Weekly Buys and Dividends

Hi fellow DGIers and readers,

Thank you for the continued support of my little blog, as I chronicle one dollar at a time (literally) in my investing journey.    As I mentioned last week, I've been traveling for work.  I had another slow week, as I'm having to pay my tax bill in a few weeks, so I've throttled down a tad to compensate for that money going to Uncle Sam.  However, I'm still plugging away with my small investments, especially my monthly buys that I directly invest.   While there is certainly better options, depending on each individual and/or preference, I feel this type of investment enables me to slowly accumulate shares and dollar cost average into full positions.   

Here is the breakdown:

Purchases:

Special Agent Dividend's Dividend Growth Portfolio

ConocoPhillips (COP) $60
The Walt Disney Company ((DIS) $20
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $13.60 (one share)
The Proctor & Gamble Company (PG) $55

Total Purchases for the Week: $148.60

Dividends:
BP plc (BP) $36.82 (DRIP)
Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) $10.19 (DRIP)
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $1.45

Total Dividends for the Week: $48.46

Well, not much going on this week, but I'm an advocate of every dollar counts in this investing journey.   With that in mind, I added $148.60 to prior positions and was able to reinvest dividends in two of my three dividends received this week.  Of note, as detailed in last post, I FINALLY crossed the $100 mark in monthly dividends, which was a nice little boost for me. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope everyone had a great weekend! 

Weekly Investment Activity and Dividends

Hi everyone,

I've been traveling this week for work, so I haven't had much spare time for my blogging addiction of reading fellow DGIers.  Also, I didn't make any proactive buys this week, as I didn't see any deals I wanted to jump on (plus still waiting to see the damage done by the taxman!).  However, I did have two ongoing buys go through, with $50 to Exxon Mobil and $60 to Lockheed Martin.   I also invested $598 into my TSP retirement account.   I had two dividends roll in this week, while small, it's still a passive stream of income that keeps growing!  Well this will be a short post to detail my weekly activity.  I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!  

Here is the breakdown:

Purchases:

Special Agent Dividend's Dividend Growth Portfolio

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $50

Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) $60

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Retirement Account

C Fund (60%), S Fund (20%), I Fund (20%) $598

Total Purchases for the Week: $708

Dividends:

McDonald's (MCD) $3.69

Realty Income (O) $1.99

Total Dividends for the Week: $5.68

Well, that's it for this week, as it was relatively slow, but still managed to invest $708 to add to my growing snowball.   Thanks so much for stopping by!   

Weekly Investment Purchases, Dividends and Passive Income

Hi everyone,

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend thus far.   I have plans to simply hang out with my family and get outdoors, weather permitting, as it seems the rain keeps coming.  It's nice to spend good quality time with the family after a long work week.  It's amazing how fast the little ones are growing up, so I try to spend every second with them before 'daddy' isn't as cool anymore and they want to be with friends more and more.   This post will detail my weekly activity, as I had several small automatic purchases and a few other purchases to add to existing portfolio holdings, dividends received and, lastly, semi-passive income generated from my rental property.   Here is the breakdown:

Purchases:

Special Agent Dividend's Dividend Growth Portfolio

The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $50

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $50

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $26.16 

Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) $36

Total Purchases for the Week: $162.16

Dividends:

Target Corp. (TGT) $4.29

Unilever: (UL) $3.31

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $14.99 (DRIP)

Total Dividends for the Week: $22.59

Other Income: 

Rental Property - Payment received for March rent, which netted $295 in positive cash flow.   

Another week in the books and I was able to add a little to my portfolio, as every dime helps!   I used $162.16 to add to existing holdings, received $22.59 in dividends and netted $295 in passive income from rental property.   Well, that's it for this short post, as I'm off to spend time with the family.   Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Small Milestone Hit - Portfolio

Hello everyone,

With the recent run-up in the overall market, especially in the energy sector, I hit a small milestone that brought a smile to my face.  I was about to update my portfolio on the blog and when I opened it up it had crossed over the 20k mark for the first time.  While nothing grand, it did make my portfolio seem legit for the first time, as I've been nickel and diming it to slowly accumulate wealth.   I'm pretty happy at where it is and how far it has came since that first stock purchase a little over a year and half ago.  With my Special Agent Dividend's non-top secret portfolio and my retirement accounts, I'm cruising right towards the six figure mark in investments!  I should be around 90k, plus or minus a tad, right now so well on the way of hitting that milestone soon.   While my portfolio has increased nicely with the market ride, my dividend income has taken a hit with three of my holdings, Kinder Morgan (KMI), ConocoPhillips (COP) and BHP Billiton (BBL) slashing dividends.   I don't plan to sell at the moment, as it was understandable in this market.  In any regard, it's a nice moment to hit a milestone, as it just gives you motivation to keep it going and improve each month.  If I hadn't started this journey, that 20k would have been wasted on something I'm sure and not generating $700 annually and compounding growth.  Well, thanks for stopping by and for the support!

