Happy 2013 Thanksgiving Investors!

I came back this week from my vacation in New Brunswick. And it was actually hard for me to realize that I was off too for Thanksgiving! I was very excited. Since my return, the weather had been very nice in Montreal. My next get away in New Brunswick will probably be in December and at that time, I will have close to one full week.

Nothing much this weekend, if not a lot of sleeping in and money counting. I went to the Mont Royal yesterday and it was gorgeous. In New Brunswick, winter is about to come but here in Montreal, its still early in autumn season. When I arrived home last Saturday it was very very COLD!

As for the money, my RBC credit line is now completely paid off, my BMO MasterCard as well. Next step is my $10 000 TD credit line at 9% which I am looking to paid off as much possible or the next few months. Currently, my non-registered portfolio is where I like it to be. At $119 845.63, I am extra close to the 120k. I was quite surprise to be able to rack high even while the value of my Exchange Income Corporation (EIF) stock was deteriorating. I had loss a 1k on that stock alone. I don't mind too much as the rest is balance. For me, a balance portfolio is when its at 120k. And I am there right now. But I do monitor the situation with EIF. It seem like the stock is facing a sell-off with no special reason. Investors are cashing their profit. I talk about selling partly EIF in a previously post (guest I felt it coming!), but hey, its ok the way it is. I am the Dividend Girl no matter what.

The JFT Stategies Fund (JFS.UN) is slowly gaining in profit - but the small grow certainly doesn't worth the management few. And I don't earn any dividend on this one. So go figure. Don't ever invest in a mutual fund or hedgies because you find the manager sexy awesome ok? Don't do like this girl. The kind of problem I have with Jean-François Tardif can only be resolve in the comfort of an hotel room anyway.

I had left available over 14k on my margin so I proceed with a transfer of 10k on my TD line and I proceed with another 3k transfer on my second credit line at 5k. Doing such transfers help me to save big interest fee. For September, I paid $39 interest on my 10k at 9%. The statement look crazy with all those transfers (I do 2 transfers daily in and out, to assure my margin can follow the market sexy grove), but it certainly does worth it at the end knowing that my credit lines are at 9% and 8.75% and my margin only 4.25%. And I paid $195 interest fee on my margin. And on the 5k credit line at 8.75%, I paid $27 in interest. It make $261 in interest fees for those 3 credits. But of course, I will save even more once my 2 credit lines will be paid off.

For the past couple months I began to pay off my debt because I want to secure my position. In a year from now, my 10k line will be paid, as well as my 5k credit line, as well as my $2 500 at American Express. So it totally worth it. I will be very happy once I will be able to put an extra 2k on my TD credit lines. Once crazy transfer completed from my margin my theses credit lines, the amount left to be paid would be of... $0. Viva the margin account!!

I don't care about my student loan debt, which is only of something like 5k (tax credit) and I don't care too much about my other credit line debt, which is at less than 5% interest rate anyway. Following what, the next big thing will be to pay off my 54k margin, or at least decrease its usage. I am not a fan of selling investment to pay off debt and I decided not to work at a second job, if not only self-employed and a bit of writing on the Internet. I spent my twenties working at several jobs at the same time and I don't want to do that anymore. Luckily, it didn't destroy my youth. I am happy to be wrinkles free at 33. There's no place for wrinkles on my pretty face. I want the eternal youth of Miss Lise Watier.

I update my dividend income. For a year, without taking in consideration my RRSP, I am at $6 626.67. Not too bad, but I would like to see that number growing. As long I get paid more than 4.25% in dividend income on future investments, well you know, it worth it to invest a few thousands here and there. 

I would like to invest a 1k right now. CT Real Estate Investment Trust recently catch my attention. Its actually very interesting: Canadian Tire is a tenant of this Reit and CT Real Estate is actually being launch by Canadian Tire. Ingenious, isn't? Canadian Tire had been mention as the most significant tenant, but the REIT has other clients too. This IPO doesn't seem to be available at TD Waterhouse, but it could be possible to get in anyway. I haven't check on more.

A second option would be ING High Income Floating Rate Fund. This IPO is available at TD Waterhouse. The units are at $10 each and the minimum number of units to be purchase is 100. At $1 000 only and with no commission fee, this one is quite interesting. The dividend distribution is not fix, but it should be around 6.5% per year. You know the little song: dividend distribution may vary from time to time.

