Now on to me, because duh, that is what this thing is about lol
I think this sparkly sums it up...
Carnival stock was so low, I decided it was time to go ahead and get my 100 shares. For those of you who aren't aware, they give $50 OBC (on board credits, its like ship cash for drinks, tips, pictures etc) for 5 days cruises and $100 for 7 day cruises. I have 2 7-day and 2 5-day (the 6 counts like a 5) booked and almost all paid for. So on a $4400 investment, I "made" $300 first thing.So then I started thinking. I'd someday like a larger house but the things I'd like to upgrade will run $600 a month in mortgage. I know some of you are thinking holy cow!...I'd love to have a $600 mortgage! But I guess since I've been living mortgage free now for 32 months (and how sad is this...I don't know the day I paid off my mortgage but I do know it was 3 days after coming back on the Inspiration so I head over to my Carnival account and see that I sailed Jan 2005 lol) and suddenly the thought of having any payment and having to pay loan fees just to get the house, doesn't sit right with me.
Sooo what are my options? Either marry into money (haaa haaa haaaaaaaaa) or make more. I already work full time and with the kiddo coming in the next few months, well I missed out on that window (and shame on me, I could of really of earned quite a bit during all this time).
So as I am pondering this on the way to work (best thinking in the car) I started thinking about my 100 shares of Carnival. It's a wiggly stock, goes up and down by $1-2 every day. I got it! Buy low, and sell just a little higher!
As I log into my work PC, first thing I check my Etrade account (I know, I'm bad). Stock bought at my wanted price. For kicks...set it to sell at $1 more. It sold in 2 hours. I'm GOOD at this! lol
I had to set up a margin account and read up a little bit on what I was doing. Basically I use my cash to buy stock and it takes 3-5 days to get that "cash" back. So during that time I use my margin which is twice the amount of my cash balance. I am able to complete two margin transactions while the cash is making its way back (selling margin transaction number 2 pays off margin #1 and the cash pays off margin #2).
So I have been watching the market more than I need to and have decided that its all in the number of shares you have. My dad was nice enough to loan me a little bit so I could buy the original 100 and when I came into some other cash, zap- straight to Etrade!
So just for fun, I'll be tracking my day trading. Up to today, these are my totals. First transaction date was August 17th.
Cash I put in the account - $7500 (4400 to start)
Profit 1 on 100 shares - $100
Profit 2 on 136 shares - $176
Est profit 3 (today or Monday) on 176 shares - $137
My goal - new house! Maybe not cash out the account but to have enough in there so I feel comfortable going back into mortgage land.
I've also thought about totally redoing my house in it's layout and not buying anything new. I started looking at my backyard. My basement sticks up about 2 feet from the ground. About 10 more feet is buried. I have a large ditch between mine and my neighbor's yard that we both hate, it's hard to keep the weeds cleaned out and water collects there.
Sooooo imagine this. The back of the house is 35 feet long. Why not dig out my back yard and transfer the dirt to the awful ditch? I would need a 10 foot high retaining wall on the right side of the yard, about 15 feet long. The left side already has one! The back side might need a wall, but it would be low, like 2 feet. Building the 2 extra walls would allow me to turn my basement into a walkout daylight basement. I could put paver stones in the area and turn it into a patio off the basement. Eventually I'd put the master bedroom and bath down there, along with a family room and maybe another half bath. Upstairs I'd take that weird little front bedroom and turn half of it into stairs going down into the basement and the rest I'd build in an office so the space wouldn't be wasted. I'd open it up from the living room too. That would DOUBLE the size of my house.
Now the great question is, how much would this cost? I'd need someone with a backhoe to dig out and smooth the dirt. I need 150 SF in one wall and 70 SF in the second. I would need to take the existing windows and replace them. I would need a door section cut into the block. I would need pavers for the patio. I'd need water sealer for all the new block. I'd also need exterior concrete paint for the walls.
I am guessing 10K? I can build the short wall, do all the sealing and painting. I can replace the two windows and install the door after a professional cuts the block. I can lay the pavers. The big expense would be backhoe guy, the big wall and the hole cut for a door. What do you think? Doable?
Of course when I run this past a friend they comment - hmm - you could probably do the whole project for what you plan on dropping into that Camaro including the rooms and baths because you'd do so much of it yourself. DOH Darn you voice of reason!!
lol
If you all wouldn't mind to chant 46.24 several millions times for me today, I'd greatly appreciate it. It's my next sell price!
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