Dividend cash flow for the first month of the 3rd quarter are up over 75% over the first month of the second quarter! This is thanks in large part to continued monthly cash investments and re-invested dividends. The third quarter looks like it's going to be a good one, but I'm expecting big things in the fourth quarter as far as dividends are concerned. There seems to be some concern about a "Santa Clause correction" in the market around December of this year, which may or may not happen. If there is a correction, I plan on viewing it as a buying opportunity and a chance to add to my positions while prices are low.
Just got the results of my latest cholesterol test and they're looking good. The diet and exercise along with the weight loss are starting to pay off with improved numbers. I think this may be the first time my LDL cholesterol was below 100. My cardiologist should be pleased.
Looking in to ways to cut my monthly expenses to build up cash for purchasing a place to live. I'm very determined to accomplish this goal before the end of 2013. Want to be in my own place by December, which really doesn't leave me much time, but I think it can be done.
Had a great conversation with a young guy at work about investing and some of the different strategies I've used over the years to make money in the stock market. It made me think of some things I should be doing now to help raise money for buying a house. So I'll be putting some of these ideas into play in the coming months and will write more about it then.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Thursday, July 25, 2013
117 DIVIDENDS PER YEAR!
Nothing makes me happier than seeing the
dividend payments roll in to my accounts each
month! With the purchase of shares in Wells
Fargo (WFC) I have more to be happy about.
Adding WFC’s 4 quarterly dividend payments
brings the total number of payments I’ll collect to
117 per year! I’ll be adding 4 payments each
month for the next 3 months with the purchase of
shares in Intel (INTC), AT&T (T), and Coca Cola
(KO) respectively. Haven’t made a final decision
on the last stock to make up my 20 stock/fund
portfolio. I’m trying to decide between one of my
favorite blue chips or another monthly dividend
stock. I’ve got 3 months to decide, but I’m
leaning toward a big blue chip stock, most likely
one of the Dividend Aristocrats.
The final purchase for my 20 stock portfolio will
be in November. Then I’ll concentrate on
building positions in each holding, increasing
monthly cash flow as rapidly as possible. I’m
especially looking forward to the month of
December. Not only will I collect 15 dividends for
the month, but I’ll also collect capital gains
payments from at least 6 funds. It’s looking like it
could be a very Merry Christmas for 2013!
dividend payments roll in to my accounts each
month! With the purchase of shares in Wells
Fargo (WFC) I have more to be happy about.
Adding WFC’s 4 quarterly dividend payments
brings the total number of payments I’ll collect to
117 per year! I’ll be adding 4 payments each
month for the next 3 months with the purchase of
shares in Intel (INTC), AT&T (T), and Coca Cola
(KO) respectively. Haven’t made a final decision
on the last stock to make up my 20 stock/fund
portfolio. I’m trying to decide between one of my
favorite blue chips or another monthly dividend
stock. I’ve got 3 months to decide, but I’m
leaning toward a big blue chip stock, most likely
one of the Dividend Aristocrats.
The final purchase for my 20 stock portfolio will
be in November. Then I’ll concentrate on
building positions in each holding, increasing
monthly cash flow as rapidly as possible. I’m
especially looking forward to the month of
December. Not only will I collect 15 dividends for
the month, but I’ll also collect capital gains
payments from at least 6 funds. It’s looking like it
could be a very Merry Christmas for 2013!
IMPROVE YOUR LIFE AND FINANCES EVERY DAY!
Improving your life and finances every day, what do I
mean by this? Exactly what it says. While I’ve been
working to rebuild my investment portfolio after
catastrophic medical expenses related to my heart
attack, it has occurred to me that the same method can
be applied to other aspects of my life as well. In fact,
I’ve already applied the same principles to addressing
my health issues without realizing it until just recently.
To rebuild my portfolio I came up with a plan of to set
into motion small changes that would improve my
finances at an ever increasing rate. In the case of my
investments it involved purchasing positions in a set
number of dividend paying stocks and funds,
re-investing all dividends and making small monthly
cash contributions for an ever increasing monthly cash
flow. Dividends from my investment portfolio have
been increasing at a rapid rate and should continue to
do so, barring any major drawback with the economy.
The end result is that income from my portfolio is
improving with each passing day.
The same thing has happened with my diet and exercise
program. I came up with a plan to lose weight by doing
simple exercises 5 days per week to improve
cardiovascular health and increase lean muscle mass. I
also made up a diet plan of healthy foods I already like,
so it was easy to stick with the diet. No deprivation,
since I’m eating foods I love and really eating more
than I was before. The difference is lower fat, lower
carbs and less cholesterol, while increasing non-meat
protein intakes and eating more fiber rich foods. It was
simply a matter of identifying foods I like to eat and are
healthy for me, as well and incorporating these in my
daily diet to replace the bad food I was eating. The
results so far? I’ve increased lean muscle mass,
reduced my waist size by 6 inches and lost a total of 59
pounds! So a few simple changes have put me on the
path of improving my health just a little bit every day.
