Happy New Year, Investors!

Well, it seems like I am closing the year 2021 with a net worth of $339,434.39. Unfortunately, I am not exceeding my highest net worth reached back on November 8 - of now last year - with a super nice $340,312.77. It doesn't really matter, but it would have been quite fun to close the year on my highest note ever.

I had been enjoying a few vacations days. COVID is hurting hard here in New Brunswick. I am just confused about what I should do regarding the third vaccine dose against COVID. Anyway, my age group is not concerned yet. Later on, in 2022 I will be turning 42. Luckily, I didn't get the COVID so far, but that's involved a lot of sacrifices, like not going to the gym or the movies, not going to the restaurant, etc... From the sort, I told myself that I wasn't going to get sick from that Chinese virus. There's only one way not to get infected. It's quite simple: stay away from people, and reduce contacts to the extreme minimum. It's not too hard because I kept myself busy. I work full-time, I try to exercise regularly... I also have my investment portfolio to watch, and I sometimes browse on Stockopedia, searching for new investments. Currently, the only thing I am missing on is a good haircut. With Omicron, just getting a haircut is super risky right now. I like to get a haircut every 2-3 months. 

At the end of the year 2021, Stelco Holdings Inc. (STLC) made some great announcements. STLC will get involved in the recycling of electric vehicle batteries. It's a big deal that left STL on almost a 6% gain on the last trading day of 2021.

For 2022, I came with quite an ambitious monthly plan for my money. Other than my regular monthly expenses, I came with the following numbers:

Margin debt: $533 per month

TFSA contribution: $417 per month

Saving account: $334 per month

RRSP contribution: $208

Vacation: $200

Overall TOTAL: $1,692

I have quite a list of big payments in there, especially knowing that nothing of this concerns my rent, regular bills, and groceries, which I estimate roughly around $1,600 per month, sometimes less. A payment of $533 a month on my margin account debt is quite huge for me. Fortunately enough, I can count on my steady dividend income. For example, in the month of January, instead of costing me $1,692, it's only $752.72 that will come out of my pocket to cover my margin debt, TFSA, savings, RRSP, and vacation saving.

I never put away money specifically for my vacation. I never really strictly plan my budget before, but that didn't stop me from being able to reach over $300,000 in net worth. Putting away a bit of money for my vacation is something I am starting this year. I probably won't do much because of COVID, but I like the idea to have x amount of money available at my disposal for when I will need it. I am also planning to put away a monthly $334 in savings. What I am actually trying to do here is to break down my habits of living paycheck per paycheck. Not that I am not in a good place, but I would like to be more, let say, establish financially speaking.

This year, I would like to pay down my margin debt, which is currently at $46 545,27. I am now with National Bank Direct Brokerage. I don't have a bank account or credit line yet with National Bank. This is making it difficult for me to navigate safely the stock market with my margin account debt because I cannot transfer cash immediately in my margin in case I need it to. I currently have a great buffer, I do not fear. However, I like to have the option to easily add cash to my margin account in case of need. I prefer to play on the safe side. Currently, if I want to add cash to my margin account that I hold with National Bank Direct Brokerage, I need to wait something like 2-3 days. The cash fund, since coming outside National Bank, is not being transferred in real-time. That's something that is quite annoying for me. And it's the main reason why I am looking forward to pay down my margin debt in 2022.