Robinhood Buys: 8/31/2021

 

One last round to close out the month

AT&T (T): $2

Kinder Morgan (KMI): $2

Sprague Resources (SRLP): $2

VF Corp (VFC): $2

AGNC: $2

Hormel (HRL): $2

Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU): $2

Chevron (CVX): $2

Lumen Technologies (LUMN): $2

Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $2

A lot of E-Trade positions made their way over into the Robinhood wing with this round.  Mostly the ones that I have been averaging down on the past couple of months.  This will allow me to satisfy that desire while giving my E-Trade account a bit more flexibility.  

AGNC was an interesting case.  Based on E-Trade's cost average, the price was lower; but based on Robinhood's, it was a bit higher.  So that one is simultaneously a success and a failure on that front.  

The dividend powerhouse that is Sprague Resources also makes its way over.  I haven't really done too much with that because it's one of the chonkier positions I have.  Over here on Robinhood, though, it has some room to grow.  It'll be interesting to see if the DRIP has the same impact here that it does over there.

Robinhood Buys: 8/24/2021

 

Pizza, computers, and defense.  

Papa John's (PZZA): $3

Domino's (DPZ): $3

Yum! (YUM): $3

Lockheed Martin (LMT): $3

General Dynamics (GD) : $3

Intel (INTC): $3

Apple (AAPL): $3

Microsoft (MSFT): $3

IBM (IBM): $3

Hewlett Packard (HPQ): 

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The Pros and Cons of Working Two Jobs

 Even before the pandemic, one of the great lamentations that you would hear about the economy was that people had to work two jobs.  Well, as someone who does work two jobs, I have to say that it isn't without its perks.  There are downsides, to be sure, but I thought that we could bring some perspective to the issue.

Pros

- More paychecks

One of the best ways to mitigate the struggle of living paycheck to paycheck is to increase the number of paychecks.  Bi-weekly pay sucks.  I've only had to put up with it briefly for certain stretches of time, but I never liked it when I did.  Weekly pay is better, but with two jobs, you can find yourself getting money coming in much more frequently than even that.

It makes it easier to save and to budget.  I'm not high income, but because of fairly frequent cash infusions, I was able to put myself in a position where I'm not living paycheck to paycheck.  I budget paycheck to paycheck, but there is a difference there.  Why, I can even pay an unexpected $400 bill (just did today, since we're on the topic.)

It also allows you to feel like you have more momentum, as you have more opportunities to make money moves; whether it be making a payment on debt, tucking money away in a savings account for an emergency fund, or even investing it.

- Fall back position

Let's say one of your jobs cuts your hours, or even worse, lays you off; having that second job gives you a safety net to help get you through the rough patch.  Even if you can't pick up extra hours, it does give you something to work with to keep things going.  It might just slow the bleed, but that can still be a difference maker in that situation.

- Escape hatch

On a similar note, let's say one of your jobs is really starting to get to you and you want out.  That second employment can act as what both UBI advocates and dividend investors call "FU Money".  You have a certain degree of leverage that you wouldn't have with one sole employer.

- Variety

The work week can feel like a slog, but having two jobs can (oddly enough) mitigate that.  You're in different environments, doing different things.  It actually helps quite a bit.  Sure, it's largely psychological, but the difference is still palpable.  One gives you something of a break from the other.  Even if you're doing 6-7 day work weeks, it's still less exhausting than if you were to do it all at one place. 

Cons

- No time

As noted above, with two jobs, you're likely going to be doing 6-7 day weeks.  It doesn't really leave a lot of downtime.  You'll definitely fall behind on shows and reading.  Down time will be at a premium and you'll have to savor what you can get.

- Tug of War

If you're good at both jobs, you might find both jobs vying for your time.  You could argue that this is a good thing, but the feeling of being pulled in two different directions is less than stellar, to be sure.  It can also be exasperating, especially when it happens on those rare days you have off.

- Possible double booking

When working multiple jobs, you run the risk of being scheduled at both places at the same time.  I generally try to maintain a "one job a day" stance, but it doesn't always hold up that way.  Sometimes, employers forget about your availability, need help due to a last minute circumstance, or just ignore it in the hopes that you happen to be free at that specific time in this instance.  

As I noted above, if one job cuts hours, the other can pick them up.  This can be a good thing, but it can also potentially result in getting stuck in this situation. 

Conclusion

Working multiple jobs isn't always the easiest thing in the world.  However, it most certainly has perks that can't be ignored.  It might not be for everyone, but I don't think that it should be painted with the negative connotation that it frequently does.  

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Robinhood Buys: 8/17/2021

 

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $2

Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM): $2

PepsiCo (PEP): $2

Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI): $2

Realty Income (O): $2

Vanguard US REIT Fund (VNQ): $2

General Dynamics (GD): $2

Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG): $2

Verizon (VZ): $2

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG): $2

Smaller round this time, but still did OK.  In any case, though, anything is better than nothing.

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Expanding the Robinhood Buy Batches

 While the Snowbirds have not returned quite yet, we are fast approaching "season".  With their return comes the return of my more regimented buy system when it comes to stock purchases on Robinhood.  The free for all was fun, but I'm kind of looking forward to going back to the old rotation.  Still, with so many positions to hit, and only so many weeks in a month, I've decided to kick things up a notch and expand the roster, as it were.  This will also help move the needle just a little bit quicker.

The old rotation was thus

Round 1: Vanguard ETF's

Round 2: Dividend Diplomats "Core" Positions (T,ED,JNJ,TGT,MCD,PG,PEP,EMR,MMM)

Round 3: SBUX,CPB,VZ, O, SDIV, DON, SPHD,AGNC,STAG,MAIN,QYLD    Mostly monthly payers, along with a couple of other positions for extra flavor.  

