Financial Reading

I've kicked the vast majority of my illness, and I am back to work after the long weekend. I didn't get a great night sleep last night, as the girlfriend is still not feeling that great, and required a back rub to even get to sleep. She told me that it was one of her customer that got her sick, and she in turn got me sick. I just wish neither of us was sick!

I'm reading about dividends today on 'My own Advisor', and 'Dividend Growth Investor'.
In case you are not sure what a dividend is, it's basically a stock (yes, from the stock market), that pays you money just for owning it.

For example:
You buy some stock in 'Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. (SXL)' who happens to offer stocks with dividend payments.
Then, depending on what schedule of payments they have, they will pay you a certain amount per year. If it was a quarterly schedule, you would get a check in the mail every quarter for the amount of money per share you own.

It seems like a pretty decent way of investing your money, and having it come back to you.

As far as I can tell, being the very amateur investor that I am, dividend stocks will pay a fair shake more then even the best GIC's and savings accounts. The flip side of course is that there is also more risk involved, as you never know what's going to happen with any particular company. But is McDonald's going to fold? I highly doubt it.

I'm also excited about payday. Woo. Primarily because I am looking at apartments - Yes, I'm looking to purchase my own place! I just have to keep working. I believe that it will get easier to work when I am able to have my own fridge and bedroom. It's really the sleep that is the issue - I am a supremely light sleeper, and without a good nights sleep in many years, I'm really starting to get run down.

The market is still rough for many people, so the turnover of housing in my town is fairly decent - I can see a few places, in my price range, that would work for me. I'm going to have to shop around for mortgage rates though - my credit union didn't seem to be that interested in having my business :(.

My folks advised me to go to one of the banks - I think I will set up an appointment with one of them and see how they treat me. Or if they offer a better rate.

You would think after having worked with my credit union since I was 6 years old, they would be more happy to set me up with a secured mortgage that is going to net them - as far as I can tell - Between 20-45% gains over the next couple years. It's kind of mind-boggling for me.

And the tellers always take forever to deposit my paycheques too. I don't fully understand.

Anyways, in order to help pay off the future mortgage faster, I'm going to try and get a second job - not sure where, but I'm confident that someone will want to hire me, even if it's only for 10-20 hours a week, in the evenings.

Wish me luck on that :).