able to achieve this.
I found an article about a guy who is selling ad space to pay off his student loans. If someone pays him $200 (the amount of his montly student loan payment) they will get exclusive advertisement on his website for a month. This is enough to make his loan payment every month with other peoples money. The funny thing is that it’s actually working for him. Check his site out at sponsormyloans.com
Consolidating your debt is not actually getting someone else to pay off your loans but it can be almost as good. If you use a free credit repair service and consolidate your loans you might be amazed at how much lower your payments are. Sometimes if your loan has gone into collections, either you or your credit counselor can actually talk your lender into lowering the amount that you owe them to something that is more manageable for you.
Find yourself a man or woman who has a lot of money and wants to give it to you in return for your love and affection. You may have to lower your standards a little and date someone who is twice your age but at least your loans will be paid off.
This one is very similar to number 3. If you find that sugar daddy/momma and they want to marry you…congratulations! You have hit the jackpot; you will never have to worry about paying off loans again! Just make sure you know how to change a diaper.
This obviously should be your very last resort. I had a boyfriend once who had claimed bankruptcy simply because he didn’t feel like paying his loans back. This is not only wrong; it’s a very bad idea. It will be on your record for the rest of your life, and because of his filing for bankruptcy, my ex couldn’t even think of buying a house or getting a loan for a car because the bank could not trust him to pay it back. The funny thing is that he ended up taking off with a lot of my money when we broke up….I should have seen it coming.
Some people have no other choice but to file for bankruptcy and it is a quick way to get rid of your loans although you will likely loose everything you have that’s of any value.
If you have any other creative ideas on how to get someone else to pay off your loan, send me an email and I’ll post it on the site along with a link back to your site.
Are you Foxy? Subscribe to our Newsfeed!I’ve been hearing all of these doom and gloom stories about how the world is ending, the stock market is falling and people are loosing their jobs in the United States. I do agree that a lot of people are having a really tough time right now to say the least; some have been loosing everything they have.
This is very sad; it should be a lesson, and an early warning sign for us Canadians who are knee deep in debt, and maxed out on our mortgages. For those of us who aren’t, the recent economic troubles could mean a huge opportunity for investing in the United States and around the world. Our dollar is up, our real estate market is healthy, and our unemployment rate is low.
In contrast, in the United States foreclosures were up 75% in 2007, there were more than 2.2 million filings for foreclosures! That’s 2.2 million homes being sold at bargain basement prices. (Check out foreclosure.com to see all of the homes that are “on sale”) Also the US unemployment rate is on the rise, and their dollar is has been falling steadily for quite a while.
In spite of all of that, we Canadians are still going strong. This presents a rare opportunity for us. Many of us can now afford to buy beautiful homes in the US that we never would have dreamed of buying even a year ago. This weekend my boyfriend and I went for a drive south of the border. It is unbelievable how much cheaper the houses are there compared to here. A house that you would normally pay $300,000 for here in the Toronto area you can get there for under $80,000 in many towns and cities in Western New York. Some that are even right on a lake!
Other exciting oppotunities can be seen in the US stock market. I’m sure you’ve heard the term buy low, sell high. Buying now may be a good example of buying low, although there’s no way to pinpoint exactly when the market will turn around.
Investing south of the border may also help to provide income for you in the event that the Canadian economy suffers a blow. Just make sure that you do your research before you invest in any company, or property in Canada, the US or anywhere else.
As bad as things seem now in the United States economy, why look at the glass as being half empty when there are so many opportunities out there?
Are you Foxy? Subscribe to our Newsfeed!While in the middle of buying my new house, it’s obvious that some people have had to look at my credit report. I am curious to see what it says as I know there are some things on there that I wish were not. I will explain that in another post, but I thought I would take a look and try to create a list of all the agencies that keep track of your credit reports around the world.
Below is the begining of my list. If you know of anything to add, please either leave it in the comments or send me a note through the contact form.
Canada
TransUnion Canada
1-866-525-0262
http://www.tuc.ca
Equifax Canada
1-800-465-7166
http://www.equifax.ca
U.S.A.
Equifax
(800) 685-1111
http://www.equifax.com
Experian
(888) 397-3742
http://www.experian.com
TransUnion
(800) 888-4213
http://www.transunion.com
U.K.
Callcredit
Tel: 0870 060 1414
http://www.callcredit.co.uk/
Experian
Tel: 0844 481 8000
http://www.experian.co.uk/
Equifax
Tel: 08705 143700
http://www.equifax.co.uk/
Australia
Veda Advantage Public Access
1300 762 207
http://www.mycreditfile.com.au
Dun & Bradstreet (Australia) P/L
132 333
https://secure.dnb.com.au/ccb/AU/your_credit_file.asp
Tasmania
03 6213 5555
http://www.tascol.com.au/reports.htm
I did have every intention on writing something today, but after a weekend of sick kids, I don’t have it in me. Instead, here are some links to Financial News on the internet today.
