The next post I always think about after writing my aims for the month ahead, is my dividend income for the previous month. I love dividend income updates, as it’s definitely building into a good passive income stream now. It’s a slow and steady plod, but it’s going!
I love logging into my account and checking out if I’ve received any dividends. April seems to be particularly quiet months in terms of income for the holdings I have. My holdings have been particularly rocky over the past couple of months, so it’s always a bit tough to see the numbers go up and down so wildly. But, I’m in it for the long haul, which should hopefully see a positive outcome. My stocks and shares ISA is with Hargreaves Lansdown, which is very easy to use and I’d definitely recommend them. You can get information about that here or even open an ISA in about 5 minutes.
The aim eventually is to use the dividend income to pay some household bills. Things like council tax, or water rates. That’s when passive income really takes over. We are such a long way off this! To pay fixed expenses each month from passive income would be amazing. To be able to pay for things that we have no control over, such as our council tax or the water rates, by using dividend income would take the pressure off other areas of money. One day, this will be our reality. I can’t wait until this point 🙂 when the numbers start to tip in that balance, our financial freedom point will be ever closer.
The dividend income received in April is a combination of dividends from shares and funds. There are always going to be swings in terms of how much income is produced by dividends, just because different holdings pay out at different times. In April 2017 I received £24.60 so again this is up from the same month last year 🙂 the only way is (hopefully) up!
Dividends received in April:
GlaxoSmithKline – £31.05
Premier Monthly Income – £0.61
Standard Life Inv UK Real Estate – £0.42
Total: £32.08
Not too bad! In fact, this would pay for my mobile phone bill for the previous month, so that’s a good thought. If we could replicate this each and every month, that could be that bill taken care of. Little things like that are such a motivating thought!
As I wrote about the effect of the magic snowball, mine is beginning to move slightly. By reinvesting the dividends, it’ll only create more income. I believe that continuing to live a frugal lifestyle and save as we go along will see us right in the end. I hope this is inspiring someone else to begin their frugal journey. If we can do it, anyone can! We are not depriving ourselves of anything, just making purposeful choices and it’s beginning to pay off. Literally!
My dividend income aim for 2018 is £800 received. At the end of April, I’m up to £158.13 so I’m starting to get a little behind target! Still a long way to go, although there are some months throughout the year where there is little paid, I’m sure this will be an upwards trend overall 🙂 because I will continuously add to my investments throughout the year, hopefully I can reach my target!
Have you received any dividends this month? Thanks for reading!
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I haven’t gone down the dividend route as haven’t felt I understood enough which to choose and why.
Do you have a formula for choosing your dividend stocks or do you concentrate on known brands?