January's Saving Rate

This is probably a bit late but who cares ;-)

I've just finished dabbling with the figures, the calculations are based on pre-tax income I made (after retirement compulsory contributions), any extras I made (via side-hustles, allowances, vouchers, birthday money). Expenditures include the regular ones that take place monthly, and yearly categories that I've budgeted for (e.g. new eye glasses, work-related expenses, money for grannies, tax) and money for folks (this amount is almost the same amount of my monthly budget, kinda huge).

*cues drumroll* So I managed to save 45.85% of income in January! Pre-tax.

For those who wonder why I kept my calculations pre-tax when calculating the savings rate...well, that's because I"m new to the tax system and there are a lot of factors that drastically changed the amount I was paying for before, and now. I cannot calculate exactly how many % of my monthly income will go to paying tax but all I can do, right now, was putting away enough money each month and build up a cushion. 

Right now I have a savings account, a checking account that includes tax and emergency fund (so 3 accounts). I also have a fixed deposit account tucked away in another bank, that also comes with a checking account which I do not use currently. I prefer to separate emergency fund from the tax reserve fund, and another account for yearly categories/replacements (stuff like dental checkups, and replacing electrical appliances in the household), savings account for savings, checking account for regular monthly expenditures. I'm thinking maybe I need more number of accounts than I thought I need. But that's for another day!

When looking at the 45.85%, I was thinking those extra income I earned really made a difference. Guess how the number will drop if I'm relying solely on one job??? That kinda worries me...

Tick Tock Tick Tock

The clock keeps ticking...

and I kept working :-S

I came home past 10 on Tuesday, and was completely beat. Completely. Like someone has knocked me out, I couldn't manage anything except shower and went straight to slumberland.

It was some side-hustle post-work hours and silly me I thought I could squeeze both side-hustles and kill two birds with one stone! I ended up finishing job A, then stayed behind to work on job B. All these are done in the same day after finishing day job C. Earning money was not easy, but I'm grateful I had the opportunities to work extra by choice.

On the bright side, it means I should be able to hit my monthly goal of making extra 2-3k a month! *pops the champagne open* 

It feels really great not having to rely solely on one job only! #securityissues 

Sometimes I feel OK proud of myself for being active in seeking out side income sources, except via investment which I aim to touch on soon, maybe later part of the year. Because there's just so limited time to be completing jobs and it's better to make money generate money (be they how little).

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.

Monday is the new Friday!

I'm referring to "Super Mondays" promo which has recently caught my attention.

Apparently, I think the same as most people: Mondays = going home / not hanging out. The restaurateurs had come up with "Super Mondays" promo whereby you get BOGOF on main courses, to boost their on-site traffic. Some of them do Tuesdays as well, but you guessed it: none on Friday. However only the mid-end restaurants do this offer...wish more of them did.

So what does this mean for my newly found frugality*? DB and I are dining out on Mondays now instead of Fridays, it'll allow us to try more dishes without spending more, and not to mention to avoid the crowds on Fridays! Less queue, less crowded dining experience. Can't complain :-)

*I am fully aware that dining out is not "frugal" per se, but for our situation right now (we don't live together), so dining out when we hang out is mostly the case. If we're doing this anyway, why not make the best use of BOGOF offers?

Frugal February: Refocus

I realized today being the first day of February and it being a Sunday, there's no better time than laying out goals to be achieved in the coming month. Yesterday's post is a recap, today's post will help to refocus.

Financially speaking, I still aim to make an extra 2-3k from side hustling, so far I'm positive about achieving the 2k mark. Now if you add the pocket money which will be gained (notice I didn't use the word "earn") during Chinese New Year, it could well go over the 3k mark. I need to drag myself up to work on a few bits which had been sat on forever. Oh yes and the blog sale, I hope with the 3 public holidays in mid Feb should help me iron out a bit of the logistics. If the sale went live, the extra income will go to March :-) 

One of my financial goals for 2015 is to better manage my retirement fund, well where should I begin? I'm waiting to receive a quarterly summary (of my account) from the company that manages my retirement account, so that I could create an online account platform to manage the fund. Why wait for the summary to come you may ask? Well that's because I don't want to rustle through my papers in the shelf...it'll work out easier for me to use the info from the latest report they sent me than finding my papers at home. After the account is created, I'll take closer look to their quarterly performance reports of various funds, this is the part I dreaded, but it has to be done eventually.

Since February is a short month, I'd be hitting the jackpot (literally) if I manage 14 NSDs - aka half of the month I won't be fishing a penny from the wallet. I can't quite say whether it is too ambitious or not, since there are some scheduled events coming up (big family dinner post-CNY, meeting friend from overseas, friends' gathering, office lunches, office expenses, shipping gifts overseas), but here's to hoping! Contrary to traditional practices of stocking up pantry before CNY, I will be looking out for post-CNY sales, mostly food! Many of the shops will close on PH or worse, they open but will charge you more than what normally was, dining out during this period is akin to an extortion. I'll make sure we have enough variety of food during the holidays so it won't drive me crazy to eat the same things three days in a row. It's quite dreadful coming to think about how long the CNY stretches out to be: restaurants would start having "regular" price meals just weeks before the holiday actually is, and continue for a week after the actual holiday ended. Hence the food (and variety) we need to have ready at home needs to cover more than just the handful of days(!), if we want to stay frugal and sane.

Health-wise, I'd struck gold if I can manage to hit the park 4x within this month. Meanwhile I always try to walk a lot and walk far, to make up for times when I couldn't make to the park. I'll try to make sure to keep an early bedtime during the holidays though! Unfortunately, festive holidays also means a period of indulgence when it comes to food...the festive cakes, puddings and various delicacies. Will try sticking to whole foods as much as possible. On a personal care level, I've been keeping on with moisturizing in January but need to up the ante this month - so is conditioning my hair and masking! 

In other areas, I should probably get the book reading back on the bandwagon, and finish it ASAP. I don't have to make myself read if it's an interesting book - but it isn't, but it's a useful read. As far as the housekeeping / decluttering goals is concerned, if I can map out the basic logistics of the blog sale, that's part of the decluttering done already. The other decluttering work I foresee will be in March or April when the weather is really sucky (read: humid, foggy, cold, drizzle, grey skies, hazy) and I'd do anything to stay indoors. This, together with food supply (meals at home), shall be the key in March. Oops...got sidetracked! February I will be seeing an overseas friend and perhaps a group of friends, that's enough for my schedule already but if anyone wants to meet, I may consider that...or not. It'll depend on funds and time.

Before this gets too lengthy, I'll end it with weekly goals:

- schedule dental check up after CNY (remind DB about this since we attend appointments together)

- update the balance on passbook as well as the progress bar on the blog

- set up an auto-transfer for the paycheck in Feb to the "yearly replacements" account

- start small on a side hustle

- read 12 pages on the unfinished book

- top up transit pass $200

- be in bed by 2330
- get distilled water and blank masks

Hope February will treat you to a good start!