My Plan to Hit $35K in Savings While Staying in the Market

The TSX closed this Easter Monday at 24,008.86 points, down 183.95 points (-0.76%). The fact that we’re still in the 24,000-point range is encouraging, but it wouldn’t take much for the TSX to slip below that and fall into the 23,000s. We've seen worse before, but the stock market remains extremely volatile — definitely not an easy place to be.

My non-registered portfolio closed today's session at $149,257.01, my US portfolio at $6,189.97 USD, my RRSP (stocks-only) at $86,417.78, and my TFSA portfolio at $123,349.84.

Back in February, I made the decision to sell all my shares of TFI International Inc. (TFII). I don’t regret it — it allowed me to cash in on some profit. Since those shares were held in my TFSA, all gains were collected tax-free.

A few days later, it was announced that Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec would be acquiring Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. (INE) at $13.75 per share. I reinvested the proceeds in INE because I bought my shares slightly below that price, which should generate a small profit — possibly by the end of the year. While I wait for the sale to finalize, I’m also collecting dividend payments. I felt it was a safe bet for that money.

Following the sale of INE — likely by the end of this year — my plan is to withdraw the funds and move them into my savings. That should help me reach my goal of $35,000 in savings.

Nothing too exciting, but recently I did think about selling my INE position to invest instead in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ). However, I know that if I buy CNQ, I’d never want to sell it. So for now, I’m leaving things as they are. My main issue is that I currently don’t have much in savings, and I feel like this year is a great time to focus on building that up.

That being said, I still plan to invest from time to time. Recently, I’ve made several small investments, and many are already showing solid returns. It’s a great morale boost and a good reminder that investing still pays off, even in a rocky market. These investments are small — just a few shares — and I still have several thousand dollars in cash sitting in my RRSP portfolio, waiting for the right opportunity.

📈 Here are my recent gainers:

In my non-registered portfolio:

• Whitecap Resources Inc. (WCP): +5.37%

• Russel Metals Inc. (RUS): +4.39%

• Paramount Resources Ltd. Class A (POU): +4.06%

• Ninepoint Energy Income Fund ETF (NRGI): +3.63%

• Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. Class A (CTC.A): +2.79%

• Slate Grocery REIT (SGR.UN): +2.30%

• Premium Brands Holdings Corp. (PBH): +1.61%

• SmartCentres REIT (SRU.UN): +1.62%

• Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (BEP.UN): +1.07%

• CT REIT (CRT.UN): +0.89%

In my TFSA portfolio:

• Diversified Royalty Corp. (DIV): +2.94%

• Plaza Retail REIT (PLZ.UN): +2.75%

• Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund (BPF.UN): +0.29%

In my RRSP portfolio:

• Stantec Inc. (STN): +12.14%

• Bird Construction Inc. (BDT): +7.63%

• George Weston Ltd. (WN): +4.75%

I’m really proud of all my recent gainers. I especially like the investment I made in Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund (BPF.UN) — it’s highly rated on Stockopedia. Another stock I really like, which is also well-ranked on Stockopedia, is Algoma Central Corporation (ALC). It’s a small-cap, so it should be handled with care, but I really like its potential.