Well, 2012 is off to a wonderful start for me. We’re only one month into the year and I’ve already received a raise at work, accomplished one of my goals by purchasing a vehicle to get me reliably (hopefully) to work and home and I’ve received a solid month’s worth of dividends which I reinvested into Philip Morris International (PM) and Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC). That’s a solid start! Hopefully the rest of the year goes as well.
The dividends I received for the month of January are recorded below. It’s not my largest tally ever, but it’s another solid month of passive income. It’s income that I wouldn’t have had otherwise, if I spent all my capital on depreciating goods instead of appreciating assets.
I hope these monthly dividend income reports provide inspiration for any investors out there that are just starting out. It’s easy to see these payments rising month after month and it shows that it’s possible to one day pay for monthly expenses with dividends, which would provide an investor opportunities and freedom to pursue other interests than full-time work. Without further ado:
January 2012 Dividends Received
- PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) – $29.87
- Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) – $13.87
- Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) – $46.20
- Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW) – $12.60
- Altria Group, Inc. (MO) – $21.32
- Total S.A. (TOT) – $25.03
- Sysco Corporation (SYY) – $7.83
- Medtronic, Inc. (MDT) – $8.97
Total dividends received for the month of January: $165.69
A great month of passive income! This is a healthy increase since January 2011’s dividends of $33.35. This just goes to show you the power of continuing to stick to a plan, which in my case is reinvesting dividends and allocating fresh capital towards attractive equity opportunities.
This is a great start towards my goal of receiving $2,000 in dividends through the year of 2012. In fact, to receive $2,000 this year I’d have to average $166.67 per month in dividends. So, it looks like I’m right on track! This is a phenomenal first step for this year, and I’m more than confident that I’ll achieve my goal! Please stay tuned and let’s grow our wealth together.
I’ll update my dividend income page to reflect January’s dividends.
How is your journey to ever-increasing passive income going?
Full Disclosure: I’m long all securities mentioned.
Thanks for reading.
Photo Credit: sscreations
Dividend Partisan says
February 4, 2012 at 11:24 pmCongrats Mantra. Keep it up,
DivPartisan
Dividend Mantra says
February 5, 2012 at 1:36 amPartisan,
Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate the congrats. I’m giving it 100%, that’s for sure.
Best of luck to you as well this year. I hope you’re trading and dividend investing go well.
Take care!
Henry says
February 5, 2012 at 1:50 amGreat job DM! I’m expected to receive about $1k in dividends this year if I stop contributing. I doubt I’ll reach $2k, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Cheers.
Dividend Mantra says
February 5, 2012 at 1:54 amHenry,
Good to see you around! $1k in dividends this year would be fantastic, and I’m sure you’ll well exceed that. You’ve got a great looking portfolio, filled with some companies that I’d love to own.
Good luck on your passive income journey this year.
Best wishes.
cashflowmantra says
February 5, 2012 at 4:21 amGreat update. Looks like you are right on target.
Dividend Mantra says
February 5, 2012 at 4:24 pmcashflowmantra,
Thanks for stopping by!
I appreciate it. I’m doing my best to make my relatively small amount of money work hard for me. It starts out small, but grows and grows and grows. It’s fun to watch that process occur.
Take care and hope you’re enjoying your weekend.
Relic Obscura says
February 6, 2012 at 1:00 amKeep it up, broheim! It’s excellent to see your continued progress…
Life is good when we have goals and aspirations. We will achieve our dreams, no doubt.
Dividend Mantra says
February 6, 2012 at 1:55 amAlways good to hear from you! I hope all is well on the investing and personal front. I also hope frugality is treating you well.
Keep in touch and keep up the great work on your end.
Take care!
Dividend Paying Stocks says
February 6, 2012 at 4:37 amDM,
Awesome progress and it’s still so early in the year. Congrats to the explosive start! My January dividend income is $118.09 which I am quite pleased about. In addition, I had $550 in passive income in the form of rental income. I have a dear friend and daughter staying with my wife and I through the end of October. When his wife arrives from the Philippines in February, then my rental income will rise to $650 a month. It’s only through October, but a blessing none the less.
I sold my 100 shares of MO for $1 dollar in profit…lol. That made room for 300 shares of a new oil trust I purchased. I already have a $300 capital gain from that position and expect $939 in distributions for 2012. I’ll reveal that holding in a new blog post very soon.