Round 4: Wild Card: Anything I wanted, repeats, bolstering other positions, or adding new positions.

The new rotation will be as follows

Round 1: Vanguard ETF's + SCHD & DGRO   

Still keeping it in the ETF ball park. These two new positions are held in equal regard to VYM; as such, I see no problem putting more into them on  a regular basis.

Round 2: Dividend Diplomats Core Positions + 1 Vanguard ETF

The 10 slots per round thing has been working pretty well the past couple of months.  With those ETF's being as good as they are, it seems like a no brainer to use that to round out this batch to an even 10. 

Round 3: SBUX,CPB,VZ, O, SDIV, DON, SPHD,AGNC,STAG,MAIN,QYLD +SJW, LMT, XOM

3 new positions are being added to this batch.  With most of the monthlies being bought at a lower rate, I'm able to justify packing this batch out a bit more than I usually do. 

Round 4: Wild Card

Not really much I can change here.  I don't think I had a set number of buys before, but again, I'm going to be sticking to the 10 slot system. It makes for a nice round number and it allows more positions to move.

This has been an interesting experiment.  This wing of my investments is actually playing a larger role than one would think and it completely demolishes one of the more prominent narratives you're likely to come across on social media.. As an aside, the portfolio itself recently crossed a minor, but still notable, milestone.  I'm definitely looking forward to seeing things progress as we kick things into the next gear.

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Robinhood Buys: 8/10/2021

 

Emerson Electric (EMR): $3

Intel (INTC): $3

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): $3

Apple (AAPL): $3

AT&T (T): $3

Microsoft (MSFT): $3

Lockheed (LMT): $3

IBM (IBM): $3

ConEd (ED): $3

Hewlett Packard (HPQ): $3

No ETF's this time around.  That doesn't happen too often.  Still made some good additions, though, I think.  The buys covered a wide range, though tech did dominate.  No new positions, just another round of touching on already existing ones.  I did try to hit some that I haven't in a while, though, so they felt new.

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July 2021 Dividend Income: Curve Ball

 2021 continues to fly by, as we're already into August.  This, of course, means that Christmas is just around the corner.  In the meantime, though, we have dividends to log.  Let's get right to it.

Invesco High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (SPHD): $0.05 

PepsiCo (PEP): $1.34 (+$0.14 QoQ, +$0.30 YoY)

Domino's (DPZ): $0.02

Coca Cola (KO): $0.85 (+$-0.01 QoQ)

ViacomCBS (VIAC): $0.48 (+$0.24 QoQ)

Kimberly Clark (KMB): $1.15 (+$0.01 QoQ)

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO): $0.17 (+$0.03 QoQ)

Iron Mountain (IRM): $3.54 (+$0.06 QoQ, +$0.29 YoY)

AGNC: $0.33 ( +$0.02 QoQ, +$0.19 YoY)

GlobalXSuperdividend (SDIV): $0.04 (+$0.01 QoQ)

Franklin Resources (BEN): $2.42 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$0.46 YoY)

Leggett & Platt (LEG): $0.44 (+$0.03 QoQ)

Realty Income (O): $1.09 (+$0.04 QoQ, +$0.11 YoY, +$0.01 from last month)

Main Street Capital (MAIN): $0.02 (+$0.01 QoQ)

Stag Industrial (STAG): $0.02 (+$0.01 QoQ)

Best Buy (BBY): $5.05 (+$0.03 QoQ, +$1.17 YoY)

Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD): $0.03 (+$0.02 QoQ)

Armanino Foods of Distinction (AMNF) $0.30 (+$0.04 QoQ, +$0.11 YoY)

Wisdom Tree (DON): $0.01

Publix : $16.74

That brings the sub-total to $34.09.  Yeah, Publix paid its dividend a bit early.  The difference was only a couple of days, but it still throws things off quite a bit.  In the grand scheme it doesn't matter, but the quarterly and annual numbers are going to be a bit wonky going forward.  There is one other side effect that you'll notice later that just adds to the weirdness.  This also means that the next mid-quarter post is going to be a bit lackluster. There's no chance of crossing the $50 threshold, though it does give me a bit more time to boost up positions to ensure that I do it on the next go around.

Armanino also threw in another dividend increase, which is always nice to see  

Over in the 401K, the Baird Aggregate Bond fund threw in $0.94.

All in all, the grand dividend total comes to $35.03.  Sure, it's kind of a fluke, but for now, it's a good number.

Interest threw in $2.39

July was an interesting month as far as purchases go.  There weren't any for the first two weeks, then I came back in force.  You can read about the Robinhood buys here, here, here, and here.  Over on E-Trade, I made single share buys of AT&T (T), SpartanNash (SPTN), Kinder Morgan (KMI), AGNC, and Lumen Technologies (LUMN).  Have to average down where you can.

In other fiscal news, the ATM machine at my bank ate my card.  So, while I waited for the replacement, I switched the recurring bills that were set to automatically charge my account through said card to my credit card, which gives me money back.  That bill is going to be a lot bigger, and I'll have to be mindful of the available credit at points, but I am looking forward to hitting that $25 threshold more frequently than I have been.  Really, though, the monthly expenses remain the same, I'm just lumping a bunch of them together and getting money back.  I was annoyed when it first happened, but in the long run, it works out in my favor.

July was a pretty strong month overall.  It is kind of a shame to have the wind cut from next month's posts's sails, but it is what it is.  I'll just have to use the added window of time to make sure that November's numbers are just that much more impressive. Onward and upward, as they say.

 

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