Hi Blackwood, How are you? I spent almost five years in Canada and met an Aussie and came home. Funny how things like that happen. I recommend you set up a PO BOX in canada, trawl ebay america and canada and stores, get items sent to your po box and pick them up when you are back there if you are going back within a couple months. I think you will save quite a bit of money that way. I tried to enlist my best friend over there to help but sadly people in Van are not the most reliable bunch.... oh well I might visit again next year, it was 2012 when I last was there.
I don't think my goals have changed much - it doesn't feel that long ago that my first purchase arrived. Because I am in Tassie, I have few opportunities for f2f transactions, so I need to figure shipping costs into the equation. I like the idea of the GoldStacker's mini-allocated storage, but haven't used it yet largely because I am almost never on the mainland unless I am travelling through to or from Canada. I am starting to buy a bit more gold than silver (dollar for dollar) because I am starting to notice that silver is heavy and bulky (yeah, I'm a slow learner!) You can only squeeze so many rolls of Kooks into a safety deposit box.... I move metals back to Canada - being careful to keep well under the declaration limits, but haven't sold any. I do it mostly to spread the stack around for safe keeping. My intent initially was to do it so I could avoid taking such a hit on exchange rates, but I think that there is not a great deal of difference between those costs and the buy/sell margin on pm's. Still, if they go up enough, and I have time to wait for willing buyers, I may take advantage of that... So far I haven't bought any pm's in Canada. I work here, so this is where my disposable income is. When I have visitors from overseas, I pay their way, and they give me Canadian currency in a straight exchange. That is really the only disposable cash I have on that side of the Pacific. I like the idea of buying in North America - there are clearly savings to be had, I just need to get a few things organized to make it start happening. CFP - I might be able to help you out. PM me if you are interested...
I, like Blackwood, find myself having to use restraint and self-control when considering purchases. I started out about six months ago and didn't really have any annual or longer-term goals. I think those are important especially the annual goals so that you don't find yourself over-extended. By over-extended I don't mean on credit (which should probably never be used), but just getting to a point that you're not comfortable with how much you've committed to it. I'm a frugal person, but it's hard when this is so addictive and easily justifiable because it's for protection and investment. I've become good at talking myself out of frivolous purchases but it's a lot harder with PMs. I knew virtually nothing coming in and was rather intimidated by it, but after watching and subscribing to YouTube users I've become a little versed on the subject. I'm a noob to the forums but I these are another excellent source for information. I started out with the intention of only buying for the protection but it gets boring buying rounds and bars every time. I started to follow some eBay listings which got me interested in the numismatic aspect of it. I have yet to flip anything but I'm hoping to soon. To me that's an exciting prospect...maybe until it goes against me. But on the upside any "flip" that doesn't pan out is still ozs in your collection. As someone that trades stock options in the market I'm always concerned about price, but with PM investing I find it refreshing that price is not really an issue for me. I know there are plenty of people that will disagree with that but my goal is to have something of value when the dollar fails, how many of those worthless pieces of paper I used to get to my goals is really irrelevant at that point. That's all I have for now.
1st yrs get your wheelbarrows out (we cant afford trucks yet) is just about buying time. Keep watching the drop and jump in when your ready. Good luck all find that bargin.
I can't wait and jump in. I know I'll miss. Therefore, I have been slowly wading into the pool ever since POS fell below 21US. Every time spot drops 50 cents below where it was on my previous purchase, I buy a little more. It's been moving so fast lately, I am already over my original 2014 goal.
