Expense Report for July 2014 and Dividend Calendar

Sushi@Asia One 

I hope the above picture doesn't make you hungry but that shrimp tempura is delicious. There is always room for Sushi in the wine/dine section on my expense report. Here is a typical month of expenses for the Mongrel household. Keep in mind that some of these are split between my significant other and I.  Also keep in mind that I rounded the cost of expenses to the nearest dollar. So these figures are all estimates.

Expense	Cost
Rent	$250
Dish	$39
Electric	$19
Groceries	$258
Utility Gas	$45
Car fuel	$122
Cable Internet	$37
Wine/Dine	$104
Phone Service	$48
PAYT Trash bags	$10
Auto Insurance	$85
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu	$90
Student Loan	$75
Credit Cards	$123
Total	$1305

*In the future I will be adding my expense report as a part of my Dividend & Interest Earnings posts. 

I have created two dividend calendars which show the total dividends I will be receiving for each month. You can find these calendars on the right side of my page under the title marked Dividend Calendars. You can also click Loyal3 Dividend Calendar or Mongrel Dividend Calendar . I am constantly trying to come up with new ways to keep track of all my finances which will definitely make my job easier when tax season comes around. I also like to share new ideas with the readers and I hope everyone likes the new changes that I have made. 

Update:
I forgot to mention I completed my first goal for the year. Thanks Tawcan for reminding me of this. I no longer have an outstanding credit card balance!!!

2014 Goals

• Pay off all credit card debt (completed 8/7/2014)

I Got Nominated ... Be Very Affraid!

A Dividend Dream was kind enough to nominate me for a Liebster Award.  My nominations will be listed below of some great blogs who are very deserving of this award. Here are the questions I was asked to answer:





1. Was there, at any time, a moment where you had doubts about your investing strategy?
My first buy was Sony (SNE) for a few reasons. First a friend of mind convinced me that it was a great investment before the PS4 came out in the states. Shortly after I bought 45 shares the price dropped over 12%. The strategy of listening to friends was very doubtful after that.

2. What type of vacation do you prefer?
A hiking vacation in North Conway, NH.

3. What is the best advice you could give to someone unfamiliar with investing in stock markets?
Please read stock investing for Dummies. It helped me learn a ton of information. It was the perfect book for the absolute beginner.

4. What kind of other blogs do you follow on a regular basis (financial or otherwise) and why do you like it so much?
I follow a wide range of blogs but I really like the DGI blogs because I am following a similar strategy. I like seeing what other blogs are buying and how they are progressing.

5.What is your favorite meal or cuisine?
Sushi has been my favorite meal because we now have a great and affordable sushi bar close to my home.

My NOMINATIONS (no particular order):
1. Money Sense
2. Dividend Epiphany
3. Div Saver
4. DG Machine
5. Dividend Ladder

My questions for my nominees:
1. What was your worst investment?
2. What was your best investment?
3. What is your favorite alcoholic or non alcoholic drink?
4. What is your favorite city and why?
5. Which stock would you hold forever?

Thanks again for this great award!

 

Blog Update - Top 5 Commentators and Popular Posts

Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, CT.




I want to thank all the readers who have reached out and took the time to comment on my blog at some point. The ongoing support has been great and I look forward to sharing my journey to financial independence with everyone. I wanted to find a way to give back to those of you who consistently support my efforts by adding a section on my page labeled "Top 5 Commentators" On a monthly basis the top 5 commentators will be mentioned in this section. The top 5 commentator section will help your site become more attractive to future readers. Secondly I added a top 5 popular posts section. This will help new and current readers see what posts were viewed the most. I think both features are great for the site and readers. Once again thanks for the support! 

Recent Buys, 12 New Blogsters, and Watch List Update

Second Beach, Middletown, RI.

1. After a busy 60-hour work week, I have a few updates to share with you. First I decided it was time to update my Loyal portfolio. Every week I plan on making a few purchases because it is free to trade. I am able to diversify much better when I can put $50 into a few companies each week. I would rather spend $1000 on four quality companies vs. putting all of the money into one company at a time. However there are many companies I would like to invest in that are not offered on Loyal3 such as AFL, KMI, PG, O, and T. These are great companies that I plan on investing into when the time is right. For now I am investing in other high quality dividend paying stocks. Below is a list of recent purchases that I have made. 

Time Warner (TWX)

Shares Owned

0.7014

Share Price

$87.23

Total Value

$61.18

Coca-Cola (KO)

Shares Owned

2.3773

Share Price

$42.43

Total Value

$100.87

Wal-Mart (WMT)

Shares Owned

1.9744

Share Price

$77.09

Total Value

$152.21

McDonald's (MCD)

Shares Owned

1.5003

Share Price

$98.99

Total Value

$148.51

Unilever (UL)

Shares Owned

3.3117

Share Price

$45.02

Total Value

$149.09

2. Once again I have come across a bunch of new blogs that I enjoy reading on my spare time. Some of these I have been reading for a long time but I never got around to adding them to my list. You can find a ton of great information about stocks, budgeting, finances, real estate, etc. in these blogs. Before I got into investing I use to read Yahoo Finance, Motley Fool, and MSN. Some of the information on those sites was very misleading and that's why I only read the great blogs that are now available on my "Blogsters List". These people write about their own personal investments and journey. It's great to see everyone progressing as the months go by and you don't really get that when you read the articles on MSN, Yahoo, or Motley Fool. So here are the 10 new blogsters that made it to my list this month. I apologize if I missed anyone. If you have a blog and would like to be added just send me a comment and I would be glad to add you to this list. 

Happy Healthy and Wealthy Girl

All About Interest

Living at Home

The Conservative Income Investor

Dividend Diplomats

Dividend Growth Stocks

Wallet Engineers

Mr. Money Mustache

Retire Before Dad

Financially Integrated

Pollies Dividend

Dividend Life

3. It's been a few months since I have updated my watch list. I have decided that it was time to update this list because some of the stocks on there were not so attractive to me anymore. Some of the stocks on my watch list were also already on my portfolio so I decided to replace those with other stocks on my radar. Some of my recent purchases include KO, MCD, PEP, AAPL, UL, and TWX. I decided to update my watch list with BUD, T, DIS, BRK.B, OMI, BAX, DE, and SBUX. 

What's on your watch list radar these days?