Income & Expenses For February 2016

Since 2014, I have been tracking my monthly income and expenses. You can see a breakdown of every penny I earn and spend. For perspective, this budget is for a household of two in a small US city. By documenting my journey, I aim to demonstrate the feasibility of saving a significant portion of your income and provide some ideas and inspirations for your own budget.

Below is my income and expenses for February 2016. You can see all my monthly budgets here.

	Feb 2016
Income
Wages	$8,497.42
Dividends	$392.90
Other Income	$767.77
Total Income	$9,658.09
Expense
Federal Tax	$309.73
Federal Tax Pmt/(Refund)
FICA-SS	$360.77
FICA-Medicare	$84.37
Rent	$450.00
Student loan repayment	$159.53
Grocery	$55.65
Gasoline
Car Insurance	$123.93
Car Reg/Tax
Cell phone	$12.90
Electric	$36.38
Clothing/laundry	$9.75
Donation
Amazon sale costs	$2.72
Ebay fee
Other Expense	$3.18
Total Expense	$1,608.91
Ex-Tax Total Expense	$854.04
Surplus/(Deficit)	$8,049.18
Before Tax Saving Rate	83.34%
After Tax Saving Rate	90.41%

Income
Dividend income was at a a new 13-month low. Wages remain my primary source of income by far. Here is a chart of my dividend income by month for the past 13 months:

Expense
Car expense went up this month due to payment of  $123.93 for new 6-month policy. Cell phone expense will be around $12.90 a month going forward. All other expenses are typical.

Savings
My after tax saving rate was 90.41% for the month of February, which is a great. I have managed to maintain above 90% saving rate despite new low in dividend income and payment for 6-month car insurance policy. With this month, I have now maintained 12 consecutive months of above 90% saving rate. I expect to meet or exceed my 90% savings goal this year.

How's your budget? Did you save as much as you wanted to? On track to meet your savings goals for the year? 

Thanks for reading.

Portfolio Update February 2016

The time has come for my monthly portfolio update. At the end of every month, I will update my portfolio and comment on any changes. I do that for accountability and also so you may glean some ideas on how I allocate my capital. You have the opportunity to learn from what I do well, so you can do the same, as well as what I do poorly, so you will not have to repeat my mistakes.

My Current Portfolio Holdings, as of Mar 4, 2016:

