The Dividend Family Guy

My April top 10 watchlist has some new companies in it that I have not looked at before.  The DFG stockscreen was updated this month (actually I modified it some time ago but forgot to update the page.)  The biggest change is the additional filter of looking at only Dividend Champions and Contenders.  Anything less than that ups the risk factor.  Since I am trying to create a sustainable income stream companies over 10+ years of growth have survived the great recession (or at least 1 cycle in the stock market.) I am already long on several companies in this list including ORI, ADM, NUS and IBM.  They have also appeared on my screen on and off for a year it seems. ORI stock price has been going up even though it is a slow dividend grower.  I guess the fear from late last year caused people to put their money in safety.  Another safe bet is ADM who has taken a beating but has been paying increasing dividends for over 40 years. IBM I wr...

Mmm delicious! I posted earlier on my Twitter ( @DividendFamilyG ) account a picture of some burgers I was grilling for the family.  It cost me $12 for 12 Angus burgers.  These were a whopping 1/3 pound each and did not shrink down when I cooked them.  To top them off I put not one but 2 slices of American cheese on them.  I do love McDonald's (food and stock) but there price for a quarter pounder with cheese is way more than the dollar I spent.  To top it off I played with my kids on our swing set while they were cooking.  Couldn't ask for a better evening. Why am I talking about burgers?  Well it also got me thinking about the cost of eating out.  I know there are some guys at work that eat out lunch every day.  Mind you this is lunch and not dinner.  It may be a little cheaper than dinner but a high end burger place will easily cost you $12 bucks for the burger (with cheese), fries and a drink. I eat out maybe once a ...

Sure March is still technically winter but it is one of my favorite months.  Not only is it a great month for dividends but it is also usually when I get my tax refund.  Maybe next year I will also get to include any raises or bonus from my new job I started this year. Expenses Looking at my expenses for the month it was a good month on that end as well.  My total needs were kept under budget with just a few minor hiccups.  The first hiccup was groceries.  $156 over budget there.  Again depending on where the first or last week of shopping lands it bumps that months budget by an extra week (to 5) or lessens it to 3 weeks.  I don't sweat this category as it evens out over the year. The second bump was in the Guilt Free Spending Money or wants category.  I blew over my budget by a good $750!  Almost $400 of that went to pay off money I owed to my daughters fund raiser.  The cash given to me when I sold the candy bars w...

Before I put out my March update I thought I should share with you all my 2016 Budget and any goals I have for the year. First let's take a look at my adjustments I made to the budget.  These were either because of my monthly average increasing for the line item or adding or removing new items. Item Difference Vs. 2015 Notes Mortgage 2 Water 17 #1 Utility combined with Sewer Phone -15 Sewer 20 # Utility combined with Water Gas -18 This should go down further next year with my new HVAC Garbage -5 City formed new agreement with waste company Electric -1 When I bulb burns out I replace it with LED Cable -115 Only using it for internet now Loan -350 Loan was forgiven.  However it...

Company Held In Dividend Paid (Qtr) Amount Received Shares of life purchased March IBM Taxable 1.3 5.27 HRZN Taxable 0.345 6.99 VNR Taxable 0.09 0.1 NUS Taxable 0.355 8.27 CTL Taxable 0.54 9.3 FTR Taxable 0.105 11.17 HMN Taxable 0.265 9.26 JNJ IRA 0.75 18.75 0.1757 CVX IRA 1.07 10.09 0.1087 EMR IRA 0.475 15.2 0.3036 MSFT IRA 0.36 9.06 0.1715 TGT IRA 0.56 10.02 0.1234 ED IRA 0.67 54.15 0.737 MCD IRA 0.89 10.08 0.082 ORI IRA 0.1875 20.34 1.1382 MCY IRA ...