Portfolio Update September 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 Oct 6, 2015:

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Ticker	Current Price	Shares Held	Cost basis	Market Value	Weight	Dividend Yield TTM
VWO	$34.71	615.82	$24,965.34	$21,375.11	4.88%	3.26%
BDX	$133.46	155.08	$13,386.51	$20,696.98	4.73%	1.77%
AFL	$59.39	241.80	$12,491.39	$14,360.50	3.28%	2.67%
EXC	$30.08	464.84	$14,307.78	$13,982.39	3.19%	4.16%
XOM	$78.11	164.37	$14,525.38	$12,838.94	2.93%	3.74%
AZN	$31.97	344.45	$7,612.35	$11,012.07	2.51%	4.36%
MCD	$101.49	101.84	$9,339.75	$10,335.74	2.36%	3.41%
LMT	$212.40	44.57	$4,715.95	$9,466.67	2.16%	2.90%
EMR	$46.25	187.33	$10,717.15	$8,664.01	1.98%	4.25%
BMTC	$30.33	260.28	$6,611.11	$7,894.29	1.80%	2.53%
MHFI	$88.82	86.58	$4,390.47	$7,690.04	1.76%	1.44%
BRK.B	$131.70	56.92	$6,313.57	$7,496.36	1.71%	0.00%
WMT	$65.29	94.75	$6,562.39	$6,186.23	1.41%	3.00%
CVX	$86.82	71.00	$7,016.93	$6,164.22	1.41%	5.25%
HPQ	$27.73	221.25	$4,135.16	$6,135.26	1.40%	2.58%
INTC	$31.64	190.28	$4,833.11	$6,020.46	1.37%	3.10%
NSC	$79.83	73.41	$5,761.22	$5,860.32	1.34%	2.96%
PEG	$42.77	136.14	$4,789.41	$5,822.71	1.33%	3.64%
UL	$42.45	131.93	$5,500.16	$5,600.43	1.28%	3.21%
MOCO	$13.85	393.30	$5,883.77	$5,447.21	1.24%	3.12%
T	$33.32	162.93	$5,319.66	$5,428.83	1.24%	5.73%
SON	$39.91	135.10	$4,989.24	$5,391.84	1.23%	3.40%
ESLT	$76.51	70.54	$2,576.83	$5,397.02	1.23%	1.84%
MSFT	$46.91	113.74	$4,026.40	$5,335.54	1.22%	2.72%
PEP	$97.09	54.05	$4,259.68	$5,247.71	1.20%	2.88%
SAN	$5.69	915.31	$6,260.72	$5,208.11	1.19%	9.90%
CINF	$54.71	91.00	$4,684.68	$4,978.61	1.14%	3.37%
PG	$73.36	66.68	$4,586.92	$4,891.64	1.12%	3.61%
OGZPY	$4.28	1,123.78	$7,461.90	$4,809.78	1.10%	5.67%
CHL	$60.40	78.04	$3,717.05	$4,713.62	1.08%	3.06%
VEA	$37.06	126.04	$3,940.01	$4,671.04	1.07%	3.06%
MAT	$21.47	217.69	$6,702.68	$4,673.80	1.07%	7.63%
DV	$27.56	167.07	$3,695.59	$4,604.45	1.05%	1.36%
VIG	$75.67	60.71	$3,646.24	$4,593.93	1.05%	2.44%
BAMM	$3.19	1,396.15	$4,928.41	$4,453.72	1.02%	0.00%
ED	$66.08	67.00	$4,684.64	$4,427.36	1.01%	3.87%
VALE	$4.79	894.24	$9,532.60	$4,283.41	0.98%	7.42%
HCP	$38.53	111.00	$5,122.65	$4,276.83	0.98%	5.97%
NUE	$39.80	107.00	$4,684.46	$4,258.60	0.97%	3.92%
