Income & Expenses For July 2015

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 July 2015. You can see all my monthly budgets here. 

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	July 2015
Income
Wages	$23,422.47
Dividends	$1,233.83
Other Income	$1,146.41
Total Income	$25,802.71
Expense
Federal Tax	$4,055.56
Federal Tax Pmt/(Refund)
FICA-SS	$356.13
FICA-Medicare	$83.29
Rent	$450.00
Student loan repayment	$176.85
Cell phone	$17.86
Electric	$59.45
Total Expense	$5,199.14
Ex-Tax Total Expense	$704.16
Surplus/(Deficit)	$20,603.57
Before Tax Saving Rate	79.85%
After Tax Saving Rate	96.70%

Income

Wages were high due to annual bonus. Dividend income this month was $1233.83, which covered my living expenses of $704.16. Here is a chart of my dividend income by month for the last 13 months:

Expense
Expenses were somewhat lower this month.

Savings
My after tax saving rate was 96.7% for the month of July, which exceeded my target of 90%. This marks 5 months in row with above 90% savings rate. Going forward, I expect to meet or exceed my 90% savings goal for the 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 July 2015

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 Aug 14, 2015:

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Ticker	Current Price	Shares Held	Cost basis	Market Value	Weight	Dividend Yield TTM
BDX	$147.82	152.98	$13,095.09	$22,613.50	5.22%	1.59%
VWO	$36.85	578.82	$23,691.10	$21,329.52	4.92%	2.81%
AFL	$64.26	236.67	$12,197.97	$15,208.41	3.51%	2.40%
EXC	$32.78	448.02	$13,799.02	$14,686.10	3.39%	3.79%
XOM	$78.32	157.98	$14,041.26	$12,372.99	2.86%	3.61%
LMT	$210.70	44.57	$4,715.95	$9,390.90	2.17%	2.78%
MHFI	$101.05	86.26	$4,360.44	$8,716.57	2.01%	1.25%
EMR	$49.49	174.41	$10,372.16	$8,631.55	1.99%	3.80%
BRK.B	$142.63	55.39	$6,113.39	$7,900.28	1.82%	0.00%
BMTC	$29.59	248.59	$6,259.50	$7,355.78	1.70%	2.61%
HPQ	$28.70	221.25	$4,135.16	$6,349.88	1.47%	2.31%
SAN	$6.57	915.31	$6,260.72	$6,013.59	1.39%	8.05%
ESLT	$83.29	70.54	$2,576.12	$5,875.28	1.36%	1.61%
AZN	$33.33	172.22	$7,612.12	$5,740.09	1.32%	4.19%
NSC	$81.40	70.16	$5,518.08	$5,711.02	1.32%	2.89%
PEG	$42.65	133.63	$4,689.08	$5,699.32	1.32%	3.59%
UL	$43.89	126.87	$5,299.36	$5,568.32	1.29%	3.03%
T	$33.94	162.93	$5,319.66	$5,529.84	1.28%	5.53%
SON	$41.39	131.42	$4,842.83	$5,439.47	1.26%	3.26%
INTC	$28.90	186.76	$4,732.50	$5,397.36	1.25%	3.27%
WMT	$72.20	74.60	$5,263.03	$5,386.12	1.24%	2.70%
MOCO	$14.00	383.18	$5,740.04	$5,364.52	1.24%	3.17%
