September is over which means another dividend income post 
I can’t believe that we’re only three months away from 2020. Doesn’t that seem like a milestone somehow? It always seems like it will be a good time to start afresh. I have some big aims when it comes to dividend income and investing, so I am going to try and keep on track as much as I can. We shall see what the next three months brings; I am hopeful that the £1000 aim I have set myself for dividend income this year will be met.
The one thing I have continued to try and do this month – and succeeded – is to not check my ISA every day. The reason behind this is that I am a dividend growth investor, so the amount my shares are worth day to day is not particularly useful information. The only time when it really matters is the day I plan to sell. I know that it’s a good idea to keep an eye on things, but I was becoming a bit obsessive about checking every day. There’s just no need! So I really took a step back from checking this month which I actually felt better about in the end. As always, my holdings seem to go up and down fairly regularly. Especially those in which I have in individual companies, as opposed to the funds I hold. When I first began investing, I bought into individual companies first. That’s incredibly high risk! So yes, some of those are quite volatile at the moment.
This is my fourth year of dividend investing, already. I can’t believe it! And one of the only things I regret is not starting sooner. If you’re putting off investing, because of the risk or thinking you don’t have enough to start, then please do. You can start with £25 a month into a low risk fund and go from there. It will add up over time and make a difference. You can reinvest as well, so if you’re thinking about starting to invest, please do!
See also: Dividend Income
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. 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. I am quietly confident that we will be able to do this, in the long run. If I can average £500 a month (!!) then that would pay for a big chunk of our fixed expenses each month. It seems like we are a long way off this in terms of dividend income. Will keep plodding along!
Dividends received in September:
Aviva – £19.00
BT Group – £53.90
Lloyds Bank – £4.48
Standard Life – £21.90
Vanguard FTSE 100 Index – £94.62
Total: £193.90
Look at that! Just a little under £200 in one month. Amazing progress. I know that this might not seem a lot to some, but this is huge. In fact, this means that September 2019 is my second biggest monthly payout to date, only December 2108 beats this! In terms of bills, this would cover our council tax and gas and electricity bill. At the moment, all dividend income received is reinvested, so this will be kept until I add some more savings to buy more shares. 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. If I show you this graph which shows year on year growth, it looks good:
The orange lines are for 2019 – you can see the difference in some months already. January was slightly lower but February was much more, as was May’s dividend income. Then there were three months where the income was lower than the previous year. However, look at September’s one – the orange line is so much higher than the previous year (yellow) which is amazing to see. October and November are small paying months, so here’s hoping that December finishes off the year well.
My dividend income aim for 2019 is £1,000 received. At the end of September, I am up to £778.86 which is not bad. However, I am now definitely behind where I should be at this point. So, some catching up to do! In fact, I am wondering whether the £1000 received might be a stretch in the end. We shall see I might just scrape past!
Have you received any dividends this month? Thanks for reading!
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I’ve heard of dividends but don’t know much about them.
It sounds like you are doing well. Good luck with reaching your target x
Thanks!
Congrats on the great month – keep it up! 📈👍
-Divcome
Thanks!