QUARTERLY REVIEW

When I was putting my current investment plan together, I set
up three spreadsheets to track progress.  One spreadsheet
tracks monthly cash flow from dividends.  The second one is a
calender to track total number of dividend payments per
month.  The third spreadsheet tracks increases in total number
of shares held in each stock.  On this third spreadsheet I added
a final column for current share price.  Of course it was one of
those things where you start out with the best of intentions, but
alas I put in the current price about 6 months ago and never
updated until March 1st of this year.  It was quite an eye
opener.  I discovered that some of the issues that I’d avoided
adding additional cash purchases to, turned out to be some of
the best price gainers over the past 6 months.

Ever the one to learn from mistakes, I’ve decided to use this
knowledge to advantage by updating prices on a quarterly
basis and using the information to help decide where further
cash purchases will be made.  Of course I’m purchasing new
shares in each issue through reinvested dividends on a regular
basis, but the cash purchases provide the real boost to monthly
cash flows.  I figure it’s better to make additional purchases of
shares that have increased in value rather than increasing
holdings that have gone down in price.

With that in mind, I’ve put in an order for March 4th to
purchase additional shares in NCV, one of my monthly
dividend payers.  This purchase will nearly double my stake in
NCV and boost monthly cash flow by about 10%.  At the end
of June, I’ll repeat the process, investing in a holding with
rising share prices and purchasing enough shares to boost
income by at least an additional 10%.