Boom, one more month down! Already got May off to a great start with two new additions to my portfolio. And now that April is officially over, it’s time to take a snapshot of my financial life. Here’s the state of my finances – 04/2015.
Net Worth
- Taxable portfolios (includes cash in money market accounts): $68,366.50
- Tax-deferred portfolios (my IRA; includes cash in money market accounts): $41,448.14
- 401(k) (includes employer match): $23,763.37
- Hard assets/commodities: $2,968.00
- Listed at purchase price, not appraised value
- Cash and cash equivalents: $6,879.49
- Debt: – $0.00
Total Net Worth: $143,425.50
This is a 3.78% increase from the last time I calculated my net worth, which was $138,201.11 at the end of March 2015.
Income/Expenses
- Rent: $975.00
- Bills: $693.80
- Car maintenance: $0.00
- Gas: $33.50
- Groceries: $242.14
- Medical expenses: $22.95
- Discretionary expenses: $1,345.21
- Plane to girlfriend: $543.80
- Food: $72.57
- Gems: $368.95
- Everything else: $99.69
I saved 35.86% of my income this month.
Dividend Income:
- 04/01/2015, BAX – $22.15
- 04/01/2015, KO – $40.79
- 04/02/2015, KMB – $47.36
- 04/10/2015, PM – $102.39
- 04/15/2015, CRC – $0.33
- 04/15/2015, OXY – $61.74
- 04/152015, O – $23.86
- 04/23/2015, TROW – $40.00
- 04/27/2015, GE – $51.47
- 04/30/2015, JPM – $29.60
This month, I earned $419.69 in dividend income. My yearly total of dividend income is now $1,170.99.
Thoughts:
For net worth: Not bad! Increases in net worth are always nice to see. Because I’m an asshole and can never be happy with “good enough”, I’ll say the one thing I’m unhappy with is my inability to keep a liquid cash balance at the level I need. I always put at least $500 a month into my savings account, but that usually gets drained by random bills and debts. In fairness to me, this (and next month) are outliers, and hella expensive due to my my girlfriend getting ready to move in with me. So I’m not beating myself up that hard. Rather, I’m glad I noticed it’s an issue before I had another *ahem* incident like last year’s tax burden.
For income/expenses: Can’t say I’m thrilled. I expected my bill from my accountant, but it didn’t dawn on me to budget for it. So that came as a bit of a shock. I also bought some platinum crystals on a semi-drunken whim. I don’t regret the purchase, especially since non-refined platinum is extremely rare, and I got a good deal for two geologically-significant specimens. It’s more of a “you asshole, why did you do that” moment for me. No big deal at the end of the day. Beyond that, most of the discretionary stuff are one-tie purchases that my girlfriend and I will need once she’s here. A dresser, some hangers, storage containers, blah blah blah. Thankfully I budgeted for that. This month (May) will be much worse for savings, since I have a major car repair, a minor road trip with her, graduation gifts, and other sundries. But whatever, when we hit June, we should be back to normal.
For dividend income: It’s funny. Every time I see a check come in, I get a bit discouraged. $5 here, $10 there. Doesn’t really look like much when taken individually, you know? But when you add it up like this and get some monthly numbers … damn, guys, it turns into something. Seriously. For the first third of the year, my average monthly dividend income was $292.75. That completely covers my grocery bill. Think about it. I will never have to worry about going hungry because my dividend income will cover my grocery bill forever. Not only that, but I can easily treat myself and my girlfriend to takeout or the occasional sit-down restaurant.
Guys, I’m sitting here typing this, and I’m not kidding when I say I’m in legit shock. I’ve never actually thought about the real world impact of my dividends like that. Just kind of assumed that they were tools to buy more stock. Never actually flipped the switch in my mind and applied that money to the real world.
I feel … vindicated. All those times I chose investing over vacations, or savings over partying, or just said no to buying gems or video games or artwork or whatever the fuck else I’ve been into, it finally is starting to mean something. That frugality and self-denial, all those people who doubted in me or my path. All those people who judged my choices (of which there are many) can go fuck themselves, because it’s working. I will never go hungry. Just fucking think about that, let it sink in. No matter what happens, I will never need to worry about paying for my next meal. Amazing feeling.
Well, this definitely gives me hope, and tells me that I’m on the right path. Next stop is paying for all my major bills, including my accountant and various insurances. That’s about $350 a month, and I’m not that far off. We got this!
How’d April go for you?
