Hi guys!
It is now November, close to 4 months later since I wrote my last blog post. I know I said in my last post that I was going to attempt to blog again every few days or so but my laziness kicked in. So sorry about that.. My younger brother gave me his desktop computer so I have no reason not to blog. However, my room is so small and the desktop is so big that it is really badly positioned. I was using it almost every day for about a week or so and then I stopped using it.
Anyways, here is another upate on my life from the last time I blogged. What’s new this time ? Well, many things. I settled on a condo. Yep. I did it and I couldn’t have done it if it weren’t for the support of my mother. My initial plan was to purchase a duplex and live in one of them and rent out the other. But as you can see, plans change fast. Honestly, I wasn’t planning to move out with my boyfriend until 5 years later or so. What triggered this spontaneous decision? I started checking out condos for fun in the new up and trending Griffintown neighborhood as I mentioned in my last post. I wanted to see what the new hype was all about. I dropped into a sales office for one of the condos and asked for more information just out of curiosity. The next thing you know, I am attending multiple condo sales offices in Griffintown and performing tons of research on condos and townhomes. I was sold on the idea of it. I wanted a condo. Not just any condo. I wanted a condo in a developing area. I wanted to Airbnb or rent it out to tenants later. I wanted equity.
Ideally, I wanted to live in downtown however the prices were off the charts and way above my budget. Additionally, they were tiny units and way over 250k. Since I wanted to take advantage of the government first home buyer housing rebate, I needed a unit that was under 250k tax in. Mind me, I had not even done a pre-approval yet before I even started looking. This my friends, is a big no-no and one of the biggest mistakes first time home buyers make. Never start looking for a place if you have not yet gone for a pre-approval at a financial institution. You want to know how much you can afford and start looking within that price range otherwise you will end up falling in love with something you simply cannot afford. I’m not making much, I am working as a travel coordinator making 33k per year and my boyfriend works at Pharmaprix as a retail merchandiser making under 30k. We don’t make much.. but with the help of my mom we were able to secure a condo at Namur 2 min walk away from the metro. It was perfect. They have great amenities, an indoor pool, rooftop terrasse, cardio room, gym room and crossfit room, Jacuzzis, theatre rooms and even a room where you can rent out for parties! Living in a condo is the type of lifestyle my boyfriend and I want. That’s what we realized, we are not buying a house we are buying a lifestyle. It’s perfect.
It is set to finish building in July 2017 so we are uber excited. The only thing now is how will we come up with the rest of the 20% down payment? My mom had to co-sign for me because with the amount of income I make, I would be able to secure the loan. I already put down 15k and my mom put down 8k for me. I need to pay her back plus come up with another 23k by July.
So I took up working on Sundays where my mom works, at a sushi restaurant all the way in Broisbriand. Frankly speaking, I absolutely despise it. I don’t hate it. I DESPISE it. This is one of the worst and most stressful jobs I have ever had in my entire life. Extremely poorly managed, disorganized and worst of all, incompetent manager. I simply cannot understand how my mother has been working there for so long. She doesn’t like the manager she admits it but she stays because it is good money. It has only been 3 months since I’ve started working there but I am always stressed out and tear up at least 2-3 times out of the 4 weeks I work there per month. I even broke down at one point in front of my mom in the car when she started yelling at me for a little mistake I made.
My lesson? One thing is for sure my friends, never work with family. That’s what I could assure you in my situation. I realize I can’t work with my mom. The moment she yells at me I already feel anxiety. It doesn’t help also the fact that she is my mother. I already get enough of her yelling at me when we’re at home. So I am conditioned to feel anxiety immediately upon any sense of dissatisfaction coming from her. I even missed my period for an entire month because of the stress and thought I was pregnant (thank gawd I wasn’t). Now since it is winter the amount of customers died down and it is manageable. But for the past 3 months because of the Groupon deals that were being promoted at the restaurant it was frantic and absolutely insane. On top of that, my short-term memory is terrible and I am so not fit to be a waitress. I still work there but I get depressed every Sunday. The only thing keeping me going is the money.
I tried to find another part time job but so far I haven’t really received any calls. However, I recently went for a job interview at K’s company! I really hope I get the job. I also started investing in stocks! Another spontaneous act on my part. I know I wrote in my previous posts how I would never put money down on something I didn’t know much about. Well I did just that. I put down 5k on stocks in an attempt to make more money because my boyfriend’s friends were doing it. Even though I easily made 2k at one point, I quickly lost it. The stock market is extremely volatile, specifically in the marijuana market. So even though I was happy making 2k, I got too greedy and didn’t sell it. The next thing you know, the stocks died down and I lost all the profits I made. Lesson here: Don’t start big in stocks without your due dligence and diversify your portfolio in diferent markets. You want to own different categories of stocks, not just in one particular industry because if that industry falls, so does your entire portfolio. You don’t want to own shares in just one market. You want to diversify. I did as much research as I could and even now started reading again. I am trying to do my due diligence and learning by action instead of merely absorbing information.
I am learning so much by doing and I will continue to stay positive. Learn as much as I can and put it into action. You can always start learning about stocks by opening a practice account. I opened mine up with RBC. Great bank however, terrible mobile app. I would recommend going with TD. The only reason I went with RBC was because I was already a client with them so it was an easier process for me to go with my financial institution. Another way I tried to make money was by reselling shoes. My boyfriend and I actually waited in line at the Adidas store for 5 hours this summer to try to get our hands on the popular NMDs. We were 20th in line and managed to buy 4 pairs. Not in the sizes we wanted but still enough demand for us to resell.
I also started playing chess (which I always sucked at) and I am getting better! Great way to train your brain in a fun way. Download chess with friends and you will see how much fun it can be.
Guys, there are many ways to make money you just have to force your mind to it and take action! If I can do it so can you :)!
X.O.X.O.
– Fifster
