Monthly Progress Report - December 2014

It feels like it's been a long time since I last wrote anything.  December was quite a month for us but we made it through relatively unharmed.  We lost a car and re-assessed whether we needed to replace it.  Well, after further review, we decided to go ahead and purchase a cheap set of wheels.  That explains why we had to dip into our savings, but the good news is No Loan!  That also means, reduced funds and we will have to try and replace those funds throughout the year.  I was still able to make a couple of purchases through Loyal3 and Lending Club and set aside a little into the brokerage.

On the tax-deferred front, we saw big gains with end-of-the-year payouts of dividends and capital gains that went right back into our accounts.  Here's a summary:

Recent Buy

Just a quicky buy today as part of my goal to invest at least $100 a month using Loyal3. I expect December to be kind of a slow month for investing for me.  The Neon just took a crap and is on it's way to clunker heaven.  So the wife and I are contemplating our options moving forward as either a 1 car family or purchasing an affordable replacement.  But, anywho... on to the investments!

I decided to add funds to Unilever (UL) and Coke (KO).  I already had small positions in both and I added a little bit more to each.  I bought $50 worth of UL resulting in 1.246 more shares and bought $51 worth of KO resulting in 1.2509 additional shares.  These purchases came without fees through Loyal3.

Where does the $51 come from you ask?  Well, this past month I received my very first dividends from individual stock purchases!  I received dividends from INTC, MAT and UL.  It's not much and I have been receiving dividends through my retirement accounts for awhile, but getting your first from individual stock purchases is exciting.  Yipee!  So I re-invested that income into $1 extra of Coke.

Lending Club Update - November 2014

I'm going to try and start a new series following my Lending Club account.  I have been happy with my luck on this account.  So far, everything has been coming up roses and I like it a lot.  

One thing to keep in mind is the reality of eventual charge-offs where a borrower cannot pay the loan and I would lose any unpaid principle.  Like I mentioned, I remain lucky again this month and below is the summary for November.

Monthly Progress Report - November 2014

Let the battle for money begin!

It is time once again to tally up the numbers from the previous month and account for all of the fun that was had.  It feels like I've only done this a couple of times, but here we are together again.  November was quite a month for me.  Even though, in the grand scheme of things, not a whole lot of total deposits were made, it was a pretty good chunk for me.  I have to always remind myself that I can only do what I can do and not weigh my performance against others. In the same thought, it is wonderful to gain inspiration from others and I thank so many other bloggers out there who have shared their successes, blunders and insights throughout the past month.  In any event, here is how the Dummy fared:

Recent Buys - That Dummy Bought What?

Let me start by pointing your attention to my disclaimer at the bottom of the page and also say that I am only at the beginning of a long haul that I am hoping will bear fruit down the line.  I made a couple of buys recently that may turn out to be good, or may turn out to be bad.  I feel that I have enough safety (for my tastes) built into the rest of my total portfolio that I can afford a little risk along the way.  Let's also assume that I will push ahead in the coming months to add more run-of-the-mill, traditional dividend stocks.  But I wanted to grab a couple pieces now that may pay well or perhaps better.  So let's get to it.

Recent Buys - Let's keep this ball a rollin'

Like many others, I squeezed in a few more Loyal3 buys before they stopped accepting credit card orders.  This had helped because of the 1.5% cashback I was getting from the card company.  Well, I only had the chance to enjoy a few orders with the cashback bonus, but Loyal3 is still there to offer fee-free trades and that's a Good Thing (I dare you not to think about Martha Stewart while that replays in your head, you're welcome!).

With the above move from Loyal3 came an inspiration to open a traditional brokerage account.  So, I made a buy there as well.  Loyal3 is great, but they don't offer everything.  I wanted to get my hands on something in the gas and oil sector, so I gobbled up 10 shares of BP.  I bought at $40.54 and after the fee, my cost was $410.35.  Seemed pretty good.  Now let's hope that BP isn't down for the count and weathers through all it's recent storms.

The Loyal3 buys included $50 in each of:

Mattel (MAT) - I was looking for another stock with a dividend date I could receive before the end of the year and my kids like their toys.
Kohl's (KSS) - I put the order in before the dip, but the purchase was made after the dip, so I'll take it.
Gap (GPS) - Missed the ex date, but I think this could be an OK buy as well.
Unilever (UL) - Wanted to get in on more of this one.

I'm looking to make another buy through the brokerage this week.  My greedy side wants to shoot for high yield, but my conservative side says go for something different.  Here's hoping I don't screw it up too much!

Monthly Progress Report - October 2014

First month on record.  I'm only a very few days into tracking my progress and this is the first monthly report.

Overall, in the month of October I have mostly continued my previous course while starting to navigate on my future course.  Here is a summary of the last month's transfers:

• Deposited and funded $200 worth into my Lending Club (LC) account.
• Transferred $1500 into my main savings to fund an emergency account.  This account also serves as my 'future car payments'.  Since I have no loans now, I am depositing funds into the account with the mindset of eventually having to replace the car.
• Transferred $50 into the dream account.  This is just an off-shoot of the main savings and I am not intending on drawing from it anytime soon.
• Made pre-tax deposits in my work's 457(b) plan.  An automatic draw of $120 every 2 weeks.
• Auto funded the wife's IRA at $150/mo.
• Started and purchased $200 worth of shares at Loyal3 (L3).  I made 4 different purchases of $50 each and bought into:
• Coke (KO) - Looked like a good buy because of the drop earlier
• Intel (INTC) - I wanted to start a diversified base and build from there.  I never said I was good at this, but I'm in it for the long haul.
• Unilever (UL) - This was one of those buzz stocks people were talking about and the numbers looked good
• Activision (ATVI) - because it looked cool, I'm a gamer and it had a small dividend.  Again, in it for the long haul and I will reference my username for this and several other buys in the future.

So, the monthly haul included almost exclusively interest gained and very little dividends.  I'm hoping this will start to turn around as the months go by, but I know I have to be patient.  Interest was gained from my cash accounts along with my LC account.  No dividend this month from my wife's IRA, that should come quarterly.  The only dividend recorded came from my 457 plan which was negated by the fee charged...whoopee!

Savings	Total	Last Month Dep	10/2014 Int/Div
Main Savings	$8,928.19	$1,500.00	$6.64
Dream Account	$2,277.35	$50.00	$1.82
CD (2.15%)	$1,012.97	$0.00	$1.83
Lending Club	$1,133.35	$200.00	$10.67
Loyal3	$203.27	$200.00	$0.00
ATVI	$52.33	$50.00
KO	$50.93	$50.00
INTC	$50.39	$50.00
UL	$49.88	$50.00
457(b) Plan	$31,406.27	$360.00	-$0.01
Wife IRA	$68,427.00	$150.00	$0.00
	$113,388.40	$2,460.00	$20.95