Post Your Wins

[james.hendrickson]

Received approx. $5000 in quarterly dividend checks this week from a stock we hold. Put a few bucks in the bank and took the rest in cash for day to day spending.
This has been a great source of retirement income for us and the stock is worth much more than it was originally purchased for if we ever decide to sell.

Many criticize dividend stocks, saying that anytime they pay a dividend it just reduces the value. Some truth to that, but there are businesses that manage things to encourage buyers holding the stock long term by paying dividend returns on line with CDs or other similar investments and gradually increasing stock value over time. This particular stock is returning approx. 6% annually based on current share value.

Fishindude, what company did you invest it? Are you comfortable talking about it? Six percent per year is a great return.

[Fishindude77]

Received approx. $5000 in quarterly dividend checks this week from a stock we hold. Put a few bucks in the bank and took the rest in cash for day to day spending.
This has been a great source of retirement income for us and the stock is worth much more than it was originally purchased for if we ever decide to sell.

Many criticize dividend stocks, saying that anytime they pay a dividend it just reduces the value. Some truth to that, but there are businesses that manage things to encourage buyers holding the stock long term by paying dividend returns on line with CDs or other similar investments and gradually increasing stock value over time. This particular stock is returning approx. 6% annually based on current share value.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

My wife decided recently that it was time for a new sewing machine. She started researching brands and models and pretty much narrowed it down to a couple that she thought would be good for her. Last week, we drove down to Delaware to go to the store where her current machine came from (bought used on ebay and picked up). She spent about an hour there talking to them and checking out a couple of different machines and left pretty sure which one she wanted. It goes for $1,600 new. I then started searching on ebay and found a used one from a seller with a great track record who sells nothing but sewing machines and accessories. It came today. It is used but looks brand new. It even came in the original box and packaging. Total cost with tax and shipping was $899.92, a savings of $700.08 compared to buying it new, and it came with a few accessories that she wouldn't have gotten buying it new that are easily worth another $75-100.

Once she's sure it's all good, I'll probably sell the old one which still goes for about $200-300.

If you aren't routinely shopping for used products, especially big ticket items, you really should be.

that's an incredible savings

[disneysteve]

My wife decided recently that it was time for a new sewing machine. She started researching brands and models and pretty much narrowed it down to a couple that she thought would be good for her. Last week, we drove down to Delaware to go to the store where her current machine came from (bought used on ebay and picked up). She spent about an hour there talking to them and checking out a couple of different machines and left pretty sure which one she wanted. It goes for $1,600 new. I then started searching on ebay and found a used one from a seller with a great track record who sells nothing but sewing machines and accessories. It came today. It is used but looks brand new. It even came in the original box and packaging. Total cost with tax and shipping was $899.92, a savings of $700.08 compared to buying it new, and it came with a few accessories that she wouldn't have gotten buying it new that are easily worth another $75-100.

Once she's sure it's all good, I'll probably sell the old one which still goes for about $200-300.

If you aren't routinely shopping for used products, especially big ticket items, you really should be.

[disneysteve]

All right, so xfinity (Comcast) tried to raise my internet bill to $92.

No way I'm paying that much for a commodity service, especially when T mobile will charge me $50.

So, I called and got them to lower the bill to $65. Easy savings of $360 over a year.

Nice. I really need to do this myself. We're paying way too much for internet.

[james.hendrickson]

All right, so xfinity (Comcast) tried to raise my internet bill to $92.

No way I'm paying that much for a commodity service, especially when T mobile will charge me $50.

So, I called and got them to lower the bill to $65. Easy savings of $360 over a year.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

We take plenty of trips that cost under 2K and I don't insure those. A policy like this would provide coverage for all of those trips. Although almost always, the hotel can be cancelled within 48 hours so we'd only need the coverage if we had to cancel in less time than that. And at worst, we pay for one night if we cancel late.

I'll have to look into this and see what it would cost us. I'm guessing our age being higher than yours would make our premiums higher.

Probably but i bought it for our kayaking trip in feb specifically but it'll be a year bonus

[disneysteve]

Sort of. There is like $2k coverage for each trip but it won't cover the major trip. But it's a cheap way to insure for the year the catastrophic stuff I think.

We take plenty of trips that cost under 2K and I don't insure those. A policy like this would provide coverage for all of those trips. Although almost always, the hotel can be cancelled within 48 hours so we'd only need the coverage if we had to cancel in less time than that. And at worst, we pay for one night if we cancel late.

I'll have to look into this and see what it would cost us. I'm guessing our age being higher than yours would make our premiums higher.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

So you still need regular trip insurance if you want to recoup the cost of the trip? That makes sense.

Sort of. There is like $2k coverage for each trip but it won't cover the major trip. But it's a cheap way to insure for the year the catastrophic stuff I think.

[disneysteve]

mostly it covers the medical evacuation and medical care. There is trip cancellation and interruption, but it's like $2k per trip.

So you still need regular trip insurance if you want to recoup the cost of the trip? That makes sense.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I don't think I've ever heard of buying travel insurance other than on a per trip basis. How does the annual plan work? What does it cover?

mostly it covers the medical evacuation and medical care. There is trip cancellation and interruption, but it's like $2k per trip.

[disneysteve]

I also bought annual travel insurance plan for $485 for 4 of us in my family

I don't think I've ever heard of buying travel insurance other than on a per trip basis. How does the annual plan work? What does it cover?

[james.hendrickson]

Guys - my win for today is waking up and seeing a nice dividend payment from Coca Cola in my accounts. Its nice little win that I'm pretty happy about.

I ended up using the $ to pick up a few more shares of Ford.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I also bought annual travel insurance plan for $485 for 4 of us in my family

[LivingAlmostLarge]

simplifying my mom's portfolio. Down to 2/3 into VTI and QQQ. Then 1/3 into some individual stocks