August 2021 Financial Update: Savings, Dividends, Options and Investing

August has flown by and the summer is almost over. It has been a hot month here. My finances have been hot too! It was a great month for dividends and the options trading was pretty good as well. The accounts continue to grow and my debt continues to down. Let’s check out how my month went!

Spending/Savings

Spending was up a little bit this month due to another unplanned expense. The engine in my lawn mower seized up so I wound up buying a new lawn mower. This is just a minor setback. Due to this unexpected expense my savings is down a little bit this month. The emergency fund was almost back up to size but this expense brought it back down a little. The emergency fund should be replenished in the next month or two.

Dividends/Options/Interest

This month I received $358.00 in dividends. This was a good month of dividends for me. Last year in August I received $182.32 in dividends, so I almost doubled the amount dividends received year over year. For the year, I have received $2,368.55 in dividends. Watching my dividends grow is exciting. I am looking forward to an even better month in September.

This month I made $340.88 in options premium. This is down from August 2020 when I made $398.05 in options premium. Despite it being down year over year, I consider it a good month of options trading. For the year I have collected $2,380.70 in options premium.

Interest income this month totaled $4.41. For the year I have received $68.56 in interest income.

For the month, I made $703.29 combined from dividends, options premium and interest. This is my best monthly total this year. Despite this being my best month, it is still well short of the $1,000 goal I set for myself at the beginning of the year. While it has become quite obvious that the goal I set for myself was not realistic, I am okay with that because I have I learned a lot along the way. I will use the knowledge that I have gained to improve and set more realistic goals in the future. Last August I made $580.37 in income from dividends and options premium so this was a nice year over year improvement of $122.92. The combined income from dividends, options premium and interest is up to $4,817.81 for the year.

Debt

The total amount of debt went down by $3,008.91 this month. For the year I paid down $19,438.58 in debt. This is well ahead of pace to reach my goal of paying down $25,000 in debt this year. I continue to balance paying down debt while also saving and investing.

Traditional IRA

The Traditional IRA finished the month at $119,948. This is up about $2,087 over last month. At the end August 2020 this account was at $93,074. This account is up by about $26,874 year over year. The estimated annual income is up over last month by $18 to $3,689. This account is now funded through dividends and options premium only. Below is chart showing the expected dividends for this account over the next year.

Roth IRA

The Roth IRA finished the month at about $825. This is up $126 over the previous month. The monthly contribution has been raised from $60 to $100. This was done because I received a raise at work. As I earn more I plan to increase my contributions to my investing accounts. This will help to avoid lifestyle creep. The estimated annual income from this account has increased by $4 over last month to $30 a month. Below is a chart showing the expected dividends over the next year.

401k

The 401k finished the month at about $8,792. This is up $459 over the previous month. This account is funded with bi-weekly contributions of about $177. In August of 2020 this account was at about $3,497. Year over year it is up by $5,295.

Taxable Account

The taxable brokerage account with M1 Finance finished the month at about $333. This is up about $33 over the previous month. This account is funded with a $25 monthly contribution. It is nice to see this account in the green this month after being red last month.

Cryptocurrency

This month I made a purchase through Lolli.com which increased the amount of bitcoin I own by a little bit. All of the bitcoin that I own has been through the rewards program with Lolli. The total amount of bitcoin I own will fluctuate until my most recent purchase clears. The “pending” will not become “available” for 90 days. This is done to make sure the purchase was not returned.

The total amount invested is now up to about $129,926. This is up about $2,716 over last month. At the end of August 2020 I had a total of about $96,571 invested. The total amount invested has increased by about $33,355 in the past year. You can see all of my portfolio positions by clicking on Portfolios in the menu or clicking on this link: https://bluecollarbill.com/portfolios/

My net worth is now up to about $57,521. This is up about $4,772 over the previous month. Last year, at the end of August my net worth was still negative at -$2,684. Year over year my net worth has increased by $60,205.

The progress continues. The spending and savings remains relatively in check despite some unexpected expenses the past few months. The income from dividends, options trading and interest continues to grow. Debt continues to decrease and the total amount invested continues to go up. That’s all I have for this month. Thanks for following along!

*Disclaimer – I am not a financial professional. The information shared here should not be considered financial advice. I am just a factory worker sharing my experience as I strive to achieve financial freedom. Before investing or making any financial decision do your own research and due diligence or consider seeking the advice of a financial and/or tax professional.

Here are some of the businesses that I use that I thought some of you might be interested in.

I use the free version on trackyourdividends.com. This is a quick an easy way for me to track my estimated annual income from dividends.

Lolli has a variety of stores that it is affiliated with and offers rewards for shopping at these stores. I use Lolli when I shop on Chewy and I get bitcoin as a reward. Who doesn’t want free bitcoin! If you are interested in Lolli and want to help support the blog here is my referral link: https://www.lolli.com/share/XP7gxDgqC4

I use M1 Finance for my taxable growth account. M1 Finance offers promotions for signing up. At the time of writing this post, the promotion is for $50. These promotions vary from time to time but is usually a $10 bonus. If you are interested M1 Finance and want to support the blog here is my referral link: https://m1.finance/ktIiFeOI5zDr

If you use the referral links listed above I could receive compensation. Please take the time to read the terms and conditions before signing up.