But between those two, I am much more interested in CT Real Estate Investment Trust. I expect the ING High Income Floating Rate Fund to be a bit like my Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY.UN) and Sprott Strategic Fixed Income Fund (SFI.UN). What I had experimented so far by holding  such fixed income is that the value of the units barely ever grow, and - worst - it actually decreased while facing catastrophic stock market situation. It could worth more to invest in some TD stocks, get a lower yield for now, but later on, with the capital gain + dividend income, the results could be better. Its difficult to get some good capital gain with fix income.

The CT Real Estate Investment Trust is a lot more interesting because it is directly to Canadian Tire. Its really too bad TD Waterhouse doesn't have it. Just prepare to wait and wait more again over the phone wild calling for this one! When an IPO is not listed with them, TD Waterhouse has one represent per province - only one - to deal with this kind of shit. SO BE PATIENT. I haven't call on this one. One problem will be that you need to call during business hours because the one and the only rep available doesn't seem to be doing any overtime. MISERY. Anyway, I will let know how it went on this one for sure!!!

I will be able to move forward only if the minimum investment required is of 1k. Over that, forget about it, I cannot expose to more leverage, even for Canadian Tire. I have about $250 in cash in my TFSA, so I will only need $750 from deep in my pockets - not too much. That's the plan for now.

My Stella Jones (SJ) stocks are the newest hot stuff of the Canadian scene. So watch out!

I haven't write here for a little while so this is actually the first post of... October. Already October and I am already going on a quite vacation. I am going for a few days to where? To NEW BRUNSWICK. Of course. Where place else could I go hunting, play Casino, enjoy the forest? No place else. Its going to be fun!!!

I have been busy dieting. I am now at my lowest weight ever, I just hope I will be able to keep up while going to vacation. I had bring with me a few shakes. My mom is going to be surprise but hey, I am dieting before Christmas sweet mama.

My grandmother is celebrating her 91th birthday. I bought 2 Laura Secord box, one of a mix of chocolates and the other one a box of rainbow jellies. And for a a family reunion I bought hot chocolate mix Laura Secord and also some truffes and ghost marshmallow candies. Don't worry, its already plan, I won't get more than one of each. Its a $70 right there. I had bring an Oreal magic foundation for my mom. I had it for a while but its a bit too dark for my skin, but I think it will be good for her.

My bus ticket cost $130.

And I withdraw $100 from my credit line.

I hope not to spend more than $300. I think its possible. I usually gave them at least $50 before leaving  to cover for the food. I think $50 will be enough.

I also have like a week in December for my vacations. And I also have to save for that. Christmas gift won't be sensational this year.

I had deposit this week paycheck on my margin. I leaving everything possible on it. With what's going on with the States right now, it won't take much for the markets to crash. I don't have a good feeling about this government closing its door. Its really not good. Those Republicans are so a bunch of idiots, they are willing to do whatever it take to make Obama look bad.

There's very good news for Stella Jones (SJ). I had a 6% grow inside my non-register portfolio for that stock and I had experimented much more grow inside my RRSP (because I hold SJ for a longer time inside my RRSP. SJ is going to split in something like 5 or 6. You may want to check it out. Generally speaking, from my own little experience, stocks that split usually earn in value. Why? Because they became more accessible for individual investors. And that usually what happen. And institutions also usually take advantage of such situations. From my point of view, because SJ had been soooo successful in  the past and now, I think the 1 for 5 or 6 or whatever will be very good for the stock. This is very good for the stock.

And I am very happy by the way because a colleague notice that I had lost weight. So sexy will be back soon and  its not anytime soon, after working so hard, that I am going to eat like a pig. My mom cook one of the local meal that is really rich, heavy  potatoes, pork, whatever else. So I am just going to eat half a plate of it on each occasion. Losing weight is not that easy. I lost 10 pounds and I had been on a diet for a bit more than a month. Its possible to lose weight but while trying to do it the healthy way, it take time. So my goal of 16 lbs per month might be too much of what I am really capable of. Loosing 10 lbs per month is about the best I can do without suffering.

I am not suffering right now.

Niki Lauda is my new hero

After work on Fridays night, I usually, not to say always, go to the movie. And yesterday I saw Rush, a must see movie that totally worth the $12.99! The story of James Hunt and Nicki Lauda is just very moving and fascinating. Two men willing to do anything to drive in Formula one. 

