Monthly Review: May 2013

It was a relatively quiet and uneventful month for my investing. Here is a review of what happened in May:

Dividends: I received a total of $164.63 in dividends from the following stocks:

• ABBV: $18.00
• ABT: $6.30
• GD: $11.20
• GIS: $23.10
• HRL: $17.00
• KMI: $34.20
• PG: $30.08
• T: $24.75

This represents a 44.0% increase compared with the same month a year ago, which is pretty good. My year-to-date dividend total is now $825.54 and my forward 12-month dividend total is $2,412.60.

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

• VOD: 7.0% increase

There was a possibility that a dividend increase might be announced early by INTC (last year's increase was announced in May), but that did not happen, so I will have to wait until their next dividend is declared in late July. Thus far this year, there have been dividend increases for 17 of the 28 stocks in my portfolio. The mean increase has been 9.6%.

Savings: This month I saved $1,117 (38.4%) of my net job income, which is lower than in previous months. The decrease was mainly due to payment of the deposit for my new apartment and an uptick in discretionary spending -- I bought new shoes for everyday use (my current pair is worn out) and a few household items in advance for my new apartment. Excluding those expenses, my savings would have been similar to the previous two months. Thus far this year, my mean monthly savings has been $1,394 (48.0%).

Transactions: None

Portfolio: My portfolio (taxable account and Roth IRA together) currently consists of 28 stocks and has a market value of $84,625.90 (including cash), which is a 0.3% decrease over last month's value. Interestingly, I was sitting on an increase until the last day of the month, when there was a sizable dip that pushed my portfolio down. The decrease was due to a moderate sell-off in defensive stocks (e.g., consumer staples and healthcare) during May, which are weighted heavily in my portfolio.

Seeking Alpha: This month I did not publish any new articles on the investing website Seeking Alpha. However, I received $20.80 from page views of my previous articles, increasing my Q2 total to $273.82 and my year-to-date total to $707.77.

Looking Ahead: In June I will receive well over $200 in dividends, which will be nice. I expect dividend increases to be announced by MDT and UTX*. My savings rate is difficult to estimate for June, given my big move at the end of the month. I will be incurring some moving expenses at that time, although I will be reimbursed for a portion of them later. In preparation for my move I have been sifting through stuff to determine what I no longer need and can either sell or donate. I managed to get $100 by selling a bunch of books, CDs, and DVDs to second-hand stores, and I donated a large box of books to my local public library (it has been a great free resource for me, so it is nice to give something back). As I continue to be financially conservative for my move, I will not be adding any new capital in June, so I do not anticipate any transactions. Thus, I will likely continue sitting on the sidelines.

*Edit: I forgot that UTX usually increases its dividend every five quarters, so the next announcement might come in September. Thanks to an anonymous commentator for bringing this to my attention.