Simple Budget, Simple Life

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 experiment

  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 to lag 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

One month ago, I blogged about my SRS Game plan via Endowus here. Just an update (for my records) on the transactions I made on 24 Feb: SRS I talked about making my first 2022 transaction of $3,060 in Jan. Just yesterday, I did my 2nd $3,060 transaction in view of the dip in market. The amount is split between Dimensional Global Core and Emerging Markets Large Cap. 3 more $3,060 to deploy. I wonder how many more dips can I buy since it is just the start of the year and I've already deployed the second lol CPF OA investment I also made another $2k transaction from my CPF OA via Endowus to buy into Lion Global Infinity US 500 Stock Index Fund. I will continue to make small entry investments along the way. Endowus Referral If you are keen to embark on Endowus using your  SRS, CPF OA or even cash , you may wish to use my link to  enjoy $20 in Access Fee credit  (equivalent to $10,000 advised free, assuming Access Fee of 0.40%). https://endowus.com/invite?code=FUKYD