Spending and Dividend Income July 2014

Spending:

The numbers are in for July and another great month is in the books!  I think overall July was much more representative of what I will be spending going forward from here on out.  Over the last few months I have significantly cut expenses on my phone bill (Verizon to Republic Wireless), my rent (1050 per month to my now purchased home which costs 880 per month), and my student loans (122 per month down to 0 per month as work has picked up the tab for me).  So here are the new numbers:

There was a bit of a billing mix up this month and I was still charged for my student loan.  This is hopefully fixed for August and shouldn't happen again.  Other than that the only area of high spending was the Food and Dining category as I was a little lazier and purchased many breakfasts and lunches at work.  I have recently started going to the gym daily (free through work) and now need significantly more calories than I was eating before, it is likely that my food and dining expenses will be high from here on out as I am trying to gain a few more pounds of muscle.

This number is on track for my yearly goals and is less than my average monthly spending (Jan 1st - July 31st) of $1918.  Hopefully I can continue to bring this number down and finish the year strong.

Dividend Income:

The dividends just kept rolling in for the month of July.  While significantly lower than my June income I still managed a significant increase from my April income.  Dividends harvested this month include:

PSEC:    $33.14
SPLS:     $12.96
MO:       $19.20
PM:        $24.44
KO:        $7.93

Combining for a total dividend income of $97.67 dang so close to triple digits!  Compared to my April income 3 months ago this is an increase of almost 47%  Not bad at all!  This also brings my total dividends received up to $446.25 for 2014.

Total dividend coverage for the month was 5.54%  This was by far my second best month and it is exciting to see how quickly these numbers start adding up.  After just seven months of investing I was able to cover a good chunk of what it costs me to live.  The snowball is rolling now and it only picks up momentum from here on out.  I hope you all had a great July and here's to an even better August!  As always, thank you for reading.

June Spending, Dividend Income and a July Buy

It's looking like blog updates are going to be less frequent for the foreseeable future as my work hours are starting to pile up once again.  Overall June was my best month of the year for both dividend income and spending.  The numbers speak for themselves!

June Spending 

Total spending came in at a very low $849.81.  This is by far the best spending month I have had since I started this blog back in February.  The main reasons this number is so low has to do with the fact that my first mortgage payment wasn't due until July 1st so I had no rent or mortgage to pay in June.  June was also the first month that my work has started making my student loan payments.  This saves an additional $121 every single month which I will happily put to work earning me dividends.

My food and dining, shopping, and utility bills were higher than normal.  I had to pay utilities on two properties in June which propped up spending.  I also needed to buy a few household items to do some repairs/renovations on the new house.  I took friends out for dinner a few times and also bought groceries for a family barbecue which increases the food bill to slightly higher than normal.

June Dividend Income


The majority of my stocks have dividend distributions that occur in June.  As such it was by far my biggest dividend haul to date.  Dividend payments were as follows:

AWLCF: $50.51
INTC:      $10.13
CVX:       $9.63
TGT:        $7.74
MCD:      $8.91
PSEC:      $33.13
SDRL:      $43.00
GLPI:       $16.12

The total haul for the month of June was $179.17  When compared to last quarters March dividend income of $46.82 we have an increase of over 382%  I couldn't be happier with the increase which is mostly attributed to the fact that almost all of my high yield income investments pay out in this time period.  This brings my total dividends received in my first 6 months of investing up to $348.58.

Total dividend coverage for the month of June was 21.08% That little sliver of dividend income has had its first very noticeable month.  This is mainly due to the supplementation of my dividend growth stocks with high income investments.  My ideal portfolio at this time is an equal combination of dividend growth and income investments.  The higher yield income investments typically carry higher risk in particular risk to dividend distributions/increases due to very high, sometimes greater than 100% payout ratios.  There is a very real possibility of a poor quarter causing a dividend decrease.

 I carefully monitor these higher yield investments and consider all of these positions as possible trades.  I will typically pick up higher yield positions in industries that have seen hard times.  For example SDRL and AWLCF (offshore drilling) which has been rallying nicely for the last few months after a severe decline.  NAT (shipping) which is an industry that has still not recovered well since the financial crises.  However indicative rates (how much it costs to contract out an oil tanker) have risen substantially in the last few weeks causing the stock to bounce nicely (might sell soon).  Conversely my dividend growth positions I plan on holding and allowing the distributions to grow long term.  They are my SWAN (sleep well at night) investments that require significantly less attention and preening.

July Stock Buy

Earlier this month I picked up 59 shares of CVRR for a price of $25.69 per share for a total investment of $1525.69.  My new 12 month forward dividend income sits at $2,316.4 with this purchase.  This is another high income play for me that pays out the majority of its free cash flow in dividends.  A risky play similar to my purchase of AWLCF, CVRR owns and operates two refineries.  The company is currently recovering from difficulties at one of their refineries last year which caused a major decrease in income/company value.

