Expenses Review – Q3 Y2018

So I’ve been kind of going through a rough patch in my life recently, and was pretty inactive in the blogosphere for the last month. I think it was kinda reflected in my previous post that I wasn’t really okay, but I guess… that it’s okay not to be okay sometimes! Life isn’t supposed to be as picturesque as how everyone paints it to me, and I would very much rather my blog show not only the good, but also the bad experiences that I go through.

Which is why I always blog about my failures, and constantly thinking about ways on how to be a better investor, and thus a better blogger – hopefully. 🙂

It is time again for my expenses review, something which I track so diligently every day since the last quarter of 2017.

I’m beginning to wonder if it’s worth the effort still, though it brings me much joy to look at my own numbers, despite me expecting that I will exceed by budgeting goals. It also helps keep me on my toes whenever I have some unexpected expenditure. I tend to think more about my decisions regarding any form of spending and it really helps to propel me in achieving my financial goals as quickly as I can.

I don’t think that I am all that frugal as I was as compared to earlier this year. I just came back from Taiwan with the final total expenses for three amounting to $5160.68. It was a little pricier than I would have predicted it to be since each person would have spent around $1720, but our trip was 10 days long and it sure was a good experience for me, and my mum and grandmother feels the same way.

By the end of Q3, I have spent $16,203.63 and these numbers does not even include the full expenses for Taiwan! Oh well. I’ll leave that to worry about in the last quarter of the year…

I try to keep things lean when it comes to my categories. I don’t see the point in having so many at all and it kinda adds another thought process every time I want to track my expenses.

And as you can see, my savings rate from July to September seems to be much better than the earlier half of the year mainly because I was overseas majority of the time, both for business and leisure.

On average, I spend about $1800 per month. I am actually quite surprised by this number, because it shows what I need to survive in Singapore considering every single expense. I do not only have to consider my own expenses but also of my family’s and the upcoming 3 years of school fees for my brother’s education.

As mentioned also in my previous expense review, I have increased my annual budget of $18000 to $21000. Looks like it will be much more achievable than the former goal, as I was only shy of $1800~ after Q3.

Are you also following closely to your budgeting goals?

I would love to know!

Miss Niao xoxo