Income & Expenses For November 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 November 2015. You can see all my monthly budgets here.

	Nov 2015
Income
Wages	$8,422.47
Dividends	$706.05
Other Income	$1,032.48
Total Income	$10,161.00
Expense
Federal Tax	$305.56
Federal Tax Pmt/(Refund)
FICA-SS	$356.13
FICA-Medicare	$83.29
Rent	$450.00
Student loan repayment	$155.80
Grocery	$67.10
Gasoline	$19.47
Car Reg/Tax	$2.00
Cell phone	$17.83
Electric	$32.42
Clothing/laundry	$12.25
Amazon sale costs	$8.66
Total Expense	$1,510.51
Ex-Tax Total Expense	$765.53
Surplus/(Deficit)	$8,650.49
Before Tax Saving Rate	85.13%
After Tax Saving Rate	91.87%

Income

Wages were typical this month. Dividend income dropped from last month and on year to year basis. Alas, it was not enough to cover my expenses this month. Here is a chart of my dividend income by month for the last 13 months:

Expense
Expenses were typical this month.

Savings
My after tax saving rate was 91.87% for the month of November, which exceeded my target of 90%. This marks 9 months in row with above 90% savings rate. Going forward, I fully 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 November 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 Dec 12, 2015:

Ticker	Current Price	Shares Held	Cost basis	Market Value	Weight	Dividend Yield TTM
BDX	$151.68	156.46	$13,586.99	$23,731.85	5.33%	1.61%
VWO	$31.56	615.82	$24,965.34	$19,435.28	4.37%	3.19%
AFL	$59.71	252.26	$13,142.75	$15,062.44	3.39%	2.58%
XOM	$74.47	182.17	$15,925.30	$13,566.20	3.05%	3.81%
EXC	$25.93	489.82	$15,008.08	$12,701.03	2.85%	4.67%
MCD	$116.14	106.14	$9,790.35	$12,327.10	2.77%	2.95%
AZN	$33.25	344.45	$7,612.35	$11,452.96	2.57%	4.18%
EMR	$45.48	223.88	$12,432.06	$10,182.06	2.29%	4.00%
LMT	$217.21	44.57	$4,715.95	$9,681.05	2.18%	2.83%
WMT	$59.35	149.36	$9,862.24	$8,864.52	1.99%	3.31%
BRK.B	$130.49	63.71	$7,213.25	$8,313.52	1.87%	0.00%
MHFI	$92.67	86.58	$4,390.47	$8,023.37	1.80%	1.40%
BMTC	$27.95	277.71	$7,103.82	$7,761.99	1.74%	2.73%
NSC	$89.49	81.92	$6,461.03	$7,331.02	1.65%	2.70%
INTC	$34.27	196.55	$5,033.65	$6,735.77	1.51%	2.76%
MSFT	$54.06	117.73	$4,226.51	$6,364.48	1.43%	2.35%
CVX	$86.44	71.00	$7,016.93	$6,137.24	1.38%	4.89%
MAT	$26.25	244.84	$7,303.58	$6,427.05	1.44%	6.01%
MOCO	$14.52	424.23	$6,325.27	$6,159.82	1.38%	3.01%
UL	$41.85	141.36	$5,900.37	$5,915.92	1.33%	3.08%
SON	$41.69	142.37	$5,289.05	$5,935.41	1.33%	3.30%
ESLT	$82.85	70.54	$2,576.83	$5,844.24	1.31%	1.68%
PEP	$97.79	55.75	$4,428.78	$5,451.79	1.23%	2.79%
T	$33.16	162.93	$5,319.66	$5,402.76	1.21%	5.60%
