Yield on Cost
I have recently been trying to learn a little bit more about investing, as it seems to be something in life that truly does matter. With the economy changes that have been happening since the pandemic, I feel like a lot of the more useless parts of the world economy are going to start dying off, like nail salons and pizza restaurants. I think that people are headed toward a future where they will have to be willing to do more for themselves like cooking and cleaning. That being said, I still think there will always be a need for an economy, there will hopefully always be groceries available and homes to live in.
The investing strategy I am currently Interested in is called dividend investing. That is where you own stock in a company andbit pays you a small share of its profits, usually this is just a few cents per share of stock. Not all companies pay out dividends, but some do. Theoretically, if you own a large variety of a lot of stocks you could be living off the dividends, assuming you are living cheaply.
Yield on cost is the ratio of how much it will pay you, the yield, for the cost of the stock. I found an amazing yield on cost calculator here. You just type in the ticker symbol and it tells you the yield on cost ratio per thr most recent dividend payout information.
Before purchasing any stocks it is wise to learn about the company first, but this can be one great way to figure out how to work this investment strategy. Another way is to figure out what the funds at the large investment houses are buying sticks in and holding those individual stocks. Remember that you should have a broad and diverse investment strategy and not be heavily invested in just one sector like healthcare or oil.
Frugal is the new green
It might come as quite a shock to you to learn that I am kind of a cheapskate. Having grown up in a working poor family, and made it myself to the working poor class, I finally had eventually come to the realization that money isn't all that matters. Actually beyond a certain minimum threshold, money doesn't matter much at all.
What is that minimum threshold? Having a safe and clean shelter to be protected from the elements, nutritious food, healthcare, and access to entertainment like books and culture. Beyond that I feel like it doesn't probably matter too much. That's why last year I decided to wear only clothing that cost less than $5 per piece if new or to buy used from stores like goodwill. Didn't do too badly at the challenge either, but I did end up having to buy two new scrub tops thanks to a change in jobs, unfortunately $25 each.
So I spent the year wearing mostly recycled clothing, which was fine.
I also spent the year handwriting my clothes and line drying them, to save money. The washing part doest save all that much money over using the clothes washer but the line drying definitely saves a lot of money.
So I spent the year hanging clothes outside, which was fine.
I harvested a lot of water hyacinth and ginger leaves from the garden to cook up and eat, and I grew a large portion of the duck and rabbit diets in the yard.
So I spent a lot of time eating organic growies in the garden, which was fine.
I enjoyed listening to quite a few podcasts and articles for free online, and rented dozens of audio books from the library website for free. Which was fine.
I bake bread from scratch and homebrew wine. This year I have mastered the art of making homebrewed wine from frozen concentrated grape juice, which I have to admit, is kind of amazing. Also apple juice. For the bread I like to use the breadmaker for easy clean up. I have learned two things about homemade bread this year - that if you add too much yeast that will result in a problem and that the knife for slicing really matters ot you will awful slices.
Which was fine.
I don't have a gym membership. I think that gyms cost a lot of money and they usually require driving to get to them, which I usually don't want to do. Besides then you are around other people, and it can make me self conscious to be all sweaty and wild hair when I work out. So I have a kettlebell and a rowing machine and a few other pieces of exercise equipment, which has more than paid for themselves.
So I worked out a lot for nearly free. In fact, this scale app says I'm doing pretty good for my age, don't be jealous. So that's fine.
Reddit Author Discloses Screenshot of his Roth IRA Dividend Investments, $637 per year
What I like about this post is that it reaffirms that I am not the only one going down this rabbit hole. Also it shows that it is possible to get some great returns with strategic planning. Sadly, he got a lot of nagging regarding the fact that it will take him his whole life of Roth IRA contributions to get to his goal of $6k of income a month, which is a high goal. People were overly critical and negative too, sadly. Probably jealous.
*writes down all his top positions*
*writes down all the commenter top suggestions including SCHD, PSTL, CSCo, VYM, VIG, NOBL, DGRO, MO, O, GAIN, JEPI, QYLD, ENB, BCE
My goal is about $10k of income per year. That's what I need to retire. That might be too hard to do with dividend investing, but I can try.
What's your savings goal?
The original post is here
How I managed to have no tax burden for 2022, and you can replicate this too!
