October’s expenses came in at a reasonable amount of about $3,810 especially since there was some travelling involved. Stripping out the travel-related expenses to Ho Chi Minh City, the amount for this month would come down to $3,400. It helped that there was amazingly no wedding lunches, dinners or baby showers to attend.
With October’s challenge drawing to a close, you could say it was both a success and a failure. Success as I didn’t spend anything on that category and really cut down my consumption on fast food by a lot. But when I say a lot, it also meant that I didn’t really abstain completely. There were a couple of occasions when I had a free hamburger from the Mac app and since I passed by an outlet, I thought why not?
November’s Challenge: Exercise everyday
I have decided to give my diet a break for November and turn my attention to how I manage my time. Exercising everyday during this semi-retirement is a realistic possibility and that’s the lofty goal from now till the next expenditure update. I am confident of pulling this one off since I have generally been exercising 5-6 times every week for the past couple of months. 😀
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Eating Out: $895.07
Hawker ($211.30) – With much less meals happening at fast food restaurants, there’s a bit of an increase in this section.
Fast Food ($11.10) – Bought a Mac meal for my brother and the Mrs had one filet meal too.
Restaurants ($672.67) – 15 entries here. So on average, we visit a restaurant once every two days. With the OCBC 365 credit card, we are paying for most if not all the meals that we have with our extended families too. So a higher amount here isn’t surprising. Moreover, we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary with a crab feast. 😛
Groceries: $52.40
Supermarket ($19.80) – A couple of trips to get some corn, carrots and fruits that came in handy for breakfast and lunch.
Market ($29.20) – Went to the dry goods market in Bugis to replenish the supply of cashew nuts and pecans. Also bought some chrysanthemum and barley.
Bakery ($3.40) – A couple of loaves of bread
Beverages & Snacks: $23.60
Beverages ($12.20) – Bought a few cans of beer from the airport
Snacks ($11.40) – A couple of Mr Bean ice-cream and also paid for some snacks at Taka when we were out with the family.
Utilities: $157.60
Electricity, Gas & Water ($100.20) – With the USave voucher, the real bill was actually $50 less. As we near the end of the year with cooler temperatures, we should expect to start saving more of the electricity bills.
Cellphones ($57.40) – $28.03 for the Mrs’ plan and $29.37 for mine.
Transport: $100
1 EZ Reload transaction for each of us. A bit of a drop here since the Mrs has been travelling pretty often recently and $50 is really more than enough for me these days.
Departmental: $298
Clothing ($284.70) – 2 Uniqlo t-shirts set me back by $25.80 (got them at the cut & sewn section) and the rest were all the responsibility of the Mrs. Two tops, some dresses, a cardigan and a couple of skirts and even a bag!
Personal Items ($13.30) – An eyebrow pencil from Sasa.
Miscellaneous: $400
Travel ($400) – My Jetstar air ticket to Ho Chi Minh City costs about $150. We also paid for a city tour and another day tour to Mekong Delta. This trip was really affordable since most of the Mrs’s expenses were covered by her company. 😉
Total: $1,926.67
Overall Total: $3,811.67 (included fixed expenses of $1,885)
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15 HWW : In regards to exercises, as recently the haze condition is kind of unpredictable, do consider in-door exercises like gym, table tennis etc… instead of out-door. 😉
Hi Richard,
Thanks for your concern. I feel that as long as it’s not over 100 or even 150, it should be fine. Anyway, I do have access to a gym that’s around 5 minutes away from home. =p
Hi 15HWW, thanks for updating your expenses. I’m very inspired by what you’re doing here and I’m starting to track my expenses as well.
Hi Mickey J,
I have popped by your blog and I am indeed honoured if I have inspired you to track, record and blog about your expenses.
Having tried a few methods, I thought breaking them into fixed and variable expenses was the best way since it minimises entries and large expenses are ammortised.
Hope it’s working well for you and good luck with retiring before 50!
Hi 15HWW, don’t tell me the eyebrow pencil is for you…
Hi Jes,
Hah! I don’t have that kind of fetish and definitely not a “flower boy”.
In fact, I always stay outside the premises of Sasa instead of going in with the Mrs. =p
Hi 15hww
Wah youve kept the expenses low despite going on a vacation. Impressive!!!
I heard from another blogger (who I can remember) that we tend to spend more at home than when we are working. Looks like thsts a myth in your case 🙂
Hi B,
It’s almost definitely lower for me since I can cook some simple fare for myself (i.e. steamed corn and carrots with some toasted nuts) and half the days I stay at home reading, writing, watching borrowed Blue-Ray Discs or doing housework. So even transport expenses are dropping.
But with more time, it also means there are more opportunities to take a slow dinner at restaurants. Oops. =p
Normally when I reload EZlink card or cashcard, I will not consider it an expense. Because I’m converting one form of cash to another. When I make a trip and pay by EZlink, or use the cashcard to pay for something, at the point when the value is deducted, I account for that expense.
Hi Troy,
Technically you are correct.
But instead of recording 2 expenses a day for travelling, I prefer to record it once every few weeks when I have to do a reload.
Moreover, one can also view it as the previous $50 top up being used up?
If we think about it, the stored value in the card cam also easily be conveyed back to cash. Finally, in terms of monitoring expenses, it makes more sense because of I top up $100 this month but make no purchases using the card, I have not actually consumed the $100.
Exercising regularly is most important piece of advice from your posting. It keeps us healthy and avoid unnecessary medical cost which indirectly help to keep the expenditure low too.
Without a healthy body, got money also no time to spend it well.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Stocks Keeper,
Yes, you are right. If one is unhealthy, not only is that a money sink, quality of life drops as well.
Anyway, good luck with your blogging and your portfolio!