Basically it boils down to setting a goal, devising a plan
involving simple daily changes to your lifestyle to help
you achieve your goal and sticking to the plan. It’s
really a matter of improving by degrees. Instead of
shooting for a large target, you seek to accomplish small
successes on a daily basis, creating a cumulative effect
on improving your life every day.
Since I was turned down for a conventional loan to buy
a home (my income was too low due to recent hour cuts
related to Obama care), I’m going to apply the same
principles toward buying a home. I’ve figured out how
to do it and implemented my plan. I’ll keep readers
posted on how it turns out.
mean by this? Exactly what it says. While I’ve been
working to rebuild my investment portfolio after
catastrophic medical expenses related to my heart
attack, it has occurred to me that the same method can
be applied to other aspects of my life as well. In fact,
I’ve already applied the same principles to addressing
my health issues without realizing it until just recently.
To rebuild my portfolio I came up with a plan of to set
into motion small changes that would improve my
finances at an ever increasing rate. In the case of my
investments it involved purchasing positions in a set
number of dividend paying stocks and funds,
re-investing all dividends and making small monthly
cash contributions for an ever increasing monthly cash
flow. Dividends from my investment portfolio have
been increasing at a rapid rate and should continue to
do so, barring any major drawback with the economy.
The end result is that income from my portfolio is
improving with each passing day.
The same thing has happened with my diet and exercise
program. I came up with a plan to lose weight by doing
simple exercises 5 days per week to improve
cardiovascular health and increase lean muscle mass. I
also made up a diet plan of healthy foods I already like,
so it was easy to stick with the diet. No deprivation,
since I’m eating foods I love and really eating more
than I was before. The difference is lower fat, lower
carbs and less cholesterol, while increasing non-meat
protein intakes and eating more fiber rich foods. It was
simply a matter of identifying foods I like to eat and are
healthy for me, as well and incorporating these in my
daily diet to replace the bad food I was eating. The
results so far? I’ve increased lean muscle mass,
reduced my waist size by 6 inches and lost a total of 59
pounds! So a few simple changes have put me on the
path of improving my health just a little bit every day.
Basically it boils down to setting a goal, devising a plan
involving simple daily changes to your lifestyle to help
you achieve your goal and sticking to the plan. It’s
really a matter of improving by degrees. Instead of
shooting for a large target, you seek to accomplish small
successes on a daily basis, creating a cumulative effect
on improving your life every day.
Since I was turned down for a conventional loan to buy
a home (my income was too low due to recent hour cuts
related to Obama care), I’m going to apply the same
principles toward buying a home. I’ve figured out how
to do it and implemented my plan. I’ll keep readers
posted on how it turns out.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
PERSONAL HEALTH CARE PLAN
Last year I wrote about being proactive in personal health care as a way of saving on expenses. To that end, I put into practice some of the suggestions as far as changing my diet, losing weight, stopping smoking and starting a regular exercise program.
I'm happy to report I've been able to stick with the program quite easily. To date I've lost a total of 58 lbs. and have gone from a 42 inch waist to a 36. I'm down to an extra large shirt from a size 3 X and I'm feeling great. I exercise at least 30 minutes a day five days a week and take the weekends off. As for my diet, I've cut red meat down to 2 or 3 servings per month and have switched to a high protein, low carb, low fat diet. I actually eat more than I did before, but the weight keeps dropping, usually 2-3 lbs. per week. I started at 265 lbs and have a goal weight of 190. I only have to lose 17 more pounds and I'll be at my goal weight, then it will be a matter of maintaining the weight, which shouldn't be too hard since I've changed my habits to include the increased activity and improved nutrition.
How much will I save by doing all this? I have no real way of knowing. However, each trip to the hospital for my last two heart attacks cost over $47,000. If I avoid another heart attack, then the savings would amount to at least $50,000. Not bad for doing something that makes you feel better and feel better about yourself.
Perhaps instead of creating the nightmare called "Obamacare", it would have been more rewarding and much less expensive for the politicians to have come up with a plan to incentivize healthier lifestyles. But that would make sense, so it's probably not likely to happen.
I'm happy to report I've been able to stick with the program quite easily. To date I've lost a total of 58 lbs. and have gone from a 42 inch waist to a 36. I'm down to an extra large shirt from a size 3 X and I'm feeling great. I exercise at least 30 minutes a day five days a week and take the weekends off. As for my diet, I've cut red meat down to 2 or 3 servings per month and have switched to a high protein, low carb, low fat diet. I actually eat more than I did before, but the weight keeps dropping, usually 2-3 lbs. per week. I started at 265 lbs and have a goal weight of 190. I only have to lose 17 more pounds and I'll be at my goal weight, then it will be a matter of maintaining the weight, which shouldn't be too hard since I've changed my habits to include the increased activity and improved nutrition.