CINF	$59.14	91.00	$4,684.68	$5,381.74	1.21%	3.02%
PEG	$37.02	139.91	$4,947.22	$5,179.47	1.16%	4.08%
PG	$77.79	67.27	$4,630.87	$5,232.93	1.18%	3.39%
VIG	$77.03	60.71	$3,646.24	$4,676.49	1.05%	2.28%
YORW	$22.96	201.91	$4,127.04	$4,635.85	1.04%	2.48%
SAN	$4.97	915.31	$6,260.72	$4,549.09	1.02%	8.65%
VEA	$36.22	126.04	$3,940.01	$4,565.17	1.03%	2.89%
BAMM	$3.25	1,396.15	$4,928.41	$4,537.49	1.02%	0.00%
CHL	$56.83	78.05	$3,717.52	$4,435.58	1.00%	3.27%
NUE	$39.99	107.00	$4,684.46	$4,278.93	0.96%	3.73%
OGZPY	$3.68	1,123.78	$7,461.90	$4,135.51	0.93%	5.87%
ABBV	$54.05	76.00	$4,684.64	$4,107.80	0.92%	3.61%
ED	$60.81	67.00	$4,684.64	$4,074.27	0.92%	4.13%
DV	$23.44	167.07	$3,695.59	$3,916.12	0.88%	1.55%
HCP	$35.59	113.00	$5,202.52	$4,021.67	0.90%	6.29%
BCR	$182.93	20.53	$2,052.59	$3,755.55	0.84%	0.50%
GIS	$58.10	62.89	$2,768.42	$3,653.91	0.82%	2.95%
K	$70.13	50.78	$2,881.77	$3,561.20	0.80%	2.80%
NKE	$126.30	27.82	$2,550.54	$3,513.67	0.79%	0.90%
HIMX	$7.97	421.22	$1,069.90	$3,357.12	0.75%	3.80%
JNJ	$101.66	32.90	$2,058.55	$3,344.61	0.75%	2.89%
HPE	$14.19	220.82	$2,157.41	$3,133.44	0.70%	0.37%
KO	$42.27	75.04	$3,099.90	$3,171.94	0.71%	3.09%
LUKOY	$34.25	89.42	$4,412.88	$3,062.64	0.69%	7.18%
BUD	$122.60	24.93	$2,749.78	$3,056.42	0.69%	3.12%
RBCAA	$24.89	118.94	$2,508.44	$2,960.42	0.67%	3.03%
VALE	$3.15	894.25	$9,532.71	$2,816.89	0.63%	2.95%
DGS	$33.77	83.87	$3,691.12	$2,832.29	0.64%	3.57%
HPQ	$12.21	230.36	$2,098.58	$2,812.70	0.63%	5.25%
VFC	$61.81	45.16	$2,999.98	$2,791.34	0.63%	2.12%
WBA	$81.71	33.43	$1,243.26	$2,731.57	0.61%	1.67%
CSX	$25.72	108.27	$2,272.59	$2,784.70	0.63%	2.80%
BBL	$21.16	115.90	$4,636.00	$2,452.44	0.55%	10.94%
LLY	$83.30	28.91	$1,065.91	$2,408.20	0.54%	2.38%
FNDE	$18.35	129.85	$3,199.50	$2,382.75	0.54%	1.63%
PNY	$57.01	41.11	$1,535.87	$2,343.68	0.53%	2.28%
SKM	$21.34	110.63	$1,454.78	$2,360.84	0.53%	4.43%
AGNC	$17.23	130.35	$2,639.59	$2,245.93	0.50%	14.33%
CEO	$99.33	21.29	$3,080.88	$2,114.74	0.48%	6.86%
PPL	$32.71	65.78	$2,020.76	$2,151.66	0.48%	4.49%
SBRCY	$5.80	346.00	$2,138.28	$2,006.80	0.45%	0.53%
PAYX	$52.25	38.99	$1,466.02	$2,037.23	0.46%	3.02%
TOT	$45.55	40.72	$2,124.36	$1,854.80	0.42%	5.98%
BP	$30.80	57.32	$2,236.63	$1,765.46	0.40%	7.54%
SGTZY	$4.74	371.00	$2,392.95	$1,758.54	0.40%	2.05%
IBM	$134.57	13.02	$1,923.84	$1,752.10	0.39%	3.66%
CIG.C	$1.65	1,001.67	$3,405.68	$1,652.76	0.37%	8.45%
SC	$16.20	105.00	$1,840.65	$1,701.00	0.38%	0.00%
TESS	$19.66	86.73	$1,077.19	$1,705.11	0.38%	3.95%
VMI	$106.84	15.13	$1,757.80	$1,616.49	0.36%	1.37%
