March has been a pivotal month for me in terms of my cash flow. For much of the month, I relied on my credit card to make everyday purchases. I would use the credit card and then pay it off a few days later. I would then use it some more and then pay it off. It got to the point where, towards the end of the month, I had to pay about $500 on my credit card just to bring it back down to $0. Well, I didn’t have that $500. I was upset that I used $500 out of my tax return to pay off my credit card. However, I got my tax return the same day I got paid from work. I had so much money, I didn’t know what to do with it. That feeling of euphoria quickly dissipated, however. It’s only been a couple of days and all that money is just gone! Gone I tell you. Gone! I’ll share more in a later post about what I did with my tax refund. Hint, my dividend portfolio was impacted. But that’s not why you’re here is it? You’re here to find out how much dividends I earned in March. Well, keep on reading to find out.
Dividend Income
In March, I received a total of $72.93 in dividends broken down as follows:
| NUMBER | STOCK | NAME | DIVIDENDS |
| 1 | EMR | Emerson Electric | $2.13 |
| 2 | GWW | W W Grainger | $6.69 |
| 3 | JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | $13.00 |
| 4 | MMM | 3M Company | $9.13 |
| 5 | O | Realty Income | $7.38 |
| 6 | PFE | Pfizer | $9.56 |
| 7 | XOM | Exxon Mobile | $25.04 |
| $72.93 |
This is a respectable amount although slightly less than February. Also, this is the first time I’m getting dividends from Emerson Electric (EMR). I do like the fact that I’m getting dividends from 7 companies. Very exciting. That’s part of the benefit of having 16 stocks in my portfolio. I don’t think I’ll go over owning 25 stocks anytime soon because that gets difficult to manage, but I like the progress I’ve made so far. I still haven’t crossed the three digit mark but I’m hoping that will happen this year.
Because I didn’t start tracking my dividends until April of last year, I am not able to make an annual comparison. However, that ends with my next dividend income report!!! To celebrate, I’m going to change the way I present this information, starting with this post. Let me know if you like the table layout above. For future posts, I will add a graph. I just figured out how to do that. Feel free to leave any suggestions regarding this issue in the comments below.
The Dividend Tracker has been updated accordingly.
Forward Annual Dividends
At the time of this writing, my forward annual dividends is $802.46. I’m super happy that I crossed the $800 mark for the first time!!! This is in part due to the increase in dividends from several of my holdings including ABBV. I can’t wait to cross over the 4 digit mark.
I did not purchase any additional stocks in March.
Conclusion
March seemed like a strong month for dividend income. I wish I had last year to compare it to, but there’s no use crying over spilt milk. My spending was a little bit out of control in March and so I’m hoping that April will bring a necessary calm and stability back to my life. Anyway, the tax refund rebuilt my financial house, and I’m back on track with much of my financial plan for 2018, so thank you IRS.
How was your dividend income in March? How do you suggest I present the dividend income information?
Let me know your thoughts by commenting below.
Nice, over 800 in forward income is starting to look chunky. Bet its good to see the number of different companies all paying you in one single month!
I know the feeling of both spiraling spending and then the pretty much disappointment when you do get a windfall of cash – in your case the tax return – and just have to pay back for what you’ve already consumed!
Be interesting to start seeing the comparison from next month.
Thanks Brian. I think the comparison is going to be a huge motivator to keep adding more funds to my dividend portfolio.
Congrats on a great month DP! Your getting closer and closer to the 1K mark in forward dividend income. Keep up the great work! 😀
My Dividend Dynasty recently posted…March 2018 Dividend Income
Thanks Dynasty. I plan on adding a few more dollars this month. I won’t cross it for some time, but every extra income that I can add will go a long way to finally crossing that figure.
Nice month 🙂 Ive just calculated my Q1 result and its getting up. Impatiently waiting for Q2 when my Baltic companies pay their annual dividend, although there are some setback in my investment there 🙁
Keep up the good work, your closing in on 3 digit mark 🙂
p2035 recently posted…2018 Q1 Budget
Thanks p2035. Glad your Q1 results are increasing. looking forward to seeing how your Q2 report does! I’m impatiently waiting for getting to that 4 digit mark myself.
Congrats on crossing the 800 mark in forward dividends! Getting close to 1k. All great names I see paying you in March. I own a few but wish to add a few more eventually to my portfolio as well. Great way to end the first quarter. Keep it up!
Thanks Daze. I actually added a couple more stocks which I will announce in my next post. Really can’t wait to cross the 1k mark.
This looks like a great month DP. I am glad to see that we own a few of the same companies. You will be breaking that 1k mark in no time. I am a bit behind you but it is one of my goals for the year to reach 1k too. Keep the dividends flowing. Thanks for sharing.
More Dividends recently posted…More Dividends Update from March 2018
Thanks MD and good luck with reaching the 1k mark yourself!
An awesome collection of stocks paying you this month, DP! I like them all. The table you listed them in looks nice, too. You are closing in on 3-digit months and 4-digit years… I’m sure you’ll be there in no time given the quality stocks in your portfolio. Oh, and keep that spending in check so you can continue feeding the dividend portfolio!
Engineering Dividends recently posted…Monthly Dividend Income (Mar. 2018)
ED, the contribution to my dividend portfolio is what is helping me keep my spending in check. I just increased my contribution amount and will make periodic adjustments accordingly. If I’m blowing $500 at the bar, I probably have room to increase my monthly investment amount. I also added two more stocks to my portfolio, but will make those announcements in my next post.
Congrats on crossing 800 in forward dividends. That’s a huge accomplishment in a short time. I love EMR by the way. They’ve been fantastic for me. Sounds like a fantastic month.
Dividend Seedling recently posted…Recent Buys CVS and KMI
Thanks Seedling. It’s sometimes hard to believe that I started this blog about a year-and-a-half ago with $33 in forward annual dividends. Now I’ve crossed the $800 mark. Talk about exponential growth. I hope it continues. Once I get past $1000, I’ll be writing a blog post about it.
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woot nice port
congrats on the income from a bunch of good looking companies.
Also on that forward dividend income breaking the 800 mark, time to check out what you bought. cheers
passivecanadianincome recently posted…Giving – Don’t forget to give back
Thanks Rob. I do like the companies I bought. Still have minor reservations about McDonalds, but I literally just bought it so I just have to give it some time.
You are crushing it DP, congratulations! Crossing $800 is significant and the illustrous 3-digit mark is in your sights! We share O and PFE this month.
I really like the table layout, it makes everything much clearer. I use the same although add the amount of shares I have of that specific company. I’m looking forward to your first YOY comparison., I had mine this March and it was awesome! 🙂
Thanks Mr. Robot. I think that the YoY growth is going to be big. I’m glad you like the table format. It’s going to be epic once I cross the 4 digit mark! But being so close is still a great motivator to keep going.
There you go DP! This is a great list of companies you have listed here. I agree with you on not having too many companies in the portfolio. 25 sounds like a pretty reasonable number. Keep it up!
Money Hungry recently posted…Dividend Income March 2018
Thanks MH. I just hope I don’t reach the 25 number too quickly. I may put the breaks on adding new companies once I reach 20 stocks. Then concentrate on building existing positions.
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