Time enough for love*...

I have real business to attend.
*A must read for any fellow Heinlein fan**. 

**Don't start with this if new to Heinlein.

Its almost a new month, and its time for me to write up a recap of my progress. I'll be updating this post in snippets for the next few hours, until my next work shift. No updates tonight, I'll be busy selling the moon*** to a particular cashier.  I'll start with my financial situation. Then move to a brief overview of my health situation. If I have time, I'll close with a short recap of some of my goals. 

***Just a day for Heinlein

 This last week certainly saw me slip on the budgeting. But what I slipped on, I made up for by clamping down in other areas. In particular, the expenses came from beer and dinner-out, but I spent less on other recreational pursuits. It balanced out nicely. Compared to my situation at the start of May, I'm doing much better. Next month I will try and clamp down even harder on my recreational spending. Not because I "have" to, but because I want the extra silver money. Even with hours at work at a low, I'm still pulling through with a positive balance sheet. 

The best part, even though my FRN's aren't in as good a positive flow as I'd like, my other investments have seen great jumps. Silver of course, is the flagship, and I've invested double the starting hedge I did last month. It has been one of the most positive things I've done, but I have had to fight back the urge to strip cash flow for (my goal of) a five year investment and inflation hedge. 

How can you see this & not jump ship?

My stock investments chug along on autopilot, with ultra safe, but almost yield less returns. The amount in the accounts doesn't warrant my attention, I'm simply trying to accumulate more risk capital to invest later, and I want it to slowly (but safely) pool in case I have to drain it for emergency needs since I'm pushing down my liquidity. My solvency is through the roof though. 

J/k... Relax. 

As far as my health goes, its been going, going great. Despite a particular weekend bender, I've bounced back physically and mentally. Bodyfat is dropping according to mirror, I haven't been able to hit it with the calipers. Weight is stable, triceps growing, as is chest and lower back. I'm about to get back into sprinting, and my water intake and nutrition have been top notch. Even faced with some crazy scheduling, I've feel like I've been able to hit my daily caloric and macro goals.

So cheers to you and I, as we cross into a new month. Let us make it as productive as we can, in all things.




 

It might blow up...

...but it won't go pop.
* Your sexual innuendo for the day, courtesy of De La Soul.

I've been spending less time with this blog than I've intended, and some of you have called me out on it. Thankfully, I promise, my relative absence hasn't been due to some stress or problem. The cause is one I'm sure those of you who have followed me from the beginning understand.

I've been spending lots of time with two different girls (one is that cashier) and its costing my writing. But I'm getting back to routine, with the first of the month around the corner, its about time to buckle down.

On the first, I'll lay out some posts on how I turned out financially. Early projections look good.

How about you just learn patience?

This is wrapping up as another positive month for me. My typing is distracted, I can't resist playing with an American Silver Eagle every few minutes. Holding an Oz of silver in your hand is really titillating on some sublime level. The metal itself is beautiful, and that distinctive 'ring' is incredibly pleasant on the ears. There is no doubt in my mind that precious metals DO stimulate human emotions. Which is exactly why, when buying up bits of shiny metal that ring nicely, you need to remember patience.

 

If you have to ask...

I'm having difficulty budgeting for the pistol I want and the silver I desire. Whether I need either of those things is up to your opinion. If I couldn't have both, then it might be worth my stress. But I found myself this morning actually subconsciously concerned about not being able to buy a pistol until the end of next month, and also concerns on whether or not I should spend that money on more silver. It was leading me to make some emotional decisions with my budgeting.

Take a step back from things that you desire to purchase. In my case, I've known a want for a new pistol for years, but haven't set it as a high priority. Silver is a much newer vehicle for my libertarian side to express itself. However, my short term needs to raise & store cash and cash-equivalents have served to hinder my purchase of another firearm to keep at the apartment (I already own a .22lr carbine). In particular, I've felt an urgency to ride the market very closely - which means waiting while I accumulate the money for the pistol's I've envisioned during the past would take a month or two. This lead to a change in what I wanted in a pistol.

Basically, I've already shorted myself enough on the pistol. Silver will take a backseat temporarily (unless of course we see Silver < $30), and I should have a new gun by the middle of next month. I'll let y'all know. The first week of a new month is always financially cloudy, as that's when I pay off all of my bills.

Silver Bitchez

Last night, I almost bought more silver (federal reserve toilet-paper likes to burn holes in my pocket). If I had, I would have paid $2 extra per oz. Silver has retraced its two day gains, dipping back to $36/oz and seems to be climbing past noon, inching over $37. Thankfully, I decided against the buy, and retained the liquidity hedge.

So this morning I've determined to hold on to that silver money, its going towards a pistol if the price/oz jumps in the next few weeks. If the price drops... say, lower than 32, count me in on the first wave. But of course, I'll retain a hedge in case the price drops even further, or rockets to the moon.

Old-school silver mine.

In the interim, I am debating the purchase of a new firebox, specifically for the storage of my ASE assets. I must admit I have even begun to research the subject, but I will, as always, keep you updated if I make a purchase decision complete with a review.

Debating on a pistol

Yes, I'm aware silver has jumped over $2 in the last thirty-six hours, I'll share my thoughts about that with you later. Probably tomorrow after I get more market data. But this post is on guns. Lover's of my other random subjects should check older posts.

For a while I've been intending to acquire a new conceal and carry firearm. My primary constraints in selection are size, initial cost, and ammunition cost. I expect it to tide me over for the next five years until I can upgrade to a duty-size pistol for what I expect to be home instead of apartment and carry-defense.

The guns I've been looking at in particular are 357 revolvers (+revolver +cost ($500-600) +good caliber(357 or .38) +ammunition cost(.38 ammo)) and the small .22lr line of semi's (+size +cost (250-350) +capacity (8+) +ammo cost(.22's are cheap) and +ammo interchange(I already own a .22lr carbine)

Taurus PT-22

The current budget doesn't have room for the revolver, so I've been looking into two .22 semis in particular.
 The Taurus PT-22 and the Walther P22.

Each are attractive in their own right, with the PT-22's primary edge in cost. I don't want to be handgun-less for another two months, I'd like to make a purchase within the next three weeks. That said, I'm pretty sure I can squeeze in the sixty-seventy dollar increase in cost of the Walther, especially since with these guns I don't have to factor in additional ammunition purchases (I already have plenty of .22lr).

A Walther P22 with 5" Barrel

Regardless, I will keep you informed of further developments in personal protection.
Feel free to criticize my choice of caliber size in the comments box below.