Hard core frugal livin' traders

[Georgii]

Hi all,

I'm sure quite a few of you have had the issue - you want to trade, you have a fairly small account and you want to reinvest and build it up. You want to give 100% of yourself to trading, or as much of yourself as you can.

You have expenses, you have food, medical insurance, and rent or a mortgage. You want to cut that down as much as possible, until you build up your account and feel confident enough in your ability to be consistently profitable.

To accomplish this, have any of you gone to live in a cheaper city, maybe even moved abroad?

Thank you.

 

[nkhoi]

easy, sim trade is the key.

 

[Georgii]

Okay, but when you're simulation trading you won't be acting exactly the same way when you put the money down, right?

 

[shortie]

Quote from updatee:

I live off canned fish and home cooked macaroni

need I say more

someone on ET used to live under a bridge and ate pigeon poo - can't beat that deal!

 

[Georgii]

I remember I read about daytraders in India, they sat at internet cafes all day long and traded. They figure its a better way to live off that than to be a farmer.

Problem is I'm assuming they eat what they kill, and when you're starting you probably want to compound your money so you get a solid six figure account to work from.

My general logic is:

* Year one, the statistical likelihood of blowing my account is high, therefore it makes no sense to risk a lot of capital like some do ($50-$100,000). Start small and prove to yourself you can do it.

* Year two, assuming you ended year one profitably, you can increase your account size and reinvest most of your earnings at the end of each month so you can compound monthly. Whatever you don't spend on food, mortgage, and other BS you can use for your account.

I also have a question - those of you who started day trading part time, did you find it took you longer to get rolling versus those who jumped into it full time?

Also, if you were trading part time how did you manage to divide your job with daytrading? Most jobs are 9-5, so I figure trading the JPY, AUD, and NZD in the evening is probably the best way to go. Did you have enough energy to do it right, or were you dead and your concentration was suffering?

Thanks again...

 

[shortie]

Quote from updatee:

LOL that was me, I made that story up, now I am really living poor

trying to grow my account, but I am bound to succeed because I am obviously smarter than you

just keep watching that TV of yours...

 

[shortie]

Georgii,
whatever you do, just don't buy a big screen tv with a lamp that is gonna lock out after 17,000 hrs.

updatee was on his way to become a great trader when he made the above mistake. once that happened he started counting minutes of life left in the lamp. not sure at exactly what minute he started eating pigeon poo, but it is a sad story, regardless.

 

[update]

Quote from shortie:

Georgii,
whatever you do, just don't buy a big screen tv with a lamp that is gonna lock out after 17,000 hrs.

updatee was on his way to become a great trader when he made the above mistake. once that happened he started counting minutes of life left in the lamp. not sure at exactly what minute he started eating pigeon poo, but it is a sad story, regardless.

if only you had a large hi-def TV

poor redneck, no education, no money, no tv

but you are still happy right, as long as you got moonshine, world ain't got no trouble,

ain't that right

 

[Mav88]

I live in a van down by the river

 

[Hook N. Sinker]

Quote from Georgii:

You have expenses, you have food, medical insurance, and rent or a mortgage. You want to cut that down as much as possible, until you build up your account and feel confident enough in your ability to be consistently profitable.

To accomplish this, have any of you gone to live in a cheaper city, maybe even moved abroad?

I remember when I was about 25 years old I lived in a house with four other guys and my share of rent was about $ 90 / month. I recall my girlfriend saying that I was the only person that she knew that had $ 10,000. I did not have debt then. I lived mostly on spaghetti and cheap food.

I remember meeting lots of big spenders. I do not recall seeing any of them around here, living on the beach with me today.