Wednesday, April 9, 2008

What is Going on With Gas Prices?

I live in Kitchener, Ontario. I have noticed something very strange which I have never seen in Kitchener before. The price of gas is high in the morning, around $1.11/litre but in the evening/late afternoon, the price is $1.04/litre. Can anyone explain this?

I have seen this in Toronto but never here before. So, for all you people who like to get the lowest gas prices, which should be all of you, make sure you get your gas in the evenings!

Any ideas, please post a comment...

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Rental Property

I am interested in becoming the owner of a rental property. Unfortunately, my wife is not in agreement at the moment because we are expecting our first child in November and she feels the risk is too high given the situation.

I will continue to 'pursuade' her but am unsure how successful I will be. If you have any suggestions, please don't hesitate to let me know.

In the mean time, I am planning on reading up on the idea, the tax implications, techniques for success, and the likes. If anyone has any good reads, please post so I can read them and others can see as well.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Investment Property Profit Calculator

For those of you who seem to have an interest in becoming the land lord, there are many things to consider before deciding that a rental property is for you. (I know in my case, I am just in the investigative stage where I am just trying to learn what ever I need to be able to be good at it and not lose my shirt)

I guess thebiggest risk is to find out that you are not making money and actually losing money out of your pocket with what you called an investment.

Check out this article by a guy who seems to be pretty good at finding the diamonds in the rough to make money with. Not only that, he defines what he uses to figure out if a property is worth investing in and what price point is required to make it profitable. A great read.

http://www.violentacres.com/archives/224/formula-for-calculating-the-profitability-of-a-rental-property

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

About Me...

I realized that in order to make a blog interesting to readers, it is important to let them know where you are coming from so that you know what and why certain aspects of the financial world interest you.

I am a married male, who is a recent graduate (mid 20's)from university in the computer field. (A geek) I work in my field of study and have been doing so since 2005. My wife and I are expecting our first child in November of 2008 which is extremely exciting for us.

I have been interested in business and finance since I was in high school. I like to read about planning for retirement and anything to do with entrepreneurial matter. For example, stock photography and Google Adsense are both ways that you can generate a new income stream. I am also interested in the investment property idea although my wife feels that now is not the time to work on this interest.

It should be noted that I could be considered a cheap skate and am frugal for most things. I do have a budget and track spending on a regular basis and find it important to calculate net worth on a monthly basis. One of my personal goals is to eliminate my mortgage quickly although I do struggle with the idea of paying down the mortgage versus investing the money.

That is a little bit about me,

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Reducing the Risk of Oil Prices in our Lives

Most people in the world are getting sick of seeing new highs in the price of oil day after day. These new highs will definitely impact our lives as these costs will be passed on to the consumer so it will become more and more expensive to use vehicles that consume oil.

I found this nice article that is all about limiting your liability to oil and how the price of oil actually impacts the value of your house. It is a great read for anyone who has some interest in the price of oil, which is most of us!

http://www.altenergystocks.com/archives/2008/03/neutralizing_your_peak_oil_risk_1.html

Friday, March 21, 2008

Is the Stock Market and Accurate Reflection of the Economy?

Many feel that the stock market indices are a reflection of what is actually going on in the economy as a whole. Do you believe it? This is a great article on the initial purpose of the index and how it was at one point, much more accurate with respect to a reflection of the economy.

Have a quick read...


http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080320.wdrohan0321/GIStory/

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

A Bull Market on the Way?

Here is a great article by someone who feels that a bull market is just around the corner. Equities are cheap right now so get in while you can...

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/tradingdesk/archive/2008/03/18/canadian-stocks-cheapest-in-30-years-new-cyclical-bull-market-near-for-us-strategist-says.aspx