And during that time I had reached a newest low in my diet. I am just 3.8 lbs away from my monthly goal. Its actually getting a lot easier. A couple of months ago I had bought a book, The Body Reset Diet by Harley Pasternak. But its only shortly following my birthday that I seriously began dieting. so I am on a diet since August 30th. I am not following exactly Harley Pasternak diet, let say I am borrowing a few tips from him. One of the major reason is that I don't a blinder. I shop around but I couldn't find one that could fit my budget. So instead, I had  focused on Meal Replacement Shake.

I began dieting the hard way. I start by drinking Complete Meal Replacement Shake by Life Brand. You can purchase those at Shoppers Drug Mart (which happen to be my latest stock purchase!!). 

Green apples play a capital role in my diet. Between meal, anytime I feel like starving, I eat a green apple. And trust me, it work! A green apple worth about 88 calories each, so it make it the perfect diet friend. Green apples work better at calming starving than banana. Almonds work great too, but I find I eat too much of them. And almonds are also very expensive so better skip them! Something else that work well is bold eggs - and its a lot cheaper too. In average, Eggs are very great because they don't cost much and they bring protein to your diet. Green vegetables are also great to calm a fantastic appetite. The result, like eating a green apple, is immediate.

According to Pasternak, the best way to kill fat is to eat fiber at each meal. I eat fiber between meal. For lunch, I have my Complete Meal Replacement Shake that I happily shake at work. And I eat apples, celery, cucumbers. The water in the celery help to reduce starving. 

I eat fruits and vegans more than ever. I don't eat  fast foods anymore, and I always bring my lunch at work. That help a lot. The only place I go if I feel hungry and need an immediate solution is a Tim Hortons soups (another stock of mine!!). But temptation is always there to get a sweet donut!

Basically, I respect everything included in The Body Reset Diet, at the exception of the blender meals.

I barely never eat chip or drink pop, my health problem is sugar and junk food. I actually eat a Tim Hortons donuts last night. I cheat on my diet sometimes, but never on something big, and I eat something sweet maybe just two times a week and it work just fine for me. The trick is to fine a balance. And I discover I eat probably too much for my daily needs. I am losing weight, but slowly, even if I eat really reasonably. So this mean that I had been eating too much for what my sexy body needed.  

This is what a typical diet day is like:

Breakfast: oatmeal and coffee. One capsule of E Vitamin. Milk in oatmeal and coffee. No SUGAR in coffee. I never add sugar in coffees anyway, diet or not.

I try to avoid bread and potatoes as much possible in my diet. So no toast. Always oatmeal. It full me for a couple of hours.

Around 11: I eat a clementine (small orange) and a yogurt. Or an apple. Or an All Bran bars and a yogurt. 

Its been proved that dairy products help weight loss. 

Lunch : Around 12 h - 12h30 or 1 h, sometimes a bit later: I drink my Complete Meal Replacement Shake.

When I feel hungry in the afternoon, I eat a green apple. I will sometime feel hungry again so I eat... another f apple. lol

I can easily eat 3 apples a day. Green ones are the best.

Harley Pasternak said that we have to drink 4 lbs of liquid a day. I never been a heavy drinker, but I try to drink 2 big cups of tea at work. I never drink one entirely yet, but I am slowly going there.

Before leaving work, I eat an apple because around 5 h, I begin to feel hungry again.

Dinner: It depend of my moon. I get salmon or a more regular meal at least 3 times a week. If I see that on a certain day I gain weight, I will drink a shake for dinner. Sometimes I get celery and a orange.

I eat something whenever I feel hungry. The trick is not to let yourself starving because you will end up eating more. And I try to avoid any kind of cheese because I like cheese and I eat too much of it in one shot.

Other tricks: eating a orange kiwi or pamplemouse every 3 hours can, just like milk, help to lose weight. Vitamin C is very helpful, but you have to eat the fruits and not get a Vitamin C capsule.

I find that carrots open my appetite so I don't didn't have carrots at all so far but I am thinking of adding in to get a few Vitamin A. Maybe for dinner.

As for the physical activities, I only walk. I walk every day to go to work and come back home, but I try to walk a  bit more after work. I try to get up earlier in the morning so I could walk a 30-45 minutes more, but that never work so far lol.

Basically, that's what I am in to these days. I lost 9 lbs so far in almost one month of dieting - not too bad. But I wish I would had lost more. I plan to diet that way until the end of the year. I hope to begin 2014 at my best. Its giving me more than enough time. And I not suffering from obesity, just in case you wonder. 

Ok, enough of diet stuff for now.

