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.
But if you think I should be celebrating this, let me tell you that I ought to be ashamed. The bulk of the $31,000 comes from CPF (aka contributed by my employer and forced savings from me).
The actual cash savings I had is only a mere $3000 for the whole of 6 months. How the hell did I spend my money?! Now this is a real wake-up call for me. I've been spending without much care - I think to myself that I can afford it anyway. I still continue to track my budget (which is really helpful for me to analyse my spendings now), but I never stop myself to spend. I've been eating good food. I've been travelling. I've been really generous to my family by paying for a holiday, meals and household items. I've been online shopping. Shucks! Of all, qoo10 sucks the most money out of me with at least $2000 spending on it </3
Oh wait, after scrutinising my list, I figured out that I'd transferred $14k cold hard cash into my mum and my CPF as shared in Jul, which meant I should have more liquid savings than $3,000 except I've now dumped them into CPF 😬 That'd make me sleep better!
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 I did/blogged about in 2017:- Jan: Shared my unexpected review that I've hit $200k in net worth
- Feb: Opened a CIMB FD at 1.2% p.a for 6 months which net me $119.01 interest
- deciding on an EC or BTO (which we've chosen BTO but till date, fate has it that I've no house to call my own yet)
- Apr: The month of opening my report card to see how well
I've donemy bosses assessed me. (+) Above average grading (-) No promotion yet - an emo post by me reminding myself to let it go. Can't remember what triggered this but I am still as emo as ever lol
- May: had my 1st wisdom tooth surgery
- talked about purchasing insurance as a responsibility. Also purchased a hospitalisation plan for my mum
- Jul: Did a mid-year financial review and realised my net worth stood at $256k
- Shared my tips on how I keep my skincare routine cost low
- Received $160 interest from SBI for my $10k deposit. Can't forget how long I had to wait and how bo-chup the staff there were
- Transferred $14k cash into mine and my mom's CPF for tax relief and an act of filial piety. This post also appeared on the CPF website
- Aug: Signed the FWD 2.02% endowment plan which locked my money for 3 years. I am sure I directed a lot of businesses to FWD following my post because I received a lot of enquiries and the number of reads for this post is one of the highest haha
- shared my Taiwan travel tips for the budget conscious
- was charged an expensive annual fee for my BOC Family Card which I managed to waive off
- Oct: Did a stock-take of my insurance plans
- shared how I only spent $115/day in Taiwan
- Nov: Failed my 5th BTO ballot and am trying for the 6th time
- Dec: Shared how I save money eating out
Net worth
I've increased my net worth by $31,000 in 6 months to $287k.
The actual cash savings I had is only a mere $3000 for the whole of 6 months. How the hell did I spend my money?! Now this is a real wake-up call for me. I've been spending without much care - I think to myself that I can afford it anyway. I still continue to track my budget (which is really helpful for me to analyse my spendings now), but I never stop myself to spend. I've been eating good food. I've been travelling. I've been really generous to my family by paying for a holiday, meals and household items. I've been online shopping. Shucks! Of all, qoo10 sucks the most money out of me with at least $2000 spending on it </3
Oh wait, after scrutinising my list, I figured out that I'd transferred $14k cold hard cash into my mum and my CPF as shared in Jul, which meant I should have more liquid savings than $3,000 except I've now dumped them into CPF 😬 That'd make me sleep better!
Investment and Dividends
On this front, I've gained a total dividend of $1,105 on my stocks. Not going to share what my portfolio is because I am honestly no guru in investing. Of the 8 stocks I have, only 3 are green. The dividend yield stands at 5%.
Hopes and goals for 2018
- Receive my promotion this year (likely to happen)
- Receive a good ballot number for my flat
- Enjoy my marriage preparation this year
- Plan for a family getaway for 2019
- Be less stress about work this year (not so optimistic considering the projects lined up for me)
- Be someone whom others admire and look up to
- Stay healthy, always
- Monitor my spendings - no more qoo vouchers to hit min credit spending.
- Save $50k this year HAHA (praying for good bonuses to make achieving this easier)
Thanks for sharing .
ReplyDeleteJust my opinion, be someone whom others admire and look up seems a very very stressful goal which to me is meaningless. Maybe im older than you and have a different perspective . Maybe I just want my son to look up to me by setting a good example and be good to my family and in laws and some good friends..other than that, no expectations
Thanks for sharing too! Maybe this goal seems a bit superfluous or maybe I've ego...I just don't like it when I feel looked down on. I want people to acknowledge I'm smart or good at work.
Delete3k for 6 months. Hmmmm. åŠ æ²¹ ！ Fortunately we got CPF.
ReplyDeletethe bad news is that once you are married and have your own house and children, it will be even harder to save! jiayou!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement! Yea, I know....which is why I respect my parents a lot for all they've done for me. So, wherever possible, I hope to repay them...be it paying for things, transferring money to their CPF, treating them overseas. Hopefully after I'm married, I can promote their statuses to grandparents haha. Will just have to tighten my purse when the day comes...meanwhile, I hope to save as much as I can now
DeleteYea, CPF is really an excellent tool for us to save for retirement. Well, I actually saved more than 3k la haha. I forgot the fact that I transferred $14k cash in July to CPF :X But, I hope I could have saved even more!!!
ReplyDelete