It's 2016 already?

The first day of 2016 is nearly gone and I've spent my first monies on monthly transit/transport, a family meal, and some personal supplies (can't resist a good discount...#fail). I've paid off my credit cards and arranged taxes to be paid this week. 

Regardless, I still feel under-prepared for 2016, mostly because my goals are still in the dark (idk why none of them speaks to me), I'm still finding my feet on the ground with the new role at work, waiting for a normal paycheck come January, and some family member has been having a rough time at the hospital/elderly home. I *hope* clearer ideas will re-surface in January, but if not, I'm not going to stress too much about it since you know, work and life have been giving me mental fatigue. Mental fatigue puts you off a lot of things :( including the drive in life.

Nowadays I just looked at holidays as a day-off to rewind and decompress...not to have fun. This says a lot!

But still, Happy New Year to everyone of you reading this!

Woken by pain...

this morning at 9am that is. Got up at 3:30am last night and popped a painkiller, rinsed my mouth with saline water before returning to sleep. It felt like somebody is chiseling away at my jaw. Well, the dentist surely was, I heard sounds from the electric drill. Face/jaw is still swollen. 

Just had my breakfast (congee), medicine and now slowly (really slowly like you wouldn't believe) chewing on grapes, my mouth immediately felt sore the moment I opened it. Great. Mom's been helpful in suggesting that I cut them in halves to make easier entry to the mouth. The pain is still putting me off from doing anything productive, so catching up with blog posts that is!

Slow Sunday

On this slow weekend, I opted to stay in and hence 2 NSDs.

A few things that were forgotten in the last post, I made a decision to quit one of my side-hustle. Although it doesn't earn much, it does take up a bit of time and more often than expected, I found myself dreaded at the thought of working on it. To put it simply, I told the supervisor that I will have an impending change on my workplace, and that will take time to settle in; secondly but more importantly, I want to free some time to pursue my projects (e.g. de-cluttering, spending time with loved ones and family, exercise, catching up with blogs, or just plain idle...). But to keep things open, I did not exclude the possibility of picking it up in the future - if my work situation allows (but I doubt). Anyways, I felt free.

Starting from April, every month went not frugally, and I intend to change that. I found that jotting down tiny frugal things every few days / per week helps a great deal in keeping me on the frugal / resourceful course instead of looking anywhere to spend. I am also considering keeping a small, palm-sized note pad (and a pen obviously) in my bag whenever I go, so when I think of something, usually a to-do item, or a vague idea like meditation, some project that needs further consideration, I will write it down. Why not use a phone as a notepad? I have done that and the list ended up with many other miscellaneous items, and I cannot cross them out after completion of certain tasks (erase is the only option), I prefer something that allows me to check, check, tick and done.

The idea of keeping a physical to-do list is beneficial in a way I did not expect: when near to tears with boredom this weekend, I looked through the list (now still shreds of papers stapled together instead of a notepad), and realized I could use the time to complete some of the stuff that I've been dragging on: finish reading Mrs Moneypenny's book, draft a letter to the building management office, a wardrobe purge (see? this thing crept up every 6 months. Bastard.), clean my room floor, to rotate shoes (#firstworldproblem), exercise (as far as I'm concerned, with the heat and rainy weather, this will remain as scribbles on the paper instead of an item...sad). 

So the easiest was of course to finish the book where I left off months ago, and I couldn't find it anywhere! Wardrobe purge: not really feel like it now. Mop the floor? The flat below me is blasting their air-con so my floor is trickled with cold water droplets because of the temperature difference (I offed the air-con when I wake up)! It would be futile for me to wipe the floor clean when such situation is anticipated to last until summer finishes.

I turned to rummage through the cupboards and then found some noodles that were close to expiry dates, had one for lunch. Rummaging through the other cupboards I picked out some tubes and jars that are unopened and won't be used, off they go to my friends then. The travel book I borrowed from a friend - it's no longer sitting on my desk but off to the bag it goes - I'll return it when I see him for a dinner or something after work. A few reading materials on the side-hustle that I was working for? The recycle bin! 

I also reserved a book on de-cluttering (the mind and the home) with a click, didn't know it was that easy! Now I just have to wait patiently since there are others who are also waiting for the book. Think this deserves a frugal point!

For the rest of today, I'm catching up with some blog reading and will be charting my frugal course for August. 

I may or may not have mentioned in the last post, that some of the items in the wardrobe are looking a bit washed out and tatty (e.g. black turned dark grey with white cast on top, colors that no longer look like when they're new thanks to the mixed color wash and transfer of dye/colors during wash, things that no longer look good because I've grown fat in the belly - YIKES especially on the last one). I found that shabby looking clothes really dampen my spirits and outlook, I'd feel shabby the whole day and felt compared to, even when my bag is new. After some analyzing that most items in my current wardrobe had lasted 1-3 years, some of them are just outdated, gone tatty, and some of them just don't look good anymore. With this in mind, I have a clothes shopping trip planned next next week, I'd be uber careful and cautious when I consider bringing a new item in, however. This is due to concerns with space, ease of washing with other items (color transfer), style in question (compatibility with my activities and other items), and material. I deliberately pushed this shopping trip later and later, frankly I just want to faint when looking at the current wardrobe, I'm not sure if I have the guts to bring anything new in before cleaning something out, this is something I dreaded on and on. Secondly, some bargains might be at their best when we're stepping into the next season. 