Ticker	Current Price	Shares Held	Cost basis	Market Value	Weight	Dividend Yield TTM
BDX	$149.15	159.12	$13,983.47	$23,732.75	4.87%	1.65%
VWO	$33.41	615.82	$24,965.34	$20,574.55	4.22%	3.48%
EXC	$33.36	504.97	$15,421.78	$16,845.80	3.46%	3.72%
XOM	$82.26	204.05	$17,562.58	$16,785.15	3.44%	3.55%
WMT	$66.76	242.95	$15,633.83	$16,219.34	3.33%	2.94%
AFL	$61.01	255.67	$13,343.42	$15,598.43	3.20%	2.62%
EMR	$51.26	293.47	$15,471.74	$15,043.27	3.09%	3.69%
PG	$83.46	133.82	$9,602.92	$11,168.62	2.29%	3.18%
BRK.B	$137.90	75.00	$8,663.25	$10,342.50	2.12%	0.00%
AZN	$28.87	344.45	$7,612.35	$9,944.27	2.04%	4.85%
LMT	$218.66	44.57	$4,715.95	$9,745.68	2.00%	2.88%
MHFI	$95.06	86.89	$4,419.23	$8,259.76	1.69%	1.42%
MAT	$32.22	255.95	$7,601.72	$8,246.71	1.69%	4.72%
CVX	$87.95	88.00	$8,376.72	$7,739.60	1.59%	4.87%
BMTC	$25.54	288.86	$7,406.37	$7,377.48	1.51%	3.09%
NSC	$77.40	93.77	$7,310.31	$7,257.80	1.49%	3.05%
SON	$45.63	148.58	$5,539.06	$6,779.71	1.39%	3.07%
UL	$44.34	148.31	$6,199.36	$6,576.07	1.35%	2.98%
MCD	$117.12	54.99	$5,032.68	$6,440.43	1.32%	2.97%
MSFT	$52.03	121.53	$4,426.12	$6,323.21	1.30%	2.58%
PEG	$44.60	141.32	$5,001.31	$6,302.87	1.29%	3.50%
INTC	$30.63	205.69	$5,331.48	$6,300.28	1.29%	3.20%
T	$37.93	162.93	$5,319.66	$6,179.93	1.27%	4.98%
YORW	$27.97	215.09	$4,460.97	$6,016.07	1.23%	2.18%
NUE	$42.96	139.00	$5,778.23	$5,971.44	1.23%	3.47%
MOCO	$13.25	448.53	$6,674.13	$5,943.02	1.22%	3.32%
ESLT	$83.79	70.54	$2,576.83	$5,910.55	1.21%	1.72%
PEP	$99.88	58.96	$4,746.87	$5,888.92	1.21%	2.81%
OGZPY	$4.03	1,389.78	$8,463.76	$5,600.81	1.15%	5.59%
HCP	$31.50	162.00	$6,820.20	$5,103.00	1.05%	7.21%
VIG	$78.87	60.71	$3,646.24	$4,788.20	0.98%	2.37%
ED	$71.39	67.00	$4,684.64	$4,783.13	0.98%	3.67%
VEA	$35.37	126.04	$3,940.01	$4,458.03	0.91%	3.19%
CHL	$55.88	78.05	$3,717.52	$4,361.43	0.89%	3.35%
ABBV	$56.15	76.00	$4,684.64	$4,267.40	0.88%	3.74%
HIMX	$9.86	421.22	$1,069.90	$4,153.23	0.85%	3.04%
SAN	$4.51	915.31	$6,260.72	$4,128.05	0.85%	7.36%
BBL	$24.51	165.90	$5,733.50	$4,066.21	0.83%	10.12%
BCR	$194.32	20.56	$2,057.85	$3,995.22	0.82%	0.48%
VALE	$4.38	894.25	$9,532.71	$3,916.82	0.80%	6.65%
VFC	$65.39	59.72	$3,799.98	$3,905.09	0.80%	2.11%
K	$75.23	51.10	$2,904.52	$3,844.25	0.79%	2.65%
GIS	$60.20	63.38	$2,796.33	$3,815.48	0.78%	2.92%
NKE	$61.24	60.34	$2,850.46	$3,695.22	0.76%	0.98%
KO	$44.10	82.06	$3,399.75	$3,618.85	0.74%	2.99%
JNJ	$106.48	32.90	$2,058.55	$3,503.19	0.72%	2.82%
LUKOY	$38.53	89.42	$4,412.88	$3,445.35	0.71%	6.12%
HPE	$15.43	220.82	$2,157.41	$3,407.25	0.70%	0.36%
DV	$19.62	167.07	$3,695.59	$3,277.91	0.67%	1.83%
BUD	$116.26	27.33	$3,050.57	$3,177.39	0.65%	3.40%
DGS	$36.75	83.87	$3,691.12	$3,082.22	0.63%	3.36%
RBCAA	$25.54	118.94	$2,508.44	$3,037.73	0.62%	3.06%
VMI	$116.22	24.40	$2,713.77	$2,835.77	0.58%	1.29%
CSX	$25.23	108.27	$2,272.59	$2,731.65	0.56%	2.85%
WBA	$79.45	33.43	$1,243.26	$2,656.01	0.54%	1.78%
IBM	$137.77	19.02	$2,634.65	$2,620.39	0.54%	3.77%
