This year is coming to a close

I didn't get all of my resolutions fulfilled this year and since we're at the end of the year I know I won't. However there are some things that I'm going to get done.

I will save money in my investment account. I sent a lump sum of money earlier in the year however I didn't send my monthly amounts. I've just been spending that money on dumb stuff instead of investing it. I want to do a better job of that next year.

I also want to save a lot more cash next year. Whenever something happens, I like having a few extra bucks in my checking or savings account that I can spend without any repercussions. Most of my cash is tied up in cd's which works for me. That way I can't fritter it away on odds and ends. I'll add to my cd's next year and also add to my liquid cash accounts.

I'll probably write up one set of resolutions and post them across all of my blogs.

Making new savings goals

I have a savings plan that I posted on my other blog. It's a pretty easy plan that should be easily attainable, especially since I've received an increase in pay! Now I need to come up with a long term savings plan.

The majority of the extra money that I'll be making will go directly into savings. Some of the money will go towards upcoming expenses (like health insurance) and some will get incorporated into my monthly budget. This way, I don't have to cut anything, I can increase some categories and still save at the same time.

I still need to come up with a long term plan though. I need way more money in savings to have a healthy emergency fund. The money from my new salary earmarked for savings will go into the long-term fund. The money that I'm currently saving will go into my short-term fund. My eventual goal is to have 6-8 months worth of expenses between the two accounts. Needless to say, that's a 3-5 year long goal because I'm not going to save that much money overnight.

I'll just plan on getting my short-term goal in check and go from there.

Small time investing

And I do mean small. I have a stock account but not a lot of money to put in it. I have a few hundred dollars right now but not enough to really invest in a big company. I want my money to really work for me though so I've been looking into Penny stocks as a small piece of my portfolio pie. I know they can be risky but they can also be very rewarding.

I did my homework on a penny stock before and I would have made a tidy sum had I invested when I wanted to. Instead I waited and the stock shot up beyond my purchase limit. And that's what most people don't realize. A penny stock should be researched before you sink your money into it.

Me personally, I always research as much as I can before I lay my money out. But I see another good buy, I'll be ready to pounce.

Debating between investing or buying an ipod

I know it sounds like a slam dunk right? Of course I should invest the money and not worry about the ipod. But I'm really torn. I want to diversify into precious metals. I'm thinking of small graded coins instead of bullion or jewelry. Not a lot, just one or two pieces.

On the other hand, I've been coveting the ipod for almost a year and I'm ready to pull the trigger. As of today, I have $175 in gift certificates with another $25 to be added within the next couple of weeks. Maybe I'll wait until I have enough to totally cover the ipod purchase and make my decision from there.

That gives me at least until April or May to make a definitive decision.

Gold just keeps rising

The value and price of gold just keeps rising. Even though the pundits keep saying that gold is a bubble and that you can't rely on it to increase, the value is up a hundred fold in the past couple of years. It's a crazy good time to buy gold coins for investment purposes. US Gold Bureau will send the coins to you or they can arrange to have your coins held in a private storage facility. If you're going to just buy a coin or two, you can probably keep them at home. But if you're buying a lot of coins, it's probably best to have someone else keep them safe for you.

Since it's Christmas, you can even ask for gold for your present. Or you can ask for cash or gift cards to buy gold for yourself. Either way, it's a great item to invest in.

I can not wait to get paid

I get paid every two weeks but it seems like I haven't been paid in forever. This is a 3 paycheck month so the weeks seem extra long even though I know it's the same amount of time between pay days.

I have a lot of plans for my next couple of pays which is one of the reasons I'm so anxious to get my hands on the money. I want to pre-pay one of my bills because I like to have a little bit of breathing room. I'm also looking into adding some bullion or a coin or two to my investment portfolio. I feel like gold is a great investment right now. Especially since it's on a recent tear. The best part is I don't have to buy any kind of fund to invest. I can get a real piece of gold in my hands.

When you consider that diversification is the key to any well rounded portfolio, I'll never doubt my decision to add gold to my personal holdings.

I need to make more money

I have plans for it. Most of it will go into my different savings accounts. I have a emergency fund account, a new furniture fund and my house savings account. I'll definitely have enough in my house account in 2 years but it will slightly longer to get my other accounts where I want them to be without making more money.

