Monthly Review: September 2012

Here is a review of what happened in September:

Dividends: I received a total of $134.48 in dividends from the following stocks:

• ADM: $10.50
• BDX: $11.25
• CVX: $18.00
• JNJ: $21.35
• MCD: $35.00
• NSC: $25.00
• UTX: $13.38

This was a pretty good month for dividends. I now have a year-to-date total of $1,149.67, which puts me 88.4% of the way toward my goal of receiving $1,300 in dividends for 2012. I am on track to achieve my dividend goal in November.

Dividend Increases: I was pleased to see dividend increases announced for two of my stocks (click on each stock to see my post about the increase):

• PM: 10.4% increase, $16.00 more in annual dividend income
• MCD: 10.0%, $14.00

These are my two largest dividend payers, so I am happy to get double-digit percent increases. Thus far this year, there have been dividend increases for 20 of the 23 dividend growth stocks in my portfolio. I expect increases for the remaining three stocks (ADM, BDX, and UNP) to be announced in November.

Savings: This month I saved $1,668 (56.1%) of my net income, which results in year-to-date savings of $12,648. I achieved my goal of $12,000 in savings for 2012! When I set the goal at the start of the year, I did not have a reliable estimate of how much I could save each month. It feels great to know that I was able to save more than I anticipated. I am curious to see how much my total savings will be at the end of the year.

Transactions: I bought two stocks this month (click on the transactions to see my posts about them):

• 20 shares of NSC
• 65 shares of INTC

As discussed in my posts, I consider these to be good purchases from a valuation standpoint. The first purchase increases my position in NSC, making the railroad stock the third-largest position in my portfolio. The second purchase is my first new position in several months and I think a high-quality technology stock such as INTC adds some nice diversification to my portfolio. These purchases will increase my annual dividend income by $98.52. I did not sell any stocks for the 9th consecutive month.

Portfolio: My portfolio currently consists of 23 stocks and has a market value of $60,437.16 (including cash), which is a 2.4% increase over last month's value. About 72% of the increase came from new capital and the rest was due to capital gains and dividends.

Seeking Alpha: I published one new article on the investing website Seeking Alpha (click on the title to go to the article):

• Appreciating The Small Steps Of Dividend Growth Investing

Curiously, this turned out to be my least popular article in terms of page views, even though it seemed to get a good reception in the comment section. Oh well! In September I earned a total of $44.37 from this article and additional page views of my previous articles. My Q3 total is $235.66 (which will be paid in October) and my year-to-date total is $579.60.

Looking Ahead: October will be a decent month for dividends, only slightly less than what I received in September. My savings rate should be good. My two recent purchases used up a modest amount of cash, but once I add the new capital from my September savings, I will have enough cash to make two purchases. A lot of earnings will be reported in the second half of October, so I am tempted to wait and see which stocks dip on "disappointing" earnings. However, if a good opportunity comes up between now and then, I might take advantage of it.