October has been an interesting month. I was involved in a car accident a little over week ago. I walked away a little sore, but otherwise physically okay. My car did not manage as well as I did. I am still waiting on the insurance company to determine if the car is fixable or a total loss. This has had a minor impact on my finances for the month of October. A deposit for a rental car increased spending. I did not make a car payment this month (I am way ahead on payments) so debt did not go down as much as planned. The good news is that the markets rebounded from a rough September and had a strong October. This was good for the investing accounts and my net worth. Let’s check out the details of how my month went!
Spending/Savings
Spending was kept inline with the budget this month for the most part. There was an unexpected expense of a deposit for a rental car but I will get that money back later. The emergency fund is back up to the desired level.
Dividends/Options/Interest
This month I received $205.37 in dividends. October is slow month for dividends for me. In October of 2020 I received $192.81 in dividends. Year over year the increase in dividends was $12.56 or about 6.5%. For the year, I have received $2,955.61 in dividends.
This month I collected $430.29 in options premium. This was almost a $100 increase over October 2020 when I collected $330.45 in options premium. For the year I have collected $3,020.54 in options premium.
Income from interest totaled $0.74 this month. As of this writing on 10/31/2021, the interest in my main account has not been posted which explains why interest income is down significantly this month. Year to date I have received $74.63 in interest income.
The total amount received this month from dividends, options premium and interest was $636.40. This is still way below the $1,000 a month goal that I set for myself at the beginning of the year. This is an improvement over October 2020 when I received a combined $523.26. Year to date I have received $6,050.78 of income from dividends, options premium and interest.
Debt
The total amount of debt went down by $1,360.49 this month. For the year, I have paid down $21,872.84 of debt. I am still ahead of pace to reaching my goal of paying off $25,000 of debt this year.
Traditional IRA
The Traditional IRA finished the month at $119,056.79. This is up $3,920.79 over last month. Year over year the account is up about $29,598 from October 2020 when it was at $89,458.91. The projected annual dividend income (PADI) dropped -$106 from last month to $3,601. The dividend yield in this account also dropped by about 0.2% from the previous month. This was due to the selling of my position in IBM. About half of the proceeds from that sale were reinvested into LMT and VTI which pay significantly lower dividend yields. The other half is currently being used to sell cash secured puts. While seeing the PADI drop is disappointing, I believe pulling the money out of IBM and reinvesting it elsewhere will lead to better long term growth.
Roth IRA
The Roth IRA finished the month at about $1,139. The is up $258 over the previous month which includes $200 of contributions this month. The PADI increased by $11 this month up to $47 from $36 the previous month.
401k
The 401k finished the month at about $9,563. This is up $638 over the previous month which includes the bi-weekly contributions of $177. Year over year this account is up about $5,526 from October 2020 when it was at $4,037.
Taxable Account
The taxable brokerage account finished the month at about $365. This is up about $38 over last month which includes the monthly contribution of $25.
Cryptocurrency
My small position in bitcoin grew to a little over $28 this month. This is up about $9 over last month. I did make another purchase through lolli.com this month which accounts for about $2 of the increase.
Total Investments
The total amount invested is now up to $130,152. This is up $4,864 over the previous month. Year over year the total amount invested is up $34,460 from October 2020. All of the positions in my portfolio can be seen by clicking here or on Portfolio in the menu.
Net Worth
My net worth is now up to $61,105. This is up $6,994 over last month. In October 2020 my net was still negative at about -$2,578. Year over year my net worth has grown by $63,683.
Conclusion
September was a rough month for the finances but October was a strong month. The accounts all grew. Debt went down. Net worth went up. All in all it was a good month for the finances. We will have to see how November shakes out. I have some uncertainties due to the car accident. Will I be shopping for a new car in November? Right now I do not know. We will have to see how it all unfolds. That’s it for this month. Thanks for following along!
On a side note, I have added a Recommended Resources in the menu. It currently is a work in progress. It will contain blogs and YouTube channels that I enjoy as well as some sites that I use. I hope you take the time to check it out.
*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.
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 $30. These promotions vary from time to time but is usually a $10 bonus. If you are interested in M1 Finance and want to support the blog here is my referral link: https://m1.finance/ktIiFeOI5zDr
Varo Bank is one of the banks that I use. From time to time the bank will run promotions. Currently, you can earn up to 3% on your savings with Varo, if you meet certain requirements. If you are interested in checking it out, here is my referral link: https://bank.varomoney.com/signup?r=William360
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.
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.
Sorry to hear about your accident and hopefully the insurance company comes through. Glad for the most part you are physically ok but even muscle soreness can be a pain to deal with.
Looks like you are well into the $6K in income between dividends and options. Progress on your net worth is moving a great pace and looking forward to future progress.
Thanks for the concern. My shoulder is still a little bruised and sore from the seat belt but is getting better.
I am happy so far with the income growth I have been able to achieve from dividends and options trading. Since I got such a late start, trading options is helping me catch up. I also plan for it to be a part of my income in retirement.
My net worth has grown much faster than I expected. It is amazing what happens when you put the effort into paying down debt and investing regularly.
Thanks for following along on my journey.