Sunday, January 27, 2013

BUYING CLM INSTEAD OF MAIN

My big investment this coming week will be to add a position in Cornerstone Strategic Value Fund, Inc.  (CLM:AMEX).  This is strictly a dividend ploy, since I don't expect a great deal of share price movement over the next few years.  However, I do intend to make CLM one of my core holdings for my taxable investment account.  The 18% plus monthly dividend will add a great deal of cash flow to help rebuild my accounts and given what I've seen of their dividend history, I don't think it's an extremely risky proposition.  

As for choosing  CLM over MAIN, it was mostly do to the greater yield from CLM.  At the current dividend yield, it would only take 4 years to recoup all my original investment from CLM.  Although there might be a chance of more capital gains from MAIN, it would take much longer to collect my original investment back in dividends.  Since I think it's more important for me to increase cash flow at this point, I'm going with higher yields over possible capital gains.  A "bird in hand" approach, you might say.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

$92 IN P & G COUPONS IN JANUARY 27 NEWSPAPER!

Just a heads up for couponers, the January 27th Sunday paper looks to be a great one for coupons.  Proctor and Gamble's insert alone has $92 in coupons.  Plus, it looks like there are some fantastic coupons from Redplum (2 inserts) and Smartsource (1 insert).  I'll probably pick up an extra paper or two this week to stock up on coupons.  Great way to save on grocery and household items!

Monday, January 21, 2013

HAPPY MARTIN LUTHER KING/INAUGURATION DAY!

Hope everyone is having a great day, whether you're celebrating the memory of civil rights leader, Martin Luther King, or the inauguration of the President for his second term in office!  

I had to work today, but I'm thankful to still have a job.  However, we were told today, due to new rules under Obamacare, only those who are covered by company insurance (i.e. management) will be allowed to work over 30 hours a week.  So although I'm not unemployed, I now find myself underemployed.  My health does not allow me to work the excessive hours required of managers, so I guess I'll have to pick up more outside work or work harder at building my resale business.  Since the company I work for is a major corporation and one of the largest employers in the U.S., I'm guessing this will be a standard response to the new regulations kicking in under Obamacare.  That being the case, the states should be preparing themselves to be inundated with new applications for medicaid.  Cutting 10 or more hours of pay per week from people who can barely pay their rent and put food on the table will most likely reduce their incomes to the point they will qualify for medicaid assistance.  Not sure where the government will come up with the money for all this.  Perhaps they should have given the whole thing a little more thought???

Thursday, January 17, 2013

COUPON DAZE!

Took advantage of Schnuck's triple coupon special this week and picked up some great deals!  Saved almost $34 or close to 50% on my grocery shopping, so I'm stocked up for the rest of the month.  I am going to go to Gerbes and pick up some of my favorite canned chili.  They have it on sale 10 for $10 and I printed off coupons from Sendearnings which, when doubled up to $1, will give me a dollar off 2, making them 50 cents each!  The more I save on groceries, the more I have to add to my investment plan.  In addition to the savings, I'm close to getting another check from Sendearnings for using their printable coupons, doing surveys and reading paid emails.  I plan on investing all my Sendearnings checks in dividend stocks, so in a way, the money I get for using coupons will eventually buy me enough investments to help pay for my groceries.

Tomorrow I'll be going to the bank to cash in my pocket change.  I never spend loose change.  Instead, at the end of each day, I empty the change from my pocket into a change jar.  Once the jar is full, I take it to the bank and deposit the money in savings.  This time around, I plan on transferring the money to my investment account and using it to purchase shares of a local bank.  Hawthorne Bank (HWBK) may not be the best investment as far as bank stocks go, however, since it is a local bank I know a great deal more about the bank than I would otherwise.  I think it is a sound long term investment.  Then too, what could be better than being able to say you bought shares in a bank with your pocket change?

Sunday, January 13, 2013

2013 INVESTMENT PLAN

Completed revisions to my investment plan for 2013!  I'm pretty excited about the whole thing.  I've come up with a simple plan to add positions in 4 dividend stocks to my IRA account and at least 3 new stocks in my taxable account.  I've created a dividend calender to track payments and keep cash flow coming in on a fairly equal level each month.  By the time I complete all 7 stock purchases this year I will have a total of 64 dividend payments per year or 5.3 payments per month.  So the payment schedule will roughly mimic regular paychecks from a job.  

I've targeted mainly blue chip stocks, with a couple of riskier high yield stocks with good prospects.  The idea is to purchase positions in stocks I want to hold for the long haul, then concentrate on building positions through further cash investments and reinvesting dividends.  The ultimate goal is to rebuild my portfolio to provide substantial income both now and in retirement.  I think my current plan has managed to cover all the bases and I'm really excited to see how it all works out.  

As for the stocks I'll be investing in, I'll write more about those as I add them to my portfolio.  Tuesday I'll be purchasing shares in RRD:NASDAQ.  With a recent price of $8.87 and a dividend of $1.04, that works out to around an 11.72% yield.  This is one of the riskier stocks I plan to invest in and may not be for everyone, but I'm willing to take the risk from what I've seen during my research.  I'd strongly advise anyone to do their own research before adding this stock to their own portfolio.  That being said, if all goes well with this investment, it will go a long way towards raising the average payout from my dividend portfolio.  

Friday, January 11, 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We survived December 21st, 2012 and avoided (even if temporarily) falling off the "fiscal cliff," so we're off to a new start in 2013.  I've finished revising my investment plan for the new year.  I'll be concentrating on rebuilding my investment portfolio as rapidly as possible.  I was nearly wiped out in 2012 by medical costs related to another heart attack and heart surgery.  I'm back at work now and am happy to report my investment account is already churning out 28 dividend payments per year or 2.33 payments per month.  I'm re-investing all dividends in IRA account and taking cash payments in my taxable account, unless I'm building on a position, in which case the payments are re-invested.

My plan is simple and straight forward:  I add to my investments every payday.  Re-invest all dividends in my IRA account.  Take cash dividend payments in my taxable account to help build investment capital for new stock purchases.  Any unexpected windfalls, tax refunds, etc., will be added to my savings and investments.    One of my best tips for painlessly adding to savings, never spend change.  I empty all the change from my pocket at the end of each day into a jar and when it's full, I take it to my bank and have them run it through the change counter and add it to my savings account.  I promise you, you will be amazed how much money this can add up to.