Hey Guys! Sorry this update is so late! I have been a little under the weather and finally got my voice back. So… here we go! September was a great month for me! I spent a lot of time with family and friends and most importantly, not working! 😊 I made two trips to the other side of the state and ate way too much yummy food.
What I worked on this month –
September was a catchup and recharge month for sure! I only wrote one post besides my August Personal Update and that was talking all about mental health in the workplace… and life in general.
It is by far one of the most important posts I think I will ever right and if you haven’t taken a look at it, you really should! I also did a lot of work behind the scenes on the Career’s Side of this website. Nothing to fancy or special but mainly just setting the foundation to build from with my careers podcast and talking about different careers in the future.
Stock Market Portfolio –
My goal for my stock portfolio is function as a long-term dividend account. My diversification strategy is broken-down by different sectors and areas. I try and stay close to this breakdown – The majority of my dividends come from the Real Estate Sector and the Finance Sector.
The stock market has been very volatile this month. I’ve had more than one person reach out and make comments that the market is all over the place of that their portfolio dropped in value. The ups and downs of the market are very normal and to be expected!
Let’s take a look at Apple’s Stock really quickly –
First let’s look at the last trading day in 3-minute intervals. The stock price is down and then back up and then down and up and down throughout the day.
Looking at the past month we can see a clear downward trend
But when we look at the last three months, that downward trend is not as clear. It shows that the stock price was steady, then increasing and then dipped. It could be potentially increasing again already.
When we look at the Apple stock for the past 5 years, we see a relatively clear picture. The stock has gained in value substantially over the last 5 years. There have been some big dips with COVID and supply chain shortages but overall, the trend is good. Meaning, the little movements right now don’t show us the full story and we should never make a decision to buy or sell without examining the full picture. (That includes the companies financials and other factors beyond the stock price)
If you bought the stock for the right reasons in the beginning trust yourself and trust that the long-term hold won’t be greatly impacted by the volatility today. In fact, it might be a great time to buy stocks that are down right now! 😉
So, here are my September investing numbers!
My Stock portfolio decreased from $29,298 to $28,647. But, I had some technical issues with my brokerage account and I was not able to purchase any stocks this month. Meaning I have $193 ready to be reinvested into my stock portfolio. So, my stock value plus my cash on hand puts us at $28,840.76.
I earned close to $80 in dividends and will earn over $100 in October! Woot Woot! My top earners were AVGO, EFC and SO stock symbols.
Side Hustles –
I did a little bit of juicing lime scooters as well. I had a gross earnings of almost $40 and a net earnings of $26.53 for a couple hours of work so I am happy with that! All in All, September was a pretty good month for me!
Photography Business –
I spent a lot of time this month working on my photography. I finally designed and settled on a calendar for 2022. That involved narrowing down my pictures to the right grouping and then going back and forth on how many calendars to bulk order and the price I was going to sell them for. Which… is not as easy as it looks! But here is a sneak peak of the cover!
I think it will sell just fine but there is always the risk that I ordered to many and will loose money because I can’t sell them yet. Or, that my pricing is too high, and people go else where to find a cheaper calendar. Either way this is my first year, selling calendars so I am going in conservative and hoping to just break even. I already have a few that are pre-ordered so that is a good sign! Even if it is my mom! 😉
Feel free to check out my Photography Website to read about my different travel adventures around the world. Or you can take a look at some awesome video clips I’ve put together on my YouTube Channel. If you really love my work, take a gander at what’s on sale in my Photo Gallery or my Etzy Page.
Home Projects –
I told you my next home project was to build a truck camper holder thingy and to finish painting my home gym. Luckily, I was able to do both this month!
While I got the camper shell for free, the holder thingy cost me around $75 to build so I am pretty happy with that cost!
And… I had a surprise project “fall” into my lap! During a very windy rainstorm, my neighbor’s old and partially dead tree fell over the fence and onto my shed and deck. This thing was a very large tree and luckily, I had some amazing friends that helped me clean most of it up! The neighbors are bringing in a professional to tackle the rest of the large branches and stump and they are also going to take care of the other dangerous tree as well. This is a great example of why it’s so important to have an emergency fund set up!
What I want to focus on in October –
With working part-time and all the time spent on surprise projects and time with the family, I did not get where I wanted to with the Podcast. But… That just means I pushed back the start date to November 2nd. (I plan to release episodes on every other Tuesday). I have spent a lot of time breaking down how I think I want them to flow and still working out some kinks and trying to settle on a name. But as of right now, podcast no name is still a go and has the green light!
Goals for 2021 –
- Be present! At work and in my personal life I find myself rushing to get from A to B to C. I am guilty of cutting phone calls short or trying to multitask through meetings and even conversations. I want to focus on slowing things down and being present with every person I interact with.
- Spend more time pursuing Photography! It is one of my passions in life and something that I truly enjoy! I have been working on getting my travel blog up and running but as of now, that is all past trips I have already taken and thought others would enjoy. I want to plan out a new adventure for this year… or maybe a couple!
- Also related to photography, I want to focus more time on creating images specifically for stock photography websites. This will hopefully be a long term passive income stream that just keeps on giving little bits and pieces back.
- Working on training my puppy! We have gotten through potty training and know sit but, we really need to work on leash pulling, not jumping and some more basic manners. We all have to start somewhere!
Long-Term Goals –
- Pay off my Mortgage and be 100% debt free! My goal is to pay it off completely by 2030. A hard target! But if I stick to my budget and keep reminding myself why it is some important I know I can make it happen!
- Participate in a Triathlon and a Winter Triathlon. I completed a full marathon while I was stationed in Hawaii back in December of 2014. And I also completed the Baton Memorial Death March in spring of 2019. That is held in New Mexico every year and it truly an emotional experience!
- Build a Dividend Portfolio that generates around $2,000 per month. That would equate to about $24,000 annually, just from dividends. With my current diversification strategy, that would mean a $600,000 stock Portfolio earning an average of 4% on dividends. We are a long way away from reaching that but, it’s all about those baby steps along the way!
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