Also on the same note, I really need a change on my hair, it no longer looks crisp nor fresh, instead it looks out of place, still thinking on how to proceed with this one. I may change haircut twice per year to three times per year in order to feel my best. Hope this doesn't come across as vanity, but how I look really affects how I feel (low confidence, insecurity, shy away from this or that). I could no longer deny it when looking at the mirror, and this has become more frequent than before.

As July is drawing to a close, the monthly wrap-up will be up in the coming few days. I'd have a weekend getaway next week so I hope everyone has had a great month!

What are your plans in August?

Not-so-frugal hiatus

I've been MIA for a long time *gasp* and sorry I didn't mean to!!

I was simply knackered and loaded with work and it was like a battle on my work desk every day particularly the last two weeks. I came home just wanting some off-screen time, and on weekends I'd like some down time and prepare the upcoming trip, going out occasionally instead of having my eyes glued to the screen, as if I hadn't done that enough from Mon to Fri!

The other thing was that I was stressed out for the past 2 weeks too - of course the spending went a bit haywire, I'll do a post on that when I wrap up the month. At this rate, it looks like the monthly wrap-up for May is happening in late June...

Thought it'll be nice to leave a message here telling my readers that I'm not giving up this blog, this frugal journey anytime! Just give me some time, and I'll be back and tune in the frugal channel again (probably back in full mode in latter half of June!). It'll be quite a while since I have lots of blog reading to catch up, since early April, but nevertheless I am going to make it. Just want to say sorry about the lack of posts lately!

Oh and huge thanks to January for helping me to reach out to Pru, and Pru's invitation!

Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2015

With plenty of blog post reading to catch up ahead, I'll first do a wrap-up of April. I felt like a naughty child who failed to do what I ought to do!

I'll start with something good that has happened this month:

- borrowed some books and finished one

- we bought a travel guidebook using a voucher and ended up paying only a few dollars for it

- bleach wiped my room once, washed curtains, hung them up, changed new bed sheets

- upgraded my credit card and makes earning points faster

- opened up an investment account, which I've dreaded, and still dreaded

- decluttered magazines, found lost photos

The not-so-good of April:

- overspent my budget

- earned very little in side-hustle front

- exercised zero times

- felt the urge to spend / shop, see yesterday's post

- terribly behind on blogs and completely fallen off the frugality bandwagon

- treated a lot of important persons for dinners, my food budget exploded
- NSDs had shrunk in number since I spent a few days away and of course, paid for food and travel day by day

April had seen me throwing my money (and caution) in the wind, since I was stressed out. I don't know about other people, but going on a trip stresses me out a lot, A LOT. There was the familiarizing with guidebooks, lots of decision making, coordinating, researching. All of these happened while I'm still working daytime, there were many times I wanted to say "I can't handle this". This feeling remained after I returned from the trip, as I am already planning another trip, and catching up with lots of things at the same time, opening a bank account, frequent trips to the bank, post office, here and there during lunch, when I'm supposed to wind down. I hope this doesn't sound like bragging (because I'm not), and whoever was the psychologist or something that says going on holidays give people stress can't say it any truer. Holidays isn't all about rainbows, and it gives you headaches not (just) because of money.

April's figures: overspent $3,366, savings rate saw a huge dip to 29.6% only *yikes*

What's in store in May?

- haircut. It's reached so long and thick that I sweated out from it more often than I thought: summer is here

- wardrobe switch. Can you believe it's the 2nd time I do this - meaning that we stepped into winter, and are stepping out of it now!

- more research for the trip, packing

- family gathering for Mother's Day (dinner)

- (another) granny's birthday dinner

- ideally I'd like to step up on the side-hustle earnings but it's out of my control, plus time is not really enough lately

Have a great weekend everyone!

What's been happening - and a few observations

If anyone can be guilty about not posting frequently in April, it'd be me. I'd also be the one who is guilty of horribly behind from all the blog reading and comments. I'll try to catch up this week and read the posts I've missed. Alas, the abstinence from frugal blog kingdom has had me fallen off the frugal bandwagon - not a nice feeling, nor a good news for my bank account.

I went on holiday for a handful of days in early April, needless to say my schedule was swamped before the days off; after the short trip, I returned drained. Coming to think of it, DB and I didn't do mountaineering nor any outdoor sports during holiday, we did sightseeing and minimal walking, under hot weather, and that's enough to make me drained for a whole week. I think I almost had a heatstroke on day 2, but recovered quickly in the evening. My sleep was poor since returning from the trip, and I had no idea why. 

