Reading Time: 6 Minutes What’s up guys! How’s everyone’s weekend? Thanks for coming back to your favourite Frugal Samurai. We continue today with the story about how I let the one (ring) to rule them all slip through my grasp. If you haven’t read the first part – do so here. If you have read the first part, you’ll notice that it’s overwhelmingly emotional and yes I may have been blindsided by the superior numbers on offer such as the 13% gross yields or $70k asking price below my perceived value. So why didn’t I pull that trigger then? You snooze you lose! Technically this is true as I did…
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The One That Got Away – A Missed Property Which Would Have Shaved YEARS Off The (FIRE) Dream (Part 1)
Reading Time: 4 Minutes “Argh!” Yells the frustrated young man in front of his laptop screen, a painful wince crosses his facial features. “What’s wrong?” His wise yet still sexually attractive wife calls out, hurrying over. “It’s SOLD already #*@(%&#”, he shouts – slamming his fist down. “Oh… don’t worry, there’s always another one”, she responds… glad her husband is just over-reacting again. He’s just a boy at heart, still throwing those kiddie tantrums – she tells herself, before resuming the latest Korean drama series on Netflix. Her husband continues to yell and curse in the background. ~~~ Sigh. Hi guys – that was the little conversation MrsFrugalSamurai and I…
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What to do in a Bear Market (Part 4)
Reading Time: 4 Minutes What’s up guys! How’s everyone’s week been! December is here, can you believe it?! I know I can’t, was only just remarking to MrsFrugalSamurai that I don’t feel like I achieved anything at all this year. Then she not-so-subtlely reminded yours truly that we did GET MARRIED this year. Oh yeah…that. “It’s what happens when I’m with you babe, time just flies”, is what I was obviously thinking but didn’t quite say out loud. Hindsight eh? Which brings me to the topic of today’s post, Step 5 of a continuation on my friend’s Light Beam question: “How to survive a bear market” BTW have a read…
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What to do in a Bear Market (Part 3)
Reading Time: 5 Minutes “Rrrrraaaaagghhhh!” “Oh help, run away, run away” (the villagers run away). But not Bob, Bob stayed. And then Bob got eaten. The end. ~~~ Whoa what an abrupt and sad story… hey speaking of! I knew a Bob once… he never got eaten by anything… but he was a builder come to think of it. “Rubs chin ruefully”. AHEM. ANYWAY the moral of the above story is if a hungry bear comes looking for food in your village – sometimes being a hero doesn’t work, because being a hero can make you someone’s lunch. This is especially true in the financial markets as well – yknow…
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What to do in a Bear Market (Part 2)
Reading Time: 3 Minutes What’s up guys! How’s the week coming along? Bit of a rollercoaster so far for your truly, work’s been pretty brutal these last couple of days. Life. Is. Hard. But it’s harder if you don’t keep going right! Fight the good fight, it’s what we all must do. Speaking of the good fight, a quick congratulatory word for my friend Bugzy, who was married to the girl of his dreams this week. The one who he can finally “play the piano and stroke my baby’s hair”. I’m just happy that he’s found the one, because if you saw him just 2 years ago… sitting by himself…
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What to do in a Bear Market (Part 1)
Reading Time: 5 Minutes (Voice on screen) “He turns, he shoots, he scores!!! GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL”. “YEAH BABY!!!” A voice in front of the TV yells. It is a young man, his face flushed, his voice hoarse – the excitement and relief is palpable. Suddenly, the young man turns… Oh, hi there folks – excuse the outburst, been meaning to play some good ol fashioned FIFA for a while now. NEED a break OKAY, deserve it. Sigh, but since you’re here, I know what it is you’re after… the latest in The Frugal Samurai right? (Looks at the TV forlornly, where a soccer game is paused mid-way through the second half). No,…
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There’s Something Going On With This Year’s Melbourne Cup…
Reading Time: 4 Minutes Howdy peeps, how’s everyone’s week going! Yesterday in Oz, we just had the “race that stops a nation”, the annual Melbourne Cup. Although a workday traditionally (except for our Melbournian cousins – who are bestowed a public holiday, (yes gambling is so in our blood, we need a mandated day off just to gamble)), everyone knows that you don’t do actual work on the first Tuesday of every November. It would be un-Australian to do so. Hmm you know, between you and me – this year I can’t help but feel a different vibe beneath it all. I mean, in years past the day would go something like…
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From Small Things Big Things Grow!
Reading Time: 4 Minutes What’s up guys! Welcome back for another installment of your favourite Frugal Samurai! There’s a general sense of optimism in the Frugal Samurai household recently because we’ve been attending a number of weddings in these last few weeks – Kev/Di, Viv/Juju, Cosi/Nick, Spencer/Jess – all whirlwind romances. You know how it is at weddings – where the weather is glorious, the venue is amazing, people look beautiful and where, the bride and groom are radiating perfection. All that good vibes can’t help but rub off on ya right? Every time we attend one it reminds me of that magical day in April when MrsFrugalSamurai and I…
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FIRE Has Reached Our Shores…
Reading Time: 6 Minutes Hey guys! It’s finally here – FIRE has gone mainstream! How mainstream you say? Well, business insider covered an article on it (here) which starts off with: “The Financially Independent, Retire Early (FIRE) movement, strong among millennials in the US, has reached Australia. The goal of an early retirement is becoming popular among young people who don’t like what they see in the future, with healthcare and state-funded pensions crumbling, and aren’t that keen on the idea of a career for life”. That’s right, MILLENNIALS FTW MUTHACHUCKAS! We’re different from other generations in that the old, traditional race of working 40 hours a week for 40…
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4 Reasons Why Property Prices Won’t Drop 40% Soon… and a Story About When They Do!
Reading Time: 7 minutes “Hey The Frugal Samurai, what do you think of the 60 minutes report?” What 60 minutes report? “You know, the one about house prices dropping 40%?” Oh… you mean this one (here)? “That’s the one”. Yeah nah, forty percent? That’s gotta be a typo. But no guys, it’s not a typo – it’s a very real and very “legitimate” story. Suffice to say, this story made sensational headlines in the media and property industry at large. Ah us Aussies – we love a good story about our real estate markets don’t we? Put any emotional words with the words “Australian” and “property” and it’s guaranteed to…