YORW	$22.04	191.80	$3,897.38	$4,227.27	0.97%	2.77%
ABBV	$54.74	76.00	$4,684.64	$4,160.24	0.95%	3.46%
BCR	$186.95	20.50	$2,047.34	$3,832.48	0.87%	0.47%
GIS	$56.26	62.42	$2,741.49	$3,511.75	0.80%	3.00%
K	$67.71	50.78	$2,881.77	$3,438.31	0.78%	2.92%
NKE	$123.18	27.05	$2,450.19	$3,332.02	0.76%	0.89%
HIMX	$7.66	421.22	$1,069.90	$3,226.55	0.74%	3.82%
LUKOY	$34.91	89.42	$4,412.88	$3,121.65	0.71%	7.55%
JNJ	$93.35	32.90	$2,058.55	$3,071.22	0.70%	3.09%
RBCAA	$25.42	118.94	$2,508.44	$3,023.45	0.69%	3.15%
CSX	$27.78	108.27	$2,272.59	$3,007.74	0.69%	2.49%
DGS	$37.21	78.87	$3,507.35	$2,934.75	0.67%	3.62%
WBA	$84.36	33.43	$1,243.26	$2,820.15	0.64%	1.58%
VFC	$69.87	40.04	$2,650.25	$2,797.59	0.64%	1.82%
SKM	$24.68	110.63	$1,454.78	$2,730.35	0.62%	3.88%
KO	$41.11	63.00	$2,600.01	$2,589.93	0.59%	3.21%
BBL	$32.40	79.87	$3,640.47	$2,587.79	0.59%	7.69%
BUD	$110.10	23.16	$2,550.15	$2,549.92	0.58%	3.18%
AGNC	$19.52	130.35	$2,639.59	$2,544.43	0.58%	13.29%
FNDE	$20.13	121.85	$3,038.94	$2,452.84	0.56%	1.67%
LLY	$83.17	28.91	$1,065.91	$2,404.44	0.55%	2.27%
CEO	$110.97	21.29	$3,081.09	$2,362.55	0.54%	6.81%
APOL	$11.27	194.00	$3,686.00	$2,186.38	0.50%	0.00%
PPL	$33.11	65.03	$1,995.77	$2,153.14	0.49%	4.52%
SC	$20.43	105.00	$1,840.65	$2,145.15	0.49%	0.00%
BVN	$7.36	282.50	$2,607.48	$2,079.20	0.47%	0.36%
SGTZY	$5.55	371.00	$2,392.95	$2,059.05	0.47%	1.98%
TOT	$49.83	40.71	$2,123.84	$2,028.58	0.46%	5.90%
BP	$34.33	57.32	$2,236.63	$1,967.80	0.45%	7.38%
PAYX	$48.76	38.69	$1,449.71	$1,886.52	0.43%	3.27%
TESS	$21.31	85.92	$1,060.25	$1,830.96	0.42%	3.80%
RDS.A	$53.19	34.17	$2,178.68	$1,817.50	0.41%	7.55%
CIG.C	$1.78	1,001.67	$3,405.68	$1,782.97	0.41%	8.69%
SBRCY	$5.10	346.00	$2,138.28	$1,764.60	0.40%	0.68%
PNY	$40.54	38.37	$1,423.14	$1,555.52	0.36%	3.22%
HCBK	$9.73	153.92	$1,471.48	$1,497.64	0.34%	1.23%
PBR	$5.20	285.38	$2,562.71	$1,483.98	0.34%	0.00%
TLSYY	$20.37	72.99	$1,087.55	$1,486.81	0.34%	5.64%
TLK	$38.62	36.14	$1,162.62	$1,395.73	0.32%	3.16%
SBS	$4.34	307.00	$1,510.44	$1,332.38	0.30%	0.00%
NAT	$16.14	82.75	$1,617.76	$1,335.59	0.30%	7.10%
OGS	$46.59	28.52	$1,032.99	$1,328.75	0.30%	2.56%
PKX	$37.32	35.13	$1,930.74	$1,311.05	0.30%	1.17%
PDLI	$5.14	255.36	$1,544.93	$1,312.55	0.30%	11.74%