Currently considering for my second July purchase:
RY, WFC or TD  (I keep wanting to buy a financial but the prices keep rising.  I like each of these companies and might just pull the trigger regardless instead of missing the bus)
NORSB:  illiquid microcap great analysis here:  http://otcadventures.com/?p=1374
GE, RTN, LMT, AGU, POT (still need to do more analysis.)
Also closely monitoring the merger of RAI and LO for a buying opportunity.

Considering selling my position in NAT

Thanks for reading folks!

2014 May Dividend Income, Spending, and a Pair of Trades

It's looking like my posts will be a bit fewer and far between while I settle in to my new house and get hooked back up to the internet.  So for the sake of efficiency I will probably be combining posts for the next few months.  For this month I present to you May's earnings, spending, and a few early month portfolio trades!

May Spending 2014

I accidentally blew my budget for the month of May.  I had to pay closing costs on my home purchase and pick up a lawn mower and weed eater to attack a lawn that had been neglected for almost a year.  With a few other essential home purchases I ended up spending a total of $2526.00 for the month.  Here is the spending breakdown!

The Misc Expenses, and Food and Dining categories were my biggest costs for the month.  Misc expenses includes my final closing costs, yardpocolypse equipment, moving truck fees, and a few smaller house items.  The food and dining budget was also part of the cost of moving as I took my friend and his fiance out for dinner and drinks to pay them back for helping me move(money well spent!)

While I was not able to meet my goals this month, going forward I am in a significantly better position to save money on both utilities and rent.  

May Dividend Income

My dividend income for May is as follows:

PSEC:  $11.04

KMI:    $18.90

For a total earnings of $29.94.  While this number still seems small, I have managed to double last quarter's (February) earnings.  I am extremely happy with this outcome and really look forward to blowing this number away this coming August.  Here is a breakdown of this months dividend income, and dividend income to spending.

Total dividend coverage to spending this month was 1.25%  This beats last February's 0.62% even considering I spent significantly more in May.  I am extremely happy with this outcome and am excited as to what the future holds.

Early June Portfolio Shake Up

Early in June I made the decision to sell off a few positions in my portfolio that do not meet my overall investing goals.  My typical investments are in dividend growth or high yield stocks.  While I plan on building my portfolio with rock solid blue chip investments I also occasionally dip into the foreign markets or industries with high yield stocks that have not recovered fully after the recession.  Two of my positions in my portfolio did not meet these criteria.  INTC and CHK.  Neither company has been successful at raising dividends in an extended time period, and they aren't my favorite high yield distressed companies. 

I took $600 of my own money and sold my positions in INTC and CHK (both for a profit), using the money to purchase shares of VZ and NAT.  I bought a total of 36 shares of Verizon for a price of $1797.12 and 157 shares of NAT for a total of $1307.81.  After the smoke cleared my new 12 month forward dividend income sits at $1964.40 per year.  My portfolio has been updated to reflect the new changes.

I am currently closely monitoring everything currently in my portfolio and RY, TD, and GM for a possible purchase later this month.

Thanks for reading and I hope you had an amazing May!

April 2014 Dividend Income, May Purchases, Dividend Raises and an Update Oh My!

May has been one of the craziest and busiest months of my life.  Not only have I been working long days (up to 14 hours/7 days a week) I have also closed on a house and moved in my spare time.  The end of May marks a brief reprieve from the long hours at work.  In the mean time I have missed out on many updates for you!.


April 2014 Dividend Income

The month of April marks my fourth month of investing in income and dividend growth stocks.  April was my largest harvest yet and I totaled $66.55 of income compared to $14.97 from January.  Compared to my spending of $1868.00 for April this dividend covers 3.56% of my total costs.

May Stock Purchases     

Thanks to the healthy dose of overtime I was able to make many purchases in the month of May.  May marks another month of investing in beleaguered income investments.  While I would normally choose to place my money in stable dividend growth champions and aristocrats I could not ignore the prices of some of my favorite income stocks.  I have been rewarded with capital appreciation of ~15%  from my purchase of SDRL last month and hoped to continued the trend.  

I purchased 200 shares of PSEC at a price of $10.55 per share.  This increases my yearly forward dividend income by $264.96.  PSEC currently boasts a $0.1104 per month dividend.

I purchased 31 shares of GLPI at a price of $34.28 per share.  This increases my yearly forward dividend income by $64.48.  GLPI currently boasts a $0.52 per quarter dividend.

I purchased 112 shares of AWLCF at a price of $22.24 per share.  This increases my yearly forward dividend income by $515.20.  AWLCF currently pays a dividend of $1.15 quarterly.

This is a total increase of $844.64.  

The shares of PSEC were bought in two transactions.  The first occurring the day before a 5% drop in share prices due to the announcement by the SEC.  Shares are now down significantly to the $10.00 range.  While I still like the company there are some important factors that need to be addressed before I will purchase more.  I am currently less worried about the SEC investigation and squeeze on the BDC market overall from de-listing from major indices than I am about PSEC's ability to continue dividend coverage.

