I received $87.15 in taxable August 2019 dividend income (up from $79 in 08/2018). The big news is I’m getting close to the end of my 7-month software engineering school, and I signed a job offer! I celebrated with a nice contribution and a couple of purchases.

Dividend Growth

Good thing I made some contributions this month! Only one dividend raise, but at least it was a nice one. 14.6% from Lowe’s. LOW has been a powerhouse for me ever since I first bought them.

I’d have to invest $253 at my current 1.99% portfolio yield to increase my income this much.

Forward Dividend Income

I rewarded myself a bit for getting back into the employed population. I’ve been holding a bit of cash for emergencies and also to make it through my unemployment, and now I have a job starting a few weeks from now.

Last month, I bought about $10k in VTI. This month, I put $10k more into VTI, and $5k into individual stocks. It’s been a rough stretch, but I over-saved and now have a few purchases to make.

Between VTI and V purchases, my overall taxable dividend yield has gone down even further to 1.99%. The truth is that I love this lower yield. I’m not so much in it for the near future, but hopefully the room for growth in these companies will pay off over the next few decades for their shareholders.

My income trajectory is getting back on track. I had a surprise bathroom remodel in 2018, and then wedding costs and a surprise drain line replacement in 2019. The chart above shows a few gaps in those months, but I’m making some catch-up contributions. Between last month and this month, my forward dividend income has increased by almost $40/month

Purchases – VTI, UNH, MCD, V, PG, AAPL, SBUX, BA, RSG

Purchased 69 shares of Vanguard Total Stock Market (VTI) @ $145.65/share

Another nice VTI contribution, two months in a row! After this month was settled, I’m at about 40/60 VTI to individual stocks in my account by market value. I’m getting closer to my 50/50 goal. Can’t wait to see my next VTI dividend in September.

Purchased 5 shares of United Health (UNH) @ $222.87/share

Health care is a tough industry, but UNH has been incredible the last few years. This will be my last contribution to them for a while, but I am hoping I got a bit of a discount.

Purchased 4 shares of McDonald’s (MCD) @ $216.84/share

I’ve loved having McDonald’s stock in my portfolio, and have been wanting to make it into one of my top positions. This is a true “set it and forget it” stock for me.

Purchased 5 shares of Visa (V) @ $176.34/share

Water the growers and pull the weeds – I love that mantra. This purchase vaults Visa to my top individual stock holding. This month is really a treat to myself.

Purchased 3 shares of Proctor & Gamble (PG) @ $120.28/share

I’m a bit ashamed that I bought Proctor & Gamble when I first started investing in 2016, and haven’t come back to add more shares since. I love these types of companies whose products don’t go out of fashion or out of use in down markets. I was way overdue to build up a few more shares of PG.

Purchased 2 shares of Apple (AAPL) @ $203.44/share

Apple is engrained into our lives – I’ve really enjoyed switching to a MacBook for my programming school and have to say I prefer it to a PC. I didn’t want my AAPL holding to fall too far behind some of my others, so I picked up a bit more.

Purchased 2 shares of Starbucks (SBUX) @ $96.46/share

Starbucks has been on a roll lately – which is an understatement. They’re due for a dividend raise – I’ll be keeping my eye out!

Purchased 1 shares of Boeing (BA) @ $353.13/share

It’s been a rough few months for Boeing. BA was my top holding for a long time, but it has since dwindled back a bit. I thought it was a good time to pick a bit more up at a lower price.

Purchased 10 shares of Republic Services (RSG) @ $88.51/share

I love garbage management! Is there a more steady industry? I’m realizing I want them in my top five, and this gets them there. I’ll keep adding to them in the future.

Head on over to my portfolio page if you’d like to see what companies pay me in other months!