Simple Budget, Simple Life

This year passed by exceptionally fast. So many things happened this year that if I don't keep a blog, I'll probably forget the details of what happened. Key things that happened this year: - Secured my flat in my dream location - Got married - Got promoted 2018 review Here's a recap of what went by in 2018 Jan: Shared my 2017 review, and my net worth at $287k . Also shared about my hopes for 2018 which came true for most! Here's a recap of my 2018 hopes: 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

Years ago when I entered the workforce, I set myself goals (you can refer to the left side of my blog), mainly financial ones. I set to achieve $100k cash savings before 28. And I met it at 25 . I shared my tips on how I achieved it here  and they were really simple tips, mainly tweaks to your lifestyle  (eg, dining at discounts).  I then set out to achieve $200k by 28. Earlier this year, I mentioned that I've crossed $150k savings  and shared updated tips on how I helped myself.  As 2018 draws to a close soon, I found out that I've hit $200k in cash savings.  Except, I've just parked $6k+ to my CPF MA for tax relief, and it has now dropped to less than that. I've also parked $7k into my CPF SA some months back, so I would have hit $200k earlier. If I delve even deeper, I have also bought stocks amounting at ~$10k. Yup, so I would have crossed the $200k mark even earlier. In any case, this is just a number game for me to keep track of

If you are looking for a budget destination, how about heading to Hanoi, and adding in Sapa, Fansipan for an extra spice to your tour? The husband and I were there for a 8D7N trip (disclaimer - not my honeymoon. I haven't plan one yet hehe) Most people exclaimed - so long!? What's there to do? It is indeed long if we were to stay in just Hanoi alone. After all, Hanoi was pretty boring as we could cover Old and French Quarter in a day. Our days in Hanoi were spent on food, facial and massages 😛If you are planning to tour Hanoi only, a 4D3N tour would suffice. But we inserted a 3D2N trip to Sapa and Fansipan which was notably the highlight of the trip! And, I'm proud to share that our expenses were around $1,400 for two which includes a full fledge flight via Vietnam Airlines instead of a budget flight 😊 and our anyhow spend also can expenses at ~$250 (we ate whatever we like , and also had pampering facial and massage sessions!) Here's a rou