January is over, and I am so glad to see it gone. Having lived here in the Portland metro area for 18 years, I’ve noticed that we get a good snowing every four years or so. So, as expected, the weather got pretty ugly during the middle of the month with an abundance of snow the likes of which the region hasn’t seen since 2012. And winter isn’t over yet, with some snow and freezing rain expected late this week. Like many here in the Pacific Northwest, the snow is fun at first, but by the third day everybody wishes it would just go away.
A good way to counter the cold is the warm feelings that dividend income provides every month. Let’s do the numbers and see how well January went:
AWP $ 45.00
BGY $ 38.00*
CHW $ 21.00*
CIK $ 22.00*
CLM $ 44.43*
CODI $108.00
DHY $ 40.25
DMF $ 12.30
DSM $ 22.83
EAD $ 10.88
EDF $ 45.00*
EHI $ 32.00
EXG $121.95*
NCV $ 45.50
OIA $ 4.30
PFN $ 36.00
PNNT $ 84.00
RA $ 69.85
RSO $ 7.50
VFL $ 16.50
TOTAL $827.29
* Includes Return of Capital
$827.29? Nice! January marks my third $800+ month in the past 12 months, and I’m sure the next 12 months will see $800+ months with increasing frequency. I’m optimistic that I will have a $900+ month some time this year, but we will see what happens as the year unfolds.
Not entirely unexpected when starting a new year, a dividend cut affected January’s total dividend income. CLM cut its dividend from $0.2837 to $0.2326, which is an 18.01% cut or $9.76 drop in my monthly CLM payout. This cut reduces CLM’s dividend yield from 9.53% to 7.81% <sigh>. CLM’s dividend hasn’t fallen to the point where I’m willing to sell it off, but it’s certainly getting closer to that point (5% is where I draw the line). If CLM’s dividend cutting trend continues, I will probably sell it off in 2018 or 2019.
Overall, January may not have been a good month for weather and resulting higher utility bills, but it was a very good month for dividend income. 🙂
Image Credit: jarmoluk (pixabay.com)
$800/month is a week’s pay already pretty much covered for me with all expenses. 3.5 more weeks to get it covered then no more worrying about jobs. 🙂
Thanks for visiting D4F! Yep, measuring dividend income in terms of weeks’ pay is great way to measure one’s progress. In my spreadsheet I use to track my dividend income, I measure my progress in terms of how much is earned monthly, daily, hourly, by the minute as well as how many work days I can buy and how much I would make per hour if my dividend income worked 8×5 instead of 24×7.
That’s a really impressive total. Especially since the Jan cycle is typically a lower paying month.
Thanks for visiting JC! Yes, January would have been a slow month if not for the three quarterly payouts from HQL, PNNT, and RSO. Future Januarys should be even better with the addition of WDR to the portfolio, as well as additional PNNT stock I recently bought but missed the ex-div date for the January payout.
Man! Over $800 in one month is crushing it, way to go.
Thanks Dude! Yep, $800+ is pretty sweet. Back when I first started dividend investing, making enough to cover my apartment’s rent at the time was something I could only dream of, but now that dream has come true (but now it covers my minimum monthly mortgage payment which is almost the same as my old apartment rent).
Good job. 800 is a nice number. Keep it up
Thanks for visiting Doug! I am certainly going to keep it up. My goal for 2017 is to break $10k for my projected annual dividend income. I’m currently at $9304, so it’s not that far out of reach, but I will have to make some extra effort to get there.
Congrats on $800+ dividend income – that’s awesome and I hope you break the $900 barrier soon!
I don’t know much about CLM but the fund expenses seem expensive and the “yield” seems to come from a return of capital.
Best wishes,
-DL
Thanks for the visit Dividend Life! I certainly hope to have at least one $900+ month this year and maybe, just maybe, a $1000 month. Wish me luck!
Great job this month and terrific way to start 2017! Wish you luck on hitting a $1,000 in dividends for one month this year. 🙂
Thanks DD! Yep, January’s dividends were a great way to start the new year. I have my fingers crossed hoping that I’ll have a $1K month. Thank you very much for the honor of having Dividend Quest being included on your blogroll and other web pages!
Congrats on an awesome month. I think you’ll be looking at $1,000+ this Decemeber.
Thanks for visiting Investment Hunting! I hope I have a $1k month this year too. But if I don’t, that’s fine as long as I’m moving forward and my dividend income is continuing to steadily rise.
Great job with your dividend income! Next step $1,000. Blow through that barrier!
Thanks for visiting Matt! Yep, January was a good month. I have my fingers crossed that I’ll have a $1000 month in 2017. But for right now, I’ll be thrilled just to have a $900 month.