Simple Budget, Simple Life

This month has been rather unpleasant. 2022 probably isn't a good year for me. I look at my past posts and it's generally negative. Perhaps the macro environment affected me personally. Work I was complaining last month that I've subscribed to quiet quitting. Due to some changes at work, it made me see things clearer - that my boss sucks, the role is not gaining me any skillsets, and I need to move. So I started applying for jobs. Rather aggressively. So far, I've submitted 26 applications, got called up for 5 and got into 2nd round for 4.  I wonder if I should wait for my end year bonus. But I'm also doubtful whether I'd get any bonus. I don't feel my boss appreciates my work enough and I may well get 0.  However, I figured I should just see what leads me and decide one step at a time. It doesn't seem to be a good time to find jobs now. What's more, I've been hearing layoff news and this means the job market will be inundated with younger unempl...

It's the time of the month...the ladies would understand. Every month, I'd get bad cramps which makes me breathless, giddy and helpless. It's during such periods of sickness that I have morbid thoughts - what if I drop dead and die? How can I avoid such pains? Why do I have to suffer like this? Can I just remove my womb? It's also during such times that I pause to think about my health. I start to think I need to exercise more, eat better, treat myself better, and take care of my health. When I'm my usual self, I don't bother much with such thoughts. Anyway, for the first time in my 30+ years of life, I've started acupuncture...in a bid to get pregnant. I wonder how long and how much more I have to spend. Getting pregnant is not an easy task for me. After the TCM consultation, I know I've a lot of issues to tackle. I've poor sleep, poor appetite, frequent back aches, frequent cramps, cold feet and arms, poor blood circulation, poor digestion. All the...

Look what came in my mailbox today! Presenting 2 versions of Trust card - one for NTUC Union member and the blue trust card for non-member Honestly, I could do without the cards as we've stored the digital card in our apple wallets. What we've redeemed Anyway, we've redeemed our FREE 1kg rice - which was tough to find btw. Take note that this voucher expires first and you need to click "Coupon" at self-check out counter and scan barcode to redeem . Also, our FREE kopitiam breakfast set. The auntie was very kind and allowed me to  top up 20 cents for milo. All you need to do is to go to your coupon, click "Redeem", key in the code that the staff tells you and show it to them. Take note the voucher expires 31 Oct 2022 and the set is only available before 11am #fortheearlybirds I've also redeemed my sign-up reward of $10 fairprice e-voucher for my grocery shopping! At the self checkout counter, click “All Other Payments” and scan your voucher's barc...

It's been long since I saw so much hype in the blogosphere given the sour macro environment. After reading a few articles and realising the perks without doing much, I decided to sign up for a Trust account. Read on for more about the perks! PS: easy, $35 fairprice e-vouchers combined, 1kg rice, free breakfast set at kopitiam, chance to win Tesla and more! Registration steps Sign-up was fuss free. Here're the steps: Download the Trust Bank app - you can head to this link to scan the QR code  or scan from the above image Click "Use referral code" to get $10 Fairprice e-voucher. You can use your friends or mine i.e  AP1PJBRK   if you don't have a code. 😊  Upon entering the referral code, you will see this page 3. Click "Apply for savings account"  4. Sign up using "myinfo" and it will extract info from your Singpass. 5. Some of the information you need to key in are Employment Type, Name of Employer, Nature of business, Job Title , whether you a...

Work 1 year into my role and I'm jaded. I guess I'll never find a job I'm happy with. But the consolation is that this job is relatively easier than the previous, so I'm just cruising along...until I get fired.  I resonated with the quiet quitting term that's been all over the news recently. I guess I've been quiet quitting all these while. People said it's a term for cruising, doing the minimum, or performing at your payscale. I've always been the type who knock off on time, though I am more enthusiastic in my first few work years. Somehow, my bosses acknowledge my efforts and I don't have to wayang. As I grow older in my career, things change. Because of how "quiet" I am, I may not get into the good books of bosses. I don't talk to bosses nor bother talking to colleagues to showcase what I'm doing. I don't bother  to wayang. I don't bother suggesting ideas to improve work - I did try recently, but it backfired. I'm bet...

Another month down and I still have not achieved much. I havent been feeling great. Is it the macro conditions or am I just getting old and cranky? Work I'm getting jaded at work, again.  While work is manageable, I lack bootlicking and show-off skills. I feel my bosses don't quite see the value I'm bringing. I'm not sure if they are too "smart" to understand operations and I feel we are on different frequencies. That would make it tough for me to get a good end year bonus.  Because of that I'm on the lookout for jobs. However, it seems like a "wrong" timing due to the impending recession and hiring freezes across the globe. I don't want to join a new firm and be laid off like what crypto.com did to their new staff.  Crypto.com Speaking of cro, it's unfortunate to note their downwards revision to netflix and spotify rebates . I'm currently on their ruby steel member, and have been enjoying spotify rebates. Just this month, I received ...

I wished I had good news to relay, but there's nothing exciting to talk about.  Work It's all over the news that layoffs are happening, even in Singapore. While my company has yet to be affected, I can't help but be worried.  I'd be hitting my one year mark in the company soon. It seems like I will never be happy working anywhere. Firstly, we are forced to return to office - as a social hermit, I dread this. Secondly, I feel that my work is getting monotonous and I'm not learning much. While I can pass time, the issue is I'm shortchanging myself in career growth. I'm not looking for upward movement or climb the career ladder, but I want to be skilled enough to move laterally. It is sad that I'm only in my early 30s and feel uncompetitive in todays' market; I am already starting to feel that I could be expensive to hire and getting too old for some companies.  Yet, while I could be expensive compared to younger folks, my pay has not risen.  I would be...

