What I worked on this month –
First off, February was a really hard month for me! I struggled with a lot of self-doubt about this site, my photography business and all the other projects I am working. Starting a business is easy. Starting a profitable business that will last is difficult. I don’t want anyone to be under the allusion that I don’t stress about money and making this idea successful. I am stubborn and a firm believer that slow and steady will win the race.
It’s easy to compare yourself and your business to others and think you are not good enough. But at the end of the day each situation is different, each business has different struggles. My goals have not changed, and I am still committed to working on building this site and my various other projects. I just have to remind myself to focus on the aspects that I can control and let time and hard work do the rest.
Here are some of the positive things that happened in February!
- I was able to spend an entire day photography a migratory bird refuge and even saw one bald eagle which was the goal!
- I finally got the Podcast up and running! It has been quite the journey to get it going and I’ve run into a lot of issues along the way. But we took the first step! It is listed on a few of the popular podcast/music players like Spotify, Amazon Music, and Reason but the struggle is real to get it running on iTunes…
- I got a new (to me) piano! I’ve have been dinking around with a cheap keyboard but now am set up with a very nice piano to practice on!
- I lost another 4 pounds brining my total weight loss to over 30 pounds in total! While 4 pounds seems a little low after knocking off 10 pounds in January, I actually lost an inch from my waist, hips, thighs and arms! The scale doesn’t always give you the full picture.
Stock Market Portfolio –
Again, like January, it was a rough month for the stock market. We saw a lot of market volatility that is partly due to the ongoing situation between Russia and the Ukraine. My portfolio dropped below $30,000 and then perked back up a little and the end of the month. I closed out the month with a balance of $30,141. My Lending Club account dropped under $200 and is continuing to dwindle down.
For February, I received just $3.21 in interest from Lending Club and a had a lower month with dividends brining in just $66.58. My highest dividend came from AT&T and I have been watching this stock closely because their stock value continues to drop lower and lower…
| Stock Symbol | Dividend Amount | – | Stock Symbol | Dividend Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | $3.52 | – | NNN | $2.12 |
| ABBV | $1.41 | – | O | $0.49 |
| AXP | $3.01 | – | OHI | $8.04 |
| COST | $2.37 | – | OKE | $4.68 |
| EFC | $8.25 | – | RY | $2.38 |
| GIS | $4.59 | – | STAG | $0.12 |
| HRL | $0.78 | – | T | $20.28 |
| KMI | $1.89 | – | WRK | $0.75 |
| LTC | $1.90 | – |
Side Hustles –
The list of income seems to keep growing which is a great thing! In fact, I finally got this site monetized too so we should see a small trickle of revenue start coming in too! I think I will expand this list in the future to cover an interest I earn off of my high yield savings account because I think it will be a good example of how import investing is over just saving your money in a bank.
The weather is finally picking up and I started juicing lime scooters again! I will continue to find ways to increase my income and turn those earnings into assets that will earn passive income in the future!
What I want to focus on in March –
I have decided to replace one of my goals this year… since I know have a nice piano to play with! I am going to push my goal to work on stock photography back until next year since I just don’t have the work capacity to really spend quality time on it. Instead I am going to try and practice the piano for at least one hour every single week! I can break it down into 10 or 15 minute sessions and really work on consistently improving week after week.
Goals for 2022 –
Spend time creating images specifically for stock photography sites. This will hopefully be a long-term passive income stream that just keeps on giving little bits and pieces back.- Practice the piano for 1 hour each week!
- Go on a backpacking trip in the mountains and get lots of pictures, fishing and exploring in!
- Lose weight and pack on some muscles! I enjoy weightlifting and the pump that comes from hitting those weights!
Long-Term Goals –
- Pay off my Mortgage and become 100% debt free! My goal is to pay it off completely by 2030… A hard target and will depend upon how business goes!
- Participate in a Triathlon and a Winter Triathlon. I completed a full marathon while I was stationed in Hawaii back in 2014. And I also completed the Baton Memorial Death March in 2019 which is a full marathon ruck march.
- 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 about a $600,000 stock Portfolio earning an average of 4% on dividends a year. (Not counting market value increases) We are a long way away from reaching that but, it’s all about those baby steps along the way!
© EuduringFinances, 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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