It’s been said that “nothing changes if nothing changes.” Change is an important part of life. It helps to keep life interesting. As I embark on this new journey in my life, I’ve noticed a small change here and there. Changes in terms of what I choose to prioritize or even how I choose to spend my money. Thankfully, even though life is ever changing, the one constant has been my dividend portfolio which keeps working for me in the background. Every month, I look forward to writing this post because I get excited to see how my dividends performed. Did I break any records or reached a new milestone? Or is the income I expect to receive less than what I was expecting? Let’s break down September to take a look.

Dividend Income

In September I received a total of $111.15 in dividends broken down as follows:

NO. STOCK NAME DIVIDENDS 1 EMR Emerson Electric $10.53 2 GWW W.W. Grainger $6.87 3 JNJ Johnson & Johnson $20.09 4 MCD McDonalds $9.42 5 MMM 3M Company $10.12 6 O Realty Income $8.43 7 PFE Pfizer $12.22 8 XOM Exxon Mobile $33.47 $111.15

Yes! As you can see, I crossed over the $100 mark for the first time in this quarter, and for the second month in a row. Sufficed to say I’m very placed. Talk about change, this is definitely a good thing. Now, I can expect to see triple-digit months on a more regular basis. The months of January, April, July, and October are somewhat far behind in terms of dividend income received. But, once those months catch up, I will be consistently making over $100 per month in dividends. So far, I am on the right track.

You will notice that the dividend income received for McDonalds is $9.42. The dividends were received in September, but it was difficult for me to tell that with M1 Finance because it showed up in my October 1, 2018 activity section. I called and verified that I did receive the dividends in September. However, at the time, only 0.04 cents was sitting in my portfolio. When I received the dividends, that brought the balance up to $9.46, which was below the $10 minimum threshold to make the automatic purchase with M1 Finance. That didn’t happen until October 1, 2018. I was initially concerned that there was inaccuracy in the reporting, but it turns out that everything is ok. My statement will accurately reflect when I received the dividends.

Once the dividends I receive from each company is at least $10, I will no longer have that problem.

Annual Comparison

Below is a graphical representation of my dividends this year as compared to last:

Here is the raw data:

MONTH 2017 2018 Rate April $0.41 $31.47 7575.61% May $2.85 $79.33 2683.51% June $16.89 $98.51 483.24% July $5.99 $42.32 606.51% August $21.95 $108.44 394.03% September $28.72 $111.15 287.01%

My portfolio increased a respectable $287.01% from last year. I continue to look forward to decent growth rates in the months to come. Although the growth rate will be significantly smaller as I work with larger numbers, I do plan on increasing the minimum contributions to my portfolio annually. That, combined with dividend income, will help my dividend portfolio snowball faster.

Finally, the Dividend Tracker has been updated accordingly.

Forward Annual Dividends

At the time of this writing, my forward annual dividend is $1,150.16. A month ago, my forward annual dividend projection was $1,105.65. This represents an increase of $44.61 or 4% in my forward annual dividend income. This is a slightly larger increase than the previous month.

Financial Update – Lifestyle Change

I talked briefly about lifestyle creep in my last post and it’s something that I’m keeping a watchful eye on. In addition, I hope to increase the minimum contribution to my dividend portfolio as I go forward. However, I have other priorities right now which includes getting out of consumer debt, which is taking longer than expected.

There is a decent chance that I will cut back on the use of my credit card. I was using my new card religiously in the name of racking up points. But, what that does is that I have to use my earned income to pay back the credit card, which leaves very little to pay down on other debt. By using the credit card, I think I spend more than I otherwise would if the money was coming from my checking account or paid with cash.







I’ve also noticed that my other new credit card (the American Express) is only used to pay for Uber rides. I get $15 free Uber every month so I think it’s worthwhile to have. My Chase Sapphire Reserve card I use for eating out because I get 3 times the points for that, and I eat out every day. But, as I mentioned, I spend way too much using the credit card. So, I’m going to find a purpose for the Chase card like I do for the American Express Card. Maybe I’ll use it for Starbucks.

The consequence of opening up my new cards and not paying down my balance is a whopping reduction in my credit score. That’s not good because I’m still planning on buying a house. My score went from 800 down to 740, or from excellent to good. It’s now right around 750, so technically excellent, but I would prefer it to be back up to 800. I’m not sure if getting the credit cards were worth it, but once I start redeeming points, I might feel better.

I’ll keep you posted.

Conclusion

It’s a great feeling to know that my dividend portfolio is hard at work for me in the background while I deal with the current changes in my life. My transition to my new job at work is well underway. But, that transition has brought some unpredictability in my life in terms of my income and expenses. But change can be a good thing and I welcome this new phase of my life.

I’m very excited about crossing the 3-digit mark for the second month in a row. I can’t wait to get to that point where my consumer debt is gone, and I’m able to contribute two-to-three thousand dollars per month in my portfolio. I expect to wipe out my consumer debt by the end of October or, if not, definitely in November. But, as the saying goes, patience is a virtue. The good news is that I am moving in the right direction.

How was September for you? Break any records? Let me know your thoughts by commenting below.