Shockingly, I just finished up my taxes with a little bit of help from the H and R block website, and discovered that I owe no taxes and will be getting back all the money that I put in. I say put in, but really it was taken from me because of exemptions.
How did I manage to lower my tax burden? A few ways.
For one, I was able to claim Head of Household. This is the first time ever that I have claimed Household, because I have always let my kids fathers claim them. But this year I claimed one of the three children, and was able to receive the now reduced $2k credit.
Secondly, I contributed to the company's 401k plan. I also contributed to a Roth IRA. Between the two of them I was allowed to take the Savers Credit, which is for low income filers and couples who contributed to retirement savings. I would not have qualified for it if I had made another $5k in income or was not Head of Household. Tough criteria to meet. Interestingly, I had to stop using the H and R Block software halfway through my tax return because it wanted me to upgrade in order to help me with my Savers Credit, which I discovered was entirely stupid. It told me I would only get a $200 credit also, as it wasn't factoring in the Roth IRA. Thank goodness I went and printed out the form and discovered my credit was much much higher, about 10% of the amounts that I had contributed to both accounts.
I chose the standard deduction. It's $19k for my income bracket, which since my property taxes were low wasn't that much of a big deal.
I cat wait to get my tax return back. I am going to use the money to fuel this year's Roth IRA contribution.
Bread Machine Cinnamon Raisin Bread
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3 cups 🍞 flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
- 3/4 cup raisins or craisins
Put all the wet ingredients into the breadmaker. When adding the cinnamon, consider halving the amount and adding allspice and cardamom to make up the difference. Put the breadmaker settings to 1.5 pound loaf, light crust, sweet cycle. Add the raisins or craisins when the machine prompts you.
Really good with peanut butter and jelly. Or peanut butter and honey.
Baby Rabbits 2 January 2023
They are doing quite well, survived their first night of freezing temperatures and fit in the palm of the hand. Still haven't yet opened their eyes. I'm really looking forward to their help in the garden this spring.
Baby Rabbits, January of 2023
These kits are fresh outta my backyard. Their mother is a Rex rabbit and their father is a New Zealand red. It looks like there are 7 kits with two of them looking awfully dark brown and the rest fairly red. In the next mo th, I will be weaning them and starting them on pellet and green growies from the yard, just like their parents eat.
People as me what I do to care for baby rabbits, and the answer is not It Depends. What I like to do is provide optimal nutrition for the mother at all times and let her take care of them. I have her cage wired with barrier hardware cloth around the bottom and the lower portions of the sides, as I have had kits fall out before. This batch of kits are in a plastic basket I bought, which got a little bit chewed on he top but so far so good. The baskets were about 7 to 10 each, I had to try something being as how rabbit nest boxes are more 25 each and only good for one or two litters before the wood is soiled. I will let you know how durable these plastic baskets are and if they are a good deal. Isabella bunny figured it out right away and lined the basket with leaves and fur, and is keeping the kits covered with (grey?) fur.
I hope to sell them, any not sold will be lawnmowers for my yard. I really can use the additional help with cutting and mowing. I was saddened after I sold the last batch and realized that I didn't have their help anymore in the tractor with cleaning and weeding the yard. I have even been toying with the idea of buying an expensive cordless lawnmower like this one because I can't keep up with the yard with my crazy work schedule and kids.
I guess I will sell them on Craigslist? If anyone has a better idea please let me know.
What is an ESPP and what can I do with it?
I guess I didn't try to learn about it sooner because I couldn't figure out why anyone would want to own stocks of the company, as if that was some kind of company gimmick to make employees more invested and work harder. While I still believe that to be true, what I didn't know at the time was that you buy the shares of your company at a 10% discounted rate. Or at least, that is what Megacorp Hospital does. There are no requirements for how long you have to hold onto the stock, and the shares are bought by payroll deduction. You have to use their broker though, which is unfortunate.
The coolest thing about Megacorp Hospital shares is that they are dividend bearing, not that I plan to make a fortune on it.
At the beginning of November I enrolled in the ESPP for a total of 2% of my wages. That may be too much, but I can always sell the stocks and get that extra 10% bonus and reinvest in something else. Which I will no doubt have to do, because one does not want to be too invested in one particular kind of stock, like healthcare.
Some people would say that the best time to sell your shares of company is on the day you receive them, because one cannot predict volatility in the market. That might be a wise move unless you think your company is only going to increase in value.
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