ABBV	$68.80	76.00	$4,684.64	$5,228.80	1.21%	2.82%
CVX	$85.38	61.00	$6,222.00	$5,208.18	1.20%	4.99%
PEP	$98.83	51.98	$4,059.64	$5,137.18	1.19%	2.70%
MSFT	$46.74	109.38	$3,826.11	$5,112.42	1.18%	2.59%
CINF	$56.22	91.00	$4,684.68	$5,116.02	1.18%	3.20%
VEA	$39.64	126.04	$3,940.01	$4,996.23	1.15%	2.85%
PG	$75.64	66.10	$4,543.05	$4,999.80	1.15%	3.45%
CHL	$63.91	78.04	$3,717.05	$4,987.54	1.15%	2.80%
OGZPY	$4.44	1,123.75	$7,461.70	$4,989.45	1.15%	5.15%
NUE	$45.91	107.00	$4,684.46	$4,912.37	1.13%	3.27%
VIG	$79.82	60.71	$3,646.24	$4,845.87	1.12%	2.18%
DV	$27.56	167.07	$3,695.59	$4,604.45	1.06%	1.30%
BAMM	$3.22	1,396.15	$4,928.41	$4,495.60	1.04%	0.00%
MCD	$99.07	45.26	$4,349.94	$4,483.91	1.03%	3.38%
ED	$66.70	67.00	$4,684.64	$4,468.90	1.03%	3.83%
HCP	$39.96	111.00	$5,122.65	$4,435.56	1.02%	5.64%
MAT	$23.07	186.32	$6,003.23	$4,298.40	0.99%	6.59%
VALE	$5.29	789.24	$9,036.80	$4,175.08	0.96%	6.31%
BCR	$199.87	20.50	$2,047.34	$4,097.34	0.95%	0.45%
YORW	$21.21	182.17	$3,698.05	$3,863.83	0.89%	2.84%
GIS	$58.93	62.42	$2,741.49	$3,678.41	0.85%	2.89%
LUKOY	$39.91	89.42	$4,412.88	$3,568.75	0.82%	6.30%
K	$69.16	50.44	$2,858.94	$3,488.43	0.81%	2.85%
JNJ	$98.15	32.90	$2,058.55	$3,229.14	0.75%	2.89%
CSX	$29.57	108.27	$2,272.59	$3,201.54	0.74%	2.25%
WBA	$92.40	33.43	$1,243.26	$3,088.93	0.71%	1.46%
RBCAA	$25.09	118.94	$2,508.44	$2,984.20	0.69%	3.02%
VFC	$75.52	38.63	$2,549.97	$2,917.34	0.67%	1.62%
NKE	$114.31	25.32	$2,250.44	$2,894.33	0.67%	0.95%
HIMX	$6.78	421.22	$1,069.90	$2,855.87	0.66%	4.42%
DGS	$38.90	70.87	$3,200.49	$2,756.84	0.64%	3.01%
BUD	$116.82	22.23	$2,449.75	$2,596.91	0.60%	2.94%
SKM	$23.48	110.63	$1,453.68	$2,597.59	0.60%	3.64%
AGNC	$19.87	130.35	$2,639.59	$2,590.05	0.60%	14.13%
FNDE	$21.02	121.85	$3,038.94	$2,561.29	0.59%	1.46%
KO	$41.15	60.42	$2,499.58	$2,486.28	0.57%	3.09%
SC	$22.97	105.00	$1,840.65	$2,411.85	0.56%	0.00%
LLY	$83.14	28.91	$1,065.91	$2,403.58	0.55%	2.40%
BBL	$36.10	65.87	$3,163.08	$2,377.91	0.55%	6.87%
APOL	$11.91	194.00	$3,686.00	$2,310.54	0.53%	0.00%
CEO	$127.33	17.29	$2,610.27	$2,201.54	0.51%	5.51%
PPL	$33.14	65.03	$1,995.77	$2,155.09	0.50%	4.49%
BP	$35.62	57.32	$2,236.63	$2,041.74	0.47%	6.68%
SGTZY	$5.45	371.00	$2,392.95	$2,021.95	0.47%	1.90%
BVN	$6.99	282.50	$2,607.48	$1,974.68	0.46%	0.32%
TOT	$48.90	40.71	$2,123.84	$1,990.72	0.46%	5.84%
TESS	$22.95	85.28	$1,042.97	$1,957.18	0.45%	3.46%
RDS.A	$56.46	34.16	$2,178.04	$1,928.67	0.45%	6.60%
CIG.C	$2.55	751.67	$2,908.96	$1,916.76	0.44%	5.76%
