Why? Why? Why did I put this goal on my Bucket List? Today the goal would read "Get Rid of ALL of your Investment Real Estate"! Of course I added this to my list when I was a bit younger and thought "if only I was a real estate investor, I could become rich, travel the world and be a remote property manager". Of course, we bought the properties at the peak of the market and of course we are now losing our a$$ just like most of the rest of the investors.
With that said, there is always a positive to any negative situation and here are 3 valuable lessons I learned from this experience.
- I'm a simple girl. I don't need a fancy car or huge diamond rings to be happy and I can only wear so many clothes that are in my closet. I have learned how to enjoy the simple pleasures in life and now concentrate on creating experiences instead of acquiring "things".
- How to reduce my monthly bills. I literally went through every line of every bill to see if any reductions could be made and saved myself over $200 per month. I also went through bills from the food suppliers I use at my restaurant and switched to purchasing products from the cheapest source (savings: $300 per month). I switched phone/internet companies for a cheaper rate and changed my car insurance company (savings: $60 per month). This was all without very much effort, I was almost angry at myself for never doing it before. I have now vowed reevaluate my bills and spending every six months.
- Entertainment can be cheap. During this time my husband and I created a "Recipe Trial" night. This was a night where we would each choose recipes we have always wanted to try. We would then invite our friends over to critique our creations, they would bring the wine. This turned out to be one of my favorite nights of the week. I also took up hiking since it can be done for free and, due to this, I have seen some of the most spectacular wildlife, waterfalls and foliage. It is also a great opportunity to catch up with friends while getting some much needed exercise. I would now rather go hiking than shopping, any day of the week.
So, as of today, we just sit and wait for the economy to turn around. But, in the meantime, if anyone is interested in a vacation rental in Arizona check out our website 
The Market took a big dump today, which made it a great day for buying. Luckily, I had some $$ in my stock account that was asking to be spent. I purchased LF (Leap Frog) for $3.90 & SIRI (Sirius) for $0.60. Leap Frog makes those cool educational children's toys. I am hoping that with Christmas just around the corner that we will see a little spike in it's price. Frankly, I just bought SIRI to try to get some sort of return on the huge loss I have taken. Hope it works or else more money down the drain. I guess that's the risk you have to take in the Stock Market. If it was easy, everyone would be millionaires!
profit/loss, year-to-date: +230%
The stock market is on fire today!! At the start of the day I was holding DNN, CPE, SIRI, ADVNA, AEZS & XRM. I sold XRM for $1.30 ($0.35 more than what I paid for it). I have a limit trade in for ADVNA for $0.60 (only $0.12 more than I bought it for), but that's not looking like it will sell today. DNN & CPE are on the rise, but I need them to each go up another $0.25 for me to make a little $$$. SIRI is still my lost cause stock, I keep hoping that a miracle will happen. I guess Howard Stern doesn't have as much of a following as I thought. Lesson learned…don't buy stocks where one person has to carry the entire company. At some point I will have to put my tail between my legs, accept the loss & sell…it's bringing down my portfolio!
My sister-in-law says that it is "time in the market, not timing the market" and she's probably right, but I sure am having a great time trying! I have been "day-ish trading" since Jan 2009 and so far I am up 85%. By no means am I an expert, but here are the strategies (if you want to called it that) I use:
- I put all the stocks that I currently hold and the ones the I am watching in the stock application on my Iphone. When the stock market is down (all my stocks will turn red on my Iphone) I buy and when it's up (they turn green), I sell. I know, you're saying…"duh"? But, I really believe that it is as simple as that.
- I try not be too greedy. As Warren Buffet has said, "I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over". I only try to make $100 on each stock trade and believe me there are many times when it has been hard to sell at the $100 mark without just wanting to take my chances at making more. But, in my head the words "don't get greedy" float around.
- When the market is down, I turn to Motley Fools to help me pick my stocks. I go to their Top Tens "Hot 5-Star Stocks" and choose something in my price range.
- I try not to complicate things. My stock vocabulary consists of: trade, limit, chart, stop loss and market. I don't get too involved in all of the rest of the lingo because I feel like it will just complicate the simple "buy low, sell high" strategy.
- Patience. I am patient, I wait for the market to go significantly down & significantly up. Sometimes this take 1 hour and sometimes 1 month…I wait.
Here's a the list of current stocks I am holding: DNN (Denison Mines Corp), CPE (Callon Petroleum Co.), WRES (Warren Resources Inc), SIRI (SIRIUS), CSE (CapitalSource Inc.), TGB (Taseko Mines)
I hope I can officially double my money by the end of the month! Watch out Warren!