At work, there's some rumors about reshuffling - to be honest I expected it to take place in the latter half of the year, but news shot up that it actually was taking place bit by bit. I was taken aback at the view of this - totally not prepared for it yet. A few discussions with my coworkers had sent me into panic mode for a while. A new meeting had landed on my plate too, and it's something I'm not familiar with. Not a good time at work indeed.

Coming back, DB and I are planning on our next trip, which will happen real soon, a month from now, actually. In the pipeline was of course tons of decision making (raise your hand for decision fatigue!), a lot of reading, researching, debating. And I'm still not there yet - not at the level that I'd prefer to be, i.e. getting acquainted with the details of our destinations. Far from it, in fact. More reading and researching is needed, and time is running out (3 weeks?). A lot of cash had been blown on the coming trip, but in consideration of all things, I hope it'll be worth it. Possibly my last long-haul trip for years to come *gasp*.

Intrigued by a book title we happened upon at the airport when returning from our holiday, I googled online and found nothing. I then thought of my uni. library, did a search, one of the books I wanted was there. Went there on a brim after work, picked up 4 books, finished 1 in a few days. But this is about as frugal as I get to this month. As far as the money aspect is concerned, I'm too terrified to do a calculation (I would do that in the Monthly Wrap-Up post to come), it's not looking good from what I can tell:

1) blown a lot of cash in the coming trip

2) overspent in April even if the trip related expenses were taken out

3) I had this terrible twitch of hands (or my mind) that I want to buy something, after returning from the trip. It's the worst feeling one can have in the journey of frugality.

A lot of things had happened and dragged me in the direction of making a move, in a pace faster than I imagined / wanted. One of these was the opening of a securities account. I planned to wait for a new customer offer, but instead I was forced into action from my folks. I managed to open it, albeit with lots of complications and hurdles along the way. It's set up now, or very close to! I really don't like to operate a new interface, seeing unfamiliar numbers that are actually my money, and buying stocks. It's all very foreign to me and I don't think I can familiarize myself with it shortly. I took on a new stock that's yet to hit the market, based on advice from my folks. The number is nothing big, but any investment (except in bonds) gave me the unease, and if you know me at all, the last thing I want on earth is to have another thing to worry / add to my mental task list. But beggars can't be choosers, I need to grow my capital, be it how little it stands at right now. It's a new thing I had to live with, learn, research on and familiarize with.

I talked about the merits and consequences of upgrading my credit card before - at the end I went ahead for it, I don't think I'll look back now. First, it allows me to visit lounges of airports, with a limit to the frequencies but it's not like I travel a lot per year, and it's a wonderful thing to have say, especially on my upcoming long-haul trip. Second, it allows me to accumulate my points faster.

Last weekend I bleach wiped my room once, washed the curtains, hung them up, it felt good to have a nice clean(er) room again, albeit I was completely exhausted afterwards. Yesterday I planned to pamper myself at home, but I had some accidental decluttering instead. Got rid of a bunch of old magazines, freed up some space and put stuff in, it felt good, but my room was still full of chucks of stuff. I hate stuff, the older I become, the less stuff I want to have. I also found some trip photos which I thought were missing, by accident! Really glad I found them, or should I say, I'm glad I wasn't stupid enough to erase them! Of course, that tired me out again. Some awful cramps had made me want to stay in today, imagine my horror when discovering I left some important bank letter in my office - I had no choice but to go there and fetch it...managed a No Spend Day for first 2 days of May.

All in all, April made me feel like a cog in a wheel, a scatterbrain pulled in all directions to move forward when I'm not ready for it, but such is life, isn't it?!

Looking forward to reading everyone's blog posts while I'm away :-) Being away from reading frugal blogs had its dire consequences, and one that I don't wish to go through if able to!

Checking In

Just to let anyone who is reading this that I'm still alive. Alive but busy. Busy makes a scatterbrain!

It started the week before the short trip and 1 week after the trip, things fly in from every direction. Not complaining, but definitely tired :-) Hopefully catching up with blogs (& comments) later this week or early next week.

Hope April is treating you well!

Moneytalk, March: the good and the bad

This post will cover anything related to $. The monthly wrap-up will be another post.

Let me start off with something good. Previously one of my goals in March is to pump up my savings to a certain amount by March, and I've JUST achieved it, albeit marginally. The sum will all go to my down payment in future. This sum excludes my day to day cash in my wallet, my emergency fund, the account I set aside for yearly categories (more on that), any money tucked away in bonds and stock (I only hold one, looking to expand the profile). For the past few months, I have a new habit of putting *some* notes at home and replenish the wallet when the notes run out. For some reason, this worked for me, the thought of going to ATMs every week worries me and I panic at the thought of it. I intend to go to ATMs not more than 4 times a month: paying my credit cards in full, wiring money to my folks (this is safer than handing them cash), withdraw cash (to replenish). Sometimes I even do same things at once to save me time from the ATM queue, the queues can be horrible I tell you: there was once I had to wait for 10-15 minutes, it depends on where you are.