Here is a snapshot of my portfolio:

Weekly Investment and Dividend Activity - DGI

Hello everyone,

Thanks for stopping by my little blog that chronicles my investing journey.   I can’t believe the first week of March is in the books, as this year is passing by fast.   I had a few small buys this past week, as I used a little cash that was in my Loyal3 account to add to my DIS and KO positions, as well as some automatic purchases in my DRIP plans.   I had another contribution go through to my 401k, Thrift Savings Plan (TSP).  Lastly, and my favorite, I had some dividends roll in, which was reinvested.  Ford (F) paid a special dividend on top of the quarterly payout, so that was a nice little bump in my income already for the month.   Here are the details of this week’s activity:



Purchases:

Special Agent Dividend's Dividend Growth Portfolio

The Walt Disney Co. (DIS): $30

The Coca-Cola Co. (KO): $10

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ):  $50

Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM):  $50

Total invested $140

Retirement Account

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) 401k Employee Plan

C Fund (S&P 500 Index Fund) - $298 invested 

S Fund (Small Cap Index) - $105 invested

I Fund (International Index) - $95 invested 

Total invested $498

Dividends:

Ford Motor Co. (F):  $37.81

ConocoPhillips (COP):  $5.12

Total dividends received $42.93

Summary: 

Off to a decent start this month, as I hope to add fresh capital on a weekly basis to further kick start my portfolio.   I’ll continue to use my small investment strategy until I build a nice solid base of my core holdings and really start the momentum of the compounding effect.  Once again, thanks for stopping by and for the continued support!   

Bi-Weekly Investment Activity - Stock Buys, Dividends, TSP

Hello everyone,

Thanks so much for stopping by and the continued support.   I've had a pretty mild two weeks when it comes to investing (this post has some carry over from last week's activity), but I'm still plugging away with my weekly and monthly purchases.  This past two weeks has seen several of my monthly purchases executed, such as Proctor & Gamble, Lockheed Martin and the Walt Disney Company.  In addition, I've made several small buys to add to existing positions, such as Apple, Coca-Cola, Target and Bank of Nova Scotia.   In addition to my dividend growth portfolio, I contributed to my work sponsored 401k type Thrift Savings Plan, which is further detailed below.  I had a few dividends roll in, nothing spectacular, but man I love seeing them pop up in the account.  Lastly, I had some passive income coming in from my rental property.   Overall, not too shabby!  While I'd love to throw a few thousand in weekly, it's not practical for me, so I'll keep at it one buck at a time.  

Purchases:

Special Agent Dividend's Dividend Growth Portfolio

The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $30

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $20

Target Corp. (TGT) $20

The Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $10

Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) $60

ConocoPhillips (COP) $25 and $60

Proctor & Gamble Company (PG) $55

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) $48.81

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) $40.25

Total invested $369.06

Retirement Account

Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) 401k Employee Plan

C Fund - $298 invested 

S Fund - $105 invested

I Fund - $95 invested 

Total invested $498

Dividends:

Kinder Morgan (KMI) $5.75 reinvested for .39 shares

Proctor & Gamble (PG) $8.03 for reinvested for .098651 shares

Realty Income (O)  $1.99

Total dividends received $15.77

Other Passive Income: 

Rental Property:  I received $1300 in payment for my rental house, which netted approximately $300 after mortgage payment and management expenses.  

Summary: 

Overall, in the past two weeks, I put $867.06 in fresh new capital to work with my investments.   

I had some passive income rolling in thanks to dividends and my rental property, which is what this journey is all about.   I'll be following up this post with my monthly activity, so be looking for that in the next day or so.  Thanks for stopping by and for the support!   

