Buying the ‘B’ Share (Oct 2007 Progress Report)
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As I described in an earlier post, one of my financial goals is to buy a single B share of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B). Berkshire Hathaway is run by Warren Buffett, and I think it is a great alternative to a large cap mutual fund. As part of my goal, I’ve committed to saving for the B share only through income I generate from this blog or other passive sources. In other words, I won’t use any of my income from my day job or from savings to buy the B share. Why am I limiting myself in this way? Because I want to show myself (and you) that small, incremental savings can make a huge difference given enough time. I want to see if saving a few bucks at a time can really make a difference. I believe it can (actually I know it can), but seeing is believing.
So where do I stand? Well, you’ll see I’ve added a progress bar in the right sidebar to track my goal. Through October 31, 2007, I’ve saved $395, or about 9%, toward my goal. Here is where the money came from:
- $0.35 (check from my insurance company)
- $13.08 (loose change and interest earned)
- $345.67 (blogging income–I’ll write more about this later)
- $36.35 (refund checks, another $0.35 check from my insurance company)
This brings my total to $395.45! I’ll update my progress bar as new money comes in and as the price of the B share changes (this is where a drop in share price would be really great!), and then update this post at the end of each month.
10 Comments, Comment or Ping
Pinyo
That’s a very cool demonstration. Best of luck with this. I’m sure you will be a proud owner of B share in no time.
Nov 1st, 2007
speedy
A B share is one of my goals, too, except that I am going to buy it though regular investment in a Roth IRA. With all the gains the share will make, why would I want to pay taxes on it? ; - D
It will be fun to check out your website in the months to come to see how quickly you reach your goal!
Nov 2nd, 2007
DR
Speedy, thanks for the comment and good luck with the B share. Interesting point on the taxes. Buffett is not one to pay dividends, although I think the day is coming when his return on equity will diminish, causing him to pay a dividend, but you never know.
Nov 2nd, 2007
shawnchong
DR, you should consider putting up a PayPal donations link somewhere on your homepage! It’ll add substantially to your blogging income. I know I’d donate $1 to you for the content I’ve read on your page.
Nov 3rd, 2007
RandomVandal
i wanna know how u made 350 in a day with this blog. do u mean you have a gambling addiction and blogging is saving you on average 350 a day? sorry i couldnt help but write a sarcastic coment after reding in antoher one of your posts how you even appreciate the rude comments.
Youve been RandomVandaled
http://www.randomvandal.wordpress.com
Nov 7th, 2007
DR
RandomVandal, thanks for the comment, I think. $350 was for the month of October, not a day. And for others reading this, RandomVandal’s comment that I appreciate even “rude comments” comes from a post I wrote after my first 30 days of blogging. You can read it at http://www.doughroller.net/2007/06/27/30-things-i-learned-in-my-first-30-days-of-blogging/ (look at item #19).
Nov 7th, 2007
randomvandal
even so thats still a lot of money, what kinda traffic do you get here?
Nov 9th, 2007
DR
It varies, of course, but so far this month I’ve had about 9,000 visitors.
Nov 9th, 2007
BTGNow.net
I had this idea too, though I planned to simply invest a huge chunk of my income from an upcoming work contract. Just a question after reading one of your other posts: by owning fractional shares, are you still considered an “owner”? Or wold you be 1/5th of an owner, or whatever?
Aug 26th, 2008
DR
BTGNow, you are considered an owner even with fractional shares, and I could have attended the Berkshire Hathaway annual stockholders’ meeting this year, although my schedule didn’t work out. Maybe next year!
Aug 27th, 2008
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