Thoughts of a Blogger

So I have been a "blogger" for a few years now.  And I must say that my foray into blogging was purely incidental.  And since the new year is here, I reflected on what I have been blogging about for the past few years and also how I would like to see things going forward.

The weirdest part about being a blogger is that people are actually viewing my thoughts. 200,000 over pageviews since I first started this blog.  That is quite a feat considering that the first few months of my blog, I was only getting 1 to 2 visitors per week!  So to know that there are actually so many people reading this makes me "frightened" at times.  I hope that they do not take me too seriously even though my posts often sound serious =)

Another striking thing that occured to me is the amount of email that I have to deal with.  I get lots of requests for link exchanges, personal finance queries, advertising queries, guest posts requests, etc.  It doesn't help that I do not check my email that frequently.  Not to forget all the spam that comes in.  It means that sometimes, I do not have the time to respond to emails or reply to queries which sometimes get lost in the hundreds of email.  So I apologise if I have missed out your email pertaining to some request.  For link exchanges, please look at my stated policy under the FAQs.  So do read them first before emailing me.  Leaving a comment is a good way for me to remember to respond though I sometimes have little time to respond to comments too.  A million apologies again.

I am also disgusted by the lack of quality in my writing.  If you know how much time I actually spend on writing and vetting my own work, you will probably forgive me.

Well, the most funny thing is that even though this is a personal finance blog (well, sort of), the greatest number of hits are actually on my non-investment related posts like Best Breakfast Places in Singapore. It sometimes makes me wonder whether I should be blogging about something else instead.

For 2012, I hope that I will be able to set aside more time to engage with readers.  To really have a conversation on this blog.; to build up each other's knowledge and financial know-how.  And to share with one another the ups and downs of life.  By now, I hope you have gotten a slight glimpse and insight into my thoughts.

Start of a New Year

So it is the start of a new year.  And I haven't had much time to do any reflection on 2011.  There are lots of things that I want to accomplish.  At the same time, I know that there are just too many distractions in life.  Will this year be significantly different from last year?  Or will it be the same?  Why don't you tell me what you think?

Warren Buffet Advice - Best Hedge Against Inflation

Bought More Silver

After writing about buying silver in Singapore, I am amazed that there are also some other people who are interested in buying silver whether it is for collection/hedging/investing purposes.  Anyway, I also received some of the silver coins that I bought.  Just bought a really small quantity as I am mainly just trying to collect the different type of silver coins.

The coins I bought are from Golden State Mint and each coin weights 1/4 troy oz.

Here is a scan of it  =)

Buy Silver in Singapore

Lately, I have been having some bizarre interest in collecting silver coins.  It just feels cool to actually own silver knowing that this used to be used as currency across history.  But as a pretty newbie to silver, I won't call my purchases as investing in silver just yet.  Nevertheless, I have been reading up quite a fair bit about silver coins to know how much a troy ounce actually weighs.  And it is interesting to find out a whole new domain of knowledge literally about investing in silver bullion coins, using it as a hedge against inflation, etc.

Well, the first thing to realise is that it is not too difficult to buy silver in Singapore.    I am not talking about investing in silver through ETFs but really owning physical silver bars and coins.  There are actually quite a few companies that sells silver bullion.  Here are the few things that I have learnt about silver coins thus far:

1.  Buy silver coins or bars that are widely recognised

• This seems to be the advice that people are giving in various forums.  Coins widely recognised include the American Silver Eagle and the Canadian Silver Maple Leaf.  There are others like the Australian Silver Kookaburra from Perth Mint and also the Austrian Silver Vienna Philharmonic.  

2.  Silver Coins Trade Above Spot Price

• One can check the spot price for silver easily on kitco or some other website.  However, silver coins often trade or are sold above the spot price of silver.  Even on Ebay, they trade above the spot price.
• Silver price has been increasing slowly.

3.  Places to Buy Silver in Singapore [Grabbed this off another forum]

• www.1silver1.com (Website is a bit slow so need to be patient)
• www.silverag.com.sg
• www.silverbullion.com.sg
• www.yashabullion.com
• www.goldprice.com.sg
• www.goldsilvercentral.com.sg
• www.royalsmithbullion.com

Many of these shops have a minimum order (e.g. 20 x 1 oz coins) or a minimum purchase of $2000.  Some of them have minimum orders of 500 oz and based on today's price of silver, will literally cost you a 20 over grand (estimated $48++ for a 1 oz silver coin). So you really have to be serious about it before making a purchase.  The first link actually allows customers to buy 1 oz silver bar as a minimum order.  But it is a Scottsdale silver bar and I am not certain that it is as widely recognised as the other silver coins.

4.  Buying off Ebay

If you prefer to buy loose pieces, you can always buy them off Ebay.  However, prices are slightly higher when you do not buy in bulk.  Many sellers also do not ship to Singapore.  

Question:

Do you invest in silver or gold?  

If  yes, where do you buy them from?

How do you store them?

Monthly Dividend Stock - Gamco Global Gold Natural Resources (GGN)

Just bought 200 shares of Gamco Global Gold Natural Resources (GGN) on the US stock exchange.  It is a stock that provides monthly dividends.  Yes, not many people are aware that there are stock that actually pay out monthly dividends.  The monthly dividends is around US$0.14 per month.  Anyway, it is only a small investment  and I will probably invest more if I have spare cash.

GGN was previously named Gabelli Global Gold Natural Resources before the recent name change to Gamco Global Gold Natural Resources.

Cancelled Cable TV - Woohoo!!

I cancelled my Starhub Cable TV just a few days back and I must say that I have never felt so liberated!  You see, I have not had the time to watch TV at all.  At least, TV is on my lowest priority list and I only manage to squeeze in less than 2 or 3 hours of "incidental" TV viewing per month.  I simply don't have the time for it.  And yet, I have been paying over 30 dollars per month for cable subscription.

Finally found the time to go down to Starhub and cancelled my cable plan.  I don't watch TV so I definitely do not need cable TV.  It was as simple a decision as that.  And just by that simple decision, I have saved myself around 30 dollars a month.  This decision was definitely not motivated by saving money since I have been thinking about cancelling my subscription for the longest time but was just too lazy to do so.

I am glad that I have finally done so.  I have just been procrastinating for too long. Just trying to cut out all the clutter in my life and focus on the real things that I enjoy doing.

My dear reader, what clutter can you removed from your life that you have been procrastinating for way too long?