Monthly Review: June 2013

The end of June and the start of July coincided with my big move, hence the delay in posting this review. I spent June 28-30 packing and loading my belongings, as well as cleaning my apartment so I can get my deposit back. I then made the 7+ hour drive to my new city and started moving into my new apartment on July 1. Since then I have been pretty busy with unpacking, running errands, getting things set up, and buying a few pieces of furniture and other household stuff (the frugal side of me cringes at how much money I have spent during the past few days). At this point I do not have too much left to do, aside from more unpacking and organizing, which I should be able to finish this weekend. Overall, the move has proceeded more or less according to plan, with only a few minor hiccups.

Not surprisingly, I paid very little attention to the stock market during the past week. Here is a review of what happened in June:

Dividends: I received a total of $244.51 in dividends from the following stocks:

• BDX: $12.38
• CMI: $7.50
• CVX: $20.00
• INTC: $42.75
• JNJ: $23.10
• MCD: $38.50
• MSFT: $26.45
• NSC: $47.50
• ROST: $4.25
• UTX: $13.38
• VFC: $8.70

This represents an 85.8% increase compared with the same month a year ago, which is excellent. In fact, it is my highest monthly dividend total ever. My year-to-date dividend total is now $1,070.05 (this month put me over the $1,000 mark) and my forward 12-month dividend total is $2,417.00.

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):

• MDT: 7.7% increase, $4.40 more in annual dividend income

Thus far this year, there have been dividend increases for 18 of the 28 stocks in my portfolio. The mean increase has been 9.5%.

Savings: This month I saved $1,035 (35.6%) of my net job income, which is relatively low but not unexpected. Major expenses included renewals of my six-month car insurance and annual renter's insurance premiums, as well as a few moving-related items. Thus far this year, my mean monthly savings has been $1,334 (45.9%).

Transactions: None

Portfolio: My portfolio (taxable account and Roth IRA together) currently consists of 28 stocks and has a market value of $83,990.11 (including cash), which is a 0.8% decrease over last month's value. The dip was not surprising in light of the turbulence in the stock market during the month.

Seeking Alpha: This month I did not publish any new articles on the investing website Seeking Alpha. However, I received $10.54 from page views of my previous articles, increasing my Q2 total to $284.36 (to be paid in mid-July) and my year-to-date total to $718.31.

Looking Ahead: My dividend total will be lower in July because I have fewer stocks that pay in that month. I expect dividend increases to be announced by CMI and possibly INTC near the end of the month. I will have no savings in July because I will have no job income; my new job officially starts at the end of the month. Thus, my July expenses will be paid from a portion of my savings over the past few months, which is how I planned it. However, as noted above, I will receive my Q2 payment from Seeking Alpha in mid-July, and at some point (more likely in August) I will get reimbursed for a large chunk of my moving expenses. Until all that happens and my income/expenses have returned to "normal" I will continue to sit on the sidelines with respect to investing. I anticipate that I will finally be in a position to resume new capital investment sometime in August, which is just as well because for the next several weeks I will likely be absorbed in activities related to my new job.

Bonus: Earlier this week I got a library card at the public library in my new city. I was delighted to discover they provide free online access to both Morningstar Premium and Value Line.