PAYX	$48.22	38.35	$1,433.52	$1,849.24	0.43%	3.24%
PBR	$6.07	285.38	$2,562.71	$1,732.26	0.40%	0.00%
SBRCY	$4.78	346.00	$2,138.28	$1,653.88	0.38%	0.68%
TLSYY	$22.36	72.99	$1,087.55	$1,632.06	0.38%	5.45%
HCBK	$10.24	153.92	$1,471.48	$1,576.14	0.36%	1.57%
TLK	$41.40	36.14	$1,162.62	$1,496.20	0.35%	2.78%
PDLI	$5.78	255.36	$1,544.93	$1,475.98	0.34%	10.27%
RYAM	$13.76	106.83	$2,890.82	$1,469.98	0.34%	2.04%
DO	$22.36	59.44	$2,031.06	$1,329.08	0.31%	2.16%
PNY	$39.46	33.13	$1,223.16	$1,307.31	0.30%	3.32%
MDLZ	$46.26	27.29	$486.03	$1,262.44	0.29%	1.30%
OGS	$44.58	28.32	$1,024.62	$1,262.51	0.29%	2.66%
NAT	$14.80	82.75	$1,617.76	$1,224.70	0.28%	7.55%
BCMXY	$22.35	52.00	$835.64	$1,162.20	0.27%	4.94%
HCN	$68.09	16.94	$1,053.16	$1,153.44	0.27%	4.82%
POT	$26.02	43.85	$1,278.67	$1,140.98	0.26%	5.61%
OAOFY	$29.71	38.00	$1,086.42	$1,128.98	0.26%	3.45%
MBT	$7.94	142.00	$1,525.08	$1,127.48	0.26%	8.18%
VMI	$111.15	9.97	$1,204.38	$1,108.17	0.26%	1.35%
MRK	$59.23	17.24	$597.71	$1,021.13	0.24%	3.03%
ARLP	$24.42	41.00	$1,093.88	$1,001.22	0.23%	10.69%
CRC	$3.91	255.00	$1,259.70	$997.05	0.23%	0.51%
SB	$3.11	314.89	$2,260.91	$979.31	0.23%	4.18%
PTR	$93.63	10.30	$1,085.72	$964.39	0.22%	4.50%
IBM	$155.81	6.02	$962.66	$937.98	0.22%	3.10%
DTEGY	$18.21	50.94	$637.26	$927.62	0.21%	3.06%
MYTAY	$7.28	124.00	$1,634.32	$902.72	0.21%	0.00%
FTD	$29.77	30.00	$967.50	$893.10	0.21%	0.00%
STRA	$54.29	16.00	$768.00	$868.64	0.20%	0.00%
PKX	$39.24	22.13	$1,439.34	$868.38	0.20%	1.25%
SBS	$4.53	187.00	$1,006.06	$847.11	0.20%	0.00%
OJSCY	$3.47	236.00	$1,109.20	$818.92	0.19%	4.16%
AEO	$17.97	45.30	$549.94	$814.04	0.19%	2.80%
FSBK	$7.94	100.29	$453.31	$796.30	0.18%	1.27%
CTL	$28.23	27.47	$1,068.03	$775.48	0.18%	7.72%
GSH	$24.35	31.59	$597.37	$769.22	0.18%	1.64%
VIAB	$44.60	17.16	$1,099.96	$765.34	0.18%	3.04%
TLKGY	$20.50	36.34	$711.90	$744.97	0.17%	3.37%
DRI	$71.94	10.22	$460.92	$735.23	0.17%	3.06%
ITYBY	$102.62	7.16	$448.36	$734.76	0.17%	3.44%
MPC	$55.92	13.03	$290.44	$728.64	0.17%	1.75%
HNZ	$72.49	9.58	$312.40	$694.45	0.16%	0.00%
MWE	$55.84	12.26	$258.69	$684.60	0.16%	6.61%
EZPW	$6.05	109.00	$997.35	$659.45	0.15%	0.00%
OIBR	$0.96	682.30	$3,008.94	$655.01	0.15%	0.00%
SWRAY	$12.12	53.34	$610.21	$646.48	0.15%	4.12%
DYN	$25.65	24.00	$764.16	$615.60	0.14%	0.00%
SCL	$47.09	13.00	$499.98	$612.17	0.14%	1.51%
IDCBY	$13.52	45.00	$548.10	$608.40	0.14%	6.16%
BACHY	$13.27	45.00	$495.00	$597.15	0.14%	5.88%
TSCDY	$9.48	63.00	$504.00	$597.24	0.14%	0.49%
