After this post, I will be all caught up until September is over. It’s been fun looking back. I thought I might learn some lessons, but the realization that I didn’t max out my Roth IRA in 2016 is still making my stomach feel uneasy. It’s been a great experience going back through my purchases and reasonings.

My portfolio began with an approximate yield of over 4%. Today, it’s closer to 2.7%. I’m still very happy with the current return I get in the form of dividend payments, but I am more more enthusiastic about what my dividend payments will be in 5 years or 20 years. I think I’ve laid a good foundation and am making proactive steps towards someday having a nice retirement.

August seemed to be a quiet month. I had some house maintenance come up which required spending money on something other than investing. Very sad! However, not investing in home maintenance will cost me in the long run. I also am saving up for a few more big purchases in the future, and my investing slowed down a bit.

Here’s what I came out with in August 2017.

I am writing this looking back from September 2017.

1 share of CSCO (Cisco Systems, Inc.) @ $31.51/share ($31.51)

The dividends keep slowly piling up and I keep slowly buying CSCO/HRL/PFE when I accumulate around $32 of dividend payments. My CSCO/HRL/PFE holdings are starting to actually pay me significant dividends themselves. The power of compounding interest!

1 share of CSCO (Cisco Systems, Inc.) @ $31.74/share ($31.74)

Another happy customer buying CSCO/HRL/PFE. If anyone has any other suggestions for good dividend growth stocks around $30/share, please leave them in the comments. This has been a great strategy while avoiding trading fees with Robinhood.

1 share of HRL (Hormel Foods Corp) @ $33.45/share ($33.45)

This was a good month for dividend payments. I was again able to pick up another share in my HRL/CSCO/PFE collection.

1 share of ADM (Archer Daniels Midland Company) @ $41.93/share ($41.93)

Again! The dividends just keep coming. Another purchase of a low cost share in a good dividend growing company. Only this time, it was ADM instead of HRL/CSCO/PFE.

18 shares of SBUX (Starbucks Corporation) @ $52.97/share ($953.46)

This is a fun one. The average age of companies in my portfolio is probably around 100 years old. Starbucks is a popular recent addition to the dividend growers club. It fits my requirements – sustainable 1.83% yield and 49% payout ratio. It’s going on 6 years of dividend growth, and increases are typically around 25% each year. We will see if I am late to the party, but I am excited to be invested in a company that has terrific dividend growth potential, as well as share value potential too!

1 share of HRL (Hormel Foods Corp) @ $34.29/share ($34.29)

I’m seeing some significant income from dividends that is gradually increasing each month. The result is a growing holding in my low share cost trio of HRL/CSCO/PFE.

1 share of HRL (Hormel Foods Corp) @ $30.98/share ($30.98)

It really seems like every few days that enough dividends roll in to pick up another HRL/CSCO/PFE.

1 share of HRL (Hormel Foods Corp) @ $31.78/share ($31.78)

For a month low on new contributions, my dividend income is actually picking up some of the slack, and I picked up another low cost HRL/CSCO/PFE.