Monthly Activity - September Investments and Dividends

Hi everyone,

This post is detailing my investment, dividend, and passive income activity for the month of September.  During the month, I invested a total of $2489.20 in fresh capital in my retirement account and dividend growth portfolio, less dividend reinvestment plans.  I received a HUGE $4.87 in dividends, along with $50.00 in credit card rewards and $9.15 in monthly dividends from my bank account.  In addition, I received a positive cash flow of $325 in my investment property.   Here is the breakdown of the activity:

Dividends Received:

I received a grand total of $4.87 in dividends from my investments this month.  Not much by any means, but I can’t wait to look back on this month next year to see the year over year change.  Here is the breakdown:

MCD 1.09

TGT 1.99

WMT .30

INTC .13

LMT .91

XOM .45

Buys:

Most of my investments went to my retirement investment account for the month, along with purchases made in my Loyal3 account, direct investments and my main brokerage.  Overall, I used $2489.20 to put to work in my investments.  I have a goal of contributing at least $1500.00 to investments each month, so I bypassed that goal by a good margin.  Here is the breakdown of my investments:

Retirement Investment Account, Thrift Savings Plan ( TSP ).  I contributed $1240 in my TSP account, which was spread out in the following indexes:

1.  C Fund, Common Stock Index, 60% Allocation

2.  S Fund, Small Cap Index, 20% Allocation

3.  I Fund, International Stock Index, 20% Allocation

Loyal3

I really slacked in my Loyal3 account for the month, as I only contributed $110 overall.  I invested the following:

TGT 20.00

MCD 10.00

WMT 20.00

DIS 25.00

KO 35.00

Brokerage and Direct

My other investments for the month totaled $1139.20.  These were broken down into my monthly contributions to several companies and an addition to my holding in Apple.  Here are the purchases:

-          ConocoPhillips (COP):  55.00 in new capital invested for 0.6794 shares

-          Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM):   65.00 invested for 0.658294 shares

-          Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ):  60.00 invested for 1.212121

-          Lockheed Martin Corporation ( LMT ):  Invested $66.00 at a purchase price of $179.06 for .368585 shares.

-          -          Apple ( AAPL ):  I purchased 9 shares for a cost of 98.25 for a total amount of 893.20.  

Investment Property:

No change in my investment property for the month, as I have a current tenant leased until early 2015.  Here is the breakdown:

Loan payment - $845

Rent income - $1300 minus management fees of $130 = $1170

Positive cash flow = $325 monthly

Other:

My other forms of passive income for the month of September included my monthly credit card rewards and my monthly dividend through my bank.  During the month, I received $50.00 in credit card rewards, as I use a rewards card as much as possible to leverage rewards.  In addition, I received $9.15 in a monthly dividend from my bank from my cash balance.  This added $59.15 to my overall passive income for the month. 

Summary:

Overall, I received $389.02 in passive income, which includes my dividends, rewards and investment property.  I invested $2489.20 in fresh capital to my retirement investment and dividend growth accounts.   Not a huge month, but a steady month of investments that I hope will pay off in the long run.  Slow and steady wins the race!! Thanks everyone for checking out the blog and commenting, as I really appreciate it.  

Dividend Reinvestment

To piggy back my earlier post of the review of Loyal3, I wanted to point out another good feature.  I started investing in Loyal3 in July with small amounts towards a few companies that I wanted to grow nice positions with.  As I detailed in one posting, I received dividends deposited into my Loyal3 account from three companies so far, which are Intel, Wal-Mart and Target.  These dividends were nominal to say the least, as they totaled a whopping $2.42.  As a new investor, I want to put my money to work for me as quickly as possible to build my positions.  Luckily, Loyal3 allows me to purchase stocks for as little as $10 bucks and I can distribute those dividends to any stock I choose.  In this case, I decided to add $7.58 principal to the $2.42 in my available funds from the dividends to purchase $10.00 in WMT.  That $10.00 purchased me 0.1319 shares of WMT; not much but it's something.  

This purchase will be in addition to my other purchases I planned for the week, which I will detail in a separate posting.  I’m hoping that snowball keeps growing with small purchases like these!  

Recent Buys and Mindblowing Dividend Income

Hello fellow bloggers,

I just wanted to make a quick post to detail my recent purchases and document my dividends received thus far this month.

I've had three automatic purchases so far this month, which I will continue to invest in until I have a solid base.  They are as follows:

ConocoPhillips (COP):  55.00 in new capital invested for 0.6794 shares
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM):   65.00 invested for 0.658294 shares
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ):  60.00 invested for 1.20603

I added to my position of Apple (AAPL), as I purchased 9 shares for a cost of 98.25 for a total amount of 893.20.  Although AAPL is trading at highs, I believe it will be a company that will reward me for years to come.

.....Now to the dividends lol

I received a whopping $0.13 from INTC.  WMT paid out $0.30.  TGT was kind enough to give me $1.99.  Lastly, XOM reinvested $0.45 for me.   In total, I've received $2.87 so far this month. The good news is that I'm hoping this will be the lowest amount I will ever receive in monthly dividends, as the snowball grows.  LMT and MCD are my other two dividends I will receive this month.

I have several other purchases scheduled that I will detail when complete.  Thanks for stopping by!!