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

	Oct 2015
Income
Wages	$28,422.47
Dividends	$866.22
Other Income	$965.75
Total Income	$30,254.44
Expense
Federal Tax	$5,305.56
Federal Tax Pmt/(Refund)
FICA-SS	$356.13
FICA-Medicare	$83.29
Rent	$450.00
Student loan repayment	$155.80
Grocery	$67.79
Cell phone	$17.85
Electric	$34.18
Clothing/laundry	$9.81
Donation	$2.00
Amazon sale costs	$5.44
Other Expense	$141.00
Total Expense	$6,628.85
Ex-Tax Total Expense	$883.87
Surplus/(Deficit)	$23,625.59
Before Tax Saving Rate	78.09%
After Tax Saving Rate	96.39%

Income

Wages were highest this month due to annual bonus. Dividend income dropped from all-time high last month, but increased 21% 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 higher this month due to one time expense of $141 for licensing fees. Other expenses were fairly typical.

Savings
My after tax saving rate was 96.39% for the month of October, which exceeded my target of 90%. This marks 8 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 October 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 31, 2015:

Ticker	Current Price	Shares Held	Cost basis	Market Value	Weight	Dividend Yield TTM
BDX	$142.52	155.80	$13,487.61	$22,204.62	4.86%	1.68%
VWO	$34.84	615.82	$24,965.34	$21,455.17	4.70%	3.09%
AFL	$63.75	245.27	$12,690.27	$15,635.96	3.42%	2.45%
XOM	$82.84	179.68	$15,723.80	$14,884.69	3.26%	3.43%
EXC	$27.93	464.84	$14,307.78	$12,982.98	2.84%	4.44%
MCD	$112.25	104.80	$9,640.55	$11,763.80	2.58%	3.03%
AZN	$31.89	344.45	$7,612.35	$10,984.51	2.41%	4.39%
EMR	$47.23	216.76	$12,082.20	$10,237.57	2.24%	3.98%
LMT	$219.86	44.57	$4,715.95	$9,799.16	2.15%	2.73%
BRK.B	$136.09	62.26	$7,013.59	$8,472.96	1.86%	0.00%
MHFI	$92.64	86.58	$4,390.47	$8,020.77	1.76%	1.39%
BMTC	$29.13	272.53	$6,954.97	$7,938.80	1.74%	2.68%
WMT	$57.26	130.33	$8,762.09	$7,462.70	1.63%	3.41%
INTC	$33.86	193.62	$4,933.44	$6,555.97	1.44%	2.79%
NSC	$80.03	80.87	$6,360.43	$6,472.03	1.42%	2.92%
CVX	$90.89	71.00	$7,016.93	$6,453.19	1.41%	4.71%
MSFT	$52.64	115.86	$4,125.77	$6,098.87	1.34%	2.36%
UL	$44.45	136.78	$5,699.62	$6,079.87	1.33%	2.97%
HPQ	$26.97	221.25	$4,135.16	$5,967.11	1.31%	2.49%
MAT	$24.58	240.82	$7,202.93	$5,919.36	1.30%	6.18%
SON	$42.69	137.76	$5,088.85	$5,880.97	1.29%	3.14%
PEG	$41.29	139.91	$4,947.22	$5,776.88	1.27%	3.73%
PEP	$102.21	55.75	$4,428.78	$5,698.21	1.25%	2.66%
ESLT	$79.53	70.54	$2,576.83	$5,610.05	1.23%	1.75%
