28 October 2008

Gearing up for stocks

Tonight I opened an ING Direct Sharebuilder account, so I can buy and sell stocks. I got a promotional card in the mail that said if I opened an account and made one trade, they would deposit 25.00 in my account 4-6 weeks later. (The code was BONUS25 if you want to use it). So I did that, and I linked my ING Savings account to the account, and transferred 50.00 for the trading fees for the "instant" trades. I don't have enough money to invest to set up the automatic option, which doesn't charge the fees, so I wanted to be able to buy stock a few times without committing to the automatic plan. (The automatic plan has free trades, but charges a monthly fee, whereas the instant trade option charges transaction fees, but no monthly fee- that one is called the "Basic" plan).

I also added a debt ticker to the sidebar, I got the idea from Manda's blog, which is in my blogroll. I had no idea I had paid off 13% of my debt! I even double checked the numbers. I counted the money for the lawyer because it's an accomplishment, all the same.

Speaking of the lawyer, I'm going to court tomorrow at 10 am, so wish me luck. It's a "status hearing" and I don't think much will come out of it. Nevertheless, I'd prefer not to go. Oh well.

4 comments:

manda said...

13%! That is so awesome. Your doing so well!

Anonymous said...

what did you buy?

Anonymous said...

Also if you open an ing checking account you can get a $50 bonus. Go to www.ingdirect.com/electric50 and enter the code EL558.

dk said...

hey Jamie, Melanie showed me your blog awhile ago and i read it ever so often - hope thats not tooweird!

anyways, this sounds very interesting! do you know much about stocks? i've had an ing savings account for YEARS, but have never signed up for any of their other savings or stock plans. honestly, stocks kind of scare/intimidate me. but the work you've been doing with your finances is really inspiring..

-drake