How much will I save by doing all this? I have no real way of knowing. However, each trip to the hospital for my last two heart attacks cost over $47,000. If I avoid another heart attack, then the savings would amount to at least $50,000. Not bad for doing something that makes you feel better and feel better about yourself.
Perhaps instead of creating the nightmare called "Obamacare", it would have been more rewarding and much less expensive for the politicians to have come up with a plan to incentivize healthier lifestyles. But that would make sense, so it's probably not likely to happen.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
PAY YOURSELF FIRST
Do you really want to get ahead? Do you want to be
well off or even rich one day? You just need to do this
one simple thing and you can make it happen. What
one thing am I talking about? Pay Yourself First!
You’d have to have lived your life under a rock to not
have heard of this before. Most people know you’re
supposed to pay yourself first, but not many people
really practice it.
It’s how I’ve been able to make great strides in
rebuilding my investments, while making half the
money I did before. How do you really “Pay Yourself
First”? You do it by taking your money off the top
before you pay anything else. I do not have a strict
budget, even though most financial “experts” would say
that’s exactly what I need since I live on such a small
income. However, I know that most people, myself
included, do not stick to budgets, so I work around it. I
pay myself first by automatically transferring money to
my investment accounts every payday and living on
what’s left. It really is that simple. If you don’t have
the money in your account, you will find a way to live
without it. So if you truly pay yourself first, you don’t
have to budget to have money left over for savings.
Your savings come off the top.
As time goes by, and you figure out how to live without
the money you transfer automatically to you
investments, you’ll also find ways to increase the
amount you set aside. So if you’re tired of working
hard and never having anything to show for it, try this
one simple idea. You’ll be glad you did.
well off or even rich one day? You just need to do this
one simple thing and you can make it happen. What
one thing am I talking about? Pay Yourself First!
You’d have to have lived your life under a rock to not
have heard of this before. Most people know you’re
supposed to pay yourself first, but not many people
really practice it.
It’s how I’ve been able to make great strides in
rebuilding my investments, while making half the
money I did before. How do you really “Pay Yourself
First”? You do it by taking your money off the top
before you pay anything else. I do not have a strict
budget, even though most financial “experts” would say
that’s exactly what I need since I live on such a small
income. However, I know that most people, myself
included, do not stick to budgets, so I work around it. I
pay myself first by automatically transferring money to
my investment accounts every payday and living on
what’s left. It really is that simple. If you don’t have
the money in your account, you will find a way to live
without it. So if you truly pay yourself first, you don’t
have to budget to have money left over for savings.
Your savings come off the top.
As time goes by, and you figure out how to live without
the money you transfer automatically to you
investments, you’ll also find ways to increase the
amount you set aside. So if you’re tired of working
hard and never having anything to show for it, try this
one simple idea. You’ll be glad you did.
Friday, July 5, 2013
OBAMA CARE POSTPONED UNTIL 2015
It's been all over the news this week, Obama Care, or at least part of it, has been pushed back until 2015. Apparently the Democrats were concerned layoffs and hour cuts implemented by employers to avoid prohibitive costs associated with compliance to the health care act would cost them votes in the upcoming elections. DO YOU THINK???
I for one have not benefited in the least from the passage of this law. To be honest, it has cost me dearly. Even though I had cut back on hours worked for health reasons, my employers have cut my hours even more to avoid extra costs associated with the new health care laws. So, not only do I still not have health insurance, I'm finding it hard to pay my regular monthly expenses.
I fully intend to express my displeasure in the next elections by voting against all Democrats running for office.
I for one have not benefited in the least from the passage of this law. To be honest, it has cost me dearly. Even though I had cut back on hours worked for health reasons, my employers have cut my hours even more to avoid extra costs associated with the new health care laws. So, not only do I still not have health insurance, I'm finding it hard to pay my regular monthly expenses.
I fully intend to express my displeasure in the next elections by voting against all Democrats running for office.
10 PAYDAYS PER MONTH!
How would you like to get paid 10 times or more
per month? Sound good? It’s easy enough to do.
I’m already getting paid more than 10 times a
month from my dividend investment portfolio.
Am I rich? No. Very well off? No. But I’m
headed in the right direction.
Before I had my first heart attack I had gotten to
the point where I no longer worried about money.
No matter what happened, I knew I had the
money to cover any cash shortfalls and cash flow
was going up every month. Then I ended up in
the hospital with a heart attack and have had to
go back again, having stints put in both times. So
I was pretty close to being wiped out financially.