MDLZ	$43.95	27.29	$486.03	$1,199.40	0.27%	1.42%
HCN	$69.01	17.15	$1,067.24	$1,183.52	0.27%	4.79%
DO	$19.67	59.44	$2,031.06	$1,169.18	0.27%	2.75%
BCMXY	$22.35	52.00	$835.64	$1,162.20	0.27%	4.94%
OAOFY	$30.06	38.00	$1,086.42	$1,142.28	0.26%	3.57%
VMI	$102.22	10.94	$1,303.94	$1,118.29	0.26%	1.56%
SB	$3.42	314.89	$2,260.91	$1,076.92	0.25%	2.81%
MBT	$7.44	142.00	$1,525.08	$1,056.48	0.24%	9.06%
CRC	$3.95	255.00	$1,259.70	$1,007.25	0.23%	1.00%
CICHY	$13.76	73.00	$995.72	$1,004.48	0.23%	7.16%
ARLP	$23.38	41.00	$1,093.88	$958.58	0.22%	12.01%
POT	$21.63	43.85	$1,278.67	$948.48	0.22%	7.12%
VSS	$94.25	10.00	$878.20	$942.50	0.22%	2.90%
STRA	$56.22	16.00	$768.00	$899.52	0.21%	0.00%
IBM	$149.18	6.02	$962.66	$898.06	0.21%	3.32%
DTEGY	$17.47	50.94	$637.26	$889.92	0.20%	3.31%
FTD	$29.54	30.00	$967.50	$886.20	0.20%	0.00%
MYTAY	$7.01	124.00	$1,634.32	$869.24	0.20%	0.00%
MRK	$49.92	17.24	$597.71	$860.62	0.20%	3.59%
BEN	$38.62	22.00	$960.08	$849.64	0.19%	1.59%
OJSCY	$3.37	236.00	$1,109.20	$795.32	0.18%	4.28%
VIAB	$46.34	17.16	$1,099.96	$795.19	0.18%	3.29%
RYAM	$7.36	106.83	$2,890.82	$786.27	0.18%	4.04%
FSBK	$7.76	100.29	$453.31	$778.25	0.18%	1.27%
PTR	$75.24	10.31	$1,086.57	$775.72	0.18%	3.49%
ITYBY	$104.45	7.16	$448.36	$747.86	0.17%	4.04%
TLKGY	$19.90	36.34	$711.90	$723.17	0.17%	3.53%
AEO	$15.64	45.30	$549.94	$708.49	0.16%	3.18%
CTL	$25.64	27.47	$1,068.03	$704.33	0.16%	8.76%
EZPW	$6.44	109.00	$997.35	$701.96	0.16%	0.00%
DRI	$68.39	10.22	$460.92	$698.95	0.16%	3.21%
KHC	$72.39	9.58	$312.40	$693.50	0.16%	0.77%
GSH	$21.17	31.59	$597.37	$668.76	0.15%	1.93%
MPC	$50.52	13.03	$290.44	$658.28	0.15%	2.21%
SWRAY	$11.44	53.34	$610.21	$610.21	0.14%	4.42%
OIBR	$0.87	682.30	$3,008.94	$593.60	0.14%	0.00%
SCL	$44.20	13.00	$499.98	$574.60	0.13%	1.70%
MWE	$45.61	12.26	$258.69	$559.18	0.13%	8.17%
NUS	$46.25	12.07	$490.04	$558.24	0.13%	3.16%
DYN	$23.07	24.00	$764.16	$553.68	0.13%	0.00%
TSCDY	$8.72	63.00	$504.00	$549.36	0.13%	0.56%
HSY	$93.82	5.81	$525.34	$545.09	0.12%	2.32%
PB	$49.39	11.00	$499.73	$543.29	0.12%	2.24%
IDCBY	$11.92	45.00	$548.10	$536.40	0.12%	7.03%
PNW	$63.14	8.43	$368.98	$532.27	0.12%	3.72%
CPLP	$6.94	75.76	$646.23	$525.77	0.12%	14.08%
