November & December Budget Plus Dividend 2015 Year End Catch Up

November
November was almost normal.  Food jumped up to my budget max because of the holidays and my wife persuaded me into buying a new washer dryer set that was $600 off and no interest for six months.  So I lied it wasn’t a normal month. 

That $1400 set me over my budget and gave me my 3rd month of the year with no savings.  They are Maytag so they should hopefully last 10 years.  Plus they use very little water compared to our old machines and they are the XL size. My wife was spending most of her time doing laundry and we can pack those babies up and cut the loads in half.  I also hope they bring my super-sized water/sewer bill down and pay for themselves.

November also starts my Christmas shopping season.  With that said my 'wants' category also was over budget.  The washer/dryer was logged under Misc. Needs.  Our old washer and dryer were still in working order so those are sitting in my garage and I need to find someone to donate them to.



As far as November dividends.  Well they didn't stop.  That is the nice thing.  I don't have to work for them (but do have to keep an eye on them).  It was the last month for my KMI dividends before the cut.  I didn't sell yet but I need to before the stock drops lower.  One other event was a distribution from a partnership.  My account doesn't specify which one so I have no clue who it is from.  I will have to try and figure out which MLP it came from.

December
The big news of the year (besides the birth of my daughter) was one of my loans was paid off.  So next year I will not have that in my budget anymore.  I got the letter from the bank this month and boy was it a nice Christmas present.  On the down side that money all went to pay for my bi-yearly car insurance payment.  Both our cars are paid off so I am not sure why I am carrying full insurance on both of them.  This and my house insurance need to be revisited in the new year when I get some down time (not likely to happen with the baby :-)

Without a Christmas budget I overspent on the kids like I do every year.  The two oldest were the most expensive.  Clothes and shoes mostly for my daughter and I split the cost of an iPhone 6 with my oldest son.  I found a good Christmas budget spreadsheet from Spreadsheet123.  I tracked everything from this year so I can finally set a budget for next year and save for it.

December dividends are also a nice Christmas present for me.  It is usually a big month for companies and this proved to be my biggest month of the year.  I purchased a few stocks back in October from proceeds from selling my WIN stock.  These finally generated some income which was nicely deposited into my stocking.



According to Yahoo I have a few companies with a risk of a dividend cut.  Those I mostly identify by having a payout ratio above 75% and they are not MLP's or REIT's.  They include CVX, MSFT, COP, CTL, FTR and KO.  Event MCD is close at 74%.  Rough year for them and gives me something to think about.  With KMI you could see that ratio creep up and a smart person would have sold while the price was good.  I just don't know what to do since some of these companies will cut and some won't.  For now I will hold and watch for cuts.

Savings & Summary



2015 went out with a bang of 2 months of negative savings but that will not stop me from setting a budget for next year and trying again.  I am happy though because progress was made.  My yearly dividend income went up by roughly $300 and I have a happy and healthy family.  Happy new year all!


Happy saving,

Dividend Family Guy

Comments

  1. ADDJanuary 5, 2016 at 9:42 AM

    Best point in the post "I have a happy and healthy family". In the end, that is all that matters. Congrats DFG and Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Financial VelociraptorJanuary 5, 2016 at 10:17 AM

    Grats on slaying a debt monster. I feel relief for you all the way from Houston.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dividend Family GuyJanuary 5, 2016 at 2:38 PM

      Yep, last one is the ol home. 20+ years left on that monster

      Delete
  3. Dividend LifeJanuary 11, 2016 at 12:35 AM

    Hi DFG,
    Looks like you had a great couple of months and you must be pleased that one of your loans is paid off. Hopefully that'll help improve things even more next year!

    Interest-free loans are great too - we may be buying a new fridge this year and I hope I can find a similar type deal.

    Best wishes,
    -DL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dividend Family GuyJanuary 21, 2016 at 7:54 AM

      I did but paying off the holiday bills in January is hurting the ol wallet. It was all good though.
      Later,
      DFG

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Will Dividends Teach My Kids to Work Hard?

After reading an article about education and learning from Mr. Money Mustache last week I starting thinking about my kids and their upbringing vs. how I was raised.  There was lots of discipline but also a tremendous amount of freedom.  That combined with loving parents taught me many lessons in life that I believe have led me to a great career and the joy of raising a large family.  The one thing that worries me the most is a fear that my children do not value gifts or money they receive as much as I did as a child. As a child I remember talking with my sister days before my birthday.  We share the same birthday one year apart.  We would spend the time talking excitedly about what we might get for our birthday.  Gifts were usually only on birthdays or major holidays.  Easter baskets filled with candy, or presents on Christmas or birthdays. Growing up with one TV that didn’t get the best reception left us with plenty of time to day drea...
Read more

What to write about when you have no money to invest?

Image
Without any money to invest from January all I could do is screen and learn about some new stocks that came up this month.  It is my hope still to save enough where I can actually invest on a regular basis again.  Part of me wants to start using loyal3 or computershare.com .  Buy for free and sell for free on Loyal3 or for a fee on Computershare.  That way I can continue to invest in some of the strong dividend payers these companies allow you to buy.  The other part wants simplicity and is willing to pay the fee to keep all my money in one place with one tax document.   The third part just reminded me my goal is to first rebuild an emergency fund.  That part is such a downer and is no fun.  The fourth part is my wife who wants me to put any free money into home improvements.  I avoid that conversation at all costs.   The house will hold up and last longer than me.  My time is what I want not a nicer house. I cou...
Read more

The Cost of A Vacation for Six

Image
All investing and no fun can lead to a happy me but a not so happy family .  I am the only one who actually doesn't mind managing the finances and money matters in my family.  The kids are slowly learning and my wife leaves it to me since I use my computer and online services.  Both systems work but my system allows me to get things done faster and produce reports I enjoy studying. Here is the breakdown of our 7 night trip to the beach and a 2 day visit with my brother: Lodging $1,966 This was the largest expense.  We stayed at hotels during the trip there and while visiting my brother.  Luckily we have a relative that works at a major hotel chain and is able to pass a discount on to us.  The remainder of it which was the big chunk was the condo on the beach that we stayed at.   I found it as one of the deals on Kayak.com .  Overall the site was easy to use and compare different places.  Unfortunately I should have listened to ...
Read more

Investment Disclaimer

This webpage is provided for general information only and nothing contained in the material constitutes a recommendation for the purchase or sale of any security. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at dividendfamilyguy at gmail dot com.