July 2017 Update

Hope everyone had a great July!

Personal Highlights for July:

• Got the house de-cluttered, cleaned – listed and SOLD!
• Spent a lot of the month out at the cabin with the family.
• Finished reading “A field guide to lies: Critical thinking in the information age” by Daniel Levitin (Great book- highly recommend it)
• Kids Update – Took Holland to Boardwalk Days @ Winnipeg Beach – bought her first ice cream & Isaac turned 3 and is growing like crazy..he is also still a hairy little bastard!(See below)

Financial Highlights:

• While cleaning house – rolled and cashed in my change – which resulted in $1167 – which went straight to my line of credit!
• Paid down another 10% on line of credit.
• One of my favorite stocks had a reverse split and got listed on the NYSE! (Caledonia)
• Got our first government child benefit cheque! Thanks JT!
• Although no stock purchases will be made until L.O.C is paid off – I’ve continued my regular bi-weekly fund purchases, spousal RSP purchases & and saw a few shares DRIP (more on that below)

Now on to the fun stuff.

Passive Income Update For July 2017.

TFSA:

Diversified Royalty: $8.77 (Dripped 3 new shares)

Artis Reit: $48.24 (Dripped 3 new shares)

OneReit: $18.25 (Dripped 5 new shares)

Plaza Reit: $24.05 (Dripped 5 new shares)

Algonquin Power: $109.66 (Dripped 9 new shares)

Caledonia Mining: $18.73 (Unfortunately RBC doesn’t allow this company to drip currently)

TFSA Total: $227.70  

RRSP:

Canadian Equity Income Distribution: $202.41

Total Passive Income July 2017:  $430.11 

Portfolio Update:

My portfolio saw a slight increase in value – however still down from the April high. Total value is back to $270,259.42  This represents a month over month increase of 0.50%.  I’m still expecting a pull back so I am not too concerned with the monthly fluctuations right now.

How was YOUR month?

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The times they are a “changin'”

Well – looks like the time is (finally) here.  One of my goals for 2017 was to sell my house & buy a new house.  As of Friday my house has officially been sold.  Although I knew we had to buy a new house with the arrival of our second child, it still seems weird.  This was the first house I ever bought, and I’ve lived there for over TWELVE years (more than a third of my life).

I now have until September 15th to find a new house, get possession and move in otherwise i’ll be living out at the cabin for a few months.  I loved my little house, and truth be told, I probably would have lived there forever if our family remained a one child home.  That being said, there are a few things I am looking forward to in a new house – things I didn’t even think to consider when buying my first home.

The great news is everything went super smooth with the sale of our house – we listed it – had showings for 4 days and on offer date – we had 2 offers (both above asking price) and had it close 3 days later!

Here are some pics of the little house i’ll be leaving next month:(

http://www.goodfellow-goodfellow.com/listings/view/142850/winnipeg/scotia-heights/118-forrest-avenue

On a more happy note, while cleaning the house and de-cluttering I decided to roll my spare change I had which resulted in $1176.00.  It’s amazing how fast change adds up. I took it to the bank and put it directly down on my line of credit (one of my other goals is to have my line of credit paid off by the end of the year).

In case you wanted to know what $1176 in change looks like:

My neck and back hurt for 2 days after just carrying it from my car to the bank.

Not much else is new from the finances side – and unfortunately until a new house is purchased, and I figure out all the new monthly expenses I probably wont be making any  purchases (aside from the few funds that get automatically purchased every 2 weeks).  Plan is to buckle down – eliminate all debt – buy a house and once I’m settled I will re-focus on finding some good buys!

I am not sure how much time i’ll have to post until we are moved into the new house – so aside from monthly portfolio updates the blogging will probably be pretty scarce.  It’s probably for the best though – it’s +30 and you should be outside drinking a beer anyway!

June 2017 Update & Happy Bday Canada!

