Goal Update: End of January 2016

At the end of each month, I post an update of my goals, including a brief discussion of any notable events that might have occurred during the month. The latest month's figures can always be found under the Featured menu in the menu bar at the top of the blog.

Last updated: End of January, 2016
Current value: $20,820
Change from last month: +$819
Percent of Goal:  19.15%

Note that the funds in this account are invested in stock, so there will be fluctuations in value that are outside my control. I never withdraw money from this account, so any dips are purely due to stock price changes.

Events Of Note Last Month:

Income this month from my online courses sales was $353. I also earned a whopping $0.04 in ebook royalties. Woo hoo! That wasn't even for a sale. My book is part of the Kindle Unlimited program where subscribers can read ebooks for free. Authors are paid based on the percentage of a book someone reads. Someone read 7 pages of my book, so I got 4 cents. Other income included a $205 quarterly bonus at work that I put into my Tesla fund.

Last month, I mentioned I sold some covered calls as a way to try to get some extra cash out of selling my stock. Those options expired on January 15 above the strike price, so they were executed and I had to sell my shares. I sold $50 calls at $1.70 per share, so my net sales price was $51.70. The stock closed on the 15th at $52.19 per share, so I lost a total of $147 compared to if I just straight up sold them without the options on that day. The stock continued to climb the remainder of the month, crossing the $55 mark. Remember how I said option trading was legalized gambling? Missing out on that gain cost me another $1,000 or so, but, oh well. No one can predict the future and the stock could have just as easily fallen. I stuck to my plan, which is all you can do.

Speaking of my plan, I sent my lending partner $20,000 to lend out. He doesn't have anything immediately available, but he's got some deals in the pipeline. Hopefully, I'll get that money invested soon.

My online course payment for next month looks pretty low - under $200. That represents sales in December, which is a traditionally slow month. But sales for January are looking awesome. So far, it's shaping up to be my second highest grossing month to date. Because people can cancel within 30 days and get a refund, we'll have to see if it holds up.

As a reminder, if you have any questions or suggestions for topics, feel free to contact me by clicking on the Contact link at the top of the page!