Next Friday, I will be getting my paycheck so in the meantime, I was planning to finally pay off my RBC credit line using my margin money. And I have plenty of it for now....  A bit more than 14k left out of my $121 305 non registered portfolio. I am cautious, so once the paycheck  will be in, it will go back on the margin.

Next thing I want to put cash in is my 9% TD credit line, which is at 10k when no margin money is being transferred to it. It will take a long time to be paid off, about 7 months or so. And after that will come my 5k credit line at 8.75%. And in the in-between, will come the maybe of my American Express at the end of March, a good 2k. Its a pain, but once done, it will light up my budget of certainly $200 per month. I don't plan to pay ahead of time my student loan.

Once those debt paid off, I will try to leave a 1k in the two banks account I used to save the fees of $6 per month. My minimum living budget could drop to less than 1k per month, which is very good. From that point, I won't be missing that much from my dividend income to cover my fix expenses. And that's getting interesting. And that's why I am thinking more and more of getting more involved is my self-employed work or get a second job or something because its getting so close of getting much  much better financial situation.

As always, I am counting my pennies.

A 3 years plan to pay off some debt of mine. Have you said boring? Oh yeah it is!!!!

Its been a quiet weekend for may reasons. And I finish it at the same weight it got started. So no weight loss this weekend, but at least I am stable. I eat a complete meal yesterday for dinner, and I also eat a small, but probably very high in calories, piece of cake in the afternoon. I cheat on my diet, but I haven't gain any weight. That was a short one!

Want to know why nothing much happen this weekend? Well, its quite simple. I rank up to $734.84 on my BMO MasterCard! But its true that I bought some clothes on that amount. Anyway, don't worry, I am now leaving my credit card home and I barely have $40 left in my pockets. I have everything I need for at least 10 days I guess. I am taking a few days off in the beginning of October. I plan to be really careful with my spending until that time. I am going home in New Brunswick. I will have a $100-$125 to pay for my bus tickets. I will bring $200 cash with me, I don't plan to spend more than that. So it make an easy $325 right there. Once back in Montreal, I will try to live on $300 for the rest of the month.

With this last Friday pay I had just $480 left available to pay some debt. I left the $480 on my 9% credit line, before withdrawing a $60 for my personal needs. Money comes, and money goes.

The good thing is that I will be able to pay off my RBC credit line with next pay at the beginning of October. The amount is about $1 120. Once completed, I will put all my efforts at paying down my $8 320 credit line at 9%. I can have it clear off in 6 months if I am careful. And if Loblaw acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart happen in February, it could be even sooner.

Next thing will be to pay off my American Express because the promotional interest rate will be ending on April 1st, 2014.

And after that, I will have my $5 000 credit line at 8.75% to pay off. That lead us to July 2014 if, of course, I stick to the plan.

And following July 2014, I would like to reduce my margin to 40k. That one going to be difficult. Its represent the amount of $14 000. That lead us to... April 2015.

It would be nice if I could respect that commitment and lower my debt while I still can. Its a 2-3 years plan on what my money life is going to be like. Very very boring, but I wish you'll continue to read anyway. I may proceed with an investment once in a while, cannot go through a few months without it.

The TSX is almost at 13 000 points and my portfolio is sensible to the vibe

Yesterday, I was very scared that the stock market would react badly to any news giving by the Fed. But it turn out ok, no special reaction. And in result, my non-registered rank to the $121 431! Great, but today was even better: $122 162.26!!! So those are great news and I can transfer without any problem a 6k to my credit line for tonight. The TSX is now getting closer to the 13k points. I guess I am having a feeling of a stock market going on the high.

I will be able to pay off completely my RBC credit line ($1 121.20) with this week paycheck. Following what, I will have just a $30 left.

Other than that I had been dieting and I had lost 8 lbs. I would very much like to lose 16 lbs by the end of September. I am eating apples after apples when I am hungry (2 is generally enough to calm the deepest crave). I eat oatmeal in the morning, before lunch I eat an orange and one small yogurt and sometime a cereal bar, for lunch a protein shake, in the afternoon, 1 to 2 apples and a yogurt. And also in the morning, I have a one capsule of vitamin E. I also sometime bring bold eggs. Its cheap and good for proteins.

Don't ask the benefit of vitamin E because I just pick whatever vitamins.

Its a very extreme dieting but I already feel better with the first 8 lbs lost. I have lost the weight very easily but I always have to maintain myself on a diet mode and with the scale and everything. Don't ask me why I am doing it so seriously now. It was just a matter of seriously getting started.

