Expenses December-January and 2012 Dividend Round Up

あけましておめでとうございます！(Akemashiteomedetougozaimsu!)

Happy New Years to all!  I hope that 2013 brings anyone reading this lots of happiness and health!  After all what else is there?

The GF and I finished off 2012 in the sunny and warm weather of Okinawa!  It was a great trip and our first experience biking for vacation.  We had our bumps along the way (ALWAYS bring spare tires!) but we landed on our feet thanks to the kindness of a few strangers and created memories that will last our whole life.  It was our first crack at what I would call a "frugal vacation."  We were there for six days and stayed mostly in guest houses and one night in a hotel.  These were mostly hits but one guest house was a complete miss and had almost completely destroyed my faith in guest houses.  In the end however it was great food, lots of drinks, and over 100km biked a piece.

So how did my finances fare for the last month of the year?  Let's take a look.

Income:
Pay Check:  ¥308,624  ($3810)
Part Time Job:  ¥28,216 ($348)
Xmas Party:  ¥10,000  ($123)
Total:  ¥346,840 ($4282)

This was a bit below my average for the year but beings I started to pay taxes half way through I can't complain.  I did more work during my winter vacation at my part time job and the xmas party playing Santa Clause helped as well.  Every yen is one more employee for me.

Expenses:



Obviously "Eating Out" was mostly our time in Okinawa.  I don't regret this at all as I'd never had Okinawan food before and eating is one of the pleasures of traveling.  The higher "Bike" expense was for nice bike lights and a travel bag so we could take it on the plane.  Next month should be the last time my "Bills" are as high as they are because I made a change to my cell phone plan which will be the topic of a near future article.

My savings rate took a big hit in December but to have a nice vacation I can't say I mind.  December landed a 26.77% savings rate.  Funny that one of my worst savings rates months for the year still lands me in the stratosphere of savers compared to the USA in general.

For the year:
January  58.66%
February  65.25%
March 50.68%
April  -4.40%
May  63.14%
June  39.87%
July 40.08%
August  48.32%
September  41.74%
October 50.44%
November 51.39%
December 26.77%

For 2012:  44.55%

This is well below my goal of 65% and even more so below my revised goal of 50%.  But there were some trips, purchases, and medical expenses that I hope to avoid in 2013.

Dividends

Almost one year ago to the day I bought my first three stocks:  KO, JNJ, and VNQ.  I'll be honest I didn't really know what I was doing but I knew that I had to start building a bridge.  I wrote the risk of losing my money off as an investment in my education.  I had just cleared all my debts the previous month and figured losing money in stocks was actually worth more than a new flat screen TV or the latest widget/gadget hybrid egg boiler.

I remember when I got that first email from my online broker saying I was getting an $8 dividend.  Wow!  It didn't seem like much but at the same time I didn't have to do anything to get it.  I just put some money I would have normally saved into a company and a few weeks later someone is giving me $8.  It was at that moment I saw the cogs in the machine start to turn and I've never looked back.  My savings rate is a direct reflection of my desire to build a portfolio to retire on.

So how did I do?


1st Quarter:  $44.17
2nd Quarter:  $71.90
3rd Quarter:  $115.09
4th Quarter:  $167.72
Total:  $398.88

That's an extra $400.  Have you received a $400 bonus lately?  I don't mean for working I mean just for stashing your cash in some well known companies?  Plus that doesn't include the appreciation in value my money has received.  But that doesn't really matter to me as I'm not looking at selling.  The greatest upside is the companies I own have long track records of paying and increasing dividends.  That means $400 is the LOWEST my dividends will every pay out.  Of course that's if I stopped investing right now.  But I'm going to keep on investing and watch that number grow.

I hope every reader has had a great year and all the best for 2013.