August 30, 07 by Stealthy
Today Coldwater Creek shares fell $4.51 (-25.93%) to $12.88. About 3 months ago sold all of my shares that I held at $25.04. I’m VERY tempted to jump back in at this price of $12.88, which I believe is a market overreaction from the poor sales data that came out today. I know the sales is bad, but I don’t think it was worth a 25% one day decline. In three months when they report earnings again and they meet expectations (because they will be lowered too low after today) the price will go back up with everyone jumping back on the band wagon of Coldwater Creek. If I buy in and nothing happens over the next several months it’ll be just dead weight for my portfolio.
What do you think? Should I take the risk of investing all that is in my savings account on a “hunch” I have? Or do I let this opportunity pass me by and play it safe?
August 27, 07 by Stealthy
Today I got my new credit card in the mail after the first one they sent got lost in the mail. I haven’t activated it yet because I’ve been at the Dr’s office and hospital for most of the day due to kidney stones. I had to buy $200 in medication, but ended up putting it on my old card that doesn’t get rewards, which sucks.
That’s all the news I have! OH YEAH… Wednesday is Pay Day!
August 22, 07 by Stealthy
My investment portfolio, which includes my Sharebuilder, ESPP, and 401k accounts, is now standing at $5,240.89! I transferred $250 to help me over the hump. I’m working on getting to $7,500 by the end of the year.
I also had $1.12 in interest paid this month for my Money Market Account, which only had about $231 during the month, but I’m building my stash back up.
Tomarrow I’ll post a pie chart of my different investments. I’m VERY heavy with my Employer’s stock. I’m too heavy, but I got a GOOD DEAL 
Over 50% of my portfolio is Employer’s stock.
August 20, 07 by Stealthy
I was tagged by SavingDiva to continue Moolanomy’s My One Money Advice (MOMA) Meme. Moolanomy is trying to promote financial responsibility and awareness in our hyper consumption society.
The question: If you can give one advice, tip, or story related to money, what would you share?
Well I kind of brainstormed and tried to think of a few ideas I try to live by and I couldn’t narrow it down to just one. So here they are:
- “Tithe and be a good steward of your money. Don’t be stingy, but don’t give too freely because you will be taken advantage of eventually if you do.”
- “Don’t live outside of your means. As your wealth grows so will your means.”
I know most of you have heard both of these before in some form or fashion, but I think it helps every once in a while to be reminded to stay focused and on track. We can easily forget about someones advice if we aren’t reminded. I’ve enjoyed reading everyones advice on Moolanomy’s site.
I’m now tagging GoldnSilver, Discursive Monologue, and Patient Investing. I’m very interested in hearing your ideas. Maybe it’s something I’ve never really thought about.
August 18, 07 by Stealthy
I was looking at some of my different graphs in Quicken and I found this one that shows how my investments have grown since the beginning of the year. I started out with $590 in January and by the middle of August I have $4,874. The investment accounts that are included are my sharebuilder, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, and my 401k account. Here is the graph. You can click on it to see a bigger view.
August 09, 07 by Stealthy
Instead of posting a blog for each of the characteristics I am going to put the last 4 together in this blog. Lets recap the first three in case you missed the first 3 blogs.
1) “Be a Consistent Saver”
2) “Pay with cash”
3) “Shop Wisely”
The next characteristic is “Consider Previously Owned Merchandise”. Most of us know that as soon as you drive a new car off of the car lot the value drops thousands. If you didn’t know, well now you know. Now many car companies have certified used cars. Now you can feel comfortable buying a used car knowing it has been looked over by certified mechanics. Also another big ticket item you can buy previously owned is furniture. I’m not saying you have to go to a yard sale and buy a raggedy sofa or bedroom set that’s all scratched up. You can benefit from this when your family and friends are upgrading.
“Being a good steward” is also another way to accumulate wealth. Taking care of your car by having regular check-up and maintenance will allow you to save money in the long run instead of having to throw down thousands at one time just because you forgot an oil change. Also maintaining your home is important. Fixing leaks or a cracked ceiling can prevent a future “flooded” home.