MOCO	$13.71	400.43	$5,982.42	$5,489.90	1.20%	3.21%
CINF	$60.23	91.00	$4,684.68	$5,480.93	1.20%	3.02%
T	$33.53	162.93	$5,319.66	$5,463.04	1.20%	5.61%
PG	$76.40	66.68	$4,586.92	$5,094.35	1.12%	3.45%
SAN	$5.55	915.31	$6,260.72	$5,079.97	1.11%	8.03%
VEA	$38.04	126.04	$3,940.01	$4,794.56	1.05%	2.87%
VIG	$78.71	60.71	$3,646.24	$4,778.48	1.05%	2.29%
CHL	$60.31	78.05	$3,717.52	$4,707.20	1.03%	3.11%
OGZPY	$4.18	1,123.78	$7,461.90	$4,697.40	1.03%	5.39%
YORW	$23.18	197.60	$4,027.09	$4,580.37	1.00%	2.58%
NUE	$42.30	107.00	$4,684.46	$4,526.10	0.99%	3.52%
ABBV	$59.55	76.00	$4,684.64	$4,525.80	0.99%	3.39%
BAMM	$3.17	1,396.15	$4,928.41	$4,425.80	0.97%	0.00%
ED	$65.75	67.00	$4,684.64	$4,405.25	0.96%	3.92%
HCP	$37.20	113.00	$5,202.52	$4,203.60	0.92%	6.02%
DV	$23.56	167.07	$3,695.59	$3,936.17	0.86%	1.53%
VALE	$4.36	894.24	$9,532.60	$3,898.89	0.85%	2.23%
BCR	$186.35	20.50	$2,047.34	$3,820.18	0.84%	0.49%
GIS	$58.11	62.42	$2,741.49	$3,627.23	0.79%	2.98%
K	$70.52	50.78	$2,881.77	$3,581.01	0.78%	2.79%
NKE	$131.07	27.05	$2,450.19	$3,545.44	0.78%	0.85%
JNJ	$101.01	32.90	$2,058.55	$3,323.23	0.73%	2.87%
LUKOY	$36.25	89.42	$4,412.88	$3,241.48	0.71%	6.79%
RBCAA	$25.43	118.94	$2,508.44	$3,024.64	0.66%	3.03%
VFC	$67.52	43.56	$2,899.79	$2,941.17	0.64%	1.90%
DGS	$37.06	78.87	$3,507.35	$2,922.92	0.64%	3.44%
CSX	$26.99	108.27	$2,272.59	$2,922.21	0.64%	2.52%
BUD	$119.36	24.08	$2,649.52	$2,874.19	0.63%	2.93%
WBA	$84.68	33.43	$1,243.26	$2,830.85	0.62%	1.62%
KO	$42.35	65.51	$2,700.32	$2,774.35	0.61%	3.06%
SKM	$23.56	110.63	$1,454.78	$2,606.44	0.57%	4.00%
BBL	$32.25	79.90	$3,641.84	$2,576.78	0.56%	7.69%
FNDE	$20.47	121.85	$3,038.94	$2,494.27	0.55%	1.55%
HIMX	$5.92	421.22	$1,069.90	$2,493.62	0.55%	5.07%
CEO	$113.68	21.29	$3,080.88	$2,420.25	0.53%	6.47%
LLY	$81.58	28.91	$1,065.91	$2,358.48	0.52%	2.44%
PNY	$57.31	41.11	$1,535.87	$2,356.01	0.52%	2.29%
AGNC	$17.83	130.35	$2,639.59	$2,324.14	0.51%	14.13%
PPL	$34.40	65.78	$2,020.76	$2,262.83	0.50%	4.35%
SBRCY	$6.11	346.00	$2,138.28	$2,114.06	0.46%	0.53%
BP	$35.70	57.32	$2,236.63	$2,046.32	0.45%	6.72%
SGTZY	$5.50	371.00	$2,392.95	$2,040.50	0.45%	1.84%
PAYX	$51.58	38.69	$1,449.71	$1,995.63	0.44%	3.10%
TOT	$48.23	40.71	$2,123.84	$1,963.44	0.43%	5.78%
SC	$18.01	105.00	$1,840.65	$1,891.05	0.41%	0.00%
TESS	$21.84	85.92	$1,060.25	$1,876.49	0.41%	3.66%
BVN	$6.41	282.50	$2,607.48	$1,810.83	0.40%	0.36%
RDS.A	$52.46	34.17	$2,178.68	$1,792.56	0.39%	7.17%
CIG.C	$1.78	1,001.67	$3,405.68	$1,782.97	0.39%	8.55%