HPQ	$11.17	230.36	$2,098.58	$2,573.12	0.53%	5.69%
VIAB	$38.82	65.98	$3,049.60	$2,561.34	0.53%	3.94%
CEO	$120.17	21.29	$3,080.88	$2,558.42	0.52%	6.12%
FNDE	$19.70	129.85	$3,199.50	$2,558.05	0.52%	2.08%
PNY	$59.48	41.36	$1,549.76	$2,460.09	0.50%	2.22%
JOY	$17.67	136.00	$1,705.44	$2,403.12	0.49%	3.45%
AGNC	$18.37	130.35	$2,639.59	$2,394.53	0.49%	13.28%
PPL	$35.67	66.51	$2,045.18	$2,372.41	0.49%	4.21%
SBRCY	$6.46	346.00	$2,138.28	$2,235.16	0.46%	0.50%
SKM	$20.08	110.63	$1,454.78	$2,221.45	0.46%	0.46%
LLY	$73.60	28.91	$1,065.91	$2,127.78	0.44%	2.73%
PAYX	$52.58	39.32	$1,482.36	$2,067.45	0.42%	3.12%
SGTZY	$5.55	371.00	$2,392.95	$2,059.05	0.42%	1.82%
TOT	$47.35	40.73	$2,124.88	$1,928.57	0.40%	5.70%
TLK	$52.41	36.14	$1,162.62	$1,894.10	0.39%	2.16%
CIG.C	$1.87	1,001.74	$3,405.92	$1,873.25	0.38%	6.24%
SBS	$6.07	307.00	$1,510.44	$1,863.49	0.38%	0.00%
BP	$31.15	57.32	$2,236.63	$1,785.52	0.37%	7.70%
HCN	$66.19	26.46	$1,596.33	$1,751.39	0.36%	5.04%
OGS	$59.14	28.69	$1,041.45	$1,696.73	0.35%	2.11%
APOL	$8.51	194.00	$3,686.00	$1,650.94	0.34%	0.00%
RDS.A	$48.01	34.17	$2,178.68	$1,640.50	0.34%	7.83%
PKX	$45.90	35.13	$1,930.74	$1,612.47	0.33%	0.91%
BVN	$5.51	282.50	$2,607.48	$1,556.58	0.32%	0.00%
TESS	$17.41	87.65	$1,094.75	$1,525.99	0.31%	4.60%
PBR	$5.26	285.38	$2,562.71	$1,501.10	0.31%	0.00%
POT	$18.44	77.88	$1,778.78	$1,436.11	0.29%	8.24%
DO	$23.69	59.44	$2,031.06	$1,408.13	0.29%	2.11%
TLSYY	$19.02	72.99	$1,087.55	$1,388.27	0.28%	5.79%
MDLZ	$42.13	27.29	$486.03	$1,149.73	0.24%	1.52%
NAT	$13.76	82.75	$1,617.76	$1,138.64	0.23%	11.54%
SC	$10.67	105.00	$1,840.65	$1,120.35	0.23%	0.00%
OAOFY	$29.46	38.00	$1,086.42	$1,119.48	0.23%	3.39%
MBT	$7.73	142.00	$1,525.08	$1,097.66	0.23%	10.65%
BRGYY	$15.22	64.00	$1,011.20	$974.08	0.20%	0.00%
MPC	$37.06	26.06	$290.57	$965.78	0.20%	3.26%
MYTAY	$7.78	124.00	$1,634.32	$964.72	0.20%	0.00%
BCMXY	$18.00	52.00	$835.64	$936.00	0.19%	6.14%
VSS	$91.27	10.00	$878.20	$912.70	0.19%	2.85%
CICHY	$12.49	73.00	$995.72	$911.77	0.19%	7.88%
RYAM	$8.41	106.83	$2,890.82	$898.44	0.18%	3.33%
MRK	$52.06	17.24	$597.71	$897.51	0.18%	3.48%
OJSCY	$3.72	236.00	$1,109.20	$877.92	0.18%	3.88%
CTL	$31.59	27.47	$1,068.03	$867.78	0.18%	6.84%
PDLI	$3.38	255.36	$1,544.93	$863.12	0.18%	14.79%
DTEGY	$16.93	50.94	$637.26	$862.41	0.18%	3.33%
KSS	$47.48	18.05	$850.16	$857.01	0.18%	3.79%
BEN	$38.47	22.00	$960.08	$846.34	0.17%	1.64%
FSBK	$8.15	100.29	$453.31	$817.36	0.17%	1.23%
STRA	$47.96	16.00	$768.00	$767.36	0.16%	0.00%
GSH	$24.05	31.59	$597.37	$759.74	0.16%	1.70%
IMBBY	$104.67	7.16	$448.36	$749.44	0.15%	4.01%
PTR	$71.84	10.31	$1,086.47	$740.67	0.15%	3.55%
KHC	$77.20	9.58	$312.40	$739.58	0.15%	2.20%
FTD	$23.80	30.00	$967.50	$714.00	0.15%	0.00%
BFR	$21.17	33.32	$369.85	$705.38	0.14%	0.00%
AEO	$15.38	45.30	$549.94	$696.71	0.14%	3.25%
SCL	$53.51	13.00	$499.98	$695.63	0.14%	1.38%
DE	$84.83	8.00	$566.56	$678.64	0.14%	2.83%
DRI	$64.93	10.34	$532.10	$671.38	0.14%	3.31%