Disclosure: Long all listed above. My Financial Stats archive page has been updated accordingly. Image source is available here.
17 Comments
Looks like you are doing very well. Also, congrats on being debt free! I’m almost there but daycare / child expenses are killing me. Nice dividend income too…
You are definitely on the right path and I’m glad I just started following you on that path. Best wishes.
Ken
Dividend Empire recently posted…Dividend Reinvestment Accounting Practices
Hey Ken, thanks for stopping by! I’ve definitely been lucky and fortunate in the opportunities I’ve had. I’d like to think I’m still making the best of them. Hey, at least daycare and such are going to a great cause! The most important things in our lives are loved ones, making sure they’re happy and taken care of.
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Nice month DD! Great haul on your dividends this month.
My April was better than I had expected after being on vacation for half of the month.
Nick recently posted…April ’15 Income and Expenses
That’s the cool thing about dividends, isn’t it? No matter what you do with yourself during a given timeframe, they still roll in like clockwork. Thanks for stopping by, and glad your month went well as well!
You and your stupidly big net worth for your age. I’m so jelly! :p
In all seriousness, that’s some great progress as usual. I can’t even imagine where you’ll be by the time you turn, say, 30. Crazy to think about it!
Keep up the awesome work, you carnivorous-plant-collecting, dividend-investing, centipede-hating software engineer, you! 😉
Zero to Zeros recently posted…Dividend Income Recap: April 2015
Hah, thanks for stopping by, dude! Definitely hope I do as well as we think. Months like these few get discouraging, since I can’t invest as much as I’d like. But hey, that money I’ve already invested isn’t going anywhere, and still got that 401k. I’ll be okay
As you say, the $5 here and $10 there adds up to significant amounts pretty quickly. The same is true for expenses… sadly. That’s the thing I think most of us struggle with. Good job on getting a handle on your finances. You share much more than I’m willing to, but that in itself is a good lesson. Take care!
FerdiS recently posted…15 Dividend Increases, April 27-May 1, 2015
Thanks for stopping by! Yeah, that is the problem, but having an eye on it is important too. I do share a lot, but thankfully, very little of it is personally identifiable information. Just depends on your comfort level, I suppose. All the best.
You’ve mentioned on more than one occasion now that you’ve forgotten to budget for a particular expense. Why don’t you use http://www.YouNeedABudget.com (YNAB)? The software is simple to use, but what takes it from ordinary to excellent are the 4 rules behind it. Using the software will help you budget for everything you need to pay, including the things you forgot about. Every person I’ve convinced to try it loves it and wishes they had found it sooner. They have a 34 day full-featured trial so you can use it for a solid month. The software costs $60 one time after that, but many people have saved far beyond $60 in the first month just by using the software. I have a referral link available that will get your $6 off (so $54 for the license) and also give me $6 if you decide you want to buy it at some point.
Huh, probably should do something like that. I’ve heard good things about it. Haven’t used it for the sole reason that it’s not compatible with my OS. I do need to get better at staying on top of expenses, so I’ll keep an eye out for ones that I can use.
I’m going to assume you’re using a flavor of Linux if that’s the case. I know they are working on a web based interface, but I’m not sure when it will be released. What about some sort of emulator, WINE, or something to that effect? It’s written with the Adobe AIR platform from what I’ve gathered. YNAB is the best budgeting program available by a landslide. Oh by the way, don’t even think about saying Mint, Quicken, or others are budgeting programs lol – they aren’t. They track your expenses after the fact. YNAB is a proactive approach, which makes it a true budgeting program. It’s worth a little effort to find a way to make it work on your OS.
I’ll do some more research and keep you posted on it.
You are on a roll over here. Keep on trucking. Good luck going forward.
Keep cranking,
Robert the DividendDreamer
AKA — Seeking Dividends
Follow me on Twitter– Seeking Dividends@DividendDreamer
dividenddreamer recently posted…Dividend Income Update 1Q 2015
Thanks!
That’s a cool feeling to see all those little checks adding up! I love it too. I want more. I’m addicted to it already! I also like to see my online income coming in every month. It’s not a lot but it’s growing. Dividends are growing, online income is growing and one day all of this will cover my expenses and more. I don’t like to see time pass but I really wonder where this will lead me 5 years or 10 years from now. How will it change my life as new opportunities will be available to me.
Cheers
Allan recently posted…Rich man quote : John D Rockefeller
“I’m addicted to it already!” Haha, me too! It’s amazing to think where it will be in a decade or so.