Well the not so good news was, the authorities have made people who are looking to buy their first homes much more difficult now. In the past people can walk away with 90% mortgage 10% down payment (minimum). No more of those days...it's now 30% down payment for everyone. Which, to me, is a sky-high number! I did a count, if my salary and savings rate stays the same, it'll take me close to 10 years to accrue the figure that would allow a down payment for a very, very modest house. But the amount wouldn't be enough to cover any lawyers cost, stamp duty, renovation, fitting-out, etc. It's very sad and more so when there's nothing I can do about it. 

Another piece of news is: huge change in commute pattern has taken place, I just did a very modest calculation and found that I'll probably need to pump up 50% more than my previous budget on commute. I'm curious to see how this change of commute pattern will influence my way of thinking about what transport to take; and how the item will play out in my budget. I have not revised my budget yet, as I would like to see how it play out in the first 1-2 months. Meanwhile I might need to start chanting *money buys time*, I need to look at where else I can cut back on...

Moving on, I've come to a decision regarding the talk on credit card upgrade. After a few calls to the hotline, I found out that I had nothing to lose after all! The worst case scenarios if I cannot meet the spending limit was (1) I had to call them to waive the annual card fee, which I have 70% they will do so, if not, I'll just cut the card or I can (2) downgrade it to my current card, without any charges. The upside was, I'll accumulate my points quicker, have unlimited access to the airport lounge. The even better part was, I can sign up for subsidiary cards for my family and DB, the subsidiary cards have no minimum spending per year, no annual card fee, and same unlimited access to the said lounge. Now I want to kick myself for not going for the upgrade sooner. The subsidiary cards I'll have their spending limit lowered if I should apply any, however my hesitation is whether getting the subsidiary cards will affect my credit score.

Thee coming of April will see the whole city "doing without" plastic bags, the shops will impose a levy on most plastic bags used. Some items that are frozen, fresh (think fish from the market), or bread from the bakery, will be exempted (but I don't know what else). This is a big problem for moi as I tend to buy a few items here today and a few items the next day, and I hate bringing an extra bag with me to carry groceries. Hopefully this will wean me off from buying unnecessary groceries, but this policy is a royal pain to housewives and everyone, really. Paper bags can be the new option for shopkeepers but their cost is almost double or even more than a plastic one. Talk about conundrum. 

The following paragraphs is for Pru, I figured it'll probably be best fitted under "Moneytalk" ;) Do remember I am only speaking for what I do, and some or most people may not do what I'm doing, or maybe they are doing even more. 

Every month I set aside a certain amount of my salary to be given to my parents, right now that sum is at 25%. I would adjust it every 2-3 years when I get a small raise, but the % will be 25. My folks used to say their generation would give 70% of their income to their families, but they have siblings and people were generally very poor back then. We had arguments about this before, but 25% seems to work best now, although I'm sure they want more, and that they can take more...In our culture, sons and daughters "should" (although arguably some don't) give some money to their parents regardless whether they are still living with them or not. Agreeing with the spirit behind this practice, I intend to continue this practice even after getting married or moving out one day. It's just the right thing to do and I don't question it. My folks have given me the best they can, and are as frugal as they are.

Another related "expenses" to the above, is the money for my grandparents (I call it "granny money"), it's not an obligation (read: I'm not their direct offspring, they have a handful of them and the offspring are the ones who should be giving them money like I do in the above paragraph), but it makes them happy. Plus I don't see them often, like 4-5 times a year, each time I'll give them a few hundred to let them buy what they want, eat what they want. They are not working anymore and solely rely on their savings, and if not, their offspring to support them. So whenever it's birthday of my grannies, around Chinese New Year or Mid Autumn Festival, I'll shell out some. I know some people who don't do what I'm doing, but I always say you never know how long they're still there for, and in their prime age they were working hard for the family and now it's the time they should be taken care of. 

Sometimes it's not what we think it is

A few months ago I shared that a friend of the same age (a girl), who had bought a flat with her bf and moved in together. Well, she told me she's broken up with her bf and moved back to her parent's. This was such shocking news to me, I always thought she's the one who "has it": not rich, but enough money to pay for down payment and get a mortgage (halved with her bf), a stable relationship hence the moving in part, a nice job, and a bit of cushion there from her investments.

To me, that kind of number is just astronomical (I know it was not much, but it's getting even more difficult these days). I was pretty upset at myself at that time because I kept thinking what I should have done to my money before getting a grip on it now, and how different would bank account figure be now. I still do, a bit upset at myself for what I've done with my money before. But this post just goes to show you how fickle things are...one moment a person looked like they have a stable life but the next moment they're back to square one, well, almost. At the beginning of March I had that crest-fallen feeling for 2 days and it was just enough to wreck everything - peace of mind, appetite, and health, sleep, etc.

Have you come across similar stories? Did knowing such people (and that you can be in a similar place with them, but you're not near that for now) upset you?

