May 2017 – Expenses Update

Last month we celebrated Mother’s Day with both families to show our appreciation for their many years of devotion and love towards us. Kate at the same time celebrated her 3rd Mother’s Day as Ally will be turning three this September