I’ve also said good bye to a lot of fast food, restaurant food that I know is bad for me (watch out for restaurants, even a simple soup can have a lot more fat then you initially think) and a lot of snacks that I would pick up at the corner store.

Initially it was tough to say good bye to pop, especially on a hot day where nothing sounds better then an ice cold drink. But the longer I go without all of those ‘necessities’ the less and less I miss them. I’m also very sure that my body enjoys the lack of sugar spikes (I didn’t realize how bad just a can of coke could be). And I can guarantee that my body likes the amount of fat I’m taking in now much more then before. I’m focusing on eating lean meat, having nuts and seeds (the good type of fat) and watching how much I eat of butter and things like that. I’m also avoiding trans fats completely, which actually isn’t that hard thanks to some lobby groups.

All in all I’m sure this new lifestyle will help me live longer and have a lot more energy for doing what I love.

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Over the past couple of weeks or so I have been really into playing tennis. Up until then I hadn’t enjoyed tennis that much, I always found it hurt my wrist. I think that was because I used to play a lot of badminton and was used to flicking my wrist (that doesn’t work as well in tennis). 

But as soon as I got over that habit I have been really enjoying it. The sport is great for cardio and keeping you active. Thanks to some public courts only a 10 minuet walk from my house, it is also great on the wallet. The frugal aspect is even further encouraged because I borrow my sisters racquet to play.

How do you guys keep active while staying frugal?

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The purpose of this diversification is so that if some of your investments were to take a turn for the worse your others would likely be experiencing different trends. This allows your portfolio to avoid to large peaks and troughs of the raw business cycle. And this makes sense, who wants to place all of their eggs in one basket? (well gamblers might, but we’ll just assume you don’t gamble with your retirement plan).

Real estate allows you to have investments that aren’t tied to the stock market and yet can still earn high returns, unlike bonds or other guaranteed investment vehicles. Although you can argue that there is some correlation between the stock market and real estate prices, the fact is that the relationship is small. Even if real estate prices fell every time the index fell, because of how much slower the real estate market is you will have a much longer time to react to the changes.

At the core real estate prices are based on the supply and demand of housing (here is some basic economics for you), thats the reason why a 900 square foot apartment in one city can cost 3 times as much in another city.

The demand is how many people want housing, so if a lot of people are moving to a city the demand will be high. If there are a lot of people moving away, the demand will be lower. The supply is based on how much housing is available, so if a lot of new condos were just built there is more supply then if no new buildings were constructed this year. So if there is a lot of demand and not a lot of supply prices are going to be higher.

Do you know anyone who moved to a new city/bought a new house/sold a house based on what the stock market did? I don’t, that alone shows how the 2 markets are driven be different factors. So next time somebody tells you to diversify your investments think about real estate.

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For the next leap FuGro is doing a renovation/condo conversion of an old office building in the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta. This project has the town backing it and it will be very exciting to watch the building get re-polished and bring a new shine back to the mountain side.

Minimum investment is $5,000 with an annual return of 24%, though the project is expected to be completed in less then a year. If you have any questions about this opportunity please be sure to let me know.

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This is the first time I’ve invested in a project from FuGro Investments Inc. but I’m excited to be apart of the opportunity. Although I was planning to joint venture on a student house, I have be unable to find a partner (and it may not even work since there is a possibility that I would move after graduating). I’m a little disappointed that I was unable to purchase a first property, but I believe that investing in this project will be the best move for me.

I’ve noticed that I’m a bit behind where I’d like to be for total investments this year. It can mostly be attributed to not working a 40hr work week throughout the summer, hopefully my entrepreneur projects can help to offset that.

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Don’t forget that most Americans will need to spend on both Hurricane supplies, Thanksgiving weekend travel, and the Christmas holiday. All of those are sure to help the economy somewhat due an increase in gross spending per capita. But don’t expect these fruitions to take place if the price of Gas still stays within the $3.80-4.20 range because all signs point that it will, even the OPEC leader says so too. Ridiculous right!

If you can forsee yourself not being able to afford the huge price of gas for either your car or the price of a plane ticket, consider putting $20 per week starting now in a 3-4% money market if you can find one. You can expect to see a small and minimal return but it could be used to put away for some holiday gifts or to help fill up the tank with gas.

Regardless, here comes Hurricane season…..oh great. Can’t wait to see oil pop above $160 before Congress actually takes action on this issue.

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I have always been a huge supporter of money markets and savings. As many of you know, I have a Paypal money market built into my balance with my paypal e-wallet. But the truth is…these money market rates are beginning to be a lot lower than actual CD interest rates and you always need to switch your money to where the higher rate is.

I know this may sound crazy to some people, but Countrywide bank does have some of the highest interest rates for CDs and are FDIC insured.

Another post coming tonight….!

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Day 1: We originally planned to leave at 2:00 pm but there were some complications and we didn’t actually leave until 6:00. Starting so late was a very bad thing, as the 4 hour drive from Calgary, AB to Cranbrook, BC ended up being the most boring part of the drive (it also didn’t help that I felt like utter crap most of the way). We ended up staying at a Best Western and having our 10:30 pm dinner at Denny’s, where I had a Super Bird Sandwich with a side of applesauce. I only ended up eating the apple sauce as I wasn’t much in the mood for Denny’s signature grease (they should really add some soup or something to their menu!). 

Day 2: On day 2 we left at around 11 am, with our destination as Vancouver, Washington. I;m glad to say that we made it too, despite pulling over to the side of the interstate a couple of times to readjust the canvas bag strapped to the roof of the car. We got in around 10 (I’m not entirely sure on this ) and then met up with a friend to go for a bite to eat. Red Robins called us in, it wasn’t the fact that most other places were closed I had the French Onion soup as I was still not feeling that great. We then went back to the hotel and I took advantage on the jacuzzi to relax a bit.

Day 3: Leaving at 9:30 was a much better start then the previous 2 days, despite the fact we didn’t get to our hotel until  10:30 (that was a pretty long drive) in Cupertino CA. We stopped for lunch at Wendy’s somewhere in Oregon, and then hit the road again. Everything on the top of the car held together fine thanks to a couple of tie downs we picked up at a gas station. 

That should sum up most of the driving experience. I’ll be making another post soon about all the differences I noticed between Canada and the United States.

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