*To this date, I think I should thank her for inspiring me to get a grip on my finances, and started this blog. She doesn't know her story gave me such a motivation. And without this blog, I would feel alone in this journey. Thanks every one of you for reading this blog. THANK YOU.*

Slowly hoppin' back on (and THANK YOU)

And a full week ahead, may I add : /

I'd like to say a heartfelt thanks to all that has left a comment on my last last post. THANK YOU. 

I was shot to both sides of the world the past week - a swinging pendulum that gravitates towards the negative, and a lot of sadness in the mix. Things are looking better right now, although there's still a lot to follow up, I'm in a much better place now, emotionally speaking. It amazed me how everything ceased to matter (money was the last thing on my mind), when the world (almost) came crashing down. 

Developing a sore throat in the past few days, I decided the whole weekend to be a stay-in, and hopefully a no-spend as well! I had oatmeal this morning (surprise, surprise), I put water on a higher ratio than oatmeal and loved the watery consistency. By the time I had the second bowl (I used a small bowl), I threw in some dried sultanas and they are GOLD. Not that I had any problem with plain oatmeal but the dried raisins just upped the whole ante and I downed it quickly. Some almonds were also thrown in and it's delicious and balanced (I hope). Some fresh fruit would be nice, but I"ll use what I have. This combo should be featured more often everyday!

I just got a few more pairs this week (March) from another brand. I can live with garment replacements should the need arise, but I'm still saying NO to new clothes/bags/shoes. I unsubscribed from newsletters of apparel retailers sometime ago and didn't aware that I'm missing anything until they sent me promo codes a few days ago for a major sale event. Being very careful, I did not click onto the sites and see what's new and the deals, it's all the more easier to avoid clicking on it than to spend time debating and saying no. Willpower is like a muscle that has to be flexed frequently to strengthen it, too much exercising leads to fatigue sometimes. Auto-pilot is the way to go!

Also organized some papers and letters, and paid my taxes. Even though I don't have to pay a large sum this year, I dreaded on it because of the paper decluttering, today as I went through the papers I thought I might as well paid it and put the tax demand note back to the folder. Staying in might just be my new favorite hobby.

For the upcoming trip in Easter I just modified the list I drafted for my previous trip (oh USA!) and will do some final tweaking tonight. So far I still have to buy travel insurance (putting it to the last few days), schedule a driver at the destination, and exchange currencies. This trip *should* go on as planned.

The coming week will be quite packed as I've got some side hustle scheduled, dinner with a friend, lunch with coworkers (16!), reading through a travel guide book and start thinking on the itinerary. I want to pack a facial session (congested skin!) but will likely postpone it since my throat is feeling bleurgh at the moment. Spending wise, I'm still on track at the moment.

Should my body and spirit allow, this weekend should see a bit of things getting done, I try not to be ambitious here so there is no weekly goals post for the coming week (or maybe more), because honestly, in such a state, being ill and all that, I'd be grateful to just get by, instead of being hard on self for not following a list and whatnot!

How's March treating you so far?

Monthly Wrap-Up: Feb 2015

February just went by in a blur. Have you noticed the lack of weekly goals post? Well, I got detracted once falling off the bandwagon of posting it weekly. Need to do better in this so the next 10 months won't go by without anything done. However as I've noted in the previous post, a few personal crises had crept up on my plate, and I found myself having poor sleep, cannot eat / no mood to eat, and generally feel immobilized due to weakness. There were times I would just sit and cry. My focus in March is on my relationship and family first. Nothing. else. comes. first. Period.

On travel-related matters, I've just realized the miles I've accumulated so far, is enough to redeem a round-trip ticket to Japan. This excludes the oil & fuel surcharge, various tax and airport taxes that I have to pay should I go, which can be often be ridiculous when they add up to about half the price of the ticket if I'd normally buy on its own! Nevertheless, free is free, as I have no plans to use the miles at the moment, I'll just let them sit for a while. Although some of it will expire in mid 2016. My original target might sound ambitious - but I was aiming for a 3x amount of miles before I redeem it - enough for a trip to Netherlands or Germany or something. But the credit card which I use to earn miles is basically earning peanuts when it comes to miles. I used to earn quite a bit of extra miles when I do my shopping via this card with a tracking website, but since I've cut the amount of shopping lately, a little bit of hacking (possibly switching to a higher tier of the card membership, dining at certain places to earn optimum miles), needs to be figured out. 

I've bought a plane ticket for April's trip and just got the hotel sorted out. It was a pain to select where to stay every time, it really is. I'm a no-fuss person and can happily sleep anywhere except on the street, but not everyone is, and I truly understand that. Crossing my fingers that the eating and getting around will be cheaper at the destination, no shopping will be involved. Even the tickets and hotel has been booked, I"m not sure if we're still going on this trip as I said, the personal crisis is major this time. 

On the extra income side, I achieved my monthly goal, am grateful for that. Also worth punching myself noting is, I need to get the blog sale up soon, the clutter is sitting around for too long. This, should be high on my list once the crises has been resolved.

Diet / healthy eating goal:

My diet has been a havoc in February, unstable schedules (both me and my mom) which means that while meal times are stable, the food I had was sometimes junk, sometimes home-cooked, sometimes eating out. This should raise grave concerns for my belly which seems to be getting more obvious. 

