Another month has passed and I’m a little behind in posting my passive income report. This month my family and I finally took a vacation to the snow, and though there was little snow to be found, the small cabin and mountain surroundings were a nice respite from the day-to-day grind that we love so much. We haven’t traveled as a family in so long, and everything was surprisingly expensive—particularly if you buy ordinary items at a mountain liquor store—next time I’ll be more prepared! We are generally so frugal that paying for a trip seemed exorbitantly expensive, yet somehow really necessary. No matter what angle I looked at it, I was glad that I am fortunate to have real income beginning to trickle in.
So without further ado, let’s get into it.
American Express
This month I made $56.27 in cash back. It was another heavy-use month on my dark blue card. It was a bit more spending than I’d like, but the beginning of the year is often an expensive time for us as we pay the bulk of our insurances during the first three or four months of the year. That cashback is such a nice bonus. You know I love the American Express card with its 6% back on groceries!
Tab Bank
Right now, my ultra high-interest savings account at Tab Bank is not so ultra-high. This month I made a grand total of .44 cents but there is an explanation. For one, I have not been spending on that card, nor have I been depositing money into the account as is necessary for the higher savings rate. Tab requires a monthly deposit and 15 debit card purchases of $5.00 or more to sink in that high-interest rate. Now, the thing is, during this part of the year I am using some of my savings to pay off insurance and federal, state, and property taxes so this is not the time that I’ll avail myself of the higher rate. Unfortunately, their interest rate has dropped as well—when I signed on with Tab over a year ago, the interest rate was 3%. It’s dropped to a little over 1% which is still good, but a bit of a disappointment. I’ve spoken before about searching for another bank with a higher rate, and they are out there, but right now I’m organizing my accounts and mulling over whether I’d like to put more cash into the stock market—or at the very least have it in my stock account ready for use in the event of a significant drop. I’m quickly seeing how lucrative the stock market can be, at the same time, we all know the dual nature of the stock market and the potential for havoc that it can bring.
Dividend Interest
This month I made a good bit on dividends and it really helps give me some perspective on why I am investing and how grateful I feel to have taken the initial risk to get this far. Below is a list of my regular account, along with the number of shares of stock I own, and the dividend payment for this month.
Wells Fargo Bank (WFC) 10 shares $1.00
Pfizer (PFE) 15 shares $5.85
Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) 10 shares $10.53
Global X SuperDividend US ETF (DIV) 3 Shares $.28
3M (MMM) 20 shares $29.60
McDonalds (MCD) 45 shares $58.05
Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. (MNR) 10 shares $1.80
Newell Brands (NWL) 356 shares $81.88
Realty Income (O) 40 shares $9.83
Unilever (UL) 10 shares $5.14
Flowers Foods (FLO) 30 shares $6.00
Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) 5 shares $2.51
STAG Industrial, Inc. (STAG) 10 shares $1.21
LTC Properties Inc. (LTC) 10 shares 1.90
Kohls Corporation 10 shares $2.50
LTC Properties, Inc (LTC) 10 shares $1.90
Invesco S&P 500 High Div Low Volatility ETF (SPHD) 50 shares $7.05
The total income from dividends in my regular account was $223.47.
Below are the dividends I earned in my Roth IRA account:
Wells Fargo Bank (WFC) 85 shares $8.50
3M (MMM) 10 shares $14.80
Global X SuperDividend US ETF (DIV) 3 shares .28
Newell Brands (NWL) 101 shares $23.23
The total earnings in March for my Roth IRA account was $ 49.92
My March totals are as follows:
American Express Cash Back: $56.57
Tab Bank: .44
Dividends: $223.47 and $49.42
For a Grand Total of: $329.90
To say that I am shocked by this amount is a real understatement. I never thought that I could change my income so drastically by the simple choices I make. I also need to emphasize that I am not a financial expert in any way—just a regular 53-year-old looking out for my family and our financial future. There are definitely other ways of approaching your retirement and other ways to invest, but I always love hearing how other people are doing it—especially the exact details. Give me numbers! In that way, I feel that I want to share how my investments are working for me.
Have a great week,
Andrea
Greening the Nest 
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