It's the run-up to Christmas. Gingerbread and speculoos are on the table. The Christmas lights bring a pleasant atmosphere to the early darkness. Some traders are positioning themselves for the year-end rally. Time for the monthly review of November.

As always, I start with equities, followed by ETFs, where I - like many others, I'm sure - am seeing a good performance. This is followed by my personal tragedy with P2P. Readers of previous reviews will know what I am alluding to. And of course there are still the cryptos, where I will soon be taking my strategy to the next level.

I also take a general look at my overall financial situation and finish with a look ahead to the new year.

👉Shares

My share portfolio has taken a pleasing turn in the past month. No doubt the situation is similar for you. We all had a supportive tailwind from the stock market. 🌬️(For the sake of simplicity, I'm including December 1 in November).

While prices were being boosted, the first snow fell outside. Significant amounts fell in Leipzig and the thermometer had been around 0°C since the Day of Prayer and Repentance, and well below 0 all day at the turn of the month in December. Winterdreams ❄️, while things were hot in the depot.

Measured by the volume of the positions $MSFT (+1.09%) , $AVGO (+2.97%) , $FDX (-9.66%) ,$FAST (+0.9%) and $AAPL (+2.87%) were in an exciting race at the top. It feels like every day of the past month a new one of these values has fought its way to the top. Attentive readers of my last reviews are now missing the former frontrunner. Yes, $WMT (-1.47%) is no longer number 1 for me, but has been relegated to sixth place.

Will that change in the New Year, when Christmas, Back-Friday and Cybermonday are over? Speaking of retail, did you notice the jump from $TGT (+1.37%) on 15.11. as well? Is that the turnaround? I'd be happy about that. Wallmart apparently did the exact opposite on 11/16.

I am holding on to both retail giants. Comparable competitor $COST (+0.3%) is also on my watchlist. Another new exciting position for me would be $UPS (-1.9%) as a counterweight to my FedEx position. I am also keeping an eye on the food sector. Perhaps $CPB (-0.85%) top up or open a new position with $SJM (-1.36%) open a new position soon?

At the very end of the portfolio is $VLTO WI (+0.72%) a stock that I have never talked about before. The $DHR (+1.28%) spin-off is on my hit list, I simply missed the quick exit after the spin-off and am waiting for a more suitable price. Otherwise I will stick with buy and hold.

Another stock that I currently have no access to and would like to include in the savings plans again is $CP . This is still not tradable in its "post-merger version". I find that annoying in view of the great share price performance, I want to add to it!

At the end of my chain are $CVX (-0.15%) , $LTC (-2.59%) and $O (-2.72%) . I believe in all three companies. The REITs will perform better again as soon as the interest rate environment improves and I have no concerns about Chevron, the figures are right for this undervalued value stock. It was only in the October review that I expressed my firm belief in oil.

I can only underline this again and again. It was only in November that I bought electricity from the credit balance on my annual statement. $XOM (+0.49%) from the credit on my annual statement.

👉 ETFs

The ETFs in my portfolios do what they are supposed to do. That would be enough for this investment vehicle. Broadly diversified across the entire global economy. They are the perfect asset for all those who want to have it particularly easy - in the fight against poverty in old age.

My current ETF portfolio is not a price rocket, but it is behaving exactly as I predicted. It is growing steadily in line with market returns and is also generating income. I am very satisfied.

However, I have made a change to one of my two old portfolios, which included accumulating ETFs from the early days. Due to the upcoming advance lump sum, I have replaced the old holdings of accumulators with distributors. I would rather receive taxed investment income than keep money ready for the advance lump sum, that is my way of thinking. Fortunately, the old portfolio was small enough that the capital gains tax on capital gains and the order fees didn't hurt.

Otherwise, I will continue to buy stubbornly and steadily every month.

👉 P2P loans

P2P loans are still a bad investment for me (with one exception). I still have double-digit amounts in Peerberry and Mintos, which I have more or less written off completely. With Bondora Portfolio Pro, there wasn't even a "commemorative cent" for repayment.

I was finally able to withdraw a small amount from EstateGuru, which I then reallocated to Bondora Go&Grow. Only this product has been performing solidly for me since day 1. Let's hope it stays that way. When I decided to get out of P2P, I was sure that it would be finished by the end of the year. Fiddlesticks!

👉 Crypto

The model student of the crypto market has behaved in an exemplary manner, settling in a corridor between USD 35K and 37K over the course of the month. Here comes the next step in my strategy: at the start of the new year, I am discontinuing my two crypto savings plans for $BTC (+0.01%) and $ETH (+0.21%) completely and allocate the volume from my net salary to the other savings plans. Why? For one thing, Bitcoin does not generate any income during the holding period.

Secondly, I want to actively play the crypto cycle (and only with this asset class). In the bear market, I have steadily built up holdings via savings plans according to DCA and have also bought more from time to time, and the same applies to ETH. In the coming bear market, I will reaccumulate the holdings to be sold at more favorable prices than in the upcoming bull market. As I cannot hit the top, I will cash out via DCA as soon as the last ATH is significantly behind us.

I'm getting out of crypto altogether, because the gains of some will be the losses of others. Especially with Bitcoin, because of the fixed maximum supply, there is no way to generate returns during the holding period and lending is too dangerous for me. We will see whether I will be successful with the strategy of selling tax-free.

One investment that I no longer mention and have long since written off for me is DefiChain. I found the concept very exciting at the time, but in the end it was a shot in the arm :\

Whenever I look at the DFI and dUSD tokens in CoinMarketCap at intervals, I notice that they have plummeted even further. It seems like a bottomless pit to me. It's a shame really, because the concept of tokenized shares and the potential returns really appealed to me at the time.

👉 General information & outlook

With the last securities savings plans implemented, I was able to see that I have just about reached my investment target from the beginning of this year. That makes me happy. Even if I hadn't achieved it, I'm more of a fan of setting my goals high than too low. The development of my net assets is also progressing well. I'm a long way from financial freedom, but I'm on schedule.

In November, I also received a rent increase and insurance premium increases. These are small, but I still need to adjust my budget. It's good that the fall in income tax in the new year more or less compensates for this. Now I'm just looking ahead to the salary increase and my annual appraisal at work for the current calendar year.

Above, I'm going to shift the funds for the crypto savings plans into ETF or share savings plans. I'll decide that in December.

Last month, I only spent around €840 without giving up anything. I bought myself a new jacket, had to replace deposits and even added to my Christmas decorations. If I was a citizen's allowance recipient, I would be entitled to a total of around €896. It's a great feeling to not have to do without anything and still be able to live on so little. Simply because you don't have to tie yourself to any big expense items and unnecessary subscriptions and just spend money on things that give you added value (e.g. excursions and hikes). And now I'm enjoying the pre-Christmas period.

I wish you all a peaceful and reflective time with your loved ones!