Move money to your margin account now!

The Fed is going to announced changes to its stimulus plan. It could provoke a crash, or a mini crash. Anyway, the TSX could closed lower today - be aware and play safe.

For me, I transfer 7k over my margin - I am that scare and I want a peaceful day at work, without worries.

Have a good Wednesday!

Welcome in my non-registered portfolio Shoppers Drug Mart Corp (SC)!

The happy event happen on... September 13th, on Friday the 13th. Shoppers Drug Mart (Corp) worth more than 2k in term of margin value bucks in my non-registered portfolio, which mean SC probably worth like 70%. From what I saw so far, 70% is the highest margin value EVER. So SC is on top of the top. I invested a reasonable amount of money, not too much. Don't expect my margin to fall apart anytime soon.

My non-registered portfolio is at $120 344.20, +7.91%. Since the stock market allow it, I do, in the early morning and in  the evening transfers to my credit lines to my margin (in the morning), and in the evening, margin to credit lines. That little trick allow me to save in interest money, I had explained that previously. I am able to play the game in good market conditions, but if the market deteriorate because of the Fed or whatever else, the money will have to remain on the margin account. Its a day-to-day situation. Its not very hard to evaluate the situation, how much worth my portfolio, on how much points close the TSX and that's all I need to know.

I have a 1.99% credit balance transfer with American Express. I now have a $2 500 at 1.99% for 6 months - it will expire on April 1th. This is giving me enough time ahead to pay off that debt.

I have a $1 121.20 on my RBC line a credit. It will be paid by Friday.

The other debts remaining:

-A $740.17 on another credit line when I have the gut to transfer 7k from my margin to my credit line. But I usually only transfer 5k max. I will try to pay off the extend of $740.17 by the end of the month.

-A $5k at 8.75%.

-A margin that is around $54k at this time.

Its not as bad as we could imagine at first. If I am lucky, my 5k credit line will be almost completely paid off by the end of the year. This year, my Christmas gifts won't be more than a chocolate box. Sorry, but I come first!

My non-registered portfolio slowly begin to deliver.

First, lets talk of my latest investment, Shoppers Drug Mart Corp (SC). In one of his latest newsletter, Derek Foster warn his readers saying that he still hold Tim Hortons in his portfolio but he wouldn't purchase TIM at this time because he find it too expensive. And also, Derek said that the price of the purchase impact your overall return.

I partly agree with him and this make it the perfect occasion to express my point of view on how to invest.

You can be a very strategic investors like Derek Foster or you can be like me and follow the vibe of the moment, which sometimes pay well, just as well as being a strategic investor.

Last week, I wrote that I wanted to invest in Shoppers Drug Mart Corp (SC) to benefit from the acquisition of Loblaw. Fact is, a deal like  this don't happen really often in a life time. Its just like the acquisition of the TSX Group by the group of banker freaks. You want to be part of that shit no matter what. And exactly the same scheme is happening with Shoppers Drug Mart Corp (SC) at this time. 

When there's an opportunity, don't ever waste your time thinking there might be a better deal. Business acquisitions are a great and very easy way to make money on the stock market, you just to be patient. The acquisition of TMX took sometime to happen, but it happen. In the case of Shoppers Drug Mart Corp (SC), we didn't have to wait long. The court already approve the takeover of Shoppers by Loblaw. It actually happen today! And it result, my investment gain 0.61%. We are not taking or 2-3%. But still, a gain is a gain and soon I will received a dividend distribution from Shoppers.

Of course, if I would had invest in Shoppers way before, I would had made more money. But when you deal with quality stocks, and good acquisition deal, its never too late. There will be always money to be made. As an individual who work full-time, I don't spend 30 hours per week studying the market, reading the news etc. But that is that kind of time that is needed to be aware of everything. Being late in a discovery doesn't mark  the end of the world, its just that less cash will be made.

Good stock always go up. Take for example my MX, FTS, KBL, PPL, ENF, EIF, CNR etc. The best time to invest in those are now, because in a few months, they will have gain again in value. That's how it work with blue chips. Of course, you can always wait for a market correction. But why wait when you can invest now? Why wait later when you can received great dividend payment now?

In other words, when you see a hot and sexy deal, just go for it!

Shoppers Drug Mart Corp (SC) is not my only stock going up these days.

