Time for another one of my favourite updates of the month; my dividend income update. I still get a little thrill of excitement when I log into my ISA and see that I have received another dividend payment, no matter how small it is. Just for owning a tiny part of a company and investing in them, believing in their ideals means we get paid dividends, and hopefully for many years to come! This is the first monthly report of 2017 and I am excited to see where the year takes us for dividend investing.
With the individual holdings I currently own in my stocks and shares ISA, I will get 72 mini pay checks a year. For doing nothing! Instead of the one monthly payment I receive for my day job, I’m getting over seventy instead. Seventy! That’s more than one a week 🙂 Adding a slow but steady income stream by investing in dividend payments has been one of the best decisions I have made so far.
The dividend income received in January is a combination of dividends from shares and payments or from 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. The majority of mine seem to pay out within the first six months of the year. 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.
As part of our long term plans for early retirement, we need enough money in savings and/or income to make sure we can live on a budget long term. I am now counting on the small income stream that will come from dividend payments. The sooner we can get different income streams up and running, the sooner we’ll hit our aims!
Dividends received in January:
Brown Group – £8.51
GlaxoSmithKline – £10.45
Halfords – £5.83
HL Multi-Manager Income – £0.38
Marks and Spencer – £6.80
Next – £10.60
Pets At Home – £3.75
Premier Monthly Income – £0.62
Total: £46.94
Look at that! My first report for dividend income for 2017 and it’s my highest one to date. January last year, I received zero. Look at the difference one year makes. In terms of paying bills, this amount would almost cover our water rates bill for the month. Or, it would cover both of our mobile phone bills for the month. It would be great to say each month that my dividend income covers some of my monthly reoccurring payments.
As I wrote about the effect of the magic snowball, mine is beginning to gain a tiny spec of momentum. It all starts somewhere. 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.
My dividend income aim for 2017 is £300 received. At the end of January, I have made a great start! I am already 15% of the way there, in one month. Although there are some months throughout the year where there is little paid, the overall trend will still be upwards. I can’t wait 🙂
Have you received any dividends this month? Thanks for reading!
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Hi, lovely blog I really enjoy reading it. I was wandering, do you reinvest your dividends and do you have any index funds? I invest in vanguard lifestrategy but I’m thinking of adding some investment trusts. I like the idea of several little paychecks coming in :). Thanks, G.
I do reinvest my dividends and I hold four different funds. If you click on the portfolio tab at the top, you can see which ones I hold 🙂
This is amazing, and really interesting! So is the next step putting more into the ones that are doing well?