MRO	$18.82	27.26	$514.40	$513.03	0.12%	5.04%
BFR	$15.21	33.32	$369.85	$506.80	0.12%	0.00%
BACHY	$11.15	45.00	$495.00	$501.75	0.11%	7.08%
PM	$81.70	6.00	$493.50	$490.20	0.11%	5.03%
ICE	$235.52	2.03	$173.02	$478.11	0.11%	1.21%
BRGYY	$16.24	29.00	$493.00	$470.96	0.11%	1.88%
HNNMY	$7.42	61.56	$403.22	$456.78	0.10%	3.29%
E	$34.19	13.00	$518.44	$444.47	0.10%	6.43%
ABEV	$5.19	85.02	$510.97	$441.25	0.10%	0.70%
NGLS	$32.87	12.50	$212.00	$410.88	0.09%	10.36%
NTT	$36.31	11.12	$248.42	$403.77	0.09%	2.08%
PTGCY	$0.28	1,416.00	$2,421.36	$396.48	0.09%	0.00%
RAVN	$17.74	22.00	$497.20	$390.28	0.09%	3.13%
CQP	$28.06	12.93	$223.17	$362.82	0.08%	6.29%
ELNK	$7.97	45.36	$369.68	$361.52	0.08%	2.53%
OPTI	$0.60	600.00	$1,392.00	$360.00	0.08%	0.00%
CIG	$1.89	184.45	$959.14	$348.61	0.08%	0.00%
CACQ	$7.16	48.00	$504.00	$343.68	0.08%	0.00%
APA	$45.73	7.03	$475.93	$321.48	0.07%	2.35%
POM	$25.47	12.14	$194.36	$309.21	0.07%	4.36%
IAG	$1.93	150.00	$253.50	$289.50	0.07%	0.00%
IEMG	$41.79	6.25	$316.44	$261.19	0.06%	2.74%
CLD	$2.89	82.00	$993.02	$236.98	0.05%	0.00%
LYG	$4.73	50.00	$162.00	$236.50	0.05%	1.93%
EVEP	$7.06	32.76	$711.55	$231.29	0.05%	36.80%
TPUB	$8.23	26.00	$494.00	$213.98	0.05%	8.66%
TGT	$77.72	2.57	$149.75	$199.74	0.05%	2.67%
QCCO	$1.75	113.87	$412.21	$199.27	0.05%	0.00%
BND	$81.95	2.23	$177.82	$182.75	0.04%	2.43%
BCS	$15.54	11.00	$163.13	$170.94	0.04%	2.59%
LGCY	$5.21	29.19	$439.89	$152.08	0.03%	44.04%
AMC	$26.23	5.56	$100.08	$145.84	0.03%	3.17%
CEL	$6.14	23.13	$644.40	$142.02	0.03%	0.00%
ISH	$3.80	37.06	$796.42	$140.83	0.03%	16.26%
LC	$13.89	10.00	$150.00	$138.90	0.03%	0.00%
KSS	$45.84	2.74	$149.80	$125.60	0.03%	3.83%
SOUHY	$5.13	20.00	$180.00	$102.60	0.02%	0.00%
MVC	$7.99	11.69	$105.56	$93.40	0.02%	6.70%
WPG	$12.06	7.00	$123.13	$84.42	0.02%	6.48%
BK	$39.78	1.08	$27.26	$42.96	0.01%	1.74%
ZAHLY	$0.35	118.00	$200.60	$41.30	0.01%	0.00%
GOOGL	$666.37	0.05	$27.24	$33.32	0.01%	0.00%
ALN	$1.15	15.00	$31.65	$17.25	0.00%	0.00%
BKS	$12.41	1.00	$8.70	$12.41	0.00%	1.26%
BPI	$8.29	1.00	$17.85	$8.29	0.00%	0.00%
BBEP	$2.61	1.50	$20.36	$3.92	0.00%	46.46%
LPHIQ	$0.01	130.10	$870.37	$1.30	0.00%	500.00%
NUOT	$0.05	10.00	$5.00	$0.50	0.00%	0.00%
			$432,267.86	$438,026.68	100.00%	3.47%

