I shall start with an update on my 2015 resolution on cutting my monthly expenses. Perhaps I should explain why I wanted to do that. I'm seriously contemplating taking on a lower pay job (not now, but in a year's time), with less responsibility, less hours, and less "shit". I don't know if such a job exist, but I hope it does. On the other hand, I need to plan and test out if I can really survive with a lower pay cheque.
Cutting back on spending is about changing lifestyle. I failed miserably in Jan and Feb; spent about 1300 in each of both months. What I learned are
(i) eating out is expensive. A hawker meal can easily escalate to $5. For example, a bowl of "mixed fish soup noodle" is $3.50, plus a teh-c-kosong at $1.10. If once a week, lunch is fast food or at food court, the spending can be as high as $7 to $12 (eg, $4.50 yong tau fu + $2.50 fruit juice).
(ii) basic transportation, meaning either petrol cost or daily MRT commute to work, is expensive. Thus food + transport is easily $500 - $600 per month
(iii) There are always "ad-hoc" expenses every month, and these cost more than food + transport. For example in Jan, I
renewed my passport for $70,
ate out with ex-colleague only ONCE during that month ($35),
took the taxi on another Sat night out to celebrate birthday with my friends ($30 for taxi fare, dinner's on them),
bought a new lap top bag for my biz trip in Feb, MUJI brand as I like the quality ($100),
bought a dress for CNY ($60),
stock up my beauty product (eg cleanser, make up remover) as there's discount on my BD month ($160), and
printed my blog books ($150)
And in Feb, I spent almost the same amount on ad-hoc items. Feb is mainly due to CNY (eg 肉干as gifts, reunion dishes, angbao for the elders). And I paid for my mum's yearly health insurance premium ($100).
Conclusion is that it not about changing once's life style and habit alone; $800 is attainable only if I live frugally. Hmm...
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