Firstly, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way.
Well, I know I haven’t been blogging for a couple of weeks now and this might have disappointed some of you here. But then, posting twice or three times every week for the past half a year was creating a bit of a strain and keeping the frequency up was increasingly a burden. I had to admit that I was not “that excited anymore” about posting articles in the past couple of months.
The two-week break did help (no need to draft articles in my free time) and I had some uninterrupted blast at games like FM14 Handheld and re-playing Advance Wars ii. And now, I can find this light-hearted and cheerful feeling coming back as I type this sentence out. Writing seems pretty fun again. =)
On the expenses front, Frugal February arrived in a timely manner after Jaw-dropping January. It helped that there were only 28 days in this month and somehow there wasn’t any wedding banquets to attend (3 are coming in March though…oops). And of course, lucky “us” have made it a point not to celebrate the ultra-commercialised Valentine’s Day. Therefore, February’s expenses amounted to a very reasonable $3,224 in the end.
Below is the detailed breakdown for this month’s expenses:
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Eating Out: $561.65
Hawker ($199.10) – Comparatively low in this short month. There were a few treats from colleagues as I moved to my new department this month too
Fast Food ($16) – 3 Mac meals. 1 for the Mrs and 2 for me. I don’t know if I really do intend to eliminate this category. I know it’s unhealthy but I also do understand that a certain Mr Warren Buffett (who’s past 80 by the way) enjoys these stuff on a consistent basis. I would kill for those genes. Aargh.
Restaurants ($346.55) – I enjoyed these meals more than those I had a month ago. I frequented each of these restaurants at least twice: Soup spoon, Ding Tai Fung, Sushi Tei and Jack’s Place. Good food at <$20 per pax. Can this be considered affordable luxury?
Groceries: $109.75
Supermarket ($52.85) – I think it should really be much more than this amount. The vouchers (house-warming gifts) were not accounted for.
Bakery ($56.90) – We are enjoying some good bread lately as the Mrs indulges in bread from places like Cedele and Tiong Bahru Bakery. Have to admit that some of them seems pretty worth it though.
Beverages & Snacks: $16
Beverages ($16) – Mostly fruit juices as the weather is increasingly become hotter and dryer. We were sick for a couple of days too.
Utilities: $140.98
Electricity, Gas & Water ($82.25) – The norm these days
Cellphones ($58.73) – Two M1 Iphone Value+ plans with no excess usage. It’s going to go up next month as I am likely to change my phone after 3 years of usage. The battery is really slowly dying out on me. Heck, I was even late this morning as the alarm did not even go off.
Transport: $165
1 cab trip, 2 EZ Reload transactions for her and 1 for me.
Miscellaneous: $260.10
Medical ($6) – A visit to the doctor. 85% of the fees will be reimbursed by my employer.
Others ($15.10) – A cheap haircut and some assessment books for wife’s nephew
Gifts ($214.00) – Mrs 15 HWW’s share of a birthday treat for her uncle during CNY
Entertainment ($25.00) – Another karaoke session. After not doing it for years, it’s the 2nd time in 2 months!
Total: $1,253.68
Overall Total: $3,223.68 (included fixed expenses of $1,970)
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