What to update?
Got a random partial invoice dividend come in early. $ 11 503.68 on the 23rd.
That happens never, as in not once ever since being self-employed has someone paid early.
Sometimes you have to threaten kidnapping of loved ones, burning of primary residences and the occasional of drive by shooting to get people to pay at ALL, but EARLY???
Pfft. I feel as if I cannot depend on the world for anything real or certain anymore.

Bought a new paintball gun. I have had a hard on for this one for so long now that I finally decided to pull the trigger (Master of bad puns!!) and shell out (boom again!!) some serious coin ($661.00) for it.
Get home and BAM, broken. Are you kidding me!
Irony is these guns are famous for their quality. So another hour and a half back to the store. Looks like a genuine manufacturing mistake so I let the proprietor out of doing an honourable suicide. Finally got it home with its real family 3 days later.

The exchange rate has shifted the last couple of days in the wrong direction. So our massive record month will probably be reduced to somewhere in the mid $52 500.00. Still our best.

Used our bank interest to buy some silver ounces and an ounce of gold.
Will do this once month with every interest payment.
I feel like Scrooge McDuck now, miserly gloating over my horde of precious metals. I can see how it corrupts the soul and leads to world domination.

Injured my back last week picking my wife up over my head and throwing her onto a bunk bed for some heinous slanderous comments she threw my way. So ironically I end up partially disabled at her mercy. She was not kind. (Note* When healed punish her by throwing onto top bunk again*)
Feel well enough today to get back to the gym and test the muscle is properly healed.

Bank are behaving and not touching my money anymore. (Note *Cancel the arson attacks*).
Getting ready to move.
Have lots of expenses coming up this month and next due to the move and deposits and some importing I have to do. The end result could be as much as an extra 3k hit to the expenses column.
It will feel infinitely better to be in the new place so it will feel worth it.

With the current rate of income being generated we are looking to hit over 200k Cash by the end of June. A huge turnaround from having just $800.00 2 years ago.
We aren't letting go of the lessons we learned from being cash strapped though and seeing a lot of people we are close to go through their own financial apocalypses we are remembering not to spend. Making hay while the sun shines so to speak as no good thing lasts forever.

Good bye soul sucking neighbour in 1 more week.

Bye

We live in a tiny 600 sq. ft. 2 bed apartment. We rent it off some friends we made the last time we were in the country. It was only ever temporary while we found something more in line with what we wanted.
But we got so caught up in work and life that we have been here almost 6 months. Kids have gone stir crazy in such a tiny place.

Well finally last week we saw a fantastic 4 bedroom 3 bathroom 3 level town house. And the price was perfect at $1300.00 for the month.
We won't know what to do with the space lol. Additionally it has a huge private garage under the house for my big truck. Will be nice to get it off the street and out of the rain.
While paying $835.00 a month including everything allowed us to really bank some money this new place will only raise our total monthly expenses from $2200.00 to $2850.00.

Additionally as we get closer to the 28th we have realised our months' income has climbed from $51 790.00 to $53 417.38. So even though I am going to be paying double rent next month to allow us to move without rushing we will still get to bank into savings $49 732.38 bringing the total to $173 372.27.This includes the $77.22 interest we will get for the month.
Next months (may 28th ) earnings are roughly around $20 000.00 but this again could rise with some late invoices coming in. will know more on the 16th. Looking to destroy our goal for savings for the year.

Good bye devil screaming neighbour!

Have lots to do in the coming months. Have to get the whole tribe to the dentist at some point and I'm pretty sure my out of country driver's license is no longer good so I need to apply for the relevant state one.
Plus my son wants to start Karate or boxing which will be great for him and I will put little miss into ballet, she loves twirling like a princess.
I would love to take the family on a big road trip to Vancouver Island for a couple weeks during the summer but we have such a brutal work schedule until December I'm not sure it's on the cards this year. We might have to be all business until December and look at planning for big trip for next summer.

Good bye evil laundry rule breaking neighbour!

Bye

Banking VENT be warned.

