The first dividend report of 2020! Woohoo 🙂 I love tracking these and it’s the start of my fifth year of investing. I can’t believe I’ve been so consistent at something for so long! Although, consistencey is the key when it comes to building dividend income. Slow and steady will win the race 🙂 Five years ago I had yet to receive my first dividend payment, so this just shows what a little time and patience can achieve! Although the markets have been quite volatile lately, I just need to sit it out and continue to follow with my plan. I wonder if Brexit will have any significance to the markets over the next year. I suppose only time will tell!
See also:Â Dividend Income
Some months are so much better than others as the income received varies so much. This month is actually lower than January 2019. The only reason for that is one of my holdings is now being paid out at the beginning of February instead of January so it skews the figures slightly. Although I need to keep an eye on the market and the companies I am invested in, it is fairly passive in its nature. I have it set so that the dividends are kept in my isa and so I can reinvest them where I see appropriate immediately.
Eventually, the aim 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, I am hoping to say we can do this! In fact, I’m sure we will be able to at some point, if we continue on the same path. It will be so exciting when we get to pay our fixed expenses with passive income. That’s the dream, right there!
The dividend income received in January 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. This feels a little low, but I still need to remember it’s an okay start to 2020.
Dividends received in January:
GlaxoSmithKline – £25.65
Halfords – £6.18
Marks and Spencer – £9.75
Next – £11.50
Pets At Home – £7.50
Total: £60.58
So, as I said, this is lower than January last year. However, it’s a good start! This would pay our water bill for the month 🙂 At the moment, all dividend income received is reinvested, but it’s nice to know that we could cover a smaller bill using this. Because my holdings are within my stocks and shares ISA with Hargreaves Lansdown, I don’t pay any tax on them either.
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 2020 is £1,600 received. As of now, I feel like this is a massive aim for us; it’ll be tricky to reach but I am going to continue to invest with my strategy and hope. To get that means an average of £133 a month, which as you can see I’m a long way off!  Here’s a visual look at my dividend income for the past four years, with January 2020 being added as the red line:
Have you received any dividends this month? Â Thanks for reading!Â
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You’re doing so well 🙂 I’m looking forward to getting where you are in terms of dividend payments! With the payments which are less than £10, what do you do with the money, as I think with H and L, you need a minimum of £10 dividend payout before they reinvest the money to buy shares? Thanks 🙂