DB and I bought a cheese fondue pack to eat in the other night and it was a complete fail - the pack being too salty for my taste, and too alcoholic for his taste. Added to the pack we had processed food (smoked salmon and parma ham) which were way too salty for my taste. (I don't like parma ham to begin with, please don't hate me!) So the dinner was like salt on salt on salt. That's what I hate about buying processed food because I can't control what goes in there. DB suggested we DIY the cheese fondue sauce next time - we'll surely get around to do that as he loves his cheese! This will depend on whether the crisis will be resolved.

Exercise goal - absolutely zero. Again, this will be high on the list once the crises resolved.

Savings rate - dipped from 45% last month to 36% in February. This has to do with the travel expenses I made. Possibly something else, not in the mood to go through the tiny bits now as I'm near a major breakdown.

In other news, the doctor I pay regular visit to, has risen the fees. This is crap news and I hope I'll be getting better and visit the doctor less often, but for the near future I still need to pay regular visits to there. No way of getting around with it since I am sticking to this doc for now.

Hope March will be a better month!

Personal crisis

I'm dealing with a few personal crises at the moment (relationship, family) and thus I'd be posting irregularly, until the issue has resolved for the better. 

Meanwhile, a monthly wrap-up of February will be up soon. 

Would appreciate some understanding and please keep me in your prayers.

CNY is coming! Hide!

*Enters panic and crisis mode*

2014 Christmas had seen me indifferent, and I'm no feeling Chinese New Year either :( it's just 10 days away and I'm starting to panic a few days ago. It has largely to do with food.

While days off from work is always, always good, I can't stomach the thought of having the same food (puddings and turnip cakes and etc) for more than 2 days. The holiday coincided with weekend so that's a great 5 day long thing this year. More shops open on New Year than before but - you guessed it - people will flock there and they'll charge more than usual - pretty much the type of food you have on V Day when you dine out - much more pricey and quality had gone downhill.

After some thought I decided to tell my family the biggest source of panic is food. Supermarkets hardly gets a restock on the first two days...it's no surprise. And I'm super, duper panic if we run out of fresh food / food of variety. With that in mind, I've decided to keep a few things in the house to keep things interesting...I'd have instant oatmeal for a change, just to have a switch in palate, if things get desperate. I'd eat tinned food or granola bars, or plain boiled eggs with bread (if there is) if I need to. There will need to be a few things around the house to spice things up - atm I'm thinking more along the lines of dumplings with soup, instant noodles (there's enough stock for 3 persons...but 5 days? hmmm), frozen processed food (how sad), lots of greens and fruits.

Ideally I want to have lots of different food in the freezer but our small freezer just doesn't cut it, there's no way to get a bigger one giving the size of the house vs the size of most folks' house in this city. When I have my freezer one day (instead of mom being in charge...), I'd do a deep clean of that and toss out every unused thing. Now everything's in there and you just can't "see" the potential space that can be freed up to do lots of other things, yet she kept telling me there's no space for more food when I try to bring in some!

If you're reading this, I'd like to know how do you cope with the fear of not having enough food?

Ever had a burnout?

The other day I came across this article: How Not To Have a Meltdown in 2015

(Confession: OK I'll admit that I read the transcript, being a compulsive reader non-native English speaker that I am.)

The thing is, while reading this, it hit me that I might have experienced one, whether previously or lately, it didn't matter. A burnout may not necessarily result from work stress, it can be anything: family, too much (bad) news, etc. What it matters is acknowledging it and finding my place, even if that means I'm no longer the socializing character, even if it means I enjoy solitude more and more (honestly though, I suspect it has something to do with frugality and not hanging out as much as I used to with friends). 

If you're reading the article, please share your views here. I, for one, like to know how you cope with moments like that.

Price hike = YIKES!

Went to run some errands today, it seems every single store chose to increase their prices all in the same day! The minibuses and electricity company etc chose 1st Jan which is usually understood, but the small shops, oh they are bad!

The story went something like this: there's a noodle stall near where I live, and around 10 years ago it was $17 / bowl. Last week (damn sure about this as I walked past it deliberately), it was at $30. TODAY: $35!!! Yikes!!! I discovered the price hike after I was seated. To be honest I nearly stood up and leave the stall, thinking I could use the dollar menu from McDonald's (fillet o' fish bun!) at less than $10, but I didn't leave. The place was crowded and getting ever more popular than before (thanks to media exposure and the general hype around this stall), uncomfortable seats, boisterous, etc. I don't eat there often, maybe 2-3 times a year so it was somewhat a 'treat'. Thinking about it, my experience there seems to dwindle every time I visited it, so I swore to myself I'd NEVER step in that place again.

Fast forward, there's an artisan bakery selling pastries of all sorts, it's very traditional and also getting more popular like the above store. A catty of the fried pastries would cost about $3x in prior years and today I saw $56. I'd not be getting their stuff to consume myself ever again, it's (still) delicious but the price is getting ridiculous...However I need to buy a catty of those to some friend I'll have lunch with next week. This will be it.

