Friday, March 29, 2019

March Review / April Preview, 2019

Busy Gremlin here to talk about this past month and focus in on next month.  The big news for me is that my car has been fully paid off - freeing up a small, but significant amount of cash flow.  It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, but I am still carrying plenty of things, so there is no rest for the weary.  On top of that personal success, an old 401K was rolled over into my IRA account, which will enable me to make an extra purchase pretty soon.  It is a real boon that I found that extra money just hanging around and that I was able to reclaim all of it (I laugh in the face of vesting agreements).

March:

This month I made one purchase, acquiring shares of Eaton Vance (EV) in my taxable account.

Last month I brought in a total of $429.55 in dividends ($180.51 taxable, $93.08 Roth, and $155.96 IRA).  This is an increase from last year (380.61 total) by 12%.  Even with the Kraft-Heinz KHC dividend cut, my growth is not stopping.

In terms of dividend increases, I realized* eleven (11!) raises from the Archer Daniel's Midland (ADM), Amgen (AMGN), Canadian National Railway (CNI), Dominion Energy (D), Dunkin Brands (DNKN), Union Pacific (UNP), Waste Management (WM), YUM! Brands (YUM), Prudential (PRU), 3M (MMM), and T. Rowe Price (TROW).  The increases are from about 4% to about 15%+.  I have now realized 18 raises thus far this year.  I also realized one cut of approximately 33% by KHC.

Next month I will realize seven (7) raises from the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM), Coke Cola (KO), Realty Income (O), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), WalMart (WMT), and Kimberly Clark (KMB).  The increases are from about 0.2% to about 10%.

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

April:

The mortgage continues and I am 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 (1.5% for our car).  My car was paid off in March, freeing up some monthly cash!  Debt is being eliminated, and we are still building and assets.

My next purchase will be in April, which will make for 10 consecutive months of buys across all accounts.

Next month should produce around $105 in dividends, which is a 40% YOY increase.

My portfolio page is currently up to date.

Hope everyone has a great April.
- Dividend Gremlin
- Long all stock tickers

2 comments:

  1. Must be nice not to have a car payment anymore. Hopefully that extra breathing room each month will go towards building up more passive income. Enjoy all those dividend increases too. Cherish them when they come because we all have those nasty cuts every now and then to contend with. Like you I also don't count increases or forward dividends for that matter till they actually come in. Keep buying and growing. Double digit year over gains always look good to me!

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    1. DHut,

      Thanks for the comment, indeed it is nice! That breathing room will either go towards or more shares, either way is a win. Cuts happen, but they are rare and there are so many increases that lift each month!

      - Gremlin

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