Weekly Roundup - June 29, 2014

I can't believe that we're almost half way done with 2014.  Time is just flying by although that just continues to reinforce my desire to reach financial independence.  This past week was awesome though as we finished up the well we were on and we had also reached a pretty rare and significant milestone.  The guy that's been working nights for me for the last year and I reached one year of having no tool failures.  Essentially this has never happened before or at least very rarely has happened.  So my boss, my boss's boss, and 2 of my boss's boss's bosses took Francis and I out to lunch on Friday.  It was pretty awesome to get recognized for a job well done and even better was that the steak house we went to was absolutely delicious.  As we were leaving I told them that we'd see them again in 6 months.

And not only were we able to finish up that well I also got to go home on Thursday and I'll be off until July 9/10 because I have vacation coming up as well.  My wife and I are heading to Nashville for my vacation to go see some of our friends that live there.  I'm looking forward to having about 1.5 weeks off of work because sometimes we're just way too busy with work and it's great to get a chance to just slow things down a bit.  I wish we could have driven there but with just a week off that we knew of it just didn't make sense because I want to take a leisurely road trip.  Oh well, eventually we'll get to take our time on a road trip.  If any of you live in or will be in the Nashville area email me and we'll see if we can possibly meet up.

I put a little bit of capital to work last week but nothing major.  I ended up purchasing more shares of both Procter & Gamble (PG) and Deere & Company (DE).  If you remember I just recently initiated a position in Deere because I wanted some more industrial exposure and the recent 18% dividend increase gave me confidence to go on and start a position.  And of course, Procter & Gamble needs no introduction in the dividend growth community.  It wasn't the best value out there but it was still a decent value for a very high quality company.

Thanks again to each and every one of you for stopping by, commenting, and sharing posts from Passive-Income-Pursuit this past week.  I truly appreciate it and hearing your own stories is always so motivating.

Now on to the links!

Two stocks on my watchlist for a July purchase by Dividend Mantra - Find out which companies Jason is looking at adding to his portfolio in July.  I love that the dividend growth community is continuing to grow and give more eyes watching more companies.

The joy of investing in down markets by A Wealth of Common Sense - If you're investment horizon is decades long then it's important to remember that you make your money by investing in down markets.  You just don't realize how important the down markets are until the bull returns.

Warren Wednesday: H2 1962 by Pulling Ourselves Up Financially - We get another edition of the Warren Wednesday and we get a little bit of insight into how Buffett liked to weight his portfolio as well as a great reminder that there's always some crisis or calamity going on but the long-term trend is for the markets to go up.

The Holy Grail of Travel by Retire Before Dad - Financial independence allows for what RBD calls the "Holy Grail of Travel" where you have the money and the time to take your time travelling the world.

Multi-generational dividend investing by Dividend Growth Investor - I'm still relatively young but I still think of this every now and then.  There's plenty of time to sort out the details but since a dividend growth investor's goal is to keep the portfolio in tact and live off the dividends it's something that crosses my mind.

What's in a number? by Income Surfer - I think we all remember those commercials talking asking "what's your number" in terms of retirement.  But it's all about cash flow because you have to turn that portfolio into income.  It's amazing what a little bit of supplemental income can do throughout the year.

Dividend stocks to quench your thirst by DivHut - Water sources and distribution is going to continue to grow in importance as the world population grows and there's more demands for a limited supply of water.  It's good to find out what options could be out there for the next potential dividend growth companies as that market continues to grow.

Quarter Two: My second net worth overshare by Cashville Skyline - Absolutely tremendous growth of Addison's net worth in the second quarter.  Around $60k for the year and over a $50k increase in the second quarter alone.  Keep up the good work!

I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend!  I know I'll be enjoying mine.

Comments

  1. PIP,
    Good to hear you have some time off. Try not to write any posts while you're away! Your job sounds like it is difficult and very rewarding. Never hurts to have bosses that pay attention and appreciate a job well done. Thanks for including my post in this week's roundup. Very much appreciated!

    I picked up some PG in a retirement account in addition to my DRIP. Want to add index ETFs in the retirement account, but waiting for a pullback. I'm working my CAT position instead of DE, but DE is a better value today.
    -RBD

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  2. Great job on the recognition at work, that must have felt good! Have a safe and fun holiday and let your investments work for you while you relax.

    I'm on vacation too next week too so I'm looking forward to Monday when I can write up the end of month summary for June.

    Enjoy your day!

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  3. It's great you got some recognition JC. I'm glad you get some time off too, especially when your wife can also get away. Have a great trip. Thanks for including my post.
    -Bryan

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  4. JC,

    Congrats on the recognition and delicious steak dinner. Steak is always a solid bet. :)

    Enjoy your time in Nashville. I personally love that town. Always a great time.

    Thanks for the mention!

    Best wishes.

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  5. Enjoy the time off!

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  6. AHHHHHH a good steak dinner at a nice place is my favorite.

    Thanks for the reading list!

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  7. Glad to hear life is going well from a non-financial standpoint! It's good to have achievements in addition to the money!
    WE#1

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  8. Thanks for including DivHut in your round up. Much appreciated.

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