Oct 31, 2015 Net Worth Update: $136,623 (+$5,184, +3.9%) 12

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my end of October 2015 net worth update.

Wow, another volatile month. My portfolio value fluctuated by $4,000-$6,000 on a weekly basis. WTI fluctuated crazily as well. WTI has gone up to $52 but down to $42 then hovering around at $46 now. I like the fact that I have a day job to add more cash to my cash reserve under the volatile environment. I will have to reserve cash to get ready for 2016’s $20,000 TFSA room for me and my wife and also some RRSP (For US Citizens,  401K, IRA, ROTH IRA…) so I kinda hope that the market stays like this or even drop further temporarily so that when January 1 2016 hits, I can afford to buy more stocks at good discounts.

When you invest, you should always look at long term investing horizon, not tomorrow, next month, next year etc…. If you foresee that you would need cash in a near future then investing in stocks isn’t for you. However when you start to focus on longer term view, then you will do quite well as long as you buy good stocks with great fundamentals at attractive price.

This is my tenth 2015 net worth update. Net worth update is posted monthly to keep track of the progress of my journey to become a millionaire. I believe anyone can be a millionaire with good saving habits and smart investing plans. If you would like to join the journey, please follow me through my Facebook and twitter pages and subscribe your email for free updates.

Subscribe your email to come along for my million dollar journey. Miss greyhound also wanna see you often. Can’t you see how excited she is now?

It has been a bit more than one year since I started tracking my net worth. My net worth on July 31 2014 was $79,352 but it is now $136,623. That is $57,271 (72%) astonishing growth during last 15 months period. Can you believe it? My net worth grew by $3,818 per month on average. Keep it steady and slowly which is the key to become a millionaire.

I cried a bit when my net worth decreased for the first time four months ago since I tracked my net worth but I turned it over to positive three months ago then it dropped again two months ago which continued to last month then I turned around this month. My net worth grew from $131,439 to $136,623 over the month (+$5,184, +3.9%). 🙂  Growth mostly came from my cash reserve increase since I haven’t purchased stocks for about 2 months now. That’s the longest time that I haven’t purchased stocks since I started this blog. As a self-proclaimed stock purchasing addict, not buying stock is the toughest thing that I have to do. That’s alright. Opportunities will pop up several more times under this volatile market and I will be ready when the time comes.

 

Cash

My cash balance has increased from $4,575 to $9,674 as I expected from last month update. My only dilemma is whether to keep saving and increase my cash reserve to $20,000 by the end of year for TFSA or buy stocks early when opportunities arise. First world problems to me. J For someone who do not take advantage of TFSA and RRSP (for US citizens, 401K, IRA, ROTH IRA…) please use them for your future. They are wonderful instruments that will make your future brighter.

My majority of cash is sitting in President choice Debit account. I use it for the most of the money transfer, bill payments, cheques etc… as there is no transaction fee in this amazing card and cheques are free. Major banks typically charge $50-100 for 50 cheques but I pay nothing for that. Due to its partnership with CIBC bank, I can use their extensive CIBC ATMs network which is awesome. Their customer service is great as well.

I use TD bank card as well which is mainly used for investment fund transfer purpose as it is connected to TD warehouse brokerage account which gives me some convenience of transferring fund and invest. Check out the following section to see what credit cards and debit cards options we have in US and Canada.

Investment

I am having my eyes closely on buying another oil &gas companies with strong balance sheets with very little debt. My favorite right now is Bankers Petroleum Limited (BNK). I think BNK is one of strongest contenders here with less than 10% of leverage with great fundamentals however the stock has been beaten down together with all other oil and gas companies with 30-60% of leverage. The stock fluctuated down from $7.40 high in June 2014 to $2.20 right now. What a bargain. I was going to pull the trigger when it was hovering around at $1.90 but missed the timing so I will wait until better time comes. Considering this extremely volatile market, opportunities will again open themselves up sooner or later.

Considering extremely low oil price, big oil companies, oil companies with refinery function or oil companies with little debt will survive. BNK is leveraged at less than 10%.

Severely beaten down just like other oil companies.