HCBK	$10.12	153.92	$1,471.48	$1,557.67	0.34%	1.19%
VMI	$108.44	14.24	$1,657.96	$1,544.19	0.34%	1.38%
TLK	$39.76	36.14	$1,162.62	$1,436.93	0.31%	2.84%
APOL	$7.26	194.00	$3,686.00	$1,408.44	0.31%	0.00%
PKX	$40.03	35.13	$1,930.74	$1,406.25	0.31%	1.05%
IBM	$140.12	10.02	$1,522.74	$1,404.00	0.31%	3.43%
TLSYY	$19.20	72.99	$1,087.55	$1,401.41	0.31%	5.85%
OGS	$48.84	28.52	$1,032.99	$1,392.92	0.31%	2.42%
PBR	$4.88	285.38	$2,562.71	$1,392.65	0.30%	0.00%
VIAB	$49.31	27.87	$1,599.74	$1,374.27	0.30%	2.96%
SBS	$4.39	307.00	$1,510.44	$1,347.73	0.30%	0.00%
NAT	$15.28	82.75	$1,617.76	$1,264.42	0.28%	9.03%
MDLZ	$46.16	27.29	$486.03	$1,259.71	0.28%	1.34%
OAOFY	$32.30	38.00	$1,086.42	$1,227.40	0.27%	3.09%
DO	$19.88	59.44	$2,031.06	$1,181.67	0.26%	2.52%
PDLI	$4.58	255.36	$1,544.93	$1,169.55	0.26%	13.10%
BCMXY	$22.35	52.00	$835.64	$1,162.20	0.25%	4.94%
HCN	$64.87	17.15	$1,067.24	$1,112.52	0.24%	5.04%
CICHY	$14.48	73.00	$995.72	$1,057.04	0.23%	6.80%
CRC	$4.04	255.00	$1,259.70	$1,030.20	0.23%	0.74%
MBT	$7.03	142.00	$1,525.08	$998.26	0.22%	11.62%
RYAM	$9.22	106.83	$2,890.82	$984.97	0.22%	3.04%
SB	$3.08	314.89	$2,260.91	$969.86	0.21%	2.60%
DTEGY	$18.66	50.94	$637.26	$950.54	0.21%	3.02%
VSS	$94.96	10.00	$878.20	$949.60	0.21%	2.76%
MRK	$54.66	17.24	$597.71	$942.34	0.21%	3.29%
OJSCY	$3.85	236.00	$1,109.20	$908.60	0.20%	3.75%
BEN	$40.76	22.00	$960.08	$896.72	0.20%	1.47%
POT	$20.24	43.85	$1,278.67	$887.52	0.19%	7.37%
ARLP	$21.44	41.00	$1,093.88	$879.04	0.19%	12.24%
MYTAY	$6.90	124.00	$1,634.32	$855.60	0.19%	0.00%
FTD	$28.32	30.00	$967.50	$849.60	0.19%	0.00%
STRA	$52.92	16.00	$768.00	$846.72	0.19%	0.00%
GSH	$25.84	31.59	$597.37	$816.29	0.18%	1.58%
PTR	$78.63	10.31	$1,086.57	$810.68	0.18%	3.24%
FSBK	$8.01	100.29	$453.31	$803.32	0.18%	1.25%
CTL	$28.21	27.47	$1,068.03	$774.93	0.17%	7.66%
BFR	$23.25	33.32	$369.85	$774.69	0.17%	0.00%
ITYBY	$107.77	7.16	$448.36	$771.63	0.17%	3.87%
KHC	$77.97	9.58	$312.40	$746.95	0.16%	0.71%
TLKGY	$20.09	36.34	$711.90	$730.07	0.16%	3.44%
EZPW	$6.66	109.00	$997.35	$725.94	0.16%	0.00%
EVEP	$5.62	123.76	$1,211.61	$695.53	0.15%	40.46%
AEO	$15.28	45.30	$549.94	$692.18	0.15%	3.27%
SCL	$52.93	13.00	$499.98	$688.09	0.15%	1.36%
MPC	$51.80	13.03	$290.44	$674.95	0.15%	2.07%
DRI	$61.92	10.22	$460.92	$632.82	0.14%	3.55%
KSS	$46.12	13.63	$650.15	$628.62	0.14%	3.77%
SWRAY	$11.60	53.35	$610.32	$618.86	0.14%	4.36%
OIBR.C	$0.85	682.30	$3,008.94	$579.96	0.13%	0.00%
IDCBY	$12.65	45.00	$548.10	$569.25	0.12%	6.61%