I also want to make some investments. Of course, my own home is a great investment but it is a place to live and not a atm after all. I also want to buy some bullion to add to my portfolio. I already have a coin and I'm looking to add more. I also want a ingot or two to diversify my holdings. They'll also help increase my purchasing power and maintain wealth.

Besides, it never hurts to make more money.

I should be ok with a small gold investment

I was watching a tv program the other day and one of the callers wanted to make a huge investment in gold. I'm not really sure I would be comfortable with putting more than 10-15% of my money in gold. I've been looking at gold coins from the US Gold Bureau for my portfolio. I can buy a small denomination coin starting at less than $200 or I can go up to a full ounce of gold at over $1200.

Coins actually have a currency value or I can keep than as ingots. Since gold is one way of preserving my wealth and purchasing power, I don't feel like I can go wrong. Now I just need to look through my finances and decide how large of a investment I want to make.

I'm moving my savings

I've been having big time problems with my main bank lately. They've not been properly crediting my deposits and then playing around with my withdrawals. Considering they pay a pittance for interest rates, I can easily move my money and get a better return elsewhere. That's why I'm going to buy gold coins to hold my savings. Gold has been on a tear lately and that value just seems to keep rising.

I can buy coins and hold them myself since I'll just be getting a small quantity. However, when I buy through the US Gold Bureau they can also arrange to have them safely and conveniently stored at a independent bank or depository. By keeping the coins in my possession, when gold increases by 10-20% or higher, I can cash them out and make a great profit.

Which will be much more than the anemic interest rates everyone is paying.

I know just what to buy with my new job money

If I get the job that is. I still haven't heard and I don't know if that's a good thing or not. All I can do is sit and wait until they make a decision. But once I do get some extra money I'm going to buy gold bullion to round my portfolio out. There's a organization called the United States Gold Bureau that makes it really easy to buy gold in both coin and ingot form. That way I can keep gold myself at home or in my safe deposit box. However if I buy a large amount of gold, they can arrange for my gold to be held at a independent bank or depository.

Now I just have to wait until I get a new job and some extra money.

Why couldn't I find a gold coin?

I couldn't even believe that it really happened but it did. It just seems too good to be true. A local woman went to a vending machine and gold a pure gold coin with her change. No not a regular gold dollar that you can get from the bank. She got a gold collectible dollar out of the vending machine. She gave it to her local school as a donation and they sold it to a local dealer. The school got over $900 for that coin.

You can't even buy those coins right now. Gold is in short supply so there won't be anymore gold coins minted until the reserves are built back up. Right now the best place to go is to Monex for your gold coins. They have a in-house reserve that you can buy and have sent to you. Or they can arrange for a depository to hold it for you.

I guess that's my best bet as well since I can't count on gold falling from the sky, or the vending machine either for that matter.

I don't know what to do with my money

Especially right now the way the economy is. Should I invest in the stock market which is dropping like a rock. Invest in treasuries which are yielding next to nothing. Or even just putting the money in my mattress. None sound extremely appealing right now. I have thought about investing my money with Monex for their gold and silver services. Gold was hovering around $900 per ounce the last time I checked. It's a hard asset that easily transportable or I can have Monex arrange for convenient and safe storage at an independent bank or depository company for me. How much more convenient can I get.

I do know that I plan on doing my due diligence before I invest my money anywhere. It just seems like I'm throwing cash away. And I surely don't have enough for that.

Is buying jewelry considered investing in gold?

I love jewelry. I'm pretty hard on mine so I don't wear it very often. I've broken necklaces and bracelets like you wouldn't believe. I do have several rings that I've had over 15 years because I take extra special care of them.

With the economy in turmoil, a lot of people are turning to gold, silver and other precious metals. Now I'm wondering if my gold jewelry represents more of an investment than I thought. I would love to go to holsted jewelry and buy a nice piece of gold. They have jewelry "wardrobes" meaning I can get the bracelet, necklace and earrings from the same place for a great price.

Hmmm, I wonder if I can justify buying a new pair of earrings. Hey, gold is a good investment right now.

