Dec 2011 Net Worth Update +3.25%

This last month has sped by and surprisingly I've posted another decent gain. I managed to save $500 this month, with the rest of the increase due to my stocks recovering from yearly lows. Next month I expect to pass the $25,000 Net Worth milestone if everything goes to plan. The three paycheques I will be receiving in December should assure me of it. 

Plans for this month and beyond:
-Contribute to my RRSP (company will match contribution up to 5% of salary)

-In January: buy into company's employee share purchase plan at the discounted rate

Dec 1, 2011 

TFSA - $15,240.55 (+0.12%)

ISA - $6,035.64 (+9.18%)

Stocks - $3,362.72 (+7.12%)

Chequing - $169.78 (+22.72%)

Total: $24,808.69
Gain: 3.25% or $780.99

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Craigslist scammers - Apartment hunting

You've got to love craigslist scammers. These guys are so bad, I feel like they're not even trying. I almost feel insulted.

I've replied to two apartment ads recently and received these set responses back. They've just taken the info and pictures from a previous ad and posted them as their own. The second response is my clear favourite. "Due to my job as a missionary" He also signs it, "Frank Hilary". You'd think someone named Frank Hilary would have a better grasp of the English language.

First ad response
From: Sand Bruno (sand_bruno777@yahoo.com)
"Thanks for your interest and inquiries about my home.Yes the property is still available for rent and we are looking for a responsible person/family to occupy and maintain the property now that we are not around.Myself and wife just traveled to FRESNO CA for a programme called Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, HIV/AIDS, Poverty and Lack of Education, the programme is taking place in major countries in America,Europe and Africa which are..USA, UK, Spain,Germany,South Africa,Ghana.(Miiockm: "See I'm not a scammer, I've got a heart of gold") We will be away for 3 t0 5 years or more that is why I have made up my mind to put up my property for rent to whom ever that will take good care of it.Also how long do you intend to stay? How soon do you intend to move in?
Here are details of the property:

Rent: $850 including utilities
Security deposit:$500 (Miiockm: Come on, at least research the appropriate security deposit in the area) Please feel free to ask any questions you do not understand and i will be looking forward to recieve your email as soon as possible.I am not around to show the inside, you can go check out the property and the neighborhood from the outside (Miiockm: yup, no red flags here at all) and get back to me if you really like it for more information.
"

Second ad response
From: Thh Fdg (thhfdg31@yahoo.com)
"I must confess that its my first time of renting out my apartment.However,My name is Frank Hilary (Miiockm: awesome) ,I own the apartment located at .Due to my job as a missionary
(Miiockm: I only rent from Nigerian Princes, sorry) I spent less time in the province so I could not get a hold on any Realtor to handle this rent issue, although it was when I knew how long we are going to stay in Africa that I decided to rent out the Suite. However, the initial plan was to sale out the apt. which I tried, but sometimes the agents inflates the prize and it takes longer to sell i am telling you this in case if you find the apartment on another website, that is the old advert. because of this reason and more we need a responsible person that can take very good care of it as we are not after the money , but want it to be clean and for you to take it as if it were yours.

The Rent is $800 and 400 for Security Deposit (Miiockm: he got the security deposit right and also said "province" instead of "state" so he must have done at least a little research)
Pets : Dogs, Cats Allowed!!!
Below is my phone numbers
+2347043527597 (Miiockm: Looks legit. Is it toll free?)

LEASE APPLICATION FORM
FIRST NAME:__________?
MIDDLE NAME:__________?
LAST NAME:__________?
SEX:__________?
DATE OF BIRTH:_________?
PROFESSION:__________?
PHONE:
(CELL)PHONE__________?
(WORK)PHONE__________?
(HOME)PHONE__________?
WHICH NUMBER IS THE BEST TO CALL YOU ON__________?
MARITAL STATUS:__________?
KIDS _____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY ________
PRESENT ADDRESS: _____________________
CITY: _______________
Province:__(Miiockm: look he forgot to fully capitalize Province. I assume he quickly changed State to Province when he saw it was a Canadian ad. Though, he did forget to change zip code to postal code. Sloppy work.)
ZIP CODE: _______
HOW LONG? ___________IF RENTING
WHY ARE YOU LEAVING__________?
IF THIS APARTMENT IS BEING GIVEN TO YOU,
HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING? ____________?
WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN? ______________?
IF YOU HAVE A PET,
KIND OF PETS: _____________?
HABITS
DO YOU SMOKE ______________ ?
DO YOU DRINK ______________?
DO YOU WORK LATE NIGHT? ____?

Please make sure this questions are fill correctly because the best way you answer with your comment will impress me the more to accept your applications.
I know you would want to see the Suite before making any kind of rental payment , which is understandable.We can make arrangement for the keys and documentation including an Authorization letter to be shipped to you, this will give you the opportunity to view house.
Regards,
Frank Hilary"

Brilliant work guys.

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Money Index

Money Index is a blog indexing site that I discovered a couple of months ago now. How I discovered it I'm not entirely sure but it was possibly through a link from the Canadian Capitalist, which I had just started to read. I suppose that the Canadian Capitalist started my interest in personal finance, but Money Index deserves the credit for making it into a passion. The section I view almost exclusively is the Canadian section which highlights other Canadian Personal Finance blogs. While I do occasionally read general finance blogs, there is a big difference between Canadian and American sites and so the information isn't always relevant. For example, Roth IRA's and 401k's don't apply to me, while TFSA's and RRSP's don't apply to American readers.

Money Index is great not just because it lists all of these sites, like Technorati does, but because of the way that it displays them. Instead of simply displaying the name and address of the site, it shows the five most recent posts. As well, a "new" icon pops up beside new posts to make it even easier to filter out what you've looked at already. It allows me to get a general idea of what everyone is talking about on a certain day and is much more efficient than going to each site manually and checking for new posts.

It's also given me ideas as to what I should write about on this site. I discovered the Million Dollar Journey's monthly net worth updates and it's convinced me to start doing my own. I've found it's a great way to track my development. Now I can't understand how someone wouldn't do at least quarterly checkups to see how they are doing and if there is anything that they need to change going forward.

There's no hiding that I'm hoping to actually be listed on the site one day. More traffic would mean I'd receive comments and suggestions from others who also take their personal finances as seriously as I do.

Anyways, go check them out if you haven't already. Money Index.

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Nov 2011 Net Worth Update +3.15%

I've managed to add more to my savings this month, but my stocks continue to slow me down. My stocks are now down more than 20% since June. That's $800 lost in net worth, blah. It's funny and a little depressing comparing my numbers to the Million Dollar Journey. He posted a 2.66% increase this month but because he's dealing with much larger numbers, his increase worked out to almost $15,000 and that's just in a single month!

Here are my puny numbers.

Nov 1, 2011 

TFSA - $15,221.78 (+0.13%)

ISA - $5,528.33 (+22.25%)

Stocks - $3,139.24 (-4.55%)

Cash* - $138.35 (-50.91%)

Total: $24,027.70
Gain: 3.15% or $732.68

I'm aiming to have $8,000 saved up in my ISA by January so that I can top up my TFSA contribution to $20k and spend $3,000 to buy into my employee share purchase plan. I'm hoping also to transfer the TFSA funds into some form of investment fund. I've wanted to open an e-series fund with TD for the longest time now but they sure don't make it easy. I'm also a professional procrastinator so that probably played a part.



*My Cash total may look awfully low each month but it doesn't reflect the actual amount of cash on hand. I subtract my current credit card balances from my chequing account balance to come to the total. As I only pay off my credit cards once a month, I do have cash on hand during the month for a small emergency.

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