Money in the Trough and Impulse Buys

This Friday began a weekend of impulse buys that cost me almost $4,000.00.  Granted, they are all assets but talk about sliding down a spending slippery slope.  None of these buys were planned.

So, the first impulse buy started off as kind of a headache.  I had previously told myself that I would buy more Walmart if it held its 52 week low ($71.70).

After getting an alert on my phone that Walmart touched $71.80 (really close to its 52 week low), I knew it was time to buy.  Well, it did bounce up, but I wasn’t able to get to my computer to make the trade while it was in the high $71s.

I should have set a buy limit order, stupid mistake.  By the time I was finally able to place the order, I didn’t get anywhere close to the 52 week low that I wanted.  Oh well.  Still not a bad buy, and I’m in it for the long haul anyway!

So, I bought some more Walmart (WMT).

Purchase Date: 6/26/15
Company: Walmart – (WMT)
Buy price: $72.22
Shares bought: 20
Yield: 2.70%

This $1,453.35 purchase adds an additional $40 of annual dividend income to the portfolio.

This purchase also lowers my overall dividend portfolio yield to: 3.64%

I already own 20 shares of Walmart (WMT) that I purchased several months ago.  So, this new purchase raises my Walmart yield on cost to 2.53% from 2.38%.  I am moving in the right direction at least.

I also added $1,000 to my little piglet’s 529 college savings plan fund.  I don’t have a monthly auto deduction for her 529 plan.  I feel I can monitor the markets well enough and only buy when there are deals… and I don’t forget. (Note: Hank has advised me to use dollar cost averaging and make monthly automatic purchases for kids’ 529 College Savings Plans.)

Then, since I’m the best husband in the world (or because mamma pig had been oinking at me for weeks that her computer is unusable), I bought my wife a new Microsoft Surface Pro 3 for $1,350 (less than a month before the new Surface Pro 4 comes out).  My thinking was the Pro 2 has held its value pretty well and it will be several months before there are any additional significant savings on the Surface Pro 3.

Since I’m a Microsoft (MSFT) shareholder I’m happy to support my horse in the race.  Also, as a good shareholder of my favorite discount retailer, I did TRY and purchase my new Surface from Walmart (WMT), but they don’t sell them in stores.  🙁

Here is the configuration of the Surface Pro 3 we bought.  We love it so far!  It really is a perfect laptop/tablet.

Overall a great three days of spending big money!  Mamma pig is happy, my little piglet is on track to afford college, and I got to spend a great weekend with my family.  Life is good.

What investments do you purchase in your kids’ 529 College Savings Plans? Do you dollar cost average into them?