One Month of Singapore
November 08, 2015Since I got here last June, I have been diligently taking note of my expenses. Not that it actually helps me think twice about requesting an Uber--because as you will soon find out, my transportation expenses are terribly managed--but to help me document these outgoing cash flow so I can take those details into consideration when I'm setting up a budget for the following months.
If you have intentions of working here, too, it will not be a good guide as there will be collateral spending that you have to do on you first, second month here. When I find the time, I'll write about that.
This post is what a monthly expense report of someone who have barely acclimated in Singapore spending. At this point in time, she lives far from her workplace (North to West, and back commute) and is often too tired to even think about cooking, so she eventually just eats out. She excessively takes an Uber/Grabcar, about 3-6 times a week. On weekends, she explores the city and treats herself with better food. She saves and remits money, but for the sake of this post will not itemize those in order to reflect only the expenses incurred.
This post is what a monthly expense report of someone who have barely acclimated in Singapore spending. At this point in time, she lives far from her workplace (North to West, and back commute) and is often too tired to even think about cooking, so she eventually just eats out. She excessively takes an Uber/Grabcar, about 3-6 times a week. On weekends, she explores the city and treats herself with better food. She saves and remits money, but for the sake of this post will not itemize those in order to reflect only the expenses incurred.
Clothes
I normally hate spending on clothes. I still maintain that I will wear anything as long as it fits. For this month, I bought some basic dresses and tops that I can wear in the office. They were on sale in Jurong East. They range from 10-30 dollar each.
Food & Drinks
Here comes the 2nd highest expense category from last month. This concerned me a great deal. When I was still working a few kilometers from my workplace, I only used to spend less than 10 dollars per day on food and drinks. Now, it's more than twice that: an average of S$ 21.66 per day on food and drinks to be accurate.
As I said earlier, I have been lazy at cooking my own food. And now that I thought about it... the groceries are under the category house. So every meal I cooked last month? Still not included in the S$649.70.
On a funnier note, we see subcategories beer, other liquor, and N/A--the last two were all because I didn't want to enumerate all the other things I've been drinking. Despite that, I wanna pat myself on the back for not spending on this as much as I did when Wilgin was here.
Fun
I think this is the category I should allot more money to. I have not been fun lately. Although for sure, there will be more dance classes for me in the near future.
House
The items under this category, except repairs, is pretty much the most consistent and recurring expenses. If I have to skimp on anything, it couldn't be from this category.
Misc
Self-explanatory.
Personal
Third highest subtotal in this list. To be fair, that gadget expense item is the inkjet printer I bought last month and this expense will not show up again in the next months. It was something I bought because finding a place with printing services or an Internet cafe can be stressful, and I didn't want to submit myself to that amount of inconvenience the next time I need something printed. On the bright side, I get to finally fulfill some small passion projects I have parked over the years. (e.g., printing my photos, making layouts and printing them on hard copy)
Sooo if ever you have printing needs, 50 cents lang per page! I live in Ang Mo Kio and work in Jurong East. My email address is in the sidebar. Hit me up! *wink wink*
Transport & Travel
I am cringing just looking at this. So many things I could have done for that amount of money. I promise to be more responsible this month.
Grand Total
And that was it, a grand total of S$2588.22. Admittedly, I could have done waaaay better with this money. I won't even try to expound that statement because I'm still mildly annoyed (and saddened) with my transport expenses. Hopefully this month will be better AKA less Ubers/Grabcars/Taxi.
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In case you were wondering, I am using the mobile app called Wally to track my income and expenses. You can download it for FREE. I highly recommend it as it is really awesome and easy to use. (The also don't have ads inside the app. I don't get it. How are they making money???)
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