My update is a few days late because I was out at the cabin celebrating Canada’s bday over the long weekend.

Personal Highlights for June:

• Spent a couple weekends out at the cabin – including celebrating the Canada Day weekend and taking the kids to their first parade (picture above)
• Although the progress has been slower than we would have hoped, we are continuing the de-cluttering of the house in the hopes to have it ready to sell in the next few weeks.
• Tracked my spending and realized I was spending WAY too much money – so challenging myself to be extra frugal this month.
• Finished reading “But what if we’re wrong” by Chuck Closterman

Financial Highlights:

• Paid down 5% of line of credit debt
• Made first 3 contributions to Amber’s Spousal RRSP.
• Although no stock purchases will be made until L.O.C is paid off – I’ve continued my regular bi-weekly fund purchases and saw a few shares DRIP (more on that below)

Now on to the fun stuff.

Passive Income Update For June 2017.

TFSA:

Diversified Royalty: $8.71 (Dripped 3 new shares)

Artis Reit: $47.97 (Dripped 3 new shares)

OneReit: $18.13 (Dripped 5 new shares)

Plaza Reit: $23.94 (Dripped 5 new shares)

Canadian Western Bank: $0.23 (Even though I sold my position in CWB – I dripped 1 share previously and still own it.)

TFSA Total: $105.98  

RRSP:

Canadian Equity Income Distribution: $200.16 (Finally cracked $200)

Total Passive Income June 2017:  $306.14  

Portfolio Update:

My portfolio saw a decrease in value for the second straight month. Total value dropped to $268,905.41  This represents a month over month decrease of -1.31%.  I’ve been expecting a pull back for quite some time and wouldn’t be surprised to continue to see them drop for the next few months (hopefully presenting some good buying opportunities).

How was YOUR June?

Tracking My Spending For 30 Days

Hi,  My name is Jordan and I have a drinking  spending problem.

I have never been one for tracking expenses but I decided it would be a fun idea for a blog post and the results were downright depressing.  I decided to use the last 30 days (May 25-June 25) for my research.

There were a few “one off” expenses for this month (Hot Water tank needed to be fixed at cabin, we opened up the cabin so had to do our annual big shop, and a good friend had a bachelor party & wedding).

Here is everything that came out of my account in the last 30 days:
30 Day Spending Tracker

 

 

The Good:

• Got my tax return back and used that to pay down Line of Credit & Pay off Visa
• Was still able to invest $950.00 (not including the amount I invest through my work plan)
• Lots of room to trim non essential expenses
• My “essential” expenses are under control
• Cell Phone & Internet will be reimbursed by my work
• Will get money from Massages back from my insurance provider.

 

The Bad:

• Paid $178 in interest on Line of Credit
• Cable bill still seems high even after cutting out Sportsnet World ($137.44)

The Ugly:

• $23.00 in Bank/Interac Fees
• $277.50 in lunches/beers (not including wedding or bachelor party)
• I’m an idiot and turned the break on at cabin before filling hot water tank which resulted in 2 elements needing to be replaced : $587.60

Summary:

Total money out of my account(s) in last 30 days: $7926.44
One off expenses(Bachelor Party, Cabin & Wedding): $1353.69
Essential spending: $1881.87

Since one of my goals is to have my Line of Credit completely paid off by the end of the year I expect each month the expenses out of my account will be fairly high until the debt is eliminated.  I was able to pay off my credit card in full as well as reduce my Line of Credit balance by 5%.  In the next 30 days I plan to pay down another 10% of the total L.O.C balance (potentially more if I start selling some of my Jets tickets this month).

Aside from my regular contributions (Mutual Funds & Work Funds) I don’t see myself being able to invest in anything for the next few months until I have paid off my line of credit.  This upsets me – so I am going to try and supersize my savings and ATTEMPT to be as frugal as I can without going crazy for the next 30 days.  I will post my results next month to see if I was successful.  Wish me luck.