I wish I had more money to invest in gold

If I weren't taking classes right now I would invest in precious metals. I would buy silver, gold and platinum. I would focus on gold however. Gold was recently selling for over $1000 per ounce. I went to a few garage/yard sales and saw plenty of junk and scrap gold being sold for less than $1.00 per piece. You could spend a buck and get several pieces. For less than $50 you could have accumulated over an ounce of gold and sold for a heck of a profit.

Since I'll be in school and I don't have time to go to garage or yard sales, I'll stick with a company like Monex to buy gold from. I'll buy gold coins or ingots as future investments. If I needed them to, Monex would even hold the gold for me. However, I'll put them in my safe deposit box since I have one.

Now I just hope that the price of gold keeps increasing.

A retirement thought

I have a long time before I can even think about retiring. I've been looking into retiring in South America. Now I understand why people move there, it's dirt cheap. You can get an apartment and a maid for less money than I pay for rent now.

Like I said, it's a long time off, but I need to plan for it now.

Investing in precious metals

I'm not really nervous about the economy. I have a fairly stable job in a fairly stable industry. No matter how stable everything seems, things can change in the blink of an eye. I'm sure one month ago the employees at Bear Stearns felt that their jobs were stable as well. We all see what happened there.

I feel like I should diversify my portfolio more. My 401k is fairly diversified although it's not my largest asset. I own 3 individual stocks which are all worth more than my 401k. That won't be true for long though. Within the next 3-6 months, my 401k should surpass the total of 2 of those stocks. The 3rd stock is worth about 5 times as much as my retirement plan so it will take a while to catch up to that.

I have a equities, cash, and some bonds. I've been investigating investing in gold and/or other metals like silver and platinum. With gold selling for over $1k per ounce, I wish I had invested in it long ago. I thought about buying coins. I can put them in my lock box to keep them secure. The good part about coins is that they are portable and fairly liquid.

I'm undecided because this might be the top of the market. That's true of any investment though. I'll look into making more investments this year. It's time for me to get serious with my investments.

I just increased my 401K percentage

Ok so I only increased it 1% but it's something. I'm getting a small raise that won't take effect until mid-March. After I factor in my new expenses for 2008 I won't see much money at all. My rent went up more than usual and my phone bill went up as well. That will probably be the bulk of my raise. Yeah I know it's pitiful. I said the raise was small.

But I did decide that I would increase my 401k percentage this year. I plan on increasing it at least 1% with every raise or promotion. I also scheduled it now so I won't see that money in my check. Once you have the money in your hands, you're much less likely to actually save it. If I don't see it - I can't miss it.

If I get my check and there's any extra money (yeah right), then I'll add another percent or two. I would eventually like to get to the 10% savings threshold. But that's a mid-range goal. I think I can accomplish that in the next 3-4 years. Until then, I'll keep plugging away 1% at a time.

Gold and silver as investments

I look for investments all over the place. I have a few stocks that I dabble in plus some bonds. Gold or silver is also a viable option. Right now is a great time for adding silver bullion to your portfolio. Since 1990 world demand for silver has exceeded annual production. Stockpiles of bullion are low nearing zero. That means silver will be scarce and the price will skyrocket.

Monex Depository Company will let you buy silver for immediate delivery. Or if you choose, you can choose the convenient safe storage feature and they will hold your silver for you. You can also get the silver in ingot or coin form. It's easy and a great way to diversify your portfolio.

Gold gold and more gold

The economy is crazy so I'm looking to invest in other instruments. For instance, gold bars are a great alternative to invest in. Gold is a great way to preserve my purchasing power, while protecting my wealth and diversifying my investments. I can buy bars, bullion, coins or ingots.

Personally I'm looking to invest in gold coins. They're small and portable. If I would need to sell them, I can easily transport them myself. I can have a company like Monex hold onto the products for me in their depository. Or I can spend them. After all, gold coins are legal tender in the U.S.

I need to make better investments

I read a lot of money magazines and articles looking for investment information. I've made some good investment with some of the stock that I've chosen but I could do better. Speculation for the most part is not a good thing, but sometimes you just know something is going to take off.

Take for instance the price of oil. Once the price per barrel starting soaring, you knew that oil companies would be a good play. But did I get in then? Noooo. I feel like I had good investment information and that I should have acted on it. It's not too late, but the prices have soared since my original inquiries.

I need to start listening to my gut more. I could have made some serious cash.