#17 First Shares

I have been considering my investment options for a long time.

And although all of the research I have done led me to conclude the best thing to do was to invest in a mixed collection of bonds and indexes, I did not follow this advice.

Instead I invested £500 into one company.

The reasons?

1. It is the company I work for.
2. The previous share schemes (which are no longer available) have and are going to make many of my colleagues a vast amount of money. Unfortunately I was not in a position to enter these schemes so as the share price rose I got more depressed at work. I see this investment as a financial one but also as a tool to prevent me from becoming overly de-motivated at work. Which will pay-off in the long run irrespective of share returns.

I purchased 4 shares for a price of £429.62, including one-off trading fee. This equates too £107.40 per share.

This has been one of my goals for a long-time - to own shares - and so I'm a bit chuffed. Although I see it as a long term (5-10 years) investment I have still been checking the price every day. This will slow down when the novelty wears off.

Unfortunately the share price has dropped considerably since I purchased them and now stands at £92 per share...leaving my portfolio £61 (15%) down in a week.

But this is the first step on a long journey and this does not dent my excitement.

#16 January Summary

So, in word word did we stick to the budget?

No. For the 8th month running.

If not, why not?

Spend was £267 over budget. Although the budget caters for a certain amount of one-offs, we had a few this month. £250 on a new Sofa. Not ideal, but a good bargain and the last one was on it's last legs. Also this was a high priority on the Mrs's list for 2016. We also spent £225 on fixing the car and £176 on my brothers 18th birthday.

So 2 extravagant, possibly unnecessary expenses, which without these we would have been under budget by £200~.

Any positives?

The primary positive was the decision to accept that I am having to repay tax via my income tax instead of a lump sum. This allowed for the £800 put aside for this to be put direct onto the Credit Card, which is now down to £6,200.

Credit Card variable spending was also the lowest we've had since records begun (July 2015) and the first time under budget.

Lessons / thoughts?

Separating out spending from Debit and Credit card makes no sense. It is still variable cost. So will condense these into one now.

Expectations for next month?

TV Licencing due (£145).
Can't think of any other large investments right now.

Effect on overall finances?

S    Student loan – £336 was paid off direct from payslip. Total remaining now is £7,803

·         House loan – £298 was paid off direct debit. Total remaining now is £8,931

·         Credit Card -  £962 was paid off. Total remaining now is £6,200
     
      Total debt reduced by £1,596

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Total Debt = £22,934 (Student Loan is £7,803; House loan is £8,931 ; Credit Card loan is £6,200)