All wealthy people “Know the basics of investing”. So that’s the next characteristic you need to have if you want to be wealthy. Learn what stock actually is and how the stock market works. You could put your money into a 100% safe FDIC insured savings account and make pennies each month or you can learn how the stock market works and take on a little more risk for a larger return. I have a couple of sites that you should check out to learn a little more about investing and how it works.
www.fool.com
www.investopedia.com
The final characteristic of wealthy people is “Do Your Homework”. You should know the different kinds of investments and the different companies you can invest into for the best return. Before investing in a company do research, find trends, and figure out the future of the company.
Lets recap the 7 characteristics of people who accumulate wealth!
1. “Be a Consistent Saver”
2. “Pay with cash”
3. “Shop Wisely”
4. “Consider Previously Owned Merchandise”
5. “Being a good steward”
6. “Know the basics of investing”
7. “Do Your Homework”
August 08, 07 by Stealthy
In the previous two post I’ve mentioned the first two characteristics of a person with wealth. The next is to
“Shop Wisely”
An easy way to save money is to shop around for a good deal. Instead of making an impulse buy why not wait and see if the price comes down or if you can find it at a lower price somewhere else. Usually if you wait a week or so you find that you don’t need that “ab roller” you wanted the previous week.
Another way to shop wisely is to shop at warehouse clubs such as Sams club. Buying in larger quantities is way cheaper than buying little buy little. Why go to a convenient store and pay $1.49 for a gatorade on the way to a ball game when you can buy a case and pay half of that at a warehouse club?
How about buying seasonal items out of season? This is definately a way to save on items. An example would be a boat. Buy a boat in late summer because most boats sell in the spring. Salesmen are willing to lower the price to sale because it gets the boat off their lot, which is cheaper than having to pay keep it during winter.
Also negotiate on big ticket items when possible. In most countries its not uncommon to negotiate when buying items. The United Stats is too used to accepting advertised prices. If a salesman wants to make a sale he’ll do his best to work something out most of the time.
August 07, 07 by Stealthy
The second chracteristic of a person accumulating wealth is…
“Pay with cash”
Paying with cash is in my opion the easiest way to save money. I try not to keep alot of cash on me so I can’t spend it. I do have a credit card and a debit card, but I try avoid using them unless I see something I must have such as new tires for my jeep or something else along that line. I don’t see any reason using a debit card to pay for food at wendy’s or mcdonald’s. Sure it’s only $3-$5, but doing that every night while in college ended up costing too much when I would review my budget at the end of the week. Needless to say, I started buying hot dogs in bulk along with sandwich meat. My point is that keeping cash in your wallet or purse is easier to spend on petty items than having it in your bank account.
Since we’re talking about paying with cash lets talk about bigger items such as your car. Try to save up to buy a car paying cash. If you can’t afford that $40,000 beemer, then maybe you should settle for a honda, which in my opinion is almost as good.
Just remember that by using cash your less likely to purchase frivolous purchase or an impulse buy if you dont have enough cash or have to have the cash later for food or another need.
August 06, 07 by Stealthy
The first chracteristic of a person accumulating wealth is…
“Be a Consistent Saver”
One of the easiest ways seems like a no brainer, but I need to state it just to remind people. Save your loose change. At the end of the day when you empty out your pockets put your change into container. Take the container to the bank on a quarterly or yearly basis and deposit it into a savings account or into a type of investment account. Another way to be a consistent saver is to make the maximum contributions you can to your retirement funds such as your 401k and IRA or Roth IRA accounts. You will be astonished by the amount of compound growth that occurs from now until you retire and start withdrawing. Also another great idea is to set up an investment account that will withdraw “X” amount of dollars from your checking account each month to invest in stocks or mutual funds. Instead of increasing your standard of living each time you receive a raise or bonus try saving the extra money you make.