At $52.01, my Methanex Corp (MX) currently trade among its highest value EVER.

We have quite a bit of trading history with New Flyer Industries Inc. (NFI). For a while, I had accumulate a loss of several hundred dollars on this one, but recently its start going much better for this stock and I am now at less than minus $200 in term of loss on NFI. Holding to this troublemaker stock was the right thing to do. I never doubt about it.

NFI recently win a contract with Houston Metro. Business just keep going for New Flyer Industries Inc. (NFI). I have a long term holding with NFI and this is the type of stock that can sometime be problematic to hold. If I would be a millionaire, I wouldn't mind, but since I am not, I am a bit scare that problems could resurfaced so I am looking forward to partly sell NFI, but not now.

Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B) haven't move that much by the CSeries. But I guess some contracts will need to come over before the stock seriously begin to gain in serious value. However, ta the price that I got my Bombardier stocks, I am currently on a profit territory. The only thing is that I would like to earn even more profit from my smart investment. This is possible. For now, BBD.B pay a good dividend and I think that no matter what happen, Bombardier is good to hold.

Quebec province is a good leader in the field of aerospace. Bombardier is one example, and Heroux-Devtek Inc. (HRX) is another example. Back in December 2012 (remember that?), Dividend Girl bitch got that good idea: invest in HRX to benefit from its 5$ special dividend distribution. Do you remember that? I DO!!! It was crazy, it was fun, but at the end, I got my pretty hands on a juicy profit. Following the special dividend distribution, I decided to hold to HRX, I never sell back my investments because I taught that HRX could grow or even better, be the perfect company for an acquisition.

Recently, Heroux-Devtek Inc. (HRX) earned the privilege to supply the Boeing 777. With this deal, HRX will earn millions and we are good and in business until... 2028!!! (Or something  like it).

For now, HRX doesn't pay any regular dividend distribution, but since it had paid a special dividend once, maybe there could be more, how knows.

No matter how you decide to benefit from the stock market, there's no rule to follow you do like you want, the way you want and if God allows it, your bling-bling will turn in gold. Or fake gold.

Those are about all of the hot news for now.

A Pot of Gold: Loblaw acquisition of Shopper Drug Mart

If you are rich or even not, and have a few thousands at your disposal for investment activities, you might like to read the following because I have an easy trick to share on how to make easy money with no pain at all.

Here at myfirst50000.com, we really like when big fish eat small fish, meaning we like companies acquisition! My really first major one was TMX Group. As soon I read that the TSX was going to be acquire, back then it was supposed to be acquired by the London Exchange, well I jump on the occasion using my margin money of course. I got my hands on a few stocks at a great price. I hold, and when a deal was made, not with the London Exchange but with a corporation or banks and other gangster gangs, I hold and wait, and happily cash in the $$$.

Today, Loblaw announced that it will acquired Shoppers Drug Mart. Shareholders have vote in favor so its now just a matter of a few months before the deal come for real. According to this article, Loblaw will pay $61.54 per Shoppers Drug Mart shares. Shoppers Drug Mart closed today session at $58.88. Right now, if you invest let say in 100 shares of Shoppers at $58.88 (it could be possible to get shares at this price), well, you are GUARANTEE to make a quick and easy $266 very very easily.

Now, its better to do this with real cash because Loblaw takeover will only take in effect by the beginning of 2014. You can use margin cash, but you'll have to pay 4.25% interest. $6 000 at 4.25% make $21.25 per month in interest fees. Let say that the Loblaw takeover will happen in 5 months of now, this is how much you'll pay in interest: $21.25 X 5 = $106.25 and remember, you can declare this interest on you taxes because you are using debt to invest!

$266 made in the deal - $106.25 of interest fee - $9.99 in commission fee (for the purchase of the 100 stocks) = $149.76

You could make a clear $149.76 very, extremely easily.

Maybe you'll say that the profit made is too small, that it doesn't worth the trouble, etc. etc., but, no profit is never too small, especially in this rough economy. That $149.76 cover the cost of a ticket for Montreal-New Brunswick. MARVELOUS! Home sweet home, you are all mine.

Am I going to do this?

Well, it will all depend of the market opening.

Oh, and also, another great thing to consider is that Shoppers Drug Mart will pay dividend in the meantime, the next dividend date is September 26. Remember the 3 full business days BEFORE the 26 in order to be in for the dividend distribution.

To the profit of $149.76, you can easily add 2 dividend distribution of $28.50 each, for a total profit of $206.76.

