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$323,950 (-0.4%)

I’ve returned from my quarter life crisis excursion and boy was it worth the money I spent on it.  I know I’m displaying the annoying YOLO mentality, but really, you do.  Whatever floats your boat, go do it.  Some people enjoy concerts, expensive purses, or nice decor.  Me? I like my traveling.

Although my net worth is down again this month, I’m okay with that (haha I’m really trying not to sound defensive, really).  I know that this month I spent a lot of money but I really enjoyed it.  Especially my $60 Zara shoes.

Oh, and I had to pay some taxes too.

I haven’t done much with my investment portfolios (whoops, I suppose that was on my to-do list), but the market has been okay so far.  Still wary of the “sell in May and go away” thing to happen though like it did last year.

Okay, so here’s the breakdown for May 2013:

ASSETS:

CASH: $263,090 (-0.8%) Continue Reading →

$324,400 (-0.15%)

So in the spirit of my quarter life crisis, I booked a trip to Europe during my term break.  I’ll do a break down of how much it will cost in total, but I don’t think it should gauge too much of a hole in my wallet because I’ll be staying in hostels mainly.  Instead of a highly hectic I-want-to-see-and-do-everything trip, I think I’m going to just take it easy and not have an itinerary planned for every day.

What else did I spend this month?  I’ve been eating out a lot again.  I bought a Lululemon top (no not the see-through Lululemon pants) for $64.  It’s a black top so pretty versatile (as versatile as yoga wear gets since everyone wears yoga pants everywhere  here in Vancouver).

Most of my purchases this month revolved around the trip.

My ticket cost $1200, I paid for the internal flights and the train ticket already.  I just need to pay for food, sightseeing, and the balance of the hostel payments when I get there.

Okay, so here’s the breakdown for April 2013:

ASSETS:

CASH: $264,960 (-3.3%) Continue Reading →

If you hope one day to be rich – or even a millionaire – what you do in the early stages of your life will be incredibly important. Few people are striking oil in their backyards these days, so the way to get rich is a matter of establishing the right habits early in life. What are some of those habits?

Practice delayed gratification

This sounds too old-school to even be real, but it is the ultimate key to prosperity. Simply put – you must choose to do without today to ensure a more prosperous future. This will enable you to live on less than what you earn, and to bank – and ultimately invest – the difference.

In practical terms, this will require sacrifices especially early in life:

• Buying used cars rather than new
• Buying the least expensive house you can afford, rather than the most
• Eating dinner at home instead of in restaurants
• Taking less expensive vacations, or forgoing them entirely
• Deciding not to compete with family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers in the ongoing race to acquire stuff

There’s no question that this type of lifestyle will not be as exciting as the way other people live. But as the years pass, you’ll begin to notice that your prosperity is rising, while those around you are mostly running in place.

Save a higher percentage of your income

What are you going to do with all of those extra dollars that you’re not spending as a result of practicing delayed gratification? You’re going to save them, and begin investing them. As you do, your wealth will begin to grow. Keep it growing, and you will reach pay dirt soon enough.

You’ll also want to increase the percentage of your income that you’re saving, especially as your income rises. While others are saving 10% or 15% of their pay – mainly for retirement – your goal be to save 20% to 30%, or even more (I’m at 23% so far!). The more money you can save now, the quicker you will begin to amass real wealth. The combination of relentless savings on your part, and the compounding of investment earnings will get you moving forward even faster than you could ever imagine. Continue Reading →