But like I’ve said before, when you’ve learned
how to save money and put it to work, it’s a
simple matter to do it agein. Like I said, I’m
headed in the right direction with cash flow
increasing every single month. My main goal now
is to work on finding a better job. While the
economy is still in the dumps, it has gotten better
and the job market has improved. The survival
type job I’ve been working is O.K., but with a
little better job I’ll be able to ramp up investments
and rebuild my portfolio at a rapid pace.
So if you like the idea of getting paid 10 times a
month, save up some cash and buy a few dividend
stocks. While the payments may not be much to
begin with, if you re-invest dividends and add to
you’re investments whenever you can, you’ll be
amazed how fast monthly cash flow goes up.
When you’re collecting and re-investing 10 or
more dividends per month, plus making
additional cash investments, the compounding
rate skyrockets. There is nothing more
motivating for me than to see my dividends go up
every single month. It doesn’t matter how much
they go up, when they’re increasing every month,
you can start out with small payments and before
you know it you’re collecting enough to pay your
bills. When you’ve reached that point, you’re
financially free.
per month? Sound good? It’s easy enough to do.
I’m already getting paid more than 10 times a
month from my dividend investment portfolio.
Am I rich? No. Very well off? No. But I’m
headed in the right direction.
Before I had my first heart attack I had gotten to
the point where I no longer worried about money.
No matter what happened, I knew I had the
money to cover any cash shortfalls and cash flow
was going up every month. Then I ended up in
the hospital with a heart attack and have had to
go back again, having stints put in both times. So
I was pretty close to being wiped out financially.
But like I’ve said before, when you’ve learned
how to save money and put it to work, it’s a
simple matter to do it agein. Like I said, I’m
headed in the right direction with cash flow
increasing every single month. My main goal now
is to work on finding a better job. While the
economy is still in the dumps, it has gotten better
and the job market has improved. The survival
type job I’ve been working is O.K., but with a
little better job I’ll be able to ramp up investments
and rebuild my portfolio at a rapid pace.
So if you like the idea of getting paid 10 times a
month, save up some cash and buy a few dividend
stocks. While the payments may not be much to
begin with, if you re-invest dividends and add to
you’re investments whenever you can, you’ll be
amazed how fast monthly cash flow goes up.
When you’re collecting and re-investing 10 or
more dividends per month, plus making
additional cash investments, the compounding
rate skyrockets. There is nothing more
motivating for me than to see my dividends go up
every single month. It doesn’t matter how much
they go up, when they’re increasing every month,
you can start out with small payments and before
you know it you’re collecting enough to pay your
bills. When you’ve reached that point, you’re
financially free.
HAPPY 4th of JULY!
Want to wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July
celebration! The month of July has started off with a
bang! Dividend income from my investments is already
more than double the first month of the first quarter of
2013. Comparing expected dividends from this quarter
to the first month of the second quarter, I don’t expect
to income to double over second quarter results.
However, by current estimates, dividend income for the
third quarter will be up over 60% when comparing
July to the month of April.
Got a surprise dividend from HWBK. I wasn’t
expecting a dividend from them at all in the month of
July. Not only did I recieve a cash dividend, but they
also paid a much larger stock dividend, so it was a very
pleasant surprise for me! Thanks HWBK!
Got a little surprise by CRF as well. CRF pays a
generous monthly dividend, but I didn’t expect any
dividends from them until this month. As it turned out,
they paid a dividend to my account on June 28th, so got
a little more than I was expecting for the month of June.
The investment plan I started at the beginning of 2013
seems to be working out better than any strategy I’ve
used in the past. It’s simple, relatively stable and easy
to keep up with. I think I’ll be sticking with what
works, don’t expect to make many changes anytime
soon.
celebration! The month of July has started off with a
bang! Dividend income from my investments is already
more than double the first month of the first quarter of
2013. Comparing expected dividends from this quarter
to the first month of the second quarter, I don’t expect
to income to double over second quarter results.
However, by current estimates, dividend income for the
third quarter will be up over 60% when comparing
July to the month of April.
Got a surprise dividend from HWBK. I wasn’t
expecting a dividend from them at all in the month of
July. Not only did I recieve a cash dividend, but they
also paid a much larger stock dividend, so it was a very
pleasant surprise for me! Thanks HWBK!
Got a little surprise by CRF as well. CRF pays a
generous monthly dividend, but I didn’t expect any
dividends from them until this month. As it turned out,
they paid a dividend to my account on June 28th, so got
a little more than I was expecting for the month of June.
The investment plan I started at the beginning of 2013
seems to be working out better than any strategy I’ve
used in the past. It’s simple, relatively stable and easy
to keep up with. I think I’ll be sticking with what
works, don’t expect to make many changes anytime
soon.
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