January Review / February Preview, 2019

Frozen Gremlin here to discuss January and look into the future a little bit.  It is currently cold and snowing here, though nothing like the upper Midwest. I am glad that our wind chill is only in the single negative digits (ºF).  Don't get me wrong, I like the cold and hockey, but even I have my rational limits.  On the bright side, I can still work out / lift indoors, yay owning your own weights.

December is the busiest holiday month, and January has a ton of birthdays in my family.  February is a departure from that, a nice slowdown and change of pace.  The stock market is starting to recover, but who knows how long that will continue.  Or what direction it will go tomorrow or next week.  In the meantime it is full steam ahead on saving and investing our hard earned money.  So with that said, let's see how we did.

January:

This month I made one purchase, acquiring shares of Aqua America (WTR) in my IRA account.  I also sold out of Tupperware (TUP) at the end of the month, which will be discussed during my next buy in February.

Last month I brought in a total of $109.56 in dividends ($90.06 taxable, $9.5 Roth, and $10 IRA).  This is an increase from last year (74.41 total) by 47%.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized* two dividend increases from Realty Income (O), Disney (DIS), and Eastman Chemical (EMN).  The increases are from 0.2% to around 10%.  I have now realized 2 raises thus far this year.

Next month I will realize five raises from the Bank of Montreal (BMO), one from my employer (Bºº), AT&T (T), Abbott Labs (ABT), and Deere Co. (DE).  The increases are from about 2% to about 21%.

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

February:

The mortgage continues and I putting a little extra cash towards the principal monthly - not a huge number, but every little bit counts. Our debts currently outstrip our assets (I choose not to count the house as an asset).  Outside of our house, we still have very low interest auto debt (1.9 and 1.5% for our cars).  I should be able to pay off my car next month thanks to my tax windfall related to home ownership and having a child - which will freaking sweet.  Debt is being eliminated, and we are still building and assets.

My next purchase will be in February, which will make for 8 consecutive months of buys across all acounts.

Next month should produce around $281 in dividends, which is a 20% YOY increase.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Hope everyone has a great January.  Go Rams...
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers mentioned, minus TUP