GPS	$29.29	22.32	$549.96	$653.75	0.13%	3.14%
SJI	$26.44	23.51	$552.72	$621.60	0.13%	3.85%
PNW	$69.00	8.59	$379.59	$592.71	0.12%	3.54%
SWRAY	$10.33	53.35	$610.32	$551.11	0.11%	4.89%
HSY	$93.18	5.81	$525.34	$541.38	0.11%	2.45%
TLKGY	$14.70	36.34	$711.90	$534.20	0.11%	4.70%
RAD	$8.03	66.00	$528.00	$529.98	0.11%	0.00%
TSCDY	$8.20	63.00	$504.00	$516.60	0.11%	0.00%
ARLP	$12.46	41.00	$1,093.88	$510.86	0.10%	21.57%
PB	$45.32	11.00	$499.73	$498.52	0.10%	2.47%
ICE	$239.00	2.03	$173.02	$485.17	0.10%	1.21%
IDCBY	$10.65	45.00	$548.10	$479.25	0.10%	7.85%
NTT	$42.02	11.12	$248.42	$467.26	0.10%	1.84%
BACHY	$10.09	45.00	$495.00	$454.05	0.09%	7.70%
CRC	$1.76	255.00	$1,259.70	$448.80	0.09%	1.70%
ABEV	$5.07	85.02	$510.97	$431.05	0.09%	0.70%
HNNMY	$6.78	61.56	$403.22	$417.38	0.09%	3.49%
NUS	$32.83	12.07	$490.04	$396.26	0.08%	4.28%
E	$29.86	13.00	$518.44	$388.18	0.08%	7.12%
IAG	$2.40	150.00	$253.50	$360.00	0.07%	0.00%
RAVN	$16.14	22.00	$497.20	$355.08	0.07%	3.22%
CIG	$1.91	184.49	$959.35	$352.38	0.07%	6.11%
CQP	$26.94	12.93	$223.17	$348.33	0.07%	6.31%
MPLX	$26.75	13.00	$221.52	$347.75	0.07%	6.80%
EZPW	$3.13	109.00	$997.35	$341.17	0.07%	0.00%
APA	$48.05	7.03	$475.93	$337.79	0.07%	2.08%
OPTI	$0.55	600.00	$1,392.00	$330.00	0.07%	0.00%
ATW	$9.84	33.00	$495.00	$324.72	0.07%	8.38%
MRO	$11.01	27.26	$514.40	$300.13	0.06%	4.73%
EVEP	$2.42	123.76	$1,211.61	$299.50	0.06%	65.08%
POM	$24.42	12.14	$194.36	$296.46	0.06%	4.42%
CACQ	$5.75	48.00	$504.00	$276.00	0.06%	0.00%
ELNK	$6.04	45.36	$369.68	$273.97	0.06%	3.31%
DYN	$11.13	24.00	$764.16	$267.12	0.05%	0.00%
CPLP	$3.35	75.76	$646.23	$253.80	0.05%	28.30%
IEMG	$39.94	6.25	$316.44	$249.63	0.05%	2.70%
SB	$0.79	314.89	$2,260.91	$248.76	0.05%	5.05%
TPUB	$9.12	26.00	$494.00	$237.12	0.05%	7.68%
LYG	$4.24	50.00	$162.00	$212.00	0.04%	2.17%
TGT	$81.13	2.57	$149.75	$208.50	0.04%	2.71%
TRGP	$29.50	7.00	$191.45	$206.50	0.04%	11.95%
OIBR	$0.30	682.30	$3,008.94	$204.69	0.04%	0.00%
BND	$81.76	2.23	$177.82	$182.32	0.04%	2.44%
CLD	$1.95	82.00	$993.02	$159.90	0.03%	0.00%
AMC	$27.02	5.56	$100.08	$150.23	0.03%	2.96%
CEL	$6.14	23.13	$644.40	$142.02	0.03%	0.00%
BCS	$9.81	11.00	$163.13	$107.91	0.02%	4.06%
SOUHY	$5.11	20.00	$180.00	$102.20	0.02%	0.00%
LC	$8.98	10.00	$150.00	$89.80	0.02%	0.00%
MVC	$7.08	11.69	$105.56	$82.77	0.02%	7.63%
WPG	$9.17	7.00	$123.13	$64.19	0.01%	10.91%
TLN	$7.81	8.00	$123.52	$62.48	0.01%	0.00%
QCCO	$0.54	113.87	$412.21	$61.49	0.01%	0.00%
ISHC	$1.25	37.06	$796.42	$46.33	0.01%	28.00%
BK	$38.09	1.08	$27.26	$41.14	0.01%	1.79%
GOOGL	$730.22	0.05	$27.24	$36.51	0.01%	0.00%
LGCY	$0.88	29.19	$439.89	$25.69	0.01%	165.91%
ZAHLY	$0.18	118.00	$200.60	$21.24	0.00%	0.00%
ALN	$1.15	15.00	$31.65	$17.25	0.00%	0.00%
BKS	$11.67	1.00	$8.70	$11.67	0.00%	3.86%
BPI	$6.77	1.00	$17.85	$6.77	0.00%	0.00%
LPHIQ	$0.01	130.10	$870.37	$1.30	0.00%	0.00%
BBEP	$0.69	1.50	$20.36	$1.04	0.00%	72.98%
NUOTQ	$0.01	10.00	$5.00	$0.10	0.00%	0.00%
			$471,453.24	$487,455.76	100.00%	3.41%

