Thursday, August 28, 2014

END OF MONTH, BIG 3 DIVIDENDS!

I'm down to the final 3 dividend payments for the month of August, each paying on the last day of the month, labor day.  Not planning much for Labor day weekend, I'll be working my regular schedule Sunday and Monday.   It's nice to know I can expect a big payment at the end of each month, since all three are monthly dividend payers (CRF, CLM, AOD).  But what's even better, the very next day on the first of each month I collect all the beginning of the month dividends.  So I get two big payments back to back each month.  Didn't really plan it that way, but it's nice how it worked out.  When I start taking payments instead of reinvesting all dividends, it will work out well for bill paying.

It's been a busy month.  Had some luck, winning a Bose wave radio in a lottery second chance drawing.  Picked up a little extra cash doing some odd jobs on the side and am planning on putting some items up for sale at my sister's next yard sale the first week of September.  Also managed to pick up a few extra hours at work, so the money situation is improving.

Celebrated paying off another medical bill.  Made my final payment to ER Physicians this week.  One more down, 5 more to go.  Also cancelled one of my credit cards.  It was the only one that still charged me an annual fee and I don't really have any need for so many cards, so I cancelled it and saved myself the $100.

I'm liking my phone service with Virgin Mobile, been doing a lot more texting since it's included in my package.  Just had one problem with items being billed to my account which I did not purchase.  A couple of game charges from Gamestop for $6.99 each, but Virgin Mobile took care of it and reversed the charges when I called customer service.  So it was no big deal.  I'm loving getting my phone service for half of what I was paying AT&T.  Big fan of AT&T, also a shareholder, but if they don't offer the best deal, have to move my service to another provider.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

160 EXTRA PAYDAYS PER YEAR!

The month of August kicked off with 5 dividend payments in
the first few days of the month.  I like to think of dividend
payments as “extra paydays” only I don’t have to do any extra
work to get paid.  Once the money is invested in shares of stock
or dividend paying funds, the paydays just keep coming.  So
far I’m up to 160 days per year, or a payday every 2.28 days.
If you add in the 24 paydays I get from my job that brings my
total paydays to 184 per year, or a payday every 1.98 days.
Think about that for a minute.  How long would it take to
accumulate a good deal of money when you get paid every 2
days?  Of course the answer would depend on what you do
with the money when you get paid.  For now I’m reinvesting
100% of the “paydays” from my investment account and I
continue to add additional cash to build my portfolio as rapidly
as possible.  Honestly it’s been very tough for me the past few
years.  I’ve lost a great deal of my life savings due to medical
bills from my heart attacks and heart surgery, haven’t been
able to find a good job and the job I have has cut hours to
avoid paying for Obamacare insurance.  So I’ve had to adjust
my standard of living and look for ways to pay the bills and
make ends meet.  Some months I’m barely able to keep my
head above water, but I don’t give up.  I’ve been given a second
chance and I’ve come a long way.  Still have some medical bills
to pay and there is never any money for luxury items.  Some
weeks I have only $10 to buy food for the week, but I can see
the light at the end of the tunnel and I know that frugality and
perseverance will win out in the end.

The “paydays” get bigger each month and the bills get smaller
and that’s the way to dig yourself out of a financial hole.  Just
have to stay the course and everything will work out fine.