Why We Borrow Until It Hurts
Leveraging Lets Us Gain in the Short Term — and That’s When We Stop Thinking
The U.S. is Choking on Debt Financed Expansion
There is a marked difference between economic growth and debt-induced demand. Instead of letting the market take its medicine and enter recession in 2001, the powers that be injected fiscal and monetary drugs to dull the pain and induce stock gains.
Ellison’s New Yacht
Larry Ellison already owns the second-largest private yacht in the world — his 454-foot Rising Sun. Now, he’s building another one.
Just for fun and informational purposes, here are all the stats and info on the house I am buying. The house is located in Ontario, Canada, less than an hour from Toronto. Let me know if I have forgotten anything, or if you have any other questions.
4 bedroom semi on a 50′ x 150′ lot.
4 car parking
Fridge, Stove, Washer, Dryer, Freezer and water softener included.
Central Air
Asking Price: $219K
Price Accepted: $212K
Deposit Paid: $1K
Land Transfer Tax :$1875
Yearly Tax: $2300
House Insurance per Year: $500
House Inspection Cost: $340
Current Interest Rate: 5.74% lock in for 5 years, but will go down if banks lower it before closing.
Bi-Weekly Payments: $550
Downpayment: $10,600 (5%)
I am buying a house. It still sounds weird to say. “Hey look, here comes Jason the home owner”.
Anyway, tonight I get to meet the mortgage guy and sign the papers that will officially put me a quite a bit of debt. He seems to be a really great guy, has answered all my questions and not let me do anything stupid.
He explained the benefit of bi-weekly payments over monthy, and showed me how a cashback mortgage does nothing good for you over the long run and you will end up paying a lot more.
He is coming over tonight to make everything official. Hopefully I won’t pass out or anything before signing on the dotted line 
Also, I drove past the house and saw the nice bright SOLD sign on it. That was pretty cool.
Are you Foxy? Subscribe to our Newsfeed!
I’ve been reading this book called “Stop Working, Here’s How You Can” By Derek Foster and i’ve enjoyed it so much that I thought I’d share it with you.
The author has created a strategy that has allowed him to to retire early (at the age of 34). He did this by thinking differently than most people do about the stock market.
Did you know that many companies give a large portion of their earnings back to their shareholders? At the moment, most of these companies only pay between 1 and 4 percent which is hardly enough to keep up with inflation. There are some companies however that have a history of raising their dividends (the money that gets paid to the share holders) year after year even during recessions. He gives an example of RBC shares that could have been purchased at $15.56 in 1995 which would now be giving you an almost 13 percent yearly payout. Derek Foster says that these are the kind of companies that you should focus on. There are many other examples like this in his book.
So how much money can this actually make for you on a regular basis? Well lets say you spend about $150,000 (less than most people spend on a house) and buy shares in a few different companies, and after a few years if you are receiving an average amount of 13% per year, you would be bringing in $19,500 per year. I know this doesn’t seem like a lot but keep in mind that you are being taxed at a lower rate. It might be enough to live off of while you continue to build up your portfolio, and because of the companies that you invested in, your income would continue to increase year after year.
I know that there is (as always) a risk in investing in the stock market, but Mr. Foster has a set of rules that he follows in order to minimize the risk involved. He admits that many of his ideas are different from what most people will tell you, but his strategy has allowed him to retire at age 34 (just 10 years after he started working towards this goal).
Derek says that the idea is not to worry about whether your stocks are up or down. As long as the dividends are increasing year after year, then there is no need worry about the share price. Also as long as your shares are paying out and increasing, you should never sell them. The idea is to focus on recession proof companies (companies that sell things that people will buy even when they’re short on cash) then hold on to them for dear life. “Plant trees but don’t ever think about cutting them down!”
Also, he suggests only investing in Canadian stocks because of the added tax advantage this gives you.
I like his strategy because it takes a lot of the stress and apprehension out of investing in the stock market. I’ve always dismissed the idea of investing in individual stocks because I considered it to be more like gambling than investing, but now I’m thinking I might learn a little more about it and give it a try.
This book is a great read; it has definitely given me something to think about. I would recommend it to anyone.
Are you Foxy? Subscribe to our Newsfeed!As I am super busy with buying a house right now, and Aimee is swamped with work, here is something to keep you going until we can get back to writing. 10 simple and easy tips to save you money.
1. Make your lunch
It’s so easy I’m surprised more people don’t do it. If an average sandwich is $5 a pop and you buy one each day you’re at work, then over a year it’s going to cost you about $1,200 (assuming you have 28 days holiday which is more than most people will get). Get into the habit of rustling up your own food and you can easily pocket half of that cash, using the other half to bulk buy your groceries at the supermarket.
- read the rest -
Are you Foxy? Subscribe to our Newsfeed!
Subscribe to our feed or I will steal your socks! You know I will!
