• Economy,  Investing,  Life,  Stock Market

    GameStonk

    Reading Time: 2 Minutes I have a confession to make. These days, I’ve never made such easy money. I know, I know – what a controversial thing to say The Frugal Samurai! At the risk of sounding like a douchebag, please… hear me out. Mind you, I’m not talking as if I am rollin’ in the Benjamins. Nah. More like a few thou here or a few thou there. You see, in the last couple of months, I have shifted a small allocation of our net wealth into the stock market… or rather into stonks. Now, as a traditional value investor – I had always felt buying stocks was about…

  • Economy,  FIRE,  Investing,  Life,  Real Estate,  Stock Market

    Wealth Inequality Rises In Australia

    Reading Time: 2 Minutes I was perusing through the interwebs as you do, and came across a very insightful article regarding the wealth or rather, the lack of wealth equality here in Oz. It’s a joint research study by the University of New South Wales and the Australian Council of Social Service and to be honest, it’s very confronting. As we know, COVID-19 has exacerbated what was already a burgeoning wealth gap between the haves and have-nots, and this paper only highlights that. Here are some key take-aways: Household Wealth The below compares the wealth holdings of the highest 10% (highest wealth) of households followed by the next 30% (middle…

  • Economy,  Investing,  Real Estate,  Stock Market

    Australian Housing Tipped To Rise?

    Reading Time: 2 Minutes Hola people! Be ready for a bit of a charting binge today. Ever since we recently bought our place (read here), I’ve been monitoring the housing market ever so closely. And I’ve been noticing a few things. What things? Oh y’know, about the state of our economy in general. I’m a responsible man now OK, got a family to think of. So first up is… Employment Here, let’s start with employment: Would you look at that! Sure, employment levels are still lower than pre-COVID, but it’s come back a fair bit hasn’t it? A sharp “V” shaped recovery puts the trend in the right direction. “Clap,…

  • Alternatives,  FIRE,  Life

    My Worst Financial Decision So Far

    Reading Time: 2 Minutes Dear all. Don’t buy a house with a pool. That is all. No really, the financial cost of owning a pool far outweighs the derived benefit. Seriously, how many times are you going to be swimming? And no child’s laughter is worth having one damnit! OK so I might be feeling ranty tonight cos it’s ticked over midnight and I’ve just finished “fixing” our pool pump. Rather I came home around 9ish to the sound of a staccato of noise you would not believe. I thought it was an odd hour for the neighbours to be using a chainsaw… until I realized the sound was suspiciously…

  • FIRE,  Life

    What’s Needed To Be Financially Successful?

    Reading Time: 2 Minutes MrsFrugalSamurai and I attended a stunning wedding put on by one of her oldest and dearest friends over the weekend. Massive congrats BENSICCA!!! It was our first Corona-wedding and to be honest with you, I didn’t know what to expect. What to expect? Why nothing but FUN of course! There’s something about weddings which makes everyone happy… I think it’s to do with the live music. Regardless, weddings are also a great time to catch up with people who you haven’t seen in agggges, and this one was no different. As I caught up with a once-close-but-now-distant friend, we waded into a discussion about finances, more…