I love banking, it's like sport to me.
My biggest fear is identity theft. Two reasons is its extremely easy for the seasoned practitioners to do and it is so devastating financially.
I unfortunately have seen it done.
I organise my bank accounts like a maze.
I have my landing account, which is where my international transactions land. This bank is fully aware and versed in my business so I never have any money laundering or suspicious activity holds on my accounts.
This account has one card and no online access and can be only accessed in branch. All transfers from this account are done with bank cheques because I can draw unlimited for free.

Then I hold a separate bank account for my every day chequing with a separate bank. This account hold my monthly living money like 4 weeks food, gas, spending and rent. I have two cards (my wife and me) and internet banking on this account.

Then I have my cash saving accounts at different banks again. These accounts have one card access (which lives in a lockbox in the safe), no online access, no phone access and I only ever access them one day a month to deposit a bank cheque from my landing account.
The main security is ALL accounts require both my wife and I be there for anything over $5000.00
and it's in branch access only, with passport and DL id only.

Some would say excessive but when you speak with someone who has had their credit ruined by identity theft you can never be too cautious.
The two main things an identity thief needs are as much information about you as they can get and a lazy call centre employee.
They will call right before lunch or at closing on Fridays. Every time they hear no, they hang up and call back and get someone new. They play the odds and 9/10 times they will get a credit card in your name or a loan approved or a cash transfer.
I get no paper statements mailed out ever and everything we have is in a document safe, in the house safe.
Every account has Strict notes added that no additional cards or services can be opened without both of us present, in branch with the required ID.

Additionally nobody knows who we bank with, what accounts we hold or how much is in them.
I think I can count on one hand people who know I'm 29 years old and not born in this country.

We once lived in a huge apartment building and it had big communal rubbish bins. People would just chuck bank statements, recipes, pay slips, everything in these bins where anyone could scrounge them up.

My system isn't perfect or bullet proof but it certainly makes it that much harder to get at my money or my credit.

But my banks have been terrible lately, despite banking at various different banks they all pull the same revenue raising tricks.

I maintain certain balances in which ever account I hold to get unlimited free transactions and NO monthly fees. Basically all my banking is free, just the way I like it
I logged in and see a completely new account opened and its $5.00 in the negative.
Explanation: This was a free account that came bundled with your original service that we have changed to a $5.00 a month fee.
My response "Can you show me where you adequately advised me your product was changing and if I wished to continue to hold it?"
"Nobody was advised of the change because the product didn't change just the fee that was traditionally waived with your minimum balance is now not waived"
"I would like you to reverse the fee and close that account"
"we cannot do that, if you want me to close the account I will have to pay the arrears out of your other account"
"fine, if you are not going to forgive the fee you can close the my other account and I will just simply bank with someone else who won't pull this shit" She went and spoke with her manager and returned and said no problem, that she would waive the fee and close the account.
No problem. Wrong.
Get home and log in to see she took the $5.00 out of my normal account.
Go back to bank and get the $5.00 returned to my original account.
Finished. Wrong.
Go home and find they put the $5.00 back into my account but charged me a $2.51 "fee" for reversing the charge.
At this point my diplomacy is evaporating. I ask to speak with the branch manager. I tell her I want the same balance my week started with and if this shit doesn't stop I will close my account immediately.
Of course it's all been just a big "mistake" and it's easy to reverse.
When I mentioned all the driving around to some people we know they said it was only $5.00/$2.51 why did I bother.
I suspect that's what the banks count on. $5.00 here and there x 20 000 people is a nice little stack of money.
We work very hard for our income and we assume enormous amounts of risk to get it. That is my money. They have literally put their fingers in my pocket and helped themselves to money they have not done anything to earn.do they help me pay the bills when it comes time?

Vent over.

In a reverse complaint we have started receiving interest payments from a Credit union we hold money with and it's now up to around $120.00 a month and will climb to $250.00 a month by the end of the year.
I had no idea this money was there until they mailed a statement to my address (again something I have made every effort to stop).
I have decided to plough it back into CU equity shares. One reason is I can redeem them at any time for the exact price I paid and secondly I get a decent dividend with the lowest risk and the money is basically free.
I will ask next month when I am in there what last year's dividend payout was.


-Bye