December 2016: Dividend Update!

    The final dividend update for 2016! Another quiet month of stable dividend income, coming out the same as the previous comparable month. With the help of my slightly larger Manulife position, the total dividends hit $104.36, nicely over the $100 mark!

November 2016: Dividend Update!

    Another quick update on a fairly calm and steady month of dividend income. Novembers only increase in dividend income was from a payout increase from the Royal Bank of Canada. And I am happy to accept another 80cents a quarter with no additional work on my part.

October 2016: Dividend Update!

    Just getting in a quick dividend update from October 2016. The first of a quarter is always makes for a good month of dividend income for me, with this months being no different. Had a slight increase from the previously comparable month due to a small fluctuation in the foreign exchange rate between Algonquin's USD dividend and Canadian funds which my portfolio trades in.

Recent(ish) Buy: Algonquin Power & Utilities

    In November I  made a small stock purchase, adding to an existing position in my portfolio. Using a market limit order, I bought 56 shares of Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) at the price of $10.94 per share. I continue to hold, buy and build up my position in this company as it has proven to continue to grow its operations, revenue and dividend over the past few years.

September 2016: Dividend Update

    My favourite update to post about, my dividend income! Not only is it among the easiest money to earn, but also the most fun to write about. And September made it even better with a new high water mark for its comparable month of dividends, with over $100 in passive income! With the additional shares of Manulife Financial helping to push it over the $100 mark.

August 2016: Dividend Update!

    August continued the steady stream of dividend income for me. This month it edged up a bit higher than the previously comparable month by $0.28. The increase in income is from both Pizza Pizza Royalty fund and the National Bank of Canada paying out higher.

   In just a little bit more time, I am hoping to have another dividend raise, or perhaps a new purchase to bump the second month of every quarter's dividend income to over $100.

July 2016: Income & Expenses

    Well, July is certainly long gone at this point since I am writing this post in October! Been rather busy the last few months and to be honest I have not been overly motivated or inspired to write. I have kept up with tracking my monthly income, expenses and dividends though. And I do intend to get back into the swing of things on my blog here, and on Twitter as well.

June 2016: Income & Expenses

   June is quite a ways behind us now, with summer in full swing now that August has begun! Either way, here is my income and expenses update for the month of June. Which all things considering went quite well for me. Now that I have been in my new job and position for a few months now, it is getting a lot easier and I am better able to help the customers who come to me. The only 'downside' is that at the end of June, and throughout a good portion of July I had not been getting as many hours as I would have liked, so my income from working is lower than usual, especially considering it was a triple pay month.

July 2016: Dividend Update!

    July is a great month for so many reasons; summer is in full swing with warm weather, the sun is out after 8pm and I received my highest month yet in dividend income! July beat out last April's payout by $12.46 on dividend increases and a weakening Canadian Dollar against the U.S Dollar alone. No extra effort on my part to earn it besides holding onto those shares.

June 2016: Dividend Update!

    June continued the steady pace of dividends being paid out into my brokerage account. The third month of every quarter has so far consistently been my lowest month for dividends, with mostly just my monthly dividend payers. Although I am slowly working on that with the addition of Manulife Financial to my portfolio this year, and more recently adding again to the position during the Brexit market 'discount'.

Recent Buy! June 2016

    I recently took advantage of the Brexit situation, where the people of the United Kingdom voted on a referendum to completely leave the European Union, with a winning vote of 52%. (BBC) So when North American markets opened on June 24th, they followed the trend of every other major stock market and plummeted. Global markets fell roughly around 3%, and wiped out a whooping 2 trillion  in wealth around the world!

May 2016: Income and Expenses

    The month of May was a fairly quiet one for me. With lower than average spending and income as well. And because of this I did not get to save quite as much cash as I would have like, however I am happy that I still managed to do so. At least I got to enjoy some extra leisure time.

May 2016: Dividend Update!

    May made for a steady month of dividend income.With very little in terms of changes to my dividend income from the previously comparable month. My total dividend income for May was $98.83, a mere $0.34 less than last time. Nearly breaking the $100 mark once again!

Blog Update! New Picture

   

    Just a quick post showing off my new Twitter and blog profile picture. It is a wonderful piece designed and created by the artist The Art of Justice, you may find on Facebook, which also has some of her other works. Definitely check her out if you are thinking of getting a new profile picture, and want it to be completely original.

Portfolio Update! May 29th, 2016

    It has been a few months since my last Portfolio Update at the end of January. Since then I have made additional purchases to Pembina Pipeline Corp., and Toronto Dominion bank, adding 25 and 14 shares respectively. I have also done some trading, with selling and buying some of my Veresen shares.

    The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) has also been doing quite a bit better overall since its horrible start to 2016 and is now positive for the year so far. Which has reflected quite nicely on the total value of my portfolio. For the first time I am now consistently sitting above $35,000!

Recent Buy! April 2016

    Following up on my Watchlist post, I went ahead and added to my position in Algonquin Power and Utilities (AQN). I have held shares in this company since first starting my portfolio, by year end it will be 3 years! I still consider this stock as a long-term hold, and is the largest single holding in my portfolio, with a weighting of 14.87%. Which is from adding more shares and the stocks steady appreciation in value over time.

Recent Buy & Sell! April 2016

    There had been a bit of volatility in the markets a couple of weeks ago. In particular with my holding of Veresen (VSN). In a single day it jumped up from $8.87 a share to $9.51, roughly 8%! So I took the opportunity to sell a portion of my shares. I sold 71 shares at $9.42, which lowered my monthly dividend income by $5.91, and $70.97 annually.

April 2016: Dividend Update!

    April provided me with a solid month of dividend income.Where monthly distributions continue to be the base of my passive income, and a few of my larger quarterly payers such as Algonquin Power, Bank of Nova Scotia and BCE contributed big boosts to my income.

March 2016: Income & Expenses

    March was a busy month for me, between working, sorting out my taxes. Applying for and figuring out my workplace health benefits and dealing with multiple computer issues. Overall though, even with having to buy a lot of extra computer parts I am very happy with my end results for the month.

Next Buy Watchlist: April 2016

    While I have been rather busy lately with some recent buys, mainly building up and cost averaging down my position in Manulife Financial, not once, but twice! Adding to Pembina Pipeline as well, as my most recent buy in TD Bank. I have been buying stocks and building up my portfolio while neglecting to post about those stocks which are on my radar. Sometimes it is due to seeing an opportunity crop up and I go for it, or being just a bit too busy to post, or not having any particular stock in mind.

    This time around since my last buy of TD I have a definite purpose for my next buy. My holdings in the Financial sector, and oil related companies has become more heavily concentrated than I would like. In part due to buying more of those stocks as they sank in value, and have now rebounded a bit resulting in their further weighting in my portfolio.