Hurrah, my MFW quest has started

abouttimetoo

Thanks TG

Yes, very interesting re the perfume isn't it, it only came about because I was honest with the person in the shop and said I only wanted to smell them not buy them (lol) as I had these two gifts. She could tell straight away i didn't like the test sticks and that was when she made me the offer so worth bearing in mind.

Yes, I reallllly need to re-organise the way I'm doing things, I know fine well I'm no longer on track to meet my planned MF date of 1/8/18 so once I'm paid this month I need to sit down for a good old review of things. I know I don't need to review things like service providers, DD's, SO's etc, it's more what I am spending and how I am using my money.

My next task today (if I can face it!) is have a look at how my AIM shares are doing that I bought about September 10, I know they are very down but not by how much so I need to see where they are at.

PS, now back at the laptop after an hour and a half of leaping 8:)

Regards
ATT

abouttimetoo

abouttimetoo wrote:

My next task today (if I can face it!) is have a look at how my AIM shares are doing that I bought about September 10, I know they are very down but not by how much so I need to see where they are at.

Ok, the deed is done Just updated my AIM shares spreadsheet

I bought 8 different AIM shares between September 10 and November 10 at a total cost of £1740.32 including dealing costs etc. and £500 of them were my mothers who thought she would have a dabble too

They are now worth £754.95 so running at at loss of £985.37. So... not good reading ay and the lesson here folks is good old fashioned greed. The reason I say that is that not long after I bought them all bar one were running at a profit and I didn't cash it it!! In fact one of the shares that I spent £200 on tripled to be worth £600 and did I cash it on, oh no, I thought they were on an upward trend. Another that I spent £215 on increased to be worth £330 and once again I did nothing! I know fine well the trick is to release the profit once you have hit your personal %increase target but I just sat on them which is why I say greed

Hey ho, I think I'm just going to have to sit on them for the forseaable future...

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi ATT, that's disappointing news, but as you say you can sit on them. This hindsight thing is difficult, who is to say when something has peaked?

You have made me think though, the euro is down in value against £. I am tracking this, but maybe it is worth biting the bullet and sending some over this month. I was waiting until I had 3 months money, but perhaps not now.

Sorry that it was disappointing news, but always best to face things head on in my opinion. Grab a glass of wine and enjoy your evening.

Best wishes Tilly

abouttimetoo

Well I've just had a lovely couple of hours with my bank statements and spreadsheets

Embarrasingly it's been a long old time since I have done my budget and I knew I was paying in too much to my bills account as my outgoings had reduced and I kept having to transfer the monthly surplus back to my main accounts.

So, I've done the budget and reduced my monthly bills SO by £125. I've also set up a new monthly SO to the bills account for £60, this is based on the costs of my car outgoings last year for tax, insurance, MOT and breakdown cover. I've never done this before as I usually just take the money from my main account once a year but I'm going to try it like this this year and see how I get on.

Regards
ATT

Sandstone

Hello! Just thought I'd say hi as I've been reading your diary from the beginning over the last few weeks, and have finally caught up! What fantastic progress you've made in a relatively short time!

Emsky123

Hey ATT, I too have AIM shares but have been to scared to look at them, There was a time in 2010 when they were doing really well but have plumeted so much in the last year that i wish i had never bought them, oh well its just another of the lessons we learn.

Good luck in your journey

abouttimetoo

Sandstone wrote: »

Hello! Just thought I'd say hi as I've been reading your diary from the beginning over the last few weeks, and have finally caught up! What fantastic progress you've made in a relatively short time!

Hi there Sandstone, thanks so much for stopping by, I never think anyone reads my diary as I never think I'm providing anything of interest and I don't post too often, well I say that but I have been posting quite a bit the last few weeks what with the tax saga and having a long holiday over Christmas

I can't believe you have read it all, thank you for you kind words

Regards
ATT

abouttimetoo

Emsky123 wrote: »

Hey ATT, I too have AIM shares but have been to scared to look at them, There was a time in 2010 when they were doing really well but have plumeted so much in the last year that i wish i had never bought them, oh well its just another of the lessons we learn.

Good luck in your journey

Hi Emsky, how lovely to have you stop by and well done on reaching the first your of your diary and the OP's you have been making

Have a look at your AIM shares, as Tilly said above it's best to face these things head on. The markets (not just AIM) are in a odd place at the moment, I'm no share dealing whizz kid but I kind of know people who are and even they are finding things incrediby difficult to read at the moment and the usual signs and triggers they would normally look for or either not there, not appearing as they should or a contradicting themselves so if they can't work it out there is not much hope for the little people.

I've learned some lessons with my AIM dabbling though which is always good and if I ever have any 'spare' money again I would like to try and use those lessons to do better next time.

I also have a lot of FTSE shares which I don't really mention on here but boy are they in the doldrums so I put them to the back of my mind as they were always for the very long term. That said I do have a recent batch which are near to break-even so if they do get there or slip into a slight profit then I'm going to cash in and try to do a bit more trading with them

Regards
ATT

abouttimetoo

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

Hi ATT, that's disappointing news, but as you say you can sit on them. This hindsight thing is difficult, who is to say when something has peaked?

You have made me think though, the euro is down in value against £. I am tracking this, but maybe it is worth biting the bullet and sending some over this month. I was waiting until I had 3 months money, but perhaps not now.

Sorry that it was disappointing news, but always best to face things head on in my opinion. Grab a glass of wine and enjoy your evening.

Best wishes Tilly

Hi Tilly, yes re the Euro (or any currency for that matter) I think the trick is to reaslise a profit - or benefit - in this case, little and often. I wish I knew more about FOREX as with time and knowledge I can see there is money to be made, particularly with some of the currencies that seem to move in sync, I think they are known as pair trading.

Have you looked into forward exchange contracts where you book rates in advance?

Regards
ATT

abouttimetoo

Right, I must drag myself off the sofa and get prettied up as I'm going out for lunch today. Quite looking forward to it as it's a lovely place with lots of real roaring fires. Even better we also have a 25% off discount voucher :j

Probably won't get back until about 5pm and then I think an afternoon of reading papers and catching up on a few films recorded over Christmas will be as busy as I get

Have a good day all
Regards
ATT