That's interesting!

Another big+ is that I guess Shoppers have a nice margin value. So your margin value and money left will just go up for the period you hold in Shoppers...

Ok, so if this is not brilliant, I will tell you my real name.

LOL :)))))

The Dividend Girl Dirty Little Secrets about Debt

Dieting is hard, very hard. I am learning it day by day. I may enroll at a gym at this point, I will see. I had loss 5 lbs so far, but it seem like I cannot loss more. I guess I eat too much for my kind of lifestyle - I spend all day sitting at my desk and once home, I am back in front of my computer. No miracle will happen by its own. I walk around 1 hour per day. I would need to add an extra an hour and a half to that. My plan was to get up 30 minutes earlier to walk 30 minutes more in the morning but hey, in the morning, its hard to get out of bed. I am the luxurious lazy type. Beauty sleep get in front of everything in term of priorities.

One thing that is helping is that I fix myself a weight loss of 10 lbs per month so its not catastrophic not to be able to lose weight for a couple days. Better to be stabilize. I am going to write a more complete post about dieting soon. You,ll see what involve dieting and how much boring it can be.

I don't know for you, but despite being single with no kids, it always like I have laundry to do or something to clean. And it also seem like I have a lot of debt to take care of these days.

My non-registered portfolio complete the session at $117 264.18, which is very good. The amount left on my margin is probably something like 12k. Nice! I really like it when my non-registered was at $118k. Ok so what's the relation between my portfolio and paying off my debt? Maybe not all of it, but partly. Want to know?

Ok, your going to see the ugly true about the debt of the Dividend Girl.

If you had been an active reader of me and real mega fans of me, well for those, you know that for many years now, TD Visa had been offering me different credit card balance transfer promotions. I had been offered over the years several interest rates, like 4.99%, 2.99, 1.99%. And each time, the promotional interest rate offered had been valid for 6 months. But every single months, the promotion just had been there for me. On and on and on. So TD Visa had been very good for me and I even named myself a - watch out, this one is funny - a  "TD Princess". But about 6 months ago, the promotion stop showing in my account!!!

I had a balance of over $11 500 on 2 different offer. One offer had expired recently and one was about to expired by the end of October. But because I had an offered expired on a $7 500, all money paid on the card was "pro rata". In other words, I was paying 22.9% on a $7 500 balance and 1.9% on the rest, $4 000. Its the first time ever I ever had to deal with such things. Before, when I noticed that my promotional rate was about to expired, I simply took the balance, transfer it to my other Visa cards. As soon the transfer completed, I gave TD Visa a call, proceed with the promotional credit card balance transfer at 4.99%or whatever else and voilà, I was good for another 6 months.

But its not working like that anymore because TD Visa stop being good for me. For the past couple months, I no longer have ANY promotional credit card transfer available in my accounts. So that's how the idea of paying off some debt all began. 

This is how I handle my TD Visa misery situation:

I pay off my TD Visa the following way;

I transferred 5k of my credit line at 8.75% (TD) over my TD Visa balance.

I transferred $5 740 of my TD credit line at 9% over my TD Visa balance.

That left me $400 to pay.

I currently had a balance left of $400 on my American Express. I currently have an offer at American Express - a promotional interest rate of 1.99% for 6 months. So I proceed with a $400 from TD to AE. My 400 bucks at 1.99% will expired on April 1st.

I have until September 25th to take advantage of the 1.99% of American Express. What I did is that I transferred the existing balance of my $2 174.71 balance at AE over another Visa card I hold. Once the transferred completed, I will call AE, and proceed with a credit card balance transfer on the same balance. I will get 1.99% for 6 months.

At this time, I can breathe and take care of those 2 debts:

5k of my credit line at 8.75% 

$5 740 of my credit line at 9%

Those 2 credit lines are with TD. Remember that I still have left over 12k worth in margin money with TD Waterhouse? Well, at anytime, after the market are close, I can check the value of my portfolio. If my non-registered portfolio worth 116k+, I can, without any problem, transferred 4k over the $5 740 at 9%. I can easily transfer money from my broker account to any TD credit lines that I own.

The trick is to:

1st - Check the value of the portfolio to ensure that I will avoid any margin call.

2nd - If the value is of 16k+, I can transferred 4k, even 5k over the credit line. The transferred need to be made before midnight.

3rd - In the early morning before going to work, transferred the money back into the margin account. Because with the stock market, we never know. Never take something to grated.

