August Review / September Preview, 2017

Bug Eyed Gremlin here to talk about the roller-coaster that has been this past month. We bought a house - cool.  My commute is different, but takes about the same amount of time, and it does not impact my budget (and no car) - also cool.  Mostly everything has been organized, except for the presents we got because sometime late September or mid October there will be a copy of me gracing this Earth. A scary thought indeed.  What is most notable is how fast it all has happened.  At this point a year ago I had just started a new job and taken a trip to Europe.  None of these other items - a house, kid(s), or a backyard to mow were in my mind.

Inserted in all of this is the fact that I have taken on new job responsibilities, which should benefit me in the long run, but do add a small layer of stress in the short term. Still, no matter how crazy life gets, the goal here is to generate passive income by building a quality portfolio of dividend paying stocks.

August:

This month I made one new purchase, Archer Daniel's Midland (ADM), in my taxable portfolio.

Last month I brought in a total of $239.61 in dividends ($37.44 taxable, $58.34 Roth, and $143.83 IRA).  This is an increase from last year ($95.21 total) by 151%.  It could have been higher had Discover (DFS) paid this month as expected, but they moved their payment back to September.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized* one from this month from Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI).  The raise was around 2%.  Thus far for 2017, I have realized 31 dividend increases!

Next month I will realize six raises from Discover Financial (DFS), Hershey's (HSY), Kellogg's (K), Kraft-Heinz (KHC), Target (TGT), J.M. Smucker's (SJM), and Westlake Chemical (WLK).  The increases range from 3.3% to 16.8%.

* I only count increases when realized, because until that money is delivered any statements or declarations simply appear to be conjecture.  

September:

My wife and I have moved into our new home, now the mortgage bills can start - bye bye rent. Our debts for the moment currently outstrip our assets.  However, I am not selling stocks to pay for it all.  Rather it is time to double down - blast debt and buy assets. 

I have cash on hand to make another buy, but I might not depending on other needs.

Next month should produce around $315 in dividends, which is a 174% YOY increase.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Hope everyone has a great September, sorry for those who are back to school, but don't want to be...
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned