Monthly Review: March 2013

Here is a review of what happened in March:

Dividends: I received a total of $222.71 in dividends from the following stocks:

• BDX: $12.38
• CMI: $7.50
• CVX: $18.00
• INTC: $42.75
• JNJ: $21.35
• MCD: $38.50
• MSFT: $12.65
• NSC: $47.50
• UTX: $13.38
• VFC: $8.70

This represents a 100.9% increase compared with the same month a year ago, making it the second month in a row with a year-over-year doubling of my dividends. It is also the second time I have exceeded $200 in monthly dividends. Going forward, I will reach that mark every March, June, September, and December due to a large number of companies paying in those months. My year-to-date dividend total is now $475.94.

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

• GD: 9.8% increase, $4.00 more in annual dividend income
• GIS: 15.2%, $14.00

The increase from GIS was much larger than I expected, which is great. Thus far this year, there have been dividend increases for 14 of the 28 dividend growth stocks in my portfolio. The mean increase has been 9.6%.

Savings: This month I saved $1,511 (52.0%) of my net job income, which is satisfactory. I did not have any unexpected expenses during the month, although I've noticed that my food expenditures have increased over the past few months. Thus far this year, my mean monthly savings has been $1,448 (49.8%).

Transactions: I bought two stocks during the month (click on each transaction to see my post about it):

• 25 shares of ROST
• 50 shares of KMI

Both purchases were for my Roth IRA, using up the rest of the cash from my 2012 contribution. I was particularly pleased to start a position in ROST, which is a stock I have wanted to own for a long time and has great potential as a long-term, total return investment. These purchases will increase my annual dividend income by $91.00. My forward 12-month dividend total is now $2,387.

Portfolio: My portfolio (taxable account and Roth IRA together) currently consists of 28 stocks and has a market value of $82,205.23 (including cash), which is a 5.1% increase over last month's value. I did not add any new capital to my accounts in March because my February savings were used to pay back money I borrowed from my external cash reserve to make my 2012 Roth IRA contribution in one shot. Thus, this month's increase in portfolio value is completely due to capital gains and dividends, which is quite impressive.

Seeking Alpha: This month I published two new articles on the investing website Seeking Alpha:

• The Importance Of Valuation For Dividend Growth Investing
• Dividend Growth Investing: A Strategy For Young Investors, Too

Both articles had good receptions, each garnering over 11,000 page views (well above the site average). I earned $243.46 from page views in March, which is my highest monthly total since I started writing for SA. My Q1 2013 total ended up being $433.95, which will be paid in mid-April. It is very nice to average about $144 per month in extra income from occasional investment writing (I wrote just three new articles during the quarter).

Looking Ahead: In April I expect just a minor year-over-year increase in dividends. I am anticipating announcements of dividend increases from CVX, JNJ, and PG. My savings rate will decline in April because I will incur some travel expenses related to my upcoming move (I will be visiting to look for a new place to live). However, the expenses will be offset by my SA income and my federal tax refund of over $500, which I received at the start of April. (I was pleasantly surprised to get a refund at all.) I will not be contributing any new capital to my investment accounts because my March savings constitute the last repayment of the money I borrowed from my external cash reserve to make my 2012 Roth IRA contribution. Thus, I will not be purchasing any stocks in April. In a forthcoming post I will discuss my capital allocation plans for the next few months.