It's the final month of the year!
It also means the most difficult month to save any money because it's the season of giving and sharing!
Some of the things that gone by in December 2019 for me, attended a funeral of a friend's father, a baby shower of my cousin's first child, a new tenant, my wife's birthday, a trip to Port Dickson and of course Christmas and New Year.
Here's how my December expenses and savings went.
Necessity
Fixed ($1119.62) - Monthly recurring expenses like Hdb loan repayment, Insurances of daughters and my parents, Utilities, Wifi & Cable TV, Handphone charges make up this list.
New entry this month is having 2 aircons installed at my mum's place. My siblings and I took up a 12 month interest free installment at $87 (after splitting 3 ways)
A sneaky increase in my Town Council S&CC from $84.50 to $101 for my HDB Executive flat. (i must have missed out the increment notice). I guess this is in line with the popular term "give you a drumstick but take back the whole chicken". Being a consistent tracker of my expenses I traced back to 3 months (Apr, Jul & Oct) in 2019 where we were given half price for S&CC which was about $42 decrease but starting Nov19, the rates increased by $16.50 to indefinitely and beyond!! (~roll eyes..~)
Food & Eating Out ($510.44) - As my daughters grow older, I can no longer get away with 'Chicken rice add rice' or 'Noodles add noodles' style of ordering food. The 2 girls can now share a meal together.
It's my wife's birthday in December so other expenses relating to food were for Swensons with our kids and HaiDiLao with my in laws side.
Transport & Taxi ($122.70) - Monthly EZ Reload top up of $40 and a few taxi trips.
Groceries ($161.80) - Ntuc, diapers, milk, others
Kids ($26.90) - Still testing this category... Bought shoes and socks for Chloe school reopening.
Misc ($1381.88) - Attended a wake of my long time friend's father who passed away from a sudden cardiac arrest. How unpredictable life can be...
Went for a 3D2N trip to Port Dickson with my family. Had thought it would just be a relaxing stay but turns out to be great fun and enjoyment visiting an animal farm, water sports, army museum among other things and most of all a great time for family bonding.
Went for a 3D2N trip to Port Dickson with my family. Had thought it would just be a relaxing stay but turns out to be great fun and enjoyment visiting an animal farm, water sports, army museum among other things and most of all a great time for family bonding.
Other expenses were Christmas gifts for colleagues and friends.
I did something innovative (ahem~ clears throat) when my wife asked me to buy a Christmas logcake on boxing day.
After surveying a few cake shops, i just couldn't bring myself to spend $30 - $40 on a cake that looks like a log... therefore i bought a $4.80 vanilla roll and DIY with some Christmas cut outs and TaDa!! We have a log cake! Impressive ya. :)
The last big expense of the year was $285 and is something i am silently excited about. (shh..)
Total Expenses for December 2019: $3,323.34
Monthly Savings Dec 2019
Financial Freedom
Everything Savings Account ($200.00) - This goes directly to the 'DO NOT TOUCH' account.Long Term Savings
Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF ($100.00) - This one's for the long term but automation is the key. It's a 'Set and Forget' method.
52 Weeks Increasing Money Challenge
Bank Transfer $106.00 - Automation works like a charm! 4 weeks of $26.50! Yeah! There are many ways to save money, but i like this the most!
If you have other ways to save money, do let me know. Thanks. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment