Monthly Update - March

The first quarter is over and the year has started with a bang!  I have earned $909.31 in dividends and $1478 in options income so far in 2013.

Below is a summary of my activity for the month:

New Purchases:

52 shares of LO
58 shares of KMI
$1000 of CAT
$800 of WFC
$1200 of TD
$300 of PEP
$1375 of RDS.B
$1525 of TEVA

Posts about new purchases can all be found by following the "Buys" label here.

Sells:
100 Shares of WM (called away)

Options Trades:

I sold puts in BBVA, LO and INTC.  I closed or had expired puts in INTC, BBVA and LO.  I earned $448 in profits from puts that I closed out or that expired this month giving me a total so far of $1478.  I've updated all of these trades on my Options tab.

Dividends:

I earned $577.09 in dividends for the month.  This was my first time to break $500!  My total year-to-date dividend income is now $909.31. I've updated my dividend income on my Dividends tab.

Forward 12-month Dividends:

My expected future 12-months of dividend income has increased to $4750.25 from $4491.40, an increase of 5.8% in one month.

Goals:

I've already met two of these goals so far this year.  The newest goal won't help my dividend income but it will give me a lot of satisfaction!  I mentioned that purchase here.  All of my goals can be found on the Goals tab.

Real Estate:

I just increased rent by $100/mo on my house rental.  That's practically another $1200 profit in my pocket per year!  That post can be found here.  The condo rental is up next in another month.  I hope to increase that rent also.  My goal to refinance my first mortgage into a lower interest rate may not happen since rates have been increasing.  We will see how that plays out.  All of my real estate posts will be found on my real estate label here.

Looking Ahead:

I expect to have a decent dividend month in April due to a once yearly payment from NVS. My goal of $5000 in dividend this year will be tough to make.  I'm under $1000 with one quarter gone so I hope the second half of the year can catch me up.

My options income is still way ahead of my dividend income.  I already have a couple of closed puts in April for profit.  I don't think dividend income can pass up options income until late in the year.  

I've set some aggressive goals for my dividend growth.  In order to meet my goal of $6500 of forward dividends then I will need to contribute another $50k to my portfolio this year at an average yield of 3.5%.  I'm currently averaging over $6000/month in contributions and I plan to increase that after I pay taxes so I am ahead of schedule.