Another store where I got the ingredients for the soup noodles also had increased their price by $1, it was acceptable but it's just the moment you are caught off-guard until at the cashier till (or cue the above scenarios) just sickened me, you know? [rant over]

If nothing more, all these just highlighted the 2015 goals I have to cook my own meals, eat at home, and eat whole foods!

Getting ready for 2015!

It's been 2 weeks since I last reviewed the mini weekly goals *gasp*, and we're coming to a close of 2014, in fact, SO CLOSE. My dad suggested we go for a buffet to celebrate my birthday early, but I declined. You all know I am not a fan of buffet and my body doesn't need extra fat. There. I just want to stay home these days and avoid the crowds.

Beginning with the review first:

- Tidy up room (clothes and shoes) Sort of a YES

- Pick up remaining ticket from cinema Will do that this week

- Continue to search for new glasses To be continued

- Post remaining 2015 goals on the blog YES

- Outfit plan on Sunday for the week ahead Sort of a YES

- Track cashback transactions x 2 YES

- Track refunds x 2 To be continued

- Apply body cream and hand cream every night YES (and I'm writing this off for the lists to come as this is pretty much established)

And the icing on the cake: 

- Jogged 2x this week! More shall come;

- Read a few dozen pages on the book I put down and pick up a few times previously! No it wasn't a fun book to read but nevertheless I bought it at the time (now I know there's libraries I can always turn to), and so I must go through it and learn a thing or two;

- Mom mended the coat buttons for moi last night, I am so grateful for that!

- 11 No-spend days this month! Record broke :-)

Fast forward to the coming week:

- Read 50 pages of the said book

- Jog 2x

- See whether DB needs help with his house move

- Hand tiny gifts to DB's mom

- Pick up free ticket from cinema

- Track refunds x 2

- Make outfit plan on Sunday

- Ship 2 parcels to friends abroad

- Make a list of items for blog sale

- Continue the glasses search

If the progress with reading is good, I will begin borrowing books from the library. At this stage I'm not so sure of the reading rate hence I'm not confident to start borrowing as the books might get returned without a page being turned.

I can foresee a bit of cleaning is going to come as Chinese New Year advances in February. Will be meeting up with a friend from down under during that period and another friend from UK in mid January.

*the tags for the 2015 goals' posts have been changed to "2015 goals" instead of "goals" for easier review*

FOMO (and a good one)

I woke up with a cracked throat, went to work, and went home shortly afterwards because I was feeling awful and might be having a fever. Anyhow, I got sick around this time of the year (around Xmas and birthday) without fail for every year known to me. 

Back to the topic: FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

I went to visit a friend in her new apartment last week, the same friend I talked about HERE before.

Well, she and her bf bought that house (notice the word bought), and now the price of that property has gone up, way up. I know some of the figures incurred in the home purchase, together with down payment, closing and mortgage fees, fitting out (a handful of furniture and decor), now that's where my problem is.

If I were to shell out this amount of money, I can just barely make it. 

Mind you, the above sum is minimal by any standard: by that I mean, the apartment is not big, its price is not too unreasonable for its size, it's not a prime location, it's a rather new-ish property, the house is furnished with decor and stuff so only a handful of furniture, new lock, and electrical appliances had to be added. In short, it's second-handed but still new, with the bonus of existing decor and furniture. I would say that's a gem in the market. The view was quite nice, it's high up in the building, reasonable price. It's hard to come by now, because the housing market has gone crazy high. Her house has become an investment in itself if she wishes to sell it or rent it out in future.

Back to the problem: If I were to shell out this amount of money, I can just barely make it. That amount makes me cringe. Although I can foresee the amount of payment I expected to pay when buying my own home is higher than hers, it (still) even makes me cringe further.

"I make more money than her, and I can't help but wonder where has my money gone?!"

OK, ready to move on for more?

This said friend also has money in stocks, funds, US stocks, investments, and they are up and running, generating money. After graduation, she has studied for a full year WITHOUT INCOME. She's thinking about taking up another program for 2 years ALSO WITHOUT INCOME. She has confidence that money won't be a problem (tuition fee, living expenses, mortgage). At this time, she is paying her monthly mortgage, still give money to her parents monthly, daily expenses, YET she is confident she can make it through 2 years on no income!!! She told me she never check her bank balance, as long as she can withdraw money out she doesn't care what the number is.

Let's pause: How is that even possible? Can that possibly be true (with the amount of money she's making)?

Or maybe I should ask: How can I do this? Why does it look impossible to me now and in the near future? Where has my hard-earned cash gone?

Of course, everyone's (financial) situation is different. Maybe I pay more to my parents than she does, maybe she already was sitting on a mountain of cash when she graduated, maybe she's way more frugal than she looks (I'm sure she is), maybe.......maybe.........