RDS.A	$44.55	34.17	$2,178.68	$1,522.27	0.34%	8.03%
TLK	$41.04	36.14	$1,162.62	$1,483.19	0.33%	2.68%
SBS	$4.51	307.00	$1,510.44	$1,384.57	0.31%	0.00%
APOL	$7.16	194.00	$3,686.00	$1,389.04	0.31%	0.00%
TLSYY	$18.42	72.99	$1,087.55	$1,344.48	0.30%	5.89%
OGS	$46.85	28.69	$1,041.45	$1,344.13	0.30%	2.48%
PBR	$4.48	285.38	$2,562.71	$1,278.50	0.29%	0.00%
BVN	$4.51	282.50	$2,607.48	$1,274.08	0.29%	0.48%
PKX	$34.45	35.13	$1,930.74	$1,210.23	0.27%	1.20%
NAT	$14.28	82.75	$1,617.76	$1,181.67	0.27%	9.08%
VIAB	$41.59	27.87	$1,599.74	$1,159.11	0.26%	3.32%
DO	$20.15	59.44	$2,031.06	$1,197.72	0.27%	2.48%
MDLZ	$42.73	27.29	$486.03	$1,166.10	0.26%	1.42%
HCN	$63.21	17.15	$1,067.24	$1,084.05	0.24%	5.14%
OAOFY	$26.70	38.00	$1,086.42	$1,014.60	0.23%	3.74%
RYAM	$9.14	106.83	$2,890.82	$976.43	0.22%	2.94%
CICHY	$12.98	73.00	$995.72	$947.54	0.21%	7.43%
PDLI	$3.59	255.36	$1,544.93	$916.74	0.21%	16.22%
MBT	$6.38	142.00	$1,525.08	$905.96	0.20%	12.47%
BRGYY	$13.95	64.00	$1,011.20	$892.80	0.20%	1.95%
BCMXY	$17.98	52.00	$835.64	$934.96	0.21%	6.14%
VSS	$91.62	10.00	$878.20	$916.20	0.21%	2.77%
STRA	$57.33	16.00	$768.00	$917.28	0.21%	0.00%
MRK	$52.15	17.24	$597.71	$899.07	0.20%	3.41%
OJSCY	$3.00	236.00	$1,109.20	$708.00	0.16%	3.77%
DTEGY	$17.35	50.94	$637.26	$883.81	0.20%	3.18%
FSBK	$8.51	100.29	$453.31	$853.47	0.19%	1.17%
KSS	$46.24	18.05	$850.16	$834.63	0.19%	3.82%
MYTAY	$7.07	124.00	$1,634.32	$876.68	0.20%	0.00%
BEN	$36.18	22.00	$960.08	$795.96	0.18%	1.56%
FTD	$25.96	30.00	$967.50	$778.80	0.18%	0.00%
GSH	$24.89	31.59	$597.37	$786.28	0.18%	1.61%
POT	$17.35	43.87	$1,279.25	$761.14	0.17%	8.30%
ITYBY	$103.67	7.16	$448.36	$742.28	0.17%	5.40%
CRC	$2.75	255.00	$1,259.70	$701.25	0.16%	1.11%
AEO	$15.62	45.30	$549.94	$707.59	0.16%	3.05%
CTL	$24.92	27.47	$1,068.03	$684.55	0.15%	8.19%
PTR	$63.90	10.31	$1,086.47	$658.81	0.15%	3.80%
MPC	$49.62	13.03	$290.44	$646.55	0.15%	2.19%
KHC	$69.69	9.58	$312.40	$667.63	0.15%	1.59%
BFR	$19.31	33.32	$369.85	$643.41	0.14%	0.00%
SCL	$49.53	13.00	$499.98	$643.89	0.14%	1.45%
ARLP	$13.73	41.00	$1,093.88	$562.93	0.13%	17.97%
DRI	$57.78	10.34	$532.10	$597.45	0.13%	3.79%
SWRAY	$10.73	53.35	$610.32	$572.45	0.13%	4.65%
EZPW	$4.85	109.00	$997.35	$528.65	0.12%	0.00%
PB	$48.72	11.00	$499.73	$535.92	0.12%	2.17%
TLKGY	$15.05	36.34	$711.90	$546.92	0.12%	4.16%
IDCBY	$11.39	45.00	$548.10	$512.55	0.12%	7.18%
PNW	$61.53	8.51	$374.10	$523.62	0.12%	3.82%
RAD	$7.81	66.00	$528.00	$515.46	0.12%	0.00%
ICE	$243.97	2.03	$173.02	$495.26	0.11%	0.85%
HSY	$87.43	5.81	$525.34	$507.97	0.11%	2.58%