PB	$54.13	11.00	$499.73	$595.43	0.14%	1.96%
BFR	$17.70	33.32	$369.85	$589.76	0.14%	0.11%
CICHY	$16.01	36.00	$504.00	$576.36	0.13%	6.17%
NUS	$45.41	12.07	$490.04	$548.10	0.13%	3.10%
CPLP	$7.14	75.76	$646.23	$540.93	0.12%	12.96%
PNW	$63.80	8.35	$364.23	$532.73	0.12%	3.73%
HSY	$90.71	5.81	$525.34	$527.03	0.12%	2.37%
HNNMY	$8.29	61.56	$403.22	$510.33	0.12%	2.87%
PM	$84.08	6.00	$493.50	$504.48	0.12%	4.72%
BRGYY	$16.87	29.00	$493.00	$489.23	0.11%	1.70%
ICE	$239.32	2.03	$173.02	$485.82	0.11%	0.86%
MRO	$17.70	27.26	$514.40	$482.50	0.11%	4.66%
CIG	$2.61	184.45	$959.14	$481.41	0.11%	0.00%
ABEV	$5.36	85.02	$510.97	$455.71	0.11%	2.26%
E	$34.39	13.00	$518.44	$447.07	0.10%	7.54%
NTT	$39.76	11.12	$248.42	$442.13	0.10%	0.92%
BEN	$43.35	10.00	$460.00	$433.50	0.10%	1.31%
ELNK	$9.17	45.36	$369.68	$415.95	0.10%	2.24%
RAVN	$18.50	22.00	$497.20	$407.00	0.09%	2.82%
NGLS	$32.28	12.50	$212.00	$403.50	0.09%	10.07%
PTGCY	$0.27	1,416.00	$2,421.36	$382.32	0.09%	0.00%
CQP	$30.39	12.93	$223.17	$392.94	0.09%	5.61%
OPTI	$0.57	600.00	$1,392.00	$342.00	0.08%	0.00%
CACQ	$7.12	48.00	$504.00	$341.76	0.08%	0.00%
APA	$47.58	7.03	$475.93	$334.49	0.08%	2.09%
POM	$27.24	12.14	$194.36	$330.69	0.08%	3.96%
EVEP	$8.77	32.76	$711.55	$287.31	0.07%	25.81%
TPUB	$11.10	26.00	$494.00	$288.60	0.07%	4.62%
IAG	$1.82	150.00	$253.50	$273.00	0.06%	0.00%
IEMG	$43.24	6.25	$316.44	$270.25	0.06%	2.43%
LYG	$5.05	50.00	$162.00	$252.50	0.06%	1.86%
CLD	$3.04	82.00	$993.02	$249.28	0.06%	0.00%
LGCY	$7.55	29.19	$439.89	$220.38	0.05%	26.12%
QCCO	$1.87	113.87	$412.21	$212.94	0.05%	0.00%
TGT	$79.36	2.57	$149.75	$203.96	0.05%	2.63%
ISH	$5.43	37.06	$796.42	$201.24	0.05%	10.97%
BCS	$17.13	11.00	$163.13	$188.43	0.04%	2.33%
BND	$81.57	2.23	$177.82	$181.90	0.04%	2.44%
ZA	$1.39	118.00	$200.60	$164.02	0.04%	0.00%
AMC	$29.31	5.56	$100.08	$162.96	0.04%	2.75%
KSS	$55.68	2.74	$149.80	$152.56	0.04%	2.99%
CEL	$6.20	23.13	$644.40	$143.41	0.03%	0.00%
LC	$13.60	10.00	$150.00	$136.00	0.03%	0.00%
SOUHY	$5.99	20.00	$180.00	$119.80	0.03%	0.00%
MVC	$9.63	11.69	$105.56	$112.57	0.03%	5.60%
WPG	$13.40	7.00	$123.13	$93.80	0.02%	5.58%
BK	$44.00	1.08	$27.26	$47.52	0.01%	1.55%
GOOGL	$687.52	0.05	$27.24	$34.38	0.01%	0.00%
ALN	$1.73	15.00	$31.65	$25.95	0.01%	0.00%
BKS	$17.67	1.00	$8.70	$17.67	0.00%	0.86%
BPI	$8.23	1.00	$17.85	$8.23	0.00%	0.00%
BBEP	$2.79	1.50	$20.36	$4.19	0.00%	39.79%
LPHIQ	$0.01	130.10	$870.37	$1.30	0.00%	500.00%
NUOT	$0.06	10.00	$5.00	$0.60	0.00%	0.00%
			$413,126.01	$433,328.45	100.00%	3.18%

