Bert’s Quarterly Goals Review – Q2 2015

My goodness, we are halfway through 2015 and man has it been a fun ride.  The second quarter was a lot of fun and I felt like the market presented some great opportunities for dividend investors to take advantage of, whether the market had a general pullback from fundamentals or due to the most-recent saga in the everlasting Greek saga.   With all the purchases we had, I moved that much closer to accomplishing my goals in 2015 and I closed the gap on some of my largest, most difficult goals.   Now that the quarter is over, I wanted to take some time to review my progress and see where I stand and if any adjustments need to be made before it is too late.

goals

Continue reading

Bert’s April Savings Rate Summary

This has been the busiest month for me, by far, since Lanny and I began the Dividend Diplomats’ Savings Challenge last year.  I found myself having many new inflows and outflows this month, which can be both a good and a bad thing.  The question is, with all of this new activity, was I still able to achieve a savings rate of 60% of this month?

Savings Rate

Continue reading

Lanny’s April Income and Expense Summary

As you have come to see from us Diplomats – each month we share our savings from the income and expense we have endured during the previous month.  Our goal is to achieve 60% savings rate in an ever inflationary lifestyle from advertisers, television, peers and co workers.  Though it is difficult, we know the combination of being frugal, saving and investing allows us to achieve our financial freedom goals faster, by still enjoying the benefits of life itself.  Was I able to hit 60% this month?  Let’s check out my income and expense summary from April!

september-rally

Continue reading

Bert’s March Savings Rate Summary

Each month Lanny and I challenged ourselves to save at least 60% of our income.   This high savings rate will allow us to jump-start our dividend income snowball by allowing us to invest as much as possible now and allow the power of compounding interest to do the rest!  Not only that, but I have found this exercise very beneficial as it allows me to take a hard look at my expenses each month and help me trim the “fat” of my expense outflow.   I have had a very successful beginning to 2015, as I was able to save 60% of my income in both January and February.  Can I keep the streak alive in March? Let’s dive into my March savings rate summary and find out!

Piggy Bank

Continue reading

Lanny’s March Income & Expense Summary

As you have come to see from us Diplomats – each month we share our savings from the income and expense we have endured during the previous month.  Our goal is to achieve 60% savings rate in an ever inflationary lifestyle from advertisers, television, peers and co workers.  Though it is difficult, we know the combination of being frugal, saving and investing allows us to achieve our financial freedom goals faster, by still enjoying the benefits of life itself.  Was I able to hit 60% this month?  Let’s check out my income and expense summary from March!

Continue reading

Why I Changed Jobs

In my last article, I hinted that I recently made a big decision in my life, and boy was it a difficult one.  As the title of this article suggests, I recently changed jobs for a variety of reasons.   The decision was not an easy one by any stretch, and I had many conversations with my fiance, family, and Lanny about the move.  But ultimately, the pros outweighed the cons and handed my boss my resignation letter. Just like that, I closed one chapter of my life and began writing a new one.  Here is some insight into why I changed jobs.

Continue reading

Bert’s Quarterly Goal Review

We are done with one-quarter in 2015 folks.  As Lanny mentioned, time flies by!  These last three months have been a whirlwind for me, personally, professionally, and investing wise.   Between helping plan a wedding, working a busy season, making some stock purchases and other big decisions (you guys will know soon enough!), the first three months were a giant blur.   But these are all great events and I have set myself up to have a very memorable 9 months of 2015!  This year I told myself that I was going to pay closer attention to my goals to make sure that I am on target to meet the goals and that way, if I need to, I can make any necessary adjustments.  Well, here we go, let’s dive into my quarterly goal review!

Continue reading