PB	$51.38	11.00	$499.73	$565.18	0.12%	2.12%
CPLP	$7.41	75.76	$646.23	$561.38	0.12%	12.63%
MWE	$43.68	12.26	$258.69	$535.52	0.12%	8.29%
PNW	$63.51	8.43	$368.98	$535.39	0.12%	3.79%
BACHY	$11.79	45.00	$495.00	$530.55	0.12%	6.59%
TSCDY	$8.37	63.00	$504.00	$527.31	0.12%	0.55%
RAD	$7.90	66.00	$528.00	$521.40	0.11%	0.00%
HSY	$88.69	5.81	$525.34	$515.29	0.11%	2.47%
ICE	$252.40	2.03	$173.02	$512.37	0.11%	0.85%
MRO	$18.38	27.26	$514.40	$501.04	0.11%	4.57%
HNNMY	$7.76	61.56	$403.22	$477.71	0.10%	3.05%
DYN	$19.43	24.00	$764.16	$466.32	0.10%	0.00%
BRGYY	$15.97	29.00	$493.00	$463.13	0.10%	1.80%
NUS	$38.20	12.07	$490.04	$461.07	0.10%	3.65%
E	$32.60	13.00	$518.44	$423.80	0.09%	6.52%
ABEV	$4.87	85.02	$510.97	$414.05	0.09%	0.73%
NTT	$36.73	11.12	$248.42	$408.44	0.09%	2.01%
RAVN	$18.21	22.00	$497.20	$400.62	0.09%	2.86%
ELNK	$8.55	45.36	$369.68	$387.83	0.08%	2.34%
NGLS	$30.00	12.50	$212.00	$375.00	0.08%	10.93%
CQP	$28.01	12.93	$223.17	$362.17	0.08%	6.07%
CIG	$1.95	184.45	$959.14	$359.68	0.08%	0.00%
CACQ	$7.32	48.00	$504.00	$351.36	0.08%	0.00%
APA	$47.13	7.03	$475.93	$331.32	0.07%	2.12%
POM	$26.63	12.14	$194.36	$323.29	0.07%	4.06%
OPTI	$0.52	600.00	$1,392.00	$312.00	0.07%	0.00%
IAG	$1.80	150.00	$253.50	$270.00	0.06%	0.00%
IEMG	$42.34	6.25	$316.44	$264.63	0.06%	2.56%
TPUB	$9.44	26.00	$494.00	$245.44	0.05%	7.42%
CLD	$2.97	82.00	$993.02	$243.54	0.05%	0.00%
LYG	$4.58	50.00	$162.00	$229.00	0.05%	2.01%
TGT	$77.18	2.57	$149.75	$198.35	0.04%	2.75%
BND	$81.79	2.23	$177.82	$182.39	0.04%	2.44%
QCCO	$1.55	113.87	$412.21	$176.50	0.04%	0.00%
CEL	$7.63	23.13	$644.40	$176.48	0.04%	0.00%
BCS	$14.23	11.00	$163.13	$156.53	0.03%	2.80%
AMC	$27.36	5.56	$100.08	$152.12	0.03%	2.92%
LC	$14.18	10.00	$150.00	$141.80	0.03%	0.00%
LGCY	$3.99	29.19	$439.89	$116.47	0.03%	48.12%
SOUHY	$5.14	20.00	$180.00	$102.80	0.02%	0.00%
MVC	$8.32	11.69	$105.56	$97.26	0.02%	6.49%
WPG	$11.62	7.00	$123.13	$81.34	0.02%	6.45%
ISH	$2.03	37.06	$796.42	$75.23	0.02%	29.56%
ZAHLY	$0.60	118.00	$200.60	$70.80	0.02%	0.00%
TLN	$8.68	8.00	$123.52	$69.44	0.02%	0.00%
BK	$41.65	1.08	$27.26	$44.98	0.01%	1.63%
GOOGL	$737.39	0.05	$27.24	$36.87	0.01%	0.00%
ALN	$1.16	15.00	$31.65	$17.40	0.00%	0.00%
BKS	$12.99	1.00	$8.70	$12.99	0.00%	2.31%
BPI	$7.75	1.00	$17.85	$7.75	0.00%	0.00%
BBEP	$2.29	1.50	$20.36	$3.44	0.00%	38.53%
NUOT	$0.05	10.00	$5.00	$0.50	0.00%	0.00%
LPHIQ	$0.00	130.10	$870.37	$0.00	0.00%	0.00%
			$441,648.74	$456,662.13	100.00%	3.31%