As you may have noticed from My portfolio section, I sold all of my VTI holding in August. I figured, if I am going to keep investing for a long time or forever, then I would switch to stocks from ETFs. I am not going to lie, VTI was amazing for last one year period as I purchased at $104 but due to strengthening US currency, my average cost reduced to $95-$97. I sold some VTI about 3-4 months ago at $110.50 and about 10 days ago, sold the rest at $108.76. Both of them generated about 10-15% gain for one year while I held which I am extremely happy with. It has been good VTI. So long. With the proceeds, I purchased the following stocks. Please check out the following link for quite fun I had. Recent Buy- ARLP, BHP, CSX, CVX, NOV, NSC, UNP and WMT.

All the purchases will add US$1300 to my annual dividend income. That’s more than $100 every month. Yay!!!

My investment did pretty well this month. Total value went up by $1,000. It actually was up by $6,000 but went down toward the end of October. Who really cares, I am not selling them anyways. Check out my portfolio page to see what stocks I own and the following article for more investment tips-How to Simply Invest and Get Richer for Dummies in 8 Easy Steps.

If you are also a dividend investor like me, then you should check out the following page to see how other dividend investors are doing. You won’t regret a moment of reading their valuable and inspirational articles. The Financial Bloggers Dividend Income List Oh right, you may want to check out the following section to see what other investing bloggers are up to as well. Blogroll

Credit card

My credit card debt is at around $1,500 which is higher level than usual because I had to purchase 2 tickets to my second hometown, Halifax. I got a good deal buying and booking the tickets. I shared all my tips in my last post-7 extremely easy tips to save 20-50% on flight tickets

I am still close to debt free and I like it that way. I just love the feeling of keeping my credit card balance low as I feel empowered to be debt free.

We tried to minimize spending over last couple of months and it worked out pretty well. We use Capital one Costco credit card as it gives us 3% cash back on restaurants (6% on first 3 months). We also have MBNA cash back card that we use mainly for grocery and gas for 2% cash back and everything else for 1% cash back (5% on first 6 months) without any annual fee. Unlike capital one cash back card and all other cash back cards out there, MBNA card is well beyond expectation. First of all, MBNA pays cold hard cash back (not points toward purchasing goods and services) and secondly, MBNA directly deposits the cash right away to your bank when it hits $50 mark. That’s great as I don’t have to wait until the end of the year to collect cash. Remember. Everything adds up.

Check out the following links if you are interested in getting awesome credit cards like MBNA and Capital one credit cards.

US residents

Canadian residents

Source: Businessinsider.com

Spending

We have been tightening up spending. We set up two major rules and following religiously so far.

1. My wife added some more healthy option after watching some documentary films about how chickens, milk cows etc… are raised so we have been purchasing quality organic ingredients, cook home meals most of time and go out and enjoy restaurant meal once a month together in a mutually agreed restaurant.
2. We shop at Costco once a month for majority of grocery (They are always fresh and love their AAA beef so much for very attractive prices) then for urgent needs, my wife goes grocery nearby our place for eggs, milks, vegetable and fruits as in need basis. Our monthly grocery budget is $500 per month. I know it is high for just two people but we love healthy and good quality food and I am a meateatarian.
3. We will keep being frugal on all other expenditures. See the following links for excellent ways to save money.
   • 7 extremely easy tips to save 20-50% on flight tickets
   • 30 most important tips to be a millionaire no matter how much you make.
   • Renting vs Buying
   • 16 most important tips to save on car insurance by 40-60%
   • Norbert’s Gambit- Save thousands of dollar from foreign exchange conversion fees
   • What’s in my wallet
   • Needs vs Wants
   • 20 smart moving tips that will save you time and money
   • How to save $1,000 annually from your TV cable bill

Hope you enjoyed this month’s net worth update. Remember, if you haven’t, set your saving & investing plans up and try to see how much net worth you have reached as of now and how much it has fluctuated in the past. Knowing where you are and where you will be headed will be a great starting point to be a millionaire and retire comfortably. Hang in there. I will be on the journey with you.

 

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