May Passive Income Progress

With my daughter's high school graduation I am a little late to report my May Passive Income Progress.

I started tracking my passive income summer 2014.

2014 Passive income
June           $261.00
July            $209.67 
August       $235.62 
September  $212.97
October      $140.37
November  $207.05
December   $377.91

2015 Passive Income

January   $167.44
February  $279.29
March      $397.80
April        $202.48

In May I sold shares of EXPE and PETS, bought more shares of CNP and added a new position in HOG.

Dividends received in May:

BMO	$16.05
DRI	$18.70
KMI	$31.76
NE	$11.28
PETS	$19.34
PG	$16.70
TD	$14.51
Total	$128.34

My dividend income 2014 vs 2015 so far:

2014	Jan	Feb	March	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
	$48.61	$12.44	$63.58	$90.04	$65.67	$126.98	$122.68	$118.36	$166.28	$93.18	$123.70	$263.68
									Year to date		$1,295.20
2015	Jan	Feb	March	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
	$78.69	106.39	333.50	150.77	128.34
									Year to date		$820.49

Additional passive income or free money from different financial institutions:

I earned an interest                                $23.40

points on my Amex card                        $15.40
points on my Discover card                    $14.60

I received a gift card from Palais Royal      

and Academy                                        $20.00  

Kroger card cash back                            $10.00
Ebates                                                   $19.49

My total financial passive income for the month of May was $229.70

At this moment my goal is to have $1k in monthly passive income from dividends and other financial institutions.

Thanks for reading and please share your thoughts and progress.

April Passive Income Progress

I started tracking my passive income summer 2014.

2014 Passive income
June           $261.00
July            $209.67 
August       $235.62 
September  $212.97
October      $140.37
November  $207.05
December   $377.91

2015 Passive Income

January   $167.44
February  $279.29
March      $397.80


I did not do much transactions in April. I only bought shares of JNJ. 

I received dividends in April:

AUY	$2.58
BCE	$17.77
GSK	$42.41
NKE	$1.56
PM	$10.94
T	$12.89
UFS	$12.24
WFM	$2.99
WIN	$47.39
Total	$150.77

My dividend income 2014 vs 2015 so far:

2014	Jan	Feb	March	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
	$48.61	$12.44	$63.58	$90.04	$65.67	$126.98	$122.68	$118.36	$166.28	$93.18	$123.70	$263.68
									Year to date		$1,295.20
2015	Jan	Feb	March	Apr	May	June	July	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
	$78.69	$106.39	$333.50	$150.77
									Year to date		$702.56

Additional passive income or free money from different financial institutions:

I earned an interest                         $23.40
points on my Amex card                 $9.26
points on my Discover card             $9.05

I received a gift card from Palais Royal $10.00       

My total financial passive income for the month of April was $202.48

At this moment my goal is to have $1k in monthly passive income from dividends and other financial institutions.

Thanks for reading and please share your thoughts and progress.

Why I prefer to use credit cards...

In 2008 I wrote why I use credit cards here. Back then I had just two credit cards.

I still use Discover for most of my purchases as well as most of my online shopping. Usually they have 1% on most purchases and 5% on certain purchases which vary from month to month. With online shopping you can earn up to 20%. I pay my balance in full every month, so I never pay any fees.

Last year I earned $650 in different gift cards. So far this year I have gotten $300 worth of gift cards.
I usually get Lowes gift cards for my gardening. Starbucks for my daughter's Starbucks coffee addiction. Macy's, TJ Max, Bath and Body Work and Old Navy for shopping sprays and gifts.

If you don't have Discover card yet - here some advertising for you! :) Become a @Discover cardmember and you’ll get $50 Cashback Bonus with your 1st purchase within 3 mos. Click here

My second card is MileagePlus Master Card. I do not use this card much anymore. I only pay my electric bill with this card. It slowly accumulates some points. When I opened this card, I've got bonus points and I use it a lot. So way back before Discover card I accumulated enough points to pay for my mom's round air ticket to Russia. I believe now I have enough points for one USA travel ticket.

My third card is Kroger 123 rewards card. I use this card only for shopping at Kroger and for gasoline at Kroger gas station. It gives me a great discounts on gasoline, accumulates rewards points and very valuable coupons which are tailored to my purchases.

Last year I opened 3 cards with retailers.

Kohls. Kohls runs lots of promotions, such as $10/25, $10/50 or even $10/10 coupons, send bunch of extra coupons and I get extra 15-30% as a card member.

Victoria Secret. I mostly shop at VS when they have a good promotions. As an angel card member you get more coupons and promotions. So many more free panties and discounted bras. :)

Palais Royal. I was shopping at Palais Royal because they keep sending their $10/25 coupons and then one day when I found lots of stuff I liked, the cashier signed me up for the card for extra discounts.

As I mentioned early all my cards have no fees and I pay balance on each card in full. I use my cards very wisely. I am looking for another card to add, so I can utilize 5% offerings and earn more points.
By using various credit cards, I keep my balances low and it's actually good for my overall credit score.

Also I usually carry only one or two credit cards with me, keeping the rest at home. I plan my shopping trips and only take certain cards with me when I plan to use it.

You have to have self control and discipline in order to use credit card rewards without paying any fees or overspending.