I opened the top closet in our apartment and took down my snowboard. I had only just recently used my snowboard for the first time in a few years. The padding on the bindings for some reason started to peel and got my snowboarding pants covered in black smears, like I’d walked through an ash pit. “Well, these bindings have got to go,” I thought. I unhooked them and put them in the Craigslist/Freecycle pile.
Then I got out my little luggage weigher and decided to check how much the snowboard and case weighed. I hooked up the little device to the snowboard bag and suspended it in the air for a moment. I was shocked when I saw the device read 5kg. Wait! 5kg!?
I did the math quickly in my head. “Okay, so it’s about 950 yen, at the cheapest, to send 1kg, and this is 5, so I’m looking at paying almost 5,000 yen (around $60) to bring my snowboard home.” Or in other words, I am buying my snowboard again for $60.
It’s already mine. But, if I want to keep it, I have to pay for it. That is how I am looking at all of my possessions as I get ready to move back to the US. Each 1kg book, 10kg box of tools, or 10kg bike must be analyzed.
1kg book: Would I pay $10 for the chance to read this again? No, I wouldn’t. Freecycle it is.
15kg of Videogame stuff (including consoles, games, controllers, etc. This estimate is probably high): I do play a lot of games, and I could sell it for more than that back home. Okay, it goes. But I am very picky which games make the cut.
Bike: This is a no brainer. The bike has already paid for itself, plus. It’s coming with me.
In the end weight is the most important, but still I’m having to buy my stuff again if I want to keep it. I like looking at it as if I’m in a store and have a choice to buy or not. If I really feel like I wouldn’t buy it in a store it goes into the Craigslist/Freecycle pile.
So far no DVDs, books, comic books, nor toys have made the cut. It’s not looking good for the snowboard either.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Recent Sell/Buy
Sold 195.196 shares of ARCP @ $9.41
This completely cleared out my position in ARCP. I have to be honest that this initial investment was a grab at a high yield REIT. Then the news came out that they put out bogus numbers, just about very head honcho hit the chopping block, and they cut their dividend. They did say that their underlying business is solid, which hey, I like that, and that's what had me holding on till now. I was down about fifty percent on this position when it hit sevenish dollars per share. I hung on till now as it recovered but, I need dividend income dang it! This waiting around to see what happens does not bode well for me. So, I'm taking my loss and moving forward. My original investment in ARCP came in two waves totaling $2554.49 including fees, and I received $183.18 in dividends, for a grand total of $2737.67. I've ahold all of my position for $1836.79. My total loss is -$900.87 or almost 33%.
This is not good of course, but it's also a good lesson for me to learn. On the whole I'm still up, but sometimes you just need to cut your losses. I'm out of the ARCP drama now.
I've also learned the value of investing in the old boring stall worts of the industry. Which is why I turned around and used about half the capital from my ARCP sale to:
Buy 30 shares of AT&T @ $32.96
This is my second splash into T, and it's always treated me right. Recent weakness made a great opportunity to add here. Infact, I went to bed putting in the order and woke up richer as the stock had increased overnight! You gotta like that! Plus, I don't see AT&T going anywhere but up. They have a great history of increasing their dividend, and people love their data. I'm very comfortable with my position here.
The rest of the money I'll be putting to work elsewhere, but it won't be in my optionsxpress account. I'll write about it later.
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