Dividend Income: August

The best time of the month has finally come. It's time to compile all the dividends received and see just how much is sitting at the bottom of the passive income coin jar. Although this month was not the most extravagant that the blog has ever seen, it wasn't exactly dead either. Let's see what we brought in this month:

Dividend Income: August

STAG - STAG Industrial - $1.74

ABBV - Abbvie - $5.70

YUM - Yum Brands - $3.22

Total: $10.66

Total Dividends in 2016: $171.66

Total Dividends in 2015: $62.25

Increase YOY at Present: $109.41

Alright, so it's not the most that we've ever seen the Dividend Scythe pick up but it's still moving us forward on our way. Like I remind myself every month, it's the sum of the smaller parts that make up the great whole in the end. It's best not to lose sight of that.

That being said, I wanted to make sure to include the difference in this month's tally from the prior year to show just how far the portfolio has come from the year prior. This serves as a good indicator of whether or not we're heading in the right direction and I'm happy to say that it confirms good things. There is at this time a difference of $109.41 over the entire last year's passive income (and we've still got a few months to go!). Even though the $10.66 of income this month may seem small, it is a small piece of a much larger puzzle that is being put together.

Moving forward this month I really want to hone in on a good high yielding dividend stock. I know that there aren't many out there that have solid numbers but the portfolio has reached a point where it can take some chances to further fuel the ship into outer space. If you've got any ideas of where one might find this fuel, please leave your comment in the section below.

Recent Buy: Reynolds American Inc.

I talked about it and I wrote about it on my blog here just a few days ago. Just as a predicted, the price would be too good to pass up on Reynolds American Inc. That being the case, I had to pick up a few more shares for the Dividend Scythe portfolio. I was able to pick up a total of 17 more shares at $50.11/share which came to a total purchase price of $861.94.

This addition added a sizable amount of projected dividend income to the portfolio. At $1.68 per share in yield, this added a total of $28.56 to the projected annual dividend income. With this addition, the total projected annual dividend income moving forward is a solid $362.92. This should propel the portfolio much further as it will add further capital to future investments and further grow the snow ball.

This acquisition also helped me pass a major milestone. The portfolio is now officially over $10,000! It's taken a little while to get here but it's nice to see it finally hit five figures. I have my increased saving habits and better financial handling skills to thank for this milestone. Without them I would still very likely be in the four figure range and very likely still at the bottom or mid range at that!

I know this isn't a huge milestone compared to some who have been investing for a long time but for me this milestone is huge. It shows that I am capable of making the money add up. I look forward to the newer, bigger snow ball effect that will be seen in the future. Onward and upward is the way to go!

Dividend Income: June

Dividends, dividends everywhere! That’s how I feel looking back at my dividend income for the month of June. Wow, what an incredible turn out for the stocks that I own. It’s really great when all the chips come down at almost the exact same time. Pair this month’s huge amount of payouts with the current upward trend of all my stocks now that everything is rebounding from the Brexit news and my week has been nothing short of incredible to watch.

Months like these remind me just how far I’ve come from the start of the portfolio. When I first started I was barely getting anything out of each month’s dividend payments. My eyes would get tired just thinking about how long I thought it might take to finally see some noticeable movement in my portfolio with dividend payments alone. I was seeing the good capital gains in the portfolio (unrealized) but I wasn’t seeing the true power of the dividend payments. I was simply believing that one day they would start to roll in at a more noticeable rate.

That month has finally come even though the total payment is still only just barely a drop in the bucket when you think about it. Regardless, it makes me feel so much better to see months like this when everything happens all at once. It gives support to the future vision of what the payments will be in the future when I collect even more companies that I love and invest even more in those that I already own that I wish to hold more of. With that being said, let’s compile them together and show what has come in for the month of June.

American Railcar – ARII - $6.80

GameStop – GME - $7.40

L Brands – LB - $4.80

STAG Industrial – STAG - $1.74

Emerson Electric – EMR - $7.60

Walmart – WMT - $8.00

Total Dividends Paid in June 2016: $36.34

What a year I’ve had so far in 2016. It’s completely crushing the previous year of 2015 and we’re only barely over halfway through the year! This month’s dividend payments have come together to equal the highest monthly pay out that the Dividend Scythe has seen to date. It also serves to breach the $100 total dividend income for the year which helps to shatter the goal this year of breaching $100 total in dividend payments. I can’t wait to see where it will be at the very end of the year when all the payments are in. I know that I shouldn’t wish for time to go by quickly because time is valuable but it’s so hard not to wish to be there already when you’re seeing progress and growth.

Anyways, onto bigger and better things in the future! Hope to continue to see all of you in the comments section of my various posts through the next month. Let me know how your own portfolios did this last month in the comments section of this post. I’d love to see where my readers are with their own goals.