There are many things which have changed since meeting @xplice in the jungles of Bali where he suggested that my lifestyle might suit this platform, but the most notable of all is my new ability to make, trade and hodl 'money' without needing a traditional job or bank.

After seeing the film Zeitgeist in 2012 I began the tireless research and re-assessment of all I once believed as truth, which led me to the inevitable decision to get off the grid. I sold most of my possessions and left the UK in 2013 with no intention of returning, bankless & barefoot I set out into the world reborn, leaving behind a lifetime of servitude to London, the city of my birth.

You may enjoy the opening sequence of the film beneath, a series I began at this time in my life.

At first living outside of the banking system was much easier than I imagined for my background as a filmmaker gifted me cash payments wherever I went but when I met Sabrina in Thailand and started making babies it became evident that my hand-to-mouth existence was not enough.

Following the flow I accepted a job offer in Bali to make a bunch of films for a friend and began using Sabrina’s bank account to receive payments. This worked but it didn’t feel good using the banking system again. Then along came Steemit and the answer was instantly clear.

Now I have BTC in my Revolut account (which is similar to a bank but less intrusive & more crypto friendly) and I am able to pull it out as cash at any ATM whenever I please.

Read my review of Revolut HERE

Fully dedicating myself to this platform I set up camp with my family in the Bali eco community where I had met @xplice and my first year on Steemit saw a very sharp learning curve, getting to grips with the wonderful world of crypto.

I was able to reach a target of 10,000 SP which was possible due to the much lower value of Steem at that time. Take note those who are complaining about the current low value! It was as low as $0.07 at one point and the community felt much smaller back then.

Steemit replaced my filmmaking job and consequently much of my SP 'savings' were spent on supporting my family but I was always sure to keep on investing into other coins I liked the sound of.

My hodl/trading system

On Steemit my system is simple. Keep on posting at least once a day, 50/50 payout option every time. SP stays on Steemit while any excess STEEM or SBD which sits available in my wallet is sent to Bittrex where it is sold for any one of my 28 investments.

I keep a lot of my investments in an Exodus wallet where I believe they are safe. It is a beautiful wallet which is constantly updating its features and assets.

Most recently it added TrueUSD so we are now able to peg our fortunes to the dollar in times of market decline.

I watch my assets from Delta, an app on my ipad.

If I see one of them go over 15% in a 24h period I move it over to Bittrex (or appropriate exchange) where I will sell at what I believe to be the peak, buying back in at what I believe to be the trough.

Swing trading

A recent example.

I was holding some Lunyr in my Exodus wallet and when I saw the pump I was quick to get it over to Bittrex where I sold it for BTC which was experiencing stable growth at that time.

This is where I sold to BTC...

This is where I bought back in...

...very content with a decent percentage increase (which I never bother calculating!) I sent the LUN back to my Exodus wallet where I will hodl it, waiting for that next juicy pump.

Don't keep your assets on the exchanges long term. Private wallets are always safer.

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Trend Trading

Currently I am playing with 0.2 BTC in Bittrex, following the daily trend.

For now we are bouncing off the $6000 support level, which is providing decent opportunities to buy in at this level, selling back into Tether (USDT) when the daily trend commits to the downward direction again.

I have been able to successfully ride these BTC waves a number of times since the peak in December and have doubled the amount of BTC I am holding. This is not a fool proof system and sensible stop loss should be set. This means your asset will automatically be sold if the price slumps to a certain level, ensuring you will never walk away from a trade without a profit of some kind.

How to set stop loss on Bittrex here:

For the last few days we have been on the up again, but it seems unlikely we will stay this way for long with the experts telling us to expect further decline. But by the end of the year however I do believe we should be firmly on our way to that glorious crypto moon...

Please note I am not a financial advisor! Just an optimistic guy ;)

Final Thoughts

I've said it before and no doubt will say it again:

Steemit has completely changed my life!

I spend so much more time with my growing family thanks to Steemit and I am able to research the things which interest me, knowing that there is a small financial incentive as long as I keep sharing what I have learned with the community.

In recent weeks I have started a new video series which features my family & I doing our thing.

This is the latest episode:

I am eternally grateful to those who have guided me here and those who support my family and I with their votes & comments.

Thank you one & all :)

Who is @samstonehill?

He was a London based filmmaker until he sold everything and set out on a barefoot journey around the world, currently based in the south of France.

He is travelling with his partner & two children and with no bank account he has been living on STEEM & crypto for over a year.

All content created for this account is 100% original (unless otherwise stated), produced by @samstonehill who invites you to use & share freely as you wish.

@samstonehill is the creator of:

@steemshop account where you can buy or sell anything you like using your steemit wallet

@steemmasters which provides FREE TUTORIALS, personal training & resteeming services. Website HERE
Contact me directly on steemit.chat if you want to know more about this

@steemholidays which encourages resort owners to offer holiday packages in Steem or SBD

@steemtv which aims to provide the best in decentralised films, exclusive to Steemit & DTube

The dailyquotes tag initiative designed to encourage steemians to share their most life changing quotes with the community on a daily basis.

The Aspiring Steemit Whales & Dolphins group on Facebook which seeks to help newcomers make the transition from Facebook to Steemit, providing them with detailed notes and personal assistance with their posts... resteeming them when he can.

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Here is a list of Steemit Witness I have voted for & recommend you do the same:
@teamsteem @timcliff @jesta @good-karma @someguy123 @blocktrades @pfunk @klye @krnel @blueorgy @ausbitbank @thecryptodrive @ura-soul @pharesim

Without them our beloved Steemship would not fly.

Learn what this means HERE and place your vote HERE

All non original photo sources can be found by clicking on the image