 As of Oct 6, 2015, my portfolio contains 177 holdings, valued at $438,026.68. This is an increase of $18,000.30, or 4.29%, over portfolio value of $420,026.38 a month ago.

My transactions in September are listed as follows:

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Stock	Action	Cost	Price per share	Impact
WMT	BUY	$1,150.00	$63.90	0.26%
EMR	BUY	$644.33	$47.05	0.15%
MAT	BUY	$600.00	$22.18	0.14%
CIG.C	BUY	$494.98	$1.98	0.11%
CICHY	BUY	$491.73	$13.29	0.11%
EXC	BUY	$308.10	$29.87	0.07%
XOM	BUY	$283.71	$74.25	0.06%
BMTC	BUY	$201.19	$30.16	0.05%
AFL	BUY	$200.00	$57.05	0.05%
BDX	BUY	$192.20	$136.13	0.04%
NSC	BUY	$142.91	$76.14	0.03%
MOCO	BUY	$100.00	$13.98	0.02%
MSFT	BUY	$100.00	$44.46	0.02%
NKE	BUY	$100.00	$115.59	0.02%
PEP	BUY	$100.00	$93.55	0.02%
PNY	BUY	$100.00	$37.43	0.02%
VMI	BUY	$100.00	$102.77	0.02%
YORW	BUY	$100.00	$21.09	0.02%
SON	BUY	$45.99	$40.30	0.01%
MHFI	BUY	$28.90	$93.21	0.01%
K	BUY	$22.76	$67.54	0.01%
AZN	BUY	$0.19	$33.33	0.00%
ESLT	BUY	$0.16	$80.00	0.00%
RDSA	BUY	$0.13	$46.43	0.00%
PKX	BUY	$0.04	$40.00	0.00%
		$5,507.32		1.26%

Net cash inflow was $5,507.32 during this period. Factoring out the cash inflow, my portfolio returned 2.97% in September.

Purchases
I continued to add significant money into stocks this month while prices in certain stocks remained relatively attractive, reducing much of my free cash. I added to position in Walmart and Emerson Electric, both of which are wide moat, dividend aristocrats, part of my monthly investment plan and selling at low valuations and near 52 week lows. 

I also added to my positions in Mattel, Companhia Energetica Minas Gerais, and China Construction Bank. Mattel is down 30% YTD. Mattel currently has a Shiller PE around 10 and dividend yield around 7%. Unfortunately, due to a significant slide in profit, Mattel's current dividend yield is unsustainable unless business improves. I think the company can turnaround, but this a a speculative play. Companhia Energetica Minas Gerais, down 67% YTD (ouch!), and China Construction Bank, down 16% YTD, are both emerging market stocks with very low valuations. 

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

Sales

None.

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%
YTD	-11.15%	-5.24%

I am trailing the index by 5.91% YTD.

Turnover was 1.26% in September, relatively low.

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

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

	Sep 2015
Income
Wages	$8,422.47
Dividends	$1,577.33
Other Income	$153.42
Total Income	$10,153.22
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	$64.07
Car Insurance	$124.71
Cell phone	$17.86
Electric	$50.80
Clothing/laundry	$7.00
Total Expense	$1,615.22
Ex-Tax Total Expense	$870.24
Surplus/(Deficit)	$8,538.00
Before Tax Saving Rate	84.09%
After Tax Saving Rate	90.75%

Income

Wages were typical this month. Dividend income reached an all-time high this month at $1577.33, which covered my living expenses of $745.53 more than 2 times. Here is a chart of my dividend income by month for the last 13 months:

Expense
Expenses were higher this month due to payment of $124.71 for 6-mo policy car insurance and higher electric utility expense. Other expenses were fairly typical.

Savings
My after tax saving rate was 90.75% for the month of September, which exceeded my target of 90%. This marks 7 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.