BACHY	$10.48	45.00	$495.00	$471.60	0.11%	7.26%
ATW	$13.15	33.00	$495.00	$433.95	0.10%	7.17%
CPLP	$5.76	75.76	$646.23	$436.38	0.10%	15.22%
HNNMY	$6.97	61.56	$403.22	$429.07	0.10%	3.26%
NUS	$35.30	12.07	$490.04	$426.07	0.10%	3.82%
TSCDY	$6.57	63.00	$504.00	$413.91	0.09%	0.66%
NTT	$37.08	11.12	$248.42	$412.33	0.09%	2.07%
MRO	$14.34	27.26	$514.40	$390.91	0.09%	4.69%
ABEV	$4.62	85.02	$510.97	$392.79	0.09%	0.73%
E	$29.75	13.00	$518.44	$386.75	0.09%	6.94%
RAVN	$16.20	22.00	$497.20	$356.40	0.08%	3.18%
CACQ	$7.41	48.00	$504.00	$355.68	0.08%	0.00%
SB	$1.05	314.89	$2,260.91	$330.63	0.07%	7.55%
ELNK	$7.22	45.36	$369.68	$327.50	0.07%	2.55%
OPTI	$0.56	600.00	$1,392.00	$336.00	0.08%	0.00%
APA	$42.92	7.03	$475.93	$301.73	0.07%	2.22%
EVEP	$2.69	123.76	$1,211.61	$332.91	0.07%	80.65%
POM	$26.14	12.14	$194.36	$317.34	0.07%	4.10%
GPS	$26.06	11.74	$300.07	$305.94	0.07%	3.43%
CIG	$1.56	184.45	$959.14	$287.74	0.06%	0.00%
CQP	$22.44	12.93	$223.17	$290.15	0.07%	7.35%
DYN	$11.03	24.00	$764.16	$264.72	0.06%	0.00%
TPUB	$8.97	26.00	$494.00	$233.22	0.05%	7.32%
IEMG	$38.47	6.25	$316.44	$240.44	0.05%	2.66%
NGLS	$16.53	12.50	$212.00	$206.63	0.05%	17.74%
OIBR.C	$0.51	682.30	$3,008.94	$347.97	0.08%	0.00%
SJI	$21.37	10.39	$249.98	$222.03	0.05%	4.58%
LYG	$4.30	50.00	$162.00	$215.00	0.05%	2.12%
IAG	$1.46	150.00	$253.50	$219.00	0.05%	0.00%
CLD	$2.30	82.00	$993.02	$188.60	0.04%	0.00%
TGT	$71.84	2.57	$149.75	$184.63	0.04%	3.00%
BND	$81.37	2.23	$177.82	$181.46	0.04%	2.44%
CEL	$6.65	23.13	$644.40	$153.81	0.03%	0.00%
QCCO	$1.25	113.87	$412.21	$142.34	0.03%	0.00%
BCS	$12.82	11.00	$163.13	$141.02	0.03%	2.99%
LC	$13.65	10.00	$150.00	$136.50	0.03%	0.00%
AMC	$23.08	5.56	$100.08	$128.32	0.03%	3.46%
JOY	$11.81	8.00	$124.00	$94.48	0.02%	6.51%
MVC	$7.83	11.69	$105.56	$91.53	0.02%	6.70%
WPG	$10.46	7.00	$123.13	$73.22	0.02%	8.33%
SOUHY	$3.46	20.00	$180.00	$69.20	0.02%	0.00%
ISH	$1.90	37.06	$796.42	$70.41	0.02%	30.61%
FCPT	$21.39	3.11	$58.75	$66.52	0.01%	0.00%
TLN	$6.27	8.00	$123.52	$50.16	0.01%	0.00%
LGCY	$1.62	29.19	$439.89	$47.29	0.01%	79.35%
BK	$40.77	1.08	$27.26	$44.03	0.01%	1.60%
GOOGL	$750.42	0.05	$27.24	$37.52	0.01%	0.00%
ZAHLY	$0.30	118.00	$200.60	$35.40	0.01%	0.00%
ALN	$1.13	15.00	$31.65	$16.95	0.00%	0.00%
BKS	$9.08	1.00	$8.70	$9.08	0.00%	3.26%
BPI	$7.50	1.00	$17.85	$7.50	0.00%	0.00%
LPHIQ	$0.00	130.10	$870.37	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
BBEP	$0.79	1.50	$20.36	$1.19	0.00%	89.00%
NUOT	$0.08	10.00	$5.00	$0.80	0.00%	0.00%
MWE	$41.53	12.26	$258.69	$509.16	0.11%	0.00%
			$449,627.06	$444,968.43	100.00%	3.41%

As of Dec 12, 2015, my portfolio contains 182 holdings, valued at $444,968.43. This is a decrease of $11,693.70, or 2.56%, over portfolio value of $456,662.13 a month ago.

My transactions in November are listed as follows:

Stock	Action	Cost	Price per share	Impact
HCBK	Sold Out	-$1,548.80	-$10.06	-0.35%
WMT	Add	$1,100.00	$57.80	0.25%
BBL	Add	$994.89	$27.64	0.22%
EXC	Add	$700.00	$28.02	0.16%
CI	New Buy	$520.00	$130.00	0.12%
BRGYY	Add	$518.00	$14.80	0.12%
ATW	New Buy	$495.00	$15.00	0.11%
AFL	Add	$451.52	$64.54	0.10%
IBM	Add	$401.10	$133.70	0.09%
KO	Add	$400.00	$41.95	0.09%
EMR	Add	$350.00	$49.10	0.08%
MOCO	Add	$344.05	$14.46	0.08%
GPS	Add	$300.00	$25.56	0.07%
SJI	New Buy	$250.00	$24.06	0.06%
BRK.B	Add	$200.00	$138.04	0.04%
KSS	Add	$200.00	$45.27	0.04%
SON	Add	$200.00	$43.39	0.04%
UL	Add	$200.00	$43.61	0.04%
XOM	Add	$200.00	$80.36	0.04%
DGS	Add	$183.70	$36.74	0.04%
FNDE	Add	$160.00	$20.00	0.04%
BMTC	Add	$150.00	$28.95	0.03%
MCD	Add	$150.00	$111.45	0.03%
JOY	New Buy	$124.00	$15.50	0.03%
BDX	Add	$100.00	$150.52	0.02%
BUD	Add	$100.00	$118.15	0.02%
INTC	Add	$100.00	$34.22	0.02%
MAT	Add	$100.00	$24.86	0.02%
MSFT	Add	$100.00	$53.39	0.02%
NKE	Add	$100.00	$130.98	0.02%
NSC	Add	$100.00	$95.51	0.02%
VFC	Add	$100.00	$62.55	0.02%
VMI	Add	$100.00	$112.11	0.02%
YORW	Add	$100.00	$23.21	0.02%
PG	Add	$44.20	$74.89	0.01%
GIS	Add	$27.46	$57.81	0.01%
TESS	Add	$17.19	$22.41	0.00%
PAYX	Add	$16.25	$53.99	0.00%
OGS	Add	$8.56	$49.20	0.00%
PNW	Add	$5.27	$63.58	0.00%
BCR	Add	$4.92	$184.42	0.00%
TOT	Add	$0.35	$50.00	0.00%
PTR	Add	$0.29	$74.36	0.00%
POT	Add	$0.24	$2.09	0.00%
VALE	Add	$0.05	$3.94	0.00%
FCPT	New Buy	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%
HPE	New Buy	$0.00	$0.00	0.00%
		$8,168.24		2.18%

Net cash inflow was $8,168.24 during this period. Factoring out the cash inflow, my portfolio returned -4.35% in October.

Purchases
This is another month with heavy activity for me. I added to position in Walmart, Exelon, and IBM. 

I initiated new position in Cigna to as merger arbitrage bet. I initiated new position in Atwood which seems cheap after a dividend cut. I initiated new position in Joy Global which is too cheap to ignore. 

I initiated position in South Jersey Industries as a new member of my monthly DSPP. It is a conservative stock offering discount on new purchase and dividend reinvestment, so I find it hard to refuse. 

Four Corner Property Trust is a spinoff from Darden and Hewlett Packard Enterprise is a spinoff from Hewlett Packard Inc.

The rest of my purchases are mostly either part of my monthly investment plan, or dividend reinvestment.

Sales

Acquisition of Hudson City Bancorp was completed and I exited the position with a small gain. 

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

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%	2.10%
Aug	-5.20%	-6.03%
Sep	2.97%	-2.47%
Oct	1.54%	8.50%
Nov	-4.35%	-2.93%
YTD	-13.71%	-0.20%

I am trailing the index by 13.51% YTD. This is looking like a losing year for me.

Turnover was 2.18% in November, relatively high due to heavy cash deployment.

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