Yes, we still have our dividend portfolio. It’s been over 10 months since we last gave an update on our dividend portfolio. Like everything else during that time it just wasn’t top of mind and took a back seat. However, we never stopped investing and our portfolio continues to grow.

With the change in our lifestyle we needed to make some adjustments to our approach to this portfolio. When we started our dividend portfolio we were committed to only using funds generated by our blog, and related affiliate programs, as a financing source to grow our account. Essentially we wanted to use passive income to generate more passive income. We also wanted to show people that you can build a nice portfolio even with limited funds. It just takes patience.

Our patience was tested because it was painfully hard to generate any income from this blog by itself as advertising revenue is non-existent. When we started we had some great months with our affiliate programs which helped us start off strong. However, as the economy stalled our income and traffic started dwindling. Over the last couple of years it got really tough. A trickle would be an accurate description.

All of this made growing our dividend portfolio frustratingly slow, but we managed to build a nice little account. In our last update our portfolio balance was over $20k. Having started in June of 2021 from pretty much nothing that was a pretty decent accomplishment. All we did is put in a little cash each month and most importantly we reinvested all of our dividends.

The downside was that since we limited what funds we would use in this account we missed out on a lot of opportunities. While we succeeded in showing what can be done with limited funds we also left a lot of money on the table. It sucks when the market is on sale and your pockets are empty! This brings us to where we are now.

Once we got settled down I made the decision to start trying to make our dividend portfolio work for us more. Relying soley on this blog to fund it is no longer feasible so we have thrown that mindset out the window. This portfolio will get treated the same as the rest of our larger portfolio. We need to grow the account, grow our dividend income and eventually work that income into our withdrawal plan.

Now, we are not going to get all crazy and just start buying for the sake of buying. We have a long term plan that we need to stick to. This portfolio needs to complement that plan and eventually become a real source of income.

The plan for our portfolio is a simple one. We started making small regularly scheduled contributions. If circumstances dictate, and we are comfortable going above that amount, we make additional contributions. This allows us to grow a core ETF like SCHD or JEPQ each month. And if something goes on sale and it makes sense we give ourselves the option to buy it.

So how has this change gone so far? Let’s take a look at the numbers and see.

Our Dividend Portfolio As Of 8/8/2025

Symbol	Description	Share Held	Change From Last Update
ABBV	ABBVIE INC	15.1287	0.4008
ABR	ARBOR RLTY TR INC REIT	40.1834	3.5758
BKH	BLACK HILLS CORP	7.7574	0.2497
DOW	DOW INC	11.194	0.6353
EPD	ENTERPRISE PRODS PART LP	8.9663	0.4308
FRT	FEDERAL RLTY INVT TR NEWREIT	6.9542	0.2957
GIS	GENERAL MILLS INC	5.7505	0.235
IBM	IBM CORP	3.542	0.0684
IRM	IRON MTN INC NEW REIT	14.1935	0.4288
JEPI	JPMORGAN EQUITY PREMIUM INCOME ETF	20.5575	4.307
JEPQ	J P MORGAN NASDAQ EQT PRM INC ETF	41.1765	13.1765
JNJ	JOHNSON & JOHNSON	6.7254	0.1587
K	KELLANOVA	0	-2.2476
KDP	KEURIG DR PEPPER INC	6.0898	6.0898
KHC	KRAFT HEINZ CO	5.97	0.2423
KMB	KIMBERLY CLARK CORP	2.3093	0.0823
KO	THE COCA-COLA CO	2.2705	0.0637
MAIN	MAIN STR CAP CORP	13.2804	0.5743
MO	ALTRIA GROUP INC	16.6057	1.1867
O	REALTY INCOME CORP REIT	16.8831	1.7602
QYLD	GLOBAL X FUND GLB X NSDQ100 CVD ETF	42.4265	4.317
SCHD	SCHWAB US DIVIDEND EQUITY ETF	110.8107	82.609
SO	SOUTHERN CO	2.3358	0.0574
SPTN	SPARTAN NASH CO	0	-6.7192
T	AT&T INC	18.8844	0.8046
VICI	VICI PPTYS INC REIT	12.0486	1.6139
VTRS	VIATRIS INC	29.9112	5.5546
VZ	VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS I	3.4651	0.2153
XOM	EXXON MOBIL CORP	5.7334	0.1511

As you can see we have been aggressively adding to our positions in SCHD and to a lesser extent JEPQ. We also started a new position in KDP. Additionally, two positions we held in K and SPTN have been closed out after both companies agreed to be acquired and the proceeds from the sales were redistributed.

In the past we would have held until the transactions closed. Now, rather than waiting, we took our profits and moved on. It might cost us a couple of dollars upfront, but we wanted to get those funds working for us again. Once an acquisition price is announced the gains are pretty much capped so there isn’t much upside left. Plus you never know how the acquisition process will pan out.

Month	Portfolio Value	% Change
September 2024	$20,427.48	6.826%
August 8, 2025	$21,821.86

As of the most recent market close our portfolio is up $1,394.38 or 6.826% from our last update. That is not the best ROI over a 1 year period when compared to the overall market. Some of our positions have done great, but a couple have really stunk up the joint and have brought down our returns. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

There are a couple of positions that we are looking to exit as they no longer fit with our strategy. We will monitor these positions and will close them out when the time is right. There is no time table and it could be a week, month or even a year. We just need to close them eventually and put those funds to work in a more productive manner.

Our dividend portfolio will now provide projected annual dividend income (PADI) $1,195. This is almost $100 per month on average and a $200 per year increase from our last update. Our yield on cost (YOC) currently sits at 6.25% which is a 0.27% increase from our last dividend portfolio update.

For the year we have collected $704.08 in dividends which has all been reinvested. We are on track to pass our 2024 dividend total of $911.94 sometime in October if everything continues as planned. Of course, the big milestone will be surpassing $1k in dividends received for the year. After our PADI passed $1k last year this has been something that we have been looking forward to. We should cross that mark in December.

Overall, we are in a good position for future dividend growth. We have somethings we need to clean up which will make our portfolio stronger. Having a set schedule will also help over time since we will know what we have to work with. Add to that a little flexibility to jump on opportunities and we could get this portfolio hopping.

That’s about it for this dividend portfolio update. It was very long past due and it feels good to finally get it published. We look forward to bringing additional updates and really getting this portfolio moving in a more productive direction.

Happy Trails!

Joe 

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