May Review / June Preview, 2016

Gettin' Old Gremlin here to talk about May, and the prospects of June - where I will turn a sad sad 31.  Next month I get a little more older by the standards of our calendar, but I don't feel it.  I've been biking a lot to work, putting in time at my second job, and being all around busy.  It has been a great period of time working hard for some financial independence with a smattering of life included.  Last month I attended a bachelor party and next month starts the annual 'wedding season.'  So much to do, so much going on and I almost neglected to mention that at some point soon I will be paying a lot of attention to the UEFA Championships, aka The Euros or European soccer championship.

May:

I was able to put $360 to work in Loyal3 over the course of last month.  I added no new Loyal3 positions this month. No new positions were added this past month.

Last month I brought in a total of $85.54 in dividends ($30.96 taxable, $54.58 Roth).  This is an increase from last year ($67.57 total) by 26.59%.  These amounts and the increase is as expected.  My accounts have been pretty consistent in their upward dividend trending; this is exactly what I am aiming for.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized two this month from Apple (AAPL) and Ameriprise Financial (AMP).  The raises ranged from 9.5% to 11.9%.  Overall this is fairly successful growth.  Those are my favorite kind of raises.

Next month I will realize four dividend increases: Pepsi Co (PEP), Unilever (UL), Johnson and Johnson (JNJ), and Exxon Mobile (XOM).  The increases range from 6% on up to the mid-teens.

Thus far for 2016, I have realized 14 dividend increases, and after June it will be 18 total.  Boom.

June:

Our only long term debts are our cars and my wife's student loans, and her loan won't last the year.  I will continue next month to throw some extra money at her student loans and my car.  If we paid her student loans at the minimum rate it would take around 1 year to finish otherwise.  I have already gotten ahead on my monthly payments on my car and that will not stop as well.  Her student loan should be finished around September or October, if everything else remains constant.

Next month should produce around $116 in dividends, which is a 71% YOY increase.  On the Loyal3 front I will probably invest $300 on existing positions.  I am trying to pump up our safety net savings a little bit on the side as well, which is the reason for the slight edging down of Loyal3 investing, especially as we head into summer.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Hope everyone has a great June!
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned