We spent about $6,700 in April and the bulk of it, $3,500 was due to vacation expenses. After including this month’s expenditure, our average expenditure this year has risen to about $4,655.
And seriously, due to a quite unexpected bumper year in terms of work income and investment returns, there is a strong likelihood that we might celebrate the end of the year with another overseas trip.
At least it’s not a trip once every quarter, right? =p
Eating Out: $484.70
Hawker ($149.90) – I did not go to the market for two weeks in May and it showed. Besides a small increase in the waistline, the amount spent on hawker food literally doubled from the previous month.
Fast Food ($39) – Two meals at Burger Up and another meal at Wing Stop. We are spending more on each fast food meal but getting so much more satisfaction from each one. S much so that the frequency of visits is also dropping. Once a week sounds like moderation to us.
Restaurants ($295.80) – A shorter month in Singapore so we incurred much lower expenses n this front. There were actually two trips to TWG@MBS this month. No, we didn’t order any tea. Just main courses at 50% off for two.
Groceries: $178.40
Supermarket ($144) – 4 visits to NTUC in total. And of course, in yet another free advertisement for Haagen Daz, I actually bought 3 tubs of icecream at a total cost of $29.50 since there was a promotion. My go-to flavours? Green Tea & Strawberry Cheesecake. They work well together on premium Aladdin cones.
Wet Market ($34.40) – Just one visit to the Kovan market due to a combination of the Melbourne trip and laziness.
Beverages & Snacks: $36.40
Snacks ($33.80) – A Swensen’s treat to my students using some Groupon vouchers made up the bulk of this category.
Beverages ($2.60) –1 cup of Gong Cha at MBS.
Utilities: $232.67
Electricity, Gas & Water ($112.67) – Electricity usage soared to 334 kWh for this month. I am switching on the aircon more as there have been more lessons in the living room. 57KWh of gas and 6.0 Cu M of water meant the bill added up to $112.67.
Cellphones ($120) – $51 for me and $45 for the Mrs for our mobile services. Mine comes with upsized data. We also subscribed to Data Passport so that we could use the data from our monthly plans in Melbourne.
Transport: $100
1 EZ Reload transaction each for the Mrs and me.
Departmental: $277.90
Clothes ($130) – The Mrs bought a Down Jacket for the trip and I also added some berms when they went on a huge sale a week ago.
Books ($100) – Bought more assessment books for our students for the 2nd half of the year.
Miscellaneous: $3696
Gifts ($50) – A newborn in the Mrs’ extended family. Just a small angbao instead of getting tonics when we visited the cousin in the hospital.
Others ($146) – We purchased an annual pass to Gardens By The Bay. We enjoy sitting down in the garden and “tourist-watching” when we have pockets of time.
Travel ($3,500) – The accommodation, food expenses and shopping in Melbourne added up to about $3,500 over a week. We didn’t indulge in avocado toasts, but we were quite wanton with regards to $5 mochas, $20 ricotta pancakes and $50 steakhouses. Not to mention $15 Havaianas, $30 Billabong boardshorts and plenty of goodies for our students. The weather was very kind to us and it was a really enjoyable trip and a good break to recharge!
It’s time to work harder with our students for the next 5 months!
Total: $5,006.07
Overall Total: $6,691.07 (included fixed expenses of $1,685)
Holy Schnikes!! $6,700 seems like a ton. But I guess, with a vacation to Australia in the mix, that’s basically normal. I’ve spent less than $6k total over the last 7 months while on full time vacation, but I live a lot differently.
Hi Travis,
Your adventure on a campervan is awesome and the photos on your blog are beautiful!
And of course, not to mention the very low expenses you are incurring while travelling.
Love your disciplined way of tracking expenses. People usually overspend on holidays and things in Australia aren’t exactly cheap. $3,500 for a week in Australia is a steal if you ask me as it includes accommodation. I spent that amount alone on accommodation and air tickets for a week in australia.
Hi David,
Actually both of us spent a total of $5,300 as prior expenses that were charged to our credit cards (like airfare and day trips) were already accounted for in the past few months. Would really need to be very disciplined to spend $3,500 for a week long vacation for two in Melbourne and we are not there yet.