That made me really unhappy where I'm at right now, ultimately it's not (only) about comparison, catching up, but really something was wrong. With the salary that I'm making now, I should be doing much better than her (and yet I ain't). Really unhappy about that. PJ, you can't let this silly spending continue, a complete overhaul of your mindset and your life is direly needed. 

In that sense, this FOMO is a good wake-up call (I'm sure I said that in the last post already)!

2015 Housekeeping / Misc. decluttering goals

Housekeeping / Home / Decluttering goals:

1. Bleach room twice a year
2. Purge closet minimum once a year
3. Sell old books, DVDs, CDs or donate them
4. Practice minimalism: borrow, not buy
5. Use up things, watch them die and go to the trash! Bottles and jars you know who you are
6. Be resourceful: re-purpose things
7. Practice "going without"

Goal (1) is self-explanatory, I do this whenever spring rolls around and in fall. This goes hand in hand with goal (2) together. 

I've asked a colleague at work about goal (3), basically the library doesn't take donated books anymore unless it's special collection or a limited edition thing. So I would either sell my pile at second-hand bookstores or donate them to school, or donate to charity. I need to call the bookstores or pop by to ask and see if they'll take any.

Goal (4): Stuff that I rarely use but wish to use one time or the other (like a cheese fondue), I'd ask my aunt if she has a fondue set to borrow. Same goes for travel books.

Goal (5): I intend to live by the generosity of my friends and refrain from buying beauty supplies as much as possible. There'll be some staples that needs to be replenished, those had to be planned sensibly.

Goal (6) targets at waste reduction. Whenever I bin something, think about ways to re-purpose it. The last time I was about to bin a pair of torn pantyhose, I googled and who would have thought that a pair of pantyhose have so many uses? Read HERE if you're interested.

Goal (7): Whenever I felt I "need" something, go through it a few times, when will I use it, how often will I use it and where I can find space to store it? And try to go without.

Winter woes (I sinned)

It is in the most critical temperature that I have begun to think about how good it is to have the following with me while typing away with freezing numb fingers:

(1) An electric blanket to warm up the bed before tucking in; (I can't fall asleep until a good 2 hours later because my bed was too cold and my feet were not warming up at all)

(2) the above or a warm quilt / duvet; (I actually woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go to sleep, but had to add another blanket on top of the base blanket)

plus

(3) a cat / dog that can curl up at my feet and keep them warm and toasty. (Not to mention that I'm a huge animal lover)

(1) will be good but I can't fathom the idea of sleeping on some electric currents (lol), (2) is most sensible and practical but my room / home doesn't have space to store it during summer, and no, I'm not going to wrap myself up with that with the air-conditioning blasting in summer, so no. (3) is too high maintenance and my mom doesn't like pets, pets aren't supposed to go along well with my asthma either.......

And I have a pair of furry slippers, thank god for that. They aren't cheap nor well-made so they would last one season only...*makes mental note* must do research on more durable ones next year, wearing socks alone wouldn't work because our home is dusty.

...And then I sinned. I caught a cleanser and a toner on sale and bought them. Makes me wonder what was going on, as I was doing great at closing down the tabs of various stores, promo emails. Not blaming the weather entirely but you know, I only have myself to blame for this!

Office rant

I've had enough. 

Some folks treat their office their second home, but not for moi. I'm fed up with the people there.

It doesn't matter whether they are junior or seniors (in terms of age or rank), ignorance and stupidity always reigns. Every time these people talk (loudly), they're completely oblivious to the fact that they are exposing their ignorance and stupidity. I can't help but roll my eyes for the thousandth times on a daily basis. 

Example: 

"Don't you know that celery as a negative-calorie food?" 

and this person believe in it, even as to eating it often and on its own. 

Unfortunately, the said person (who have no cooking experience as far as I know, other than chomping on celery) and would say that congee is more stomach-filling than rice. She was quizzical as to why she had congee and thought it made her full, only finding herself hungry an hour later. 

Fact 1: you put less rice and double/triple amount of water when you make congee as opposed to rice, I don't know how to cook this but this is common. sense.)

Fact 2: this person is older than I am by a few years. 

I enjoy working with highly efficient, clever, practical and humorous people. People who put their minds onto real stuff. I have no time nor tolerance to things other than the above, e.g. frivolous things nor bragging about their "pursuits", their "awesome" travel experience which comprises only designer brands outlet shopping and tax-free shopping. 

This, of course, makes it difficult for me to find someone I truly respect to at work, nor can talk truthfully.

May I add that the same person also works on a group of followers (namely lower rank female staff), and always stand and chat for hours instead of going back to her own seat to work daydream. She is always so willing to tell everyone her opinion on everything. Hate that. I don't want to hear her opinion on anything. As far as I know, I'm not in her league and neither is she in my league. We're just different. I wish she would just shut up and do her own work. If she's free, stay in her seat and keep her mouth shut. 

I keep reminding myself to be open-minded and easy-going (read: don't care whatever is happening) to everyone, the fact is my tolerance has its own time span...and some people's tolerance seems to exist perennially. I need to work on this in 2015 especially the place I work/live in is full of ignorant imbeciles.