August, September, and October 2018 Dividends

Hello everyone,

It's been a while, as I have been delinquent in providing timely monthly updates. Things have been busy, and I have not been good at summarizing didvidend income over the last few months. I am here to rectify that, and will combine results from those last few months: August, September, and October 2018.

Going back, let's take a look at August 2018:

Taxable Accounts
Company	Symbol	Date	Amount
Verizon Communications Inc.	VZ	8/1/2018	$2.36
CVS Health Corp	CVS	8/1/2018	$17.00
AT&T Inc.	T	8/2/2018	$34.63
Abbott Laboratories	ABT	8/15/2018	$9.80
Procter & Gamble Co	PG	8/15/2018	$10.76
Apple Inc.	AAPL	8/16/2018	$5.11
AmeriGas Partners, L.P.	APU	8/17/2018	$25.74
Lazard Ltd	LAZ	8/20/2018	$9.24
Williams-Sonoma, Inc.	WSM	8/24/2018	$25.37
Taxable Accounts Total	$140.01
Roth IRA Account
Company	Symbol	Date	Amount
PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1	QQQ	8/1/18	$4.16
Toronto-Dominion Bank	TD	8/1/18	$11.91
Abbott Laboratories	ABT	8/15/18	$7.13
Omega Healthcare Investors Inc	OHI	8/20/18	$20.29
Roth IRA Account Total	$43.49
Overall Dividend Income Total	$183.50

Now, let's take a look at September 2018:

Taxable Accounts
Company	Symbol	Date	Amount
Intel Corporation	INTC	9/1/2018	$3.30
Kroger Co	KR	9/1/2018	$0.98
W W Grainger Inc	GWW	9/1/2018	$20.40
Walmart Inc	WMT	9/4/2018	$1.56
Cummins Inc.	CMI	9/4/2018	$9.12
Hanesbrands Inc.	HBI	9/5/2018	$1.95
International Business Machines Corp	IBM	9/10/2018	$3.14
Target Corporation	TGT	9/10/2018	$39.68
Emerson Electric Co.	EMR	9/10/2018	$4.85
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc	WBA	9/12/2018	$1.32
Flowers Foods, Inc.	FLO	9/14/2018	$21.24
Compass Minerals International, Inc.	CMP	9/17/2018	$11.52
VF Corp	VFC	9/20/2018	$18.40
QUALCOMM, Inc.	QCOM	9/26/2018	$37.78
Vanguard Real Estate ETF	VNQ	9/28/2018	$7.08
Taxable Accounts Total	$182.32
Roth IRA Account
Company	Symbol	Date	Amount
T. Rowe Price Group Inc	TROW	9/28/18	$10.08
Roth IRA Account Total	$10.08
Overall Dividend Income Total	$192.40

..And now for October 2018:

Taxable Accounts
Company	Symbol	Date	Amount
Vanguard High Yield Dividend ETF	VYM	10/2/2018	$8.91
Cardinal Health Inc	CAH	10/15/2018	$12.86
Cisco Systems, Inc.	CSCO	10/24/2018	$12.54
New Residential Investment Corp	NRZ	10/26/2018	$19.50
Taxable Accounts Total	$53.81
Roth IRA Account
Company	Symbol	Date	Amount
Vanguard High Yield Dividend ETF	VYM	10/2/18	$25.32
iShares S&P 500 Index	IVV	10/3/18	$14.54
iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index	IJR	10/3/18	$4.11
Kimberly Clark Corp	KMB	10/3/18	$9.09
Vanguard Growth ETF	VUG	10/4/18	$3.80
Cardinal Health Inc	CAH	10/15/18	$12.56
WP Carey Inc	WPC	10/16/18	$10.41
Roth IRA Account Total	$79.83
Overall Dividend Income Total	$133.64
Forward 12-month Projected Dividend Income Total			$2,077.87

So over the last few months, I did not make any substantial buys, focusing on saving money for our house down payment. Basically any surplus goes to the online savings account. On that front, I have made quite a bit of progress. That will continue to be the focus for the near future. Otherwise, dividend income will be used to purchase shares of fair to undervalued companies.

Let's now take a look at my dividend income history:

Month	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
January		$14.38	$14.42	$70.45	$72.34
February		$49.07	$50.38	$112.01	$190.55
March		$50.22	$52.16	$182.28	$232.83
April		$10.83	$27.91	$64.56	$78.40
May		$46.52	$59.42	$132.14	$162.41
June	$6.69	$47.51	$90.97	$198.86	$221.99
July	0	$18.99	$51.37	$168.64	$102.00
August	$33.96	$50.11	$86.07	$156.46	$183.50
September	$54.75	$55.61	$101.70	$226.17	$192.40
October	$10.94	$14.42	$72.53	$79.06	$133.64
November	$48.79	$50.11	$103.31	$158.18
December	$63.55	$49.89	$168.03	$234.71

and then in graphical form:

Now, taking a look at the change in previous quarters and the previous year, we get the following:

	%Chg Qtr	%Chg Year
August	12.99%	17.28%
September	-13.33%	-14.93%
October	31.02%	69.04%

Some nice increases were had for August and October, however the numbers went in the opposite direction. I believe this was due to some of my ETF payments, that previously would come in at the end of September, actually coming in early October instead. This probably at least partly explains the hefty increases for October!

So even when I had not paid as much attention these past few months as I had in previous months, the dividends are still paid, and it is good to see the increases where they exist. I intend to keep a closer eye on this in the future, and provide more regular updates.

We are still saving for the house downpayment, so the vast majority of savings are still being set aside, and only the dividend payments are reinvested. Thus, the dividend income increases will continue to be modest, until we are able to complete the house purchase over the next year or so.

How have your recent months been? Let me know in the comments below!