I blame the green tea from koi for my insomnia. I woke up at 3 plus am and tried to get back to sleep but my mind was wandering off to unimportant stuff - like tasks to assign my staff while I'm away, to a sudden realisation that I've changed, quite a lot. Or maybe it's age. So, I started this blog as a way to post my reflections and for me to look back at my financial journey. I'm happy I post my thoughts on and off because I seem to feel like I'm reading someone else's blog. The things I worried about then like not having a home, seem so recent yet far away - and here I am, sitting cozily in my home typing this. Getting old and no longer low maintenance I don't want to look down on myself/ladies - but I'm starting to understand the adage shared by ex-male colleagues when I was in my earlier 20s, that women crossed 30 age like milk, whereas men age like wine. Back then, when I heard it, I was pissed - these colleagues were men in their 30s, talking abou...

  If you're new, you can click on the SRS tag to see my past posts. Anyway, time for Apr updates. SRS With the recent dip (again), I've done my 4th transaction for 2022. The amount is split between Dimensional Global Core and Emerging Markets Large Cap. Jan: $3,060 Feb: $3,060  Mar: $3,060 Apr: $2,000 Instead of going in with another tranch of $3,060, leaving myself one last $3,060 bullet (and mind me, this is just Apr. We've plenty of months till end 2022), I decided to enter in with $2,000. This leaves me with $4120 left from my $15,300 pool. I'd still have room for 2 (or more) transactions this year. As I mentioned previously, I may have been too hasty in splitting up $15,300 SRS contribution to 5 transactions. I didn't know I'd enter so quickly haha. Because it seems that every month, there are dips to enter 😭 Amount pumped: $21,181 ( back in 2021, I've pumped $10,001 ) Results:  -3.76% CPF OA investment In Apr, I've made 3 transactions from my CPF ...

Thanks to those who left comments in my earlier post. Appreciate all your kind words. Anyway, time flies and it's another year of insurance payment. I have been on NTUC Enhanced Income Shield Preferred hospitalisation insurance plan with plus rider for many years. Not cheap, but it's a must have for peace of mind. As part of yearly insurance renewal, my CPF MA was recently charged $656. Since I was previously at the MA ceiling of $66,000, I wanted to maintain this for both 4% CPF interest and to maximise my tax relief. You would have known by now that, each of us are able to top up a maximum of $8,000 per year for your self account to either MA or SA for tax relief. Mistake I made a mistake of topping up my Grab with UOB Absolute Amex (which gives 1.7% cashback), thinking I can use my grab to top-up to CPF. Turns out this loop has been cut. I already knew of this, but not sure why my pea brain still went ahead without double checking. Instead... I top up my CPF MA via Paynow t...

I've drafted, deleted, drafted, deleted my thoughts for the past years.  Thoughts on my fertility journey.  I was filled with angst each time I write and was worry of being judged. I feel nobody understands how I feel unless you're going through it. Tears were shed. Silent screams were made. After a few years, I decided to pen my disorganised thoughts down. Background I wanted to marry early and have kids before 30 but my plans were delayed by the lack of luck in securing a home. We bided and managed to secure a spot after 4 years. Since it was a balance flat, it was ready within 1.5 years. I may have used up my luck for this.  Long story short, we got married and stayed apart while we wait for our home to be completed and renovated. During this period, we tried on and off to no avail. I decided to go for fertility checks and thankfully, everything was positive. Pushed my husband to do his as well and it was fine. I was reaching 30. Making a child became a scientific expe...

  Back in Jan, I  blogged about my SRS Game plan via Endowus here. Updated my Feb transaction in the blogpost here. Now that it's Mar, I'm glad to report a few more transactions into Endowus SRS This is my 3rd transaction for 2022. Entered because of the fall in tech stock prices and omninous signs of recession coming + stagflation. The amount is split between Dimensional Global Core and Emerging Markets Large Cap. Jan: $3,060 Feb: $3,060  Mar: $3,060 I'm only left with 2 more tranches of $3,060 this year to complete my $15,300 SRS contribution for tax relief. Seems a bit too hasty since I dont think we have seen the worse yet. This taught me to consider splitting my SRS entry into 12 transactions for 2023 - buying once every month! Amount pumped: $19,181 Results:  -0.53% CPF OA investment I also made two $2k separate transactions from my CPF OA via Endowus to buy into Lion Global Infinity US 500 Stock Index Fund. I was hoping to enter at the lowest price, but due t...

It has been a good 3 years. Back in 2019, I signed up for Etiqa's ELASTIQ plan which offers guaranteed 2.02% for the first 3 years . I started with $5k initial deposit first, and top up another $10k after since the interest rate environment then was bad. Interest dropped Now that 3 years is up, Etiqa has sent me an email informing of the revised interest down to 1.2% Dear Valued Customer, We hope you are keeping well and safe. As COVID-19 continues to disrupt financial markets and economies, the prolonged uncertainty has made it challenging to maintain the existing crediting rate and loyalty bonus of your policy. We wish to inform you that the existing crediting rate and loyalty bonus for your ELASTIQ policy will be revised as follows: Policy Number Revised Crediting Rate* after 3rd year Revised Loyalty Bonus Effective date : xxxxx : 1.20% per annum : 0.00% of the average monthly account value for the past 36 policy months : xxxxx *applicable to initial premium and top-up(s) At th...