As of Oct 31, 2015, my portfolio contains 177 holdings, valued at $456,662.13. This is an increase of $18,635.45, or 4.25%, over portfolio value of $438,026.68 a month ago.

My transactions in October are listed as follows:

Stock	Action	Cost	Price per share	Impact
WMT	Add	$2,200.00	$61.83	0.48%
EMR	Add	$1,350.00	$46.31	0.30%
XOM	Add	$1,200.00	$78.35	0.26%
BRK.B	Add	$700.00	$131.03	0.15%
NSC	Add	$600.00	$80.36	0.13%
IBM	Add	$560.00	$140.00	0.12%
PM	Sold Out	-$539.99	$90.00	-0.12%
RAD	New Buy	$527.84	$8.00	0.12%
PTGCY	Sold Out	-$513.01	$0.36	-0.11%
EVEP	Add	$500.50	$5.50	0.11%
KSS	Add	$500.00	$45.94	0.11%
MAT	Add	$500.00	$21.62	0.11%
VIAB	Add	$500.00	$46.67	0.11%
VMI	Add	$354.10	$107.30	0.08%
MCD	Add	$300.00	$101.54	0.07%
VFC	Add	$250.00	$70.90	0.05%
AFL	Add	$200.00	$57.63	0.04%
UL	Add	$200.00	$41.26	0.04%
PEP	Add	$168.47	$99.26	0.04%
PEG	Add	$153.13	$41.61	0.03%
BMTC	Add	$150.00	$30.53	0.03%
YORW	Add	$130.18	$22.45	0.03%
PNY	Add	$112.66	$41.16	0.02%
BDX	Add	$100.00	$140.10	0.02%
BUD	Add	$100.00	$108.13	0.02%
INTC	Add	$100.00	$29.92	0.02%
KO	Add	$100.00	$39.93	0.02%
MOCO	Add	$100.00	$14.03	0.02%
MSFT	Add	$100.00	$47.34	0.02%
SON	Add	$100.00	$37.66	0.02%
PPL	Add	$24.55	$32.91	0.01%
BBL	Add	$1.08	$31.21	0.00%
CEO	Add	$0.83	$116.90	0.00%
CHL	Add	$0.55	$61.11	0.00%
SWRAY	Add	$0.11	$11.34	0.00%
		$11,884.00		2.60%

Net cash inflow was $11,884.00 during this period. Factoring out the cash inflow, my portfolio returned 1.54% in October.

Purchases
I added significant amount of money into stocks this month to reduce the cash from my annual bonus. I added to position in Walmart, Emerson Electric, and Exxon Mobil, Berkshire Hathaway, and Norfolk Southern, all of which are wide moat, high quality, part of my monthly investment plan and selling at low valuations and near 52 week lows. 

I also added to my positions in IBM, EV Energy, Partners, Kohl's, Mattel, Viacom, and Valmont, which were selling near 52-week lows. With the exception of IBM, which is high quality, these are higher risk speculations with low valuations.

I initiated position in Rite-Aid at $8.00, after Walgreens announced acquisition in cash for $9.00 per share. See this for more details. This is a 12.50% arbitrage. If the deal closes within a year, that is an acceptable return.

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

Sales

I sold out positions in Phillip Morris (high valuation at 52-week high) and in Pharol (tax loss harvesting). I should now have maxed out the 3000 capital loss limit for the year.

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%
YTD	-9.78%	2.82%

I am trailing the index by 12.6% YTD.

Turnover was 2.6% in September, relatively high due to heavy cash deployment.

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