Stocks

The thing about stocks is that the risk factor is a lot higher and the fluctuation rate is a lot higher too. However, higher risks means higher returns and you should only buy stocks if you have a strong heart and are willing to ride the waves of volatility.

In my opinion, if you're a first time investor and are afraid of risks but still want to try buying at least a stock counter, try buying blue chips first. This is because they are pretty steady and tend to fluctuate slightly lesser. However, blue chips can be rather expensive. They do sometimes pay a decent amount of dividends too. Unlike most unit trusts, the dividend rate is higher and more regular. Plus not all unit trusts pay dividends at all compared with stocks.

Buying stocks means to focus on only one company in a single country. Unit trusts on the other hand, tend to focus on many stocks from either one or several industries in one or several countries. The risk spread is therefore different. There is no hard and fast rule on which option is the best. I would therefore say that it would be good to have a good mix of stocks and unit trusts in your portfolio.

Keep an expenses record

I think it's always good to keep an expenses report all the time. Although it may sound tedious in the beginning, you'll be surprise how useful this expense report can be. Here are a couple of uses that an expense report can do for you.

Firstly, it may give you an general idea of your spending habits. For instance You may discover that you've been spending too much in say, snacks and clothes and then you'll be able to start watching your spending for the month onwards. This would aid you in controlling your spending and finding out where does all your income goes to in a month.

Having an expenses report allows you to track your spending and then plan your budget for the following month.From there you'll be able to also set a target on how much to save per month for that dream vacation you've been planning for.

There are many ways in which you can track your expenses. Some people prefer to collect all their receipts and place them in an envelope. However, if there are too many receipts to track, it's always good to write a brief note of what the spending was for. Add those receipts up on a daily or weekly basis. Never accumulate them for a month because the whole process of tracing your spending can be very tedious. Plus you could also loose some of the little pieces of paper if they fly out of your wallet by accident.

Alternatively, you could keep a diary or notebook and record your expenses for the day with the description and amount stated on it. You may then add them up by the week or the month.

If you prefer to go paperless, you could always key them into an excel spreadsheet on your computer, PDA or iphone and let the spreadsheet do it all for you with the right formulas.

These are just some of the ideas you could use to watch your expenses. Hope you enjoyed this blog.