GLPI marks my first REIT purchase and exposes me to both the REIT and gaming industries.

AWLCF is my favorite offshore drilling play on the market at this time.  The company pays the vast majority of its income from its two rigs out as dividends.  This is quite possibly the most risky and intriguing play in my portfolio.  The dividend is currently sitting over 20% and would absolutely be unsustainable if anything disastrous were to happen to either of the rigs.  Currently both of the rigs are contracted out and receiving increased dayrates in the near future.  I am under the opinion that AWLCF greatly benefits in the current tight offshore drilling market by having only two rigs, making it easier to secure contracts and maintain efficiency.

May Dividend Increases 

Two positions in my portfolio increased dividends in May.

SDRL increased it's dividend from $0.98 to $1.00  this increase of ~2% marks the fifth quarterly increase in a row for the company.  Shares of SDRL have also rebounded greatly in the last month and a half.

AWLCF increased its dividend from $1.10 to $1.15.  This marks the third time that AWLCF has raised its income in the last year and is an increase of ~4.5%.

With these new purchases and dividend increases my current yearly forward dividend income is now $1799.37.

When I get access to internet on my personal PC again updates should return to the normal rate and I will update my portfolio page.  Hopefully you all had a fantastic May!

My current watch list for June purchases:  NAT, GM, VZ, RIG

Disclosure:  Long AWLCF, GLPI, PSEC

Dividend Income Report March 2014

Here we are again, my favorite time of the month.  It's time to report my dividend earnings for March, 2014.  We are just three months into this new dividend investing strategy and already the numbers are beginning to add up.  March was by far my best month yet, here are the results:

Prospect Capital Corp (PSEC):     $11.04

McDonalds (MCD):                        $8.91

Target (TGT):                                $7.74

Chevron (CVX):                             $9.00

Intel Corp (INTC):                          $10.13

This was by far my best month yet!  The grand total for March came in at $46.82.  For the first time I was even able to use some of this dividend money to purchase shares of Kinder Morgan(KMI) which was the second purchase I made in March.  Now for the important part, the breakdown of my spending for March vs dividend income.  

Holy moley is that a green bar I see?!  Prior to this month special equipment (a magnifying glass) was required to see my dividend income compared to my spending.  This month a good pair of reading glasses is all it takes.  We are movin' on up in the world!  This month I was able to cover 2.01% of my total expenses with dividend income alone.  In comparison last month I was only able to cover 0.618% of the expenses.  This is fantastic considering that March was also my most expensive month of the year.  Next month should be another big one as some of my largest positions pay out in April.  Hope you all had a great March!

Disclosure: Long PSEC, MCD, TGT, CVX, INTC, KMI

Dividend Income Report February 2014

Hold on to your shorts, we have an exciting dividend income report for February 2014!  One of the downsides of starting this blog so early in my investing career is that there are certain time periods when I will not be receiving much of a monthly dividend income.  Last month happened to be one of those months.  I currently hold no positions in companies that regularly pay in the Feb, May, Aug, Nov cycle.  So without further ado my income for the month is as follows:

PSEC: $11.03
C: $0.10

For a grand total of $11.13.  While this may not be a dazzling sum of money it does represent at least two subway sandwiches worth of income, a valuable prize indeed.

This income represents about 0.618% of my total spending for February a decrease when compared to last months coverage of 0.671%.  You can barely see the tiny green bars peeking out in the graph on the right.  You will also notice a stock which no longer exists in my portfolio.  Before the creation of this blog I sold my entire position in Citigroup in order to purchase assets with a higher dividend payout.  The majority of my positions pay out on the March, June, Sept, Dec schedule so this month should be the largest yet in my investing history, stay tuned!  

New Year, New Beginning.

With the beginning of the new year I have decided to chronicle my journey to financial independence online for the world to see.  I made my first stock purchases in the last days of December, 2013 when I injected almost $8,000 into eight different dividend paying stocks.  My goal is to invest at least $1,000 every month into whichever dividend stock I feel provides the highest value at the time and share with you my journey to financial freedom.  My portfolio is currently:

Portfolio as of January 2014

This results in a forward yearly dividend payout of $363.81.  In January a total of two stocks in my portfolio paid dividends, they include:

PSEC: $11.03

CHK: $3.94

The final tally for dividends earned in
January 2014 was $14.97.  It might
not seem like much but we all have
to start from the beginning.  

This covered 0.671% of my total spending for the month.  If you pull out your magnifying glass you can almost see the tiny green bar.








Hopefully this is the start of a long and rewarding journey.  I do not know if anyone will ever actually read this blog but maybe the process of writing about my personal finance and investment ideas will keep me motivated and on the path to financial independence.

Take care and have a lovely weekend.

-Dividendasaur