Simple Budget, Simple Life

I am always on the look out for the best place to park my money. This is one of ways I accumulated $100k cash savings before 28 .  So when I came across the Feb 2018 Savings Bond, my eye popped. The SSB is not new to me. I've subscribed it twice - one in Oct 2015 (the first SSB), and the next in May 2017 - at $5k each. The interest rates are pasted below for reference: Oct 2015: May 2017: Both bonds gives me decent interest rate. However, the con is to hold it out for 10 years before I receive an effective interest of above 2%. Imagine my delight when I realised that the Feb 2018 SSB gives me 1.55% just after 1 year. That beats any fixed deposits out there. Furthermore, I can redeem my Savings Bonds in any month before the bond matures, with no penalty for exiting early!  Year from issue date 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Interest, % 1.55 1.59 1.67 1.77 1.91 2.07 2.26 2.44 2.61 2.75 Average return per year, %*

I've gotten lazy. I should have joined the hype like everyone else talking about my 2017 achievements and setting 2018 goals, but no, I felt like there wasn't a need to. Who would be interested in my 2017 achievements anyway? But I figured, tracking these down are not for you, it's for me. It's for me to document down bits and pieces of my thoughts so that one day I can look back and recall what I went through. So hey, it's the 2nd week of 2018. Work has drained the hell out of my soul and I've only worked barely 1 week this year, although I've had a sucky end to 2017. When others were celebrating, I was buried with work. While others were chit chatting casually, I was stuck in meetings and meetings taking notes and doing loads of useless nonsensical stuff that does nothing to improve my life. The only thing I gained out of these was my salary. I am trading my time, my soul, for money. 2017 Review Ok, enough of complains. Here's a throwback on what