March 2018 Summary

Finally, the Spring has come and the first month of it is already over. We didn’t have many warm days yet, but it should only get better from here. It is time for my favorite post of the month – looking at how my portfolio is working for me and what was delivered to my bank account!

Dividend income

Usually, the last month of the quarter is the best among dividend investors. However, it is not the case for me and the third month of the quarter is still the smallest in dividends. Let’s see how it stacks up:

2 great companies paid me dividends during March. The usual monthly cheque from Realty Income and another one from one of the first stocks in my portfolio – Exxon Mobil.

I once wrote that it would be great that dividends form Exxon Mobil would cover my car’s fuel bill. Well, I actually didn’t spend a dime for fuel during March, as I didn’t do much driving! That’s one way to stick to the plan. In reality, though, I spent ~€100 for fuel during the first three months of the year, so dividends from XOM would only cover a small part of it.

Year on Year comparison

Let’s see how this year’s dividends compare with March of last year:

Unfortunately, I didn’t add any new companies that would pay during March so the increase is only from dividend raises and it’s bigger by 3% compared to last year. I cannot complain, though, as the increase came without my intervention and that’s why I like dividend growth companies. I hope my next purchase will increase my dividends received during the second month of the quarter and the difference will be much bigger next year.

Purchases and Portfolio contributions

This month I managed to put aside €500. I used this and some leftovers from previous months to purchase 700 shares of Telia Lietuva for a total of €765. You may read more about the purchase in this post.

I also added additional €60 to my P2P lending account.

Dividend increases

Realty Income increased their monthly dividend yet another time by a tiny bit from $0.219 to $0.2195 per share. Since I own 16 shares, it will increase my net annual income from Realty Income by ~$0.07 ($0.0005 * 16 *12 – 30%). This is a really tiny increase but I am glad to receive them so often.

It is my fourth month in a row when I receive a dividend increase from some company of my portfolio. Let’s see if they can continue the streak in April!

Income from P2P lending

During March, I received €5.14 (compared to €4.96 last month) in interest from P2P lending. Some loans are late but I already got used to that and accept the risk of some loans to default. Currently, my loans portfolio stands at €486.65 and is distributed among 35 loans. P2P lending is almost 10% of my total portfolio at the moment and I am planning to keep it at around this level, so I am not planning to invest much to it next month.

Summary

In total, after converting to EUR, I received €10.16 during March. This brings the total for this year to €36.9. With 25% of the year completed, this only accounts for ~15% of my goal to earn €240 in total during 2018. It means I am behind. I am waiting for May which should be my biggest month for the year and it should improve my situation but I am worried that it will not be enough to reach the goal for the year. But I am not giving up yet and will do my best to come as close to the target as possible.

 

How was your March? Are you trying to make your monthly dividend income equally distributed among months or is it not important for you? What would you recommend to purchase in order to increase my income for March? Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment below!

8 thoughts on “March 2018 Summary

  1. You got this BI. You experience dividend growth YOY and what’s barely without having to life a finger. Moreover, you got dividend raises from companies for the past four months in a row! That’s almost like your boss decides to give you a pay raise every month, except you are your own boss with DGI. Congrats and let’s see if that streak can continue in April.

    1. Hi DP,
      Thanks for the comment! It would definitely be good if my employer was so generous 😀

  2. Growth and solid results without adding own capital. That is real DGI at work. Sure we all want major increases, etc but more important is that your staying the course. Being able to add 500,- of fresh capital this month is great. Keep it up!

    1. Hi Mr Robot,
      Thanks for nice words! It’s a really good feeling to be at least a little bit better off each month 🙂

  3. Hi, BI. I suspect your dividend raise streak will continue in April, as XOM will hopefully have a raise for you.
    Even if May doesn’t put you back on track to meet your yearly goal, you’ve still got over half the year to make it happen. Keep plugging along and I bet you’ll be right there come year’s end.

    1. Hi ED,
      Thanks for the encouragement! PG already announced a dividend increase this month, so the streak continues! If XOM also declares an increase, that would be great 🙂

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