Once again, nice job my friend. Your really piling up some quality holdings and plenty of dividends. A portfolio any dividend investor would be envious of…
DPS
Officeark says
February 6, 2012 at 5:50 pmI just found this blog. Lots of good info here and I like your goals/strategy. Just curious if you have a number that you are trying to get to. I.e. I want 30k a year in dividends, I will feel comfortable leaving my job at this amount. I apologize if this has already been mentioned earlier and I missed it.
Money Cone says
February 6, 2012 at 9:28 pmYour stock picks are excellent and by reinvesting the effect is going to only get compounded! Excellent progress indeed!
Dividend Mantra says
February 7, 2012 at 12:21 amDPS,
Thanks for stopping by and continuing your support. It’s appreciated!
Sounds like you’re doing a great job over there with over $100 in dividend income and also receiving the rental income. That’s a huge month right there.
Have a great time with the visiting friends and keep doing what you’re doing.
Best wishes!
Compounding Income says
February 7, 2012 at 12:26 amI predict you will pass $2000 with ease. The combination of new money, reinvested dividends and dividend increases is huge. I’ll definitely stay tuned.
Dividend Mantra says
February 7, 2012 at 12:30 amOfficeark,
Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad you stumbled across my humble spot on the internet.
My main goal is to have passive income (dividends) exceed expenses. This is a fluid journey, as I don’t know exactly what my expenses will be when I’m finally able to retire. I would say exceeding expenses with dividends for 12 months in a row, with a sizable emergency fund on the side, would give me a margin of safety to comfortably say I’m financially independent.
As of the past 6 months or so I’ve averaged around $1,100-$1,200 per month in expenses. I’d say that extrapolating that out (accounting for inflation) I could comfortably say I’m financially independent on $1,400 per month in dividends. This number may change as I become more or less efficient in managing my expenditures.
Best wishes!
Dividend Mantra says
February 7, 2012 at 12:32 amJQ,
Thanks for commenting. I’m glad you look forward to these posts as much as I do.
You can actually see my invested capital on the first of every month, because I post my Freedom Fund update on or around the 1st of every month. That tells you exactly, down to the penny, how much capital I have invested to receive the dividends I’m receiving.
Hopefully that helps!
Take care and stay in touch.
Dividend Mantra says
February 7, 2012 at 12:33 amMoney Cone,
Thanks! I do try my best to find value in all market situations. I think I’ve built a pretty decent little portfolio with my relatively modest income.
Keep in touch! Take care.
Dividend Mantra says
February 7, 2012 at 12:36 amCompounding Income,
Perhaps I was a little easy on myself with that goal, but I have a lot going on this year. I knew that I was going to have to purchase a car, I’ll have a hefty tax bill in the spring, I have a wedding to attend later this year out of state, and there’s always the little bumps along the way. We’ll see how it goes.
Thanks for keeping in touch. Great work on your new blog.
Best wishes!
JQ says
February 6, 2012 at 8:58 pmAlways look forward to your monthly updates for dividend Income.
It would also be interesting to see your total invested capital on the first of the month which produces these dividends (and what % the dividends represent).
Keep up the good work!
Poor Student says
February 7, 2012 at 3:09 pmGreat month Mantra! My humble month produced $3.77 in dividends. This was from my only monthly dividend payer, a TD mutual fund. My ETF shares pay quarterly so I need to look forward to that delayed gratification.
I do really like these posts and they absolutely do keep my motivated to stick to my plan even when my dividends can’t buy me a lunch yet.
Keep up the good work.
Dividend farmer says
February 7, 2012 at 6:24 pmMantra,
I’ve been following your blog for a little while and have enjoyed watching your progress. Around March of 2010 I moved most of my portfolio into dividend paying stocks.
I have ownership of ~24 dividend paying companies and a goal to eventually own 30 that each will provide a dividend stream of around $2,000 annually.
Having been an individual investor for over 10 years I can say that dividend investing has been the most satisfying.
Keep up the good work,
DF
Dividend Mantra says
February 7, 2012 at 11:54 pmPoor Student,
Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate your support. You’re off to a start, and that’s all that matters. A million-mile journey starts with one step forward.
I’m glad these updates and posts keep you motivated. They are the “proof in the pudding” as they say and show that this investment strategy really works.
Best wishes!
Dividend Mantra says
February 7, 2012 at 11:56 pmDividend Farmer,
Thanks for following my journey.
Owning a part of 24 companies is pretty huge, and you’re right along where I’m at. I think owning 30 individual dividend growth stocks is a great goal and I hope you get there!
Best of luck on your journey and keep in touch. Take care.