As of Aug 14, 2015 my portfolio contains 176 stocks, valued at $433328.45. This is an decrease of $3250.33, or -0.74%, over portfolio value of $436578.78 a month ago.

My transactions in July (through Aug 14) are listed as follows:

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Stock	Action	Cost	Price per share	Impact
VWO	BUY	$1,703.23	$39.61	0.39%
XOM	BUY	$1,200.00	$80.65	0.28%
CVX	BUY	$1,037.34	$86.45	0.24%
CIGC	BUY	$998.26	$2.90	0.23%
WMT	BUY	$650.00	$72.52	0.15%
EMR	BUY	$600.00	$55.54	0.14%
HSY	BUY	$500.00	$90.14	0.12%
VIAB	BUY	$500.00	$56.26	0.12%
BVN	BUY	$499.73	$6.49	0.12%
ARLP	BUY	$497.07	$23.67	0.11%
BBL	BUY	$496.73	$38.21	0.11%
VALE	BUY	$481.49	$5.41	0.11%
BEN	BUY	$460.00	$46.00	0.11%
AFL	BUY	$400.00	$62.88	0.09%
BRK.B	BUY	$400.00	$140.04	0.09%
UL	BUY	$400.00	$44.58	0.09%
FNDE	BUY	$317.70	$21.18	0.07%
MCD	BUY	$300.00	$97.17	0.07%
PEG	BUY	$249.73	$40.27	0.06%
VMI	BUY	$203.08	$116.05	0.05%
BUD	BUY	$200.00	$120.93	0.05%
EXC	BUY	$200.00	$32.36	0.05%
INTC	BUY	$200.00	$29.82	0.05%
KO	BUY	$200.00	$40.60	0.05%
MOCO	BUY	$200.00	$15.74	0.05%
SON	BUY	$200.00	$42.19	0.05%
VFC	BUY	$200.00	$74.00	0.05%
BDX	BUY	$190.59	$144.95	0.04%
BMTC	BUY	$150.00	$30.58	0.03%
YORW	BUY	$127.75	$21.99	0.03%
PEP	BUY	$118.34	$96.13	0.03%
PNY	BUY	$109.94	$36.49	0.03%
MAT	BUY	$100.00	$23.97	0.02%
MSFT	BUY	$100.00	$46.59	0.02%
NKE	BUY	$100.00	$112.20	0.02%
NSC	BUY	$100.00	$83.11	0.02%
GIS	BUY	$27.26	$58.52	0.01%
PPL	BUY	$23.92	$29.47	0.01%
BCR	BUY	$4.92	$195.89	0.00%
CEO	BUY	$1.03	$130.61	0.00%
LUKOY	BUY	$0.52	$39.04	0.00%
CHL	BUY	$0.49	$62.68	0.00%
TOT	BUY	$0.34	$49.90	0.00%
POT	BUY	$0.24	$27.57	0.00%
HIMX	BUY	$0.21	$8.53	0.00%
RDSA	BUY	$0.13	$58.91	0.00%
CIG	BUY	$0.01	$3.58	0.00%
		$14,450.05		3.33%

Net cash inflow was $14450.05 during this period. Factoring out the cash inflow, my portfolio returned -4.05% in July.

Purchases
I had some excess cash this month, which I put into Vanguard Emerging Market Stock (VWO) and a few stocks that had taken a beating lately, such as Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), and Emerson (EMR). My portfolio performance this month has been poor, but I am continuing to average down in stocks that have good fundamentals, low valuations, and near 52-week lows.

Sales

None.

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

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2015	My Portfolio Return	S & P 500 TR
Jan	-1.52%	-2.99%
Feb	1.90%	5.75%
Mar	-2.71%	-1.57%
Apr	3.25%	0.96%
May	-2.39%	1.29%
Jun	-3.59%	-1.93%
Jul	-4.05%	1.24%
YTD	-8.98%	2.52%

I am now trailing the index by 11.5% for the year, not good.

Turnover was 3.33% in July, higher than normal due to increased purchase activities.

What do you think about my portfolio? Thanks for reading.