Tag: Stocks

Unemployment!

I’ve entered the world of bizarro employment, where I do nothing and get paid for it, because once upon a time I made money. I will hopefully only be on unemployment for a month, but I’m hoping to use that time to get a few personal projects started. Mainly: stocks and bread. After that, I would like to get a part time job working with dough, while I entertain stocks on the side.

And maybe I’ll start chipping away at that large pile of books I’ve accumulated. And maybe I’ll make it through those couple tabs that never leave my browser. And maybe we’ll see some significant cultural change at a rally in late October. And maybe we’ll see that change in the people we elect in early November. And maybe the economy will recover enough to give me a job by December. And maybe nothing will really change and we’ll just keep plodding onwards. And maybe I won’t lose my shirt during all of this, because of the free money.

Stocks

I found myself with a large pile of money saved up from this summer with the Census, and an even larger pile of loans coming off deferment. I had originally planed to put that money directly towards the loans, making a slightly smaller pile of negative money. But I looked at my pile and thought, “That’s no fun.” I had been wanting to get involved in the stock market for a while, but I didn’t have the money to open an account (etrade wants $1k, Scottrade $500). Well, I have the money now, and if I can make it grow faster than interest accrued on my loans, I could put this money to a better use. So in late August or so I opened an account with Scottrade, and passed my pile of money over to them. I’ve been holding stocks for a week at the most, waiting until I get an acceptable gain, then selling. I made 4% during the month of September, which is more than good enough for me. If I can keep that up, I’ll be well ahead of the interest on my loans, and making a bit of money for myself. However, it’s worth noting that September was an especially good month for the stock market, and I probably did rather poorly considering that. But if I can keep up a modest gain, I’ll be saving money on my loans and keeping myself occupied.
All good things.