As of  Mar 4, 2016, my portfolio contains 181 holdings, valued at $487,455.76. This is an increase of $33,139.92, or 7.29%, over portfolio value of $454,315.84 a month ago.

My transactions in February are listed as follows:

Stock	Action	Cost	Price per share	Impact
BRK.B	Add	$1,150.00	$127.20	0.25%
HCP	Add	$763.75	$30.55	0.17%
EMR	Add	$650.00	$46.28	0.14%
VIAB	Add	$650.00	$34.56	0.14%
NSC	Add	$600.00	$69.21	0.13%
HCN	Add	$514.96	$56.78	0.11%
GPS	Add	$250.00	$23.63	0.06%
NGLS	Sold Out	-$207.29	-$16.58	-0.05%
WMT	Add	$200.00	$66.83	0.04%
XOM	Add	$200.00	$82.20	0.04%
TRGP	New Buy	$191.42	$27.35	0.04%
MCD	Add	$150.00	$117.21	0.03%
SJI	Add	$150.00	$22.99	0.03%
VMI	Add	$150.00	$102.88	0.03%
MOCO	Add	$148.17	$13.95	0.03%
BDX	Add	$100.00	$144.24	0.02%
BMTC	Add	$100.00	$24.98	0.02%
BUD	Add	$100.00	$125.68	0.02%
EXC	Add	$100.00	$30.64	0.02%
INTC	Add	$100.00	$30.02	0.02%
KO	Add	$100.00	$43.51	0.02%
MAT	Add	$100.00	$29.64	0.02%
MSFT	Add	$100.00	$52.31	0.02%
NKE	Add	$100.00	$63.16	0.02%
PEP	Add	$100.00	$98.52	0.02%
SON	Add	$100.00	$38.38	0.02%
UL	Add	$100.00	$44.43	0.02%
VFC	Add	$100.00	$60.74	0.02%
YORW	Add	$100.00	$27.68	0.02%
PG	Add	$44.60	$81.23	0.01%
GIS	Add	$27.67	$56.47	0.01%
TESS	Add	$17.34	$17.91	0.00%
PAYX	Add	$16.38	$49.49	0.00%
PNW	Add	$5.32	$68.64	0.00%
BCR	Add	$4.93	$184.42	0.00%
POT	Add	$0.25	$15.82	0.00%
		$7,077.50		1.56%

Net cash inflow was $7,077.50 during this period. Factoring out the cash inflow, my portfolio returned 5.74% in February.

Purchases
This month, I added to my positions in BRK.B, HCP, EMR, VIAB, NSC, HCN, and GPS as they traded near 52-week lows. Most of the other purchases are part of my monthly DSPP/loyal3 investment plan, or dividend reinvestment.

Turnover was 1.46% in February. 

Sales

NGLS to TRGP restructuring merger deal was completed, converting my old position in NGPS to new position in TRGP.

My monthly performance against the S & P 500 is shown below:

2016	My Portfolio Return	S & P 500 TR
Jan	-3.69%	-4.96%
Feb	5.74%	-0.12%
YTD	1.84%	-5.07%

2016 is off to a good start for me. I am outperforming the S&P 500 by 6.91% YTD.