So I had the privilege of a few days' down time chillin' at home, due to a surgical dental extraction (PAIN!!) and wound stitching (TMI!). When the anesthesia is gone, it's really painful to the point that I couldn't sleep and had to take analgesics, and keeping a liquid/soft diet. Now half of my face is swollen up like a balloon. Not pretty. Plus, it hurts like somebody had punched my face, bruised and dug a hole on it, it felt very sore. The few days off could be more productive (had plans in the household area) but the pain is keeping me off from doing anything at all. Not even Internet, but hey, I remember and cherish this little corner and you lovely frugal friends on the cyber space :)
I haven't properly posted here since April, can you believe it's that time of the year already?? The past few months had been a blur, I dreaded in going to work, once I struggled to, it's like 11-12 hours per day, go home, have supper, shower, do the dishes, then off to bed. Barely any time to wind down and do my own stuff (from idling to Internet browsing, let alone blogging). If I stayed up at night (aka more 'me' time), I'd be exhausted the next day and the cycle repeats. One thing I had to be strict about is bed time, yeah like a kid. If I'm lucky that night that we're heading out for supper, which means no dishes. The work situation really is dreadful - there's no way around it and won't change anytime soon. I used to joke that the current role enables me to save more, i.e. too busy to do any mindless shopping, but being the holiday season in November to December, it isn't helping so far, lol. We shall see.
Back to the core business. Frugal living. Makes me panic the other day when I looked up and realized I had no definite ideas of what goals to achieve in 2016. More panic when I realized the latter half of 2015 was gone and I didn't do well in terms of adhering to my budget. Here's some financial milestones of 2015:
- I had taken a baby step towards investment, e.g. buying some stocks (on the advice/recs from my dad), earning dividends. I have no intention to put more money in it now since it's a volatile market and there's a possibility I will get carried away and put more/win some/lose more money;
- I just signed up a savings plan, which I consider it a safety nest to put some of my eggs into, and will start earning some guaranteed interests (similar to dividend but it's not a stock, idk how to call it) starting the 2nd year. This is a big step for me as it means I need to be financially committed (in the form of a fixed amount) every year, also a step that I've dreaded for 3-4 years. Sure I could be more aggressive in terms of the financial commitment per year as well as the guaranteed interest rates, but then I had other plans in mind that I'd like to purchase in the coming few years such as insurance, which is why I think I'm happy with the amount signed up for now;
- Who knew I could make some extra earnings from doing surveys? I did :) and I kept a figure of how much I made, it's not much but it certainly helps;
- I discontinued a monthly subscription box which brings happy little surprises, originally a monthly treat to self, I now find my room is stuffed to the brim and don't need any wondering of 'hit or miss'es;
- I did only 2 major clothes shopping this year, aside from undergarments and replacement of PJs, not sure how it will be like next year but it certainly cheered me (& wardrobe) up without breaking the bank. I didn't buy any shoes (slippers not counted) nor handbags;
- Aimless trips to supermarkets avoided.
Things I could have done better (financial or not), these will probably be 2016 goals:
- Adhere strictly to the budget, precisely spending on entertainment, cutting away mindless/impulse buys, and stop being sucked in by the word 'sale' and 'offer' and 'gifts'. Apparently this is still a MAJOR work in progress;
- Clocked in approx 130 No Spend Days this year, could definitely do more and get closer to 150;
- Side hustles fluctuated plus I'm busier in new role right now, 2-3k per month used to be attainable but no longer, I'd be ecstatic if able to make extra 1k per month;
- Saving for down payment: see financial milestones above, still a MAJOR work in progress, I'm thinking what to do with the blog progress bar;
- Explore funds and ETFs;
- Could be more diligent in cleaning and tidying my room (dust bunnies);
- Working out what are the 'essentials' in everything: from wardrobe to timetable, to routine to life;
- Traveled more;
- Be a better listener and partner;
- Keeping up with frugal blogosphere, internalize frugal living as a habit;
- Read more books/magazines, plus I'm close to not 1 but 2 libraries;
- Reevaluate my assets distribution, particularly the retirement funds (dreaded for a few years), do a shopping on bank offers;
- Exercise!!
- Not bringing credit cards out on most days will help greatly in driving down impulse buys;
- Clear new emails every day.
My goals for next year is loosely laid out, some of the housekeeping/personal development/health and personal care goals will be similar to that of 2015 so they are likely to stay on the 2015/6 page...all in all, it's an OK year but definitely could accomplish a lot more. As far as 2016 is concerned, I'm not sure how the struggle between work and life will be, so I tend to be on the safe side not to make goals that are too radical. The older I become, the more I appreciate certainty and routines. The adventurous side will be kept for travels :) Very often I find myself hoping for a 'normal' year instead of an exciting one. Is anyone of you like that?
Now off to do the calculations of November...