4rd - Repeating the same pattern everyday will help to save $237.50 (4.75% interest on a 5k for a year).

Along the way, I will try to put a maximum cash on my debt repayment.

So that's the plan! How do you find it? Pretty exciting hein?

This is what I was born to do and drive my banker and broker crazy about me.

:)

Seriously? I am kicking Eric Sprott ass. No more silver for me.

I spent my Saturday evening counting my every single pennies. I haven't post an update of my investment portfolio since... March. So it was about time! The value of my overall portfolio is quite similar to what it was back in March. 

I had some stocks I am experiencing some trouble with stuff like Horizons Gold Yield Fund (HGY), First Majestic Silver Corp (FR), Veresen Inc. (VSN), Kinross Gold Corp (K), Just Energy Group Inc. (JE), EnCana Corporation (ECA), Canfor Pulp Products Inc. (CFX), Colabor Group Inc. (GCL), Crescent Point Energy Corp (CPG), Firm Capital Mortgage Investment Corporation (FC), and Heroux-Devtek Inc. (HRX). On those, I am in the red, I am loosing money. 

Silver and gold are experiencing volatility and its not helping me in any way. That's why I am having problem with HGY, FR, K, and not to add Sprott Physical Silver Trust ET (PSLV), Sprott Physical Silver Trust UTS (PHS.U) and Sprott Physical Silver Trust UTS (PHS.U). I unfortunately hold quite a bit of Sprott silver shit! In my US account, my TFSA AND RRSP account... And this is not helping me in anyway. However, I plan to hold on those troublemakers for now.

On the other hands, some of the stuff I hold are seriously kicking some ass, including Eric Sprott one. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Methanex Corporation (MX), Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PPL), Fortis Inc. (FTS), Pengrowth Energy Corporation (PGF), Enbridge Income Fund Holdings Inc. (ENF), Corby Distilleries Limited (CDL.A), Davis + Henderson Corporation (DH), Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH), iShares S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE), New Flyer Industries Inc. (NFI), Exchange Income Corporation (EIF), Rogers Sugar Inc. (RSI), Student Transportation (STB), TMX Group Inc. (X), K-Bro Linen Inc. (KBL), Westshore Terminals Invest Corp (WTE), WesternOne Inc. (WEQ), TransCanada Corp (TRP), Canadian National Railway Co (CNR), Enbridge Inc. (ENB), Agrium Inc. (AGU), Canadian Utilities Limited (CU), JFT Strategies Fund (JFS.UN), Bombardier Inc. (BBD.B), Black Diamond Group Ltd (BDI), Cineplex Inc. (CGX), Barrick Gold Corp (ABX) and BCE Inc. (BCE).

I am seriously kicking Eric Sprott ass on Methanex Corporation (MX). I purchased my stocks at $15, and now well... go check yourself, you,ll see how much MX worth now.

At this point, I did what I wanted with my money, I invest in what I wanted, I don't have much more investment inspirations if not to invest in Suncor. This is why I concentrated in paying my debt for the past couple weeks and I am happy with the results. I only have left $771.20 to pay on one of my credit line. I plan to pay if off by the end of October. Once completed, I will jump on my $11 140.17 TD Visa credit card debt. It doesn't look like TD is going to give me another promotional interest rate for credit card balance transfer. I haven't received news of any promotion so far... And this might be a good thing actually. 

I am a woman of the extreme, if I would had been offer a promotion again, I wouldn't be working at paying some of my debt at this time. And considering I pretty much have the portfolio I always wanted to have, with everything I ever wanted in it. I currently have something like $200 cash in my TFSA. I would like to transfer a $800 and following what, I could make my move on Suncor in my TFSA.  

Right now, the woman of the extreme is doing 2 things at a time: I am paying off some debt AND I am also dieting. I had loss 5 lbs so far, which is great, but I constantly have to watch myself. Its not hard for me to keep in mind that I am on a diet because I now have a scale and I use it every day and I write down how much I weight. This could sound like an obsession, but getting on the scale everyday is what's helping me the best, I find. Because I easily forget about things and I am use to go straight one thing to another and so in the past, I forgot numerous times that I was on a diet... But not this time, its not going to happen. I think losing a 10 lbs per month will work well with some walking around and by watching what I eat. I wouldn't like to spend money to go at the gym so I 'll try my way. I will also write a post about dieting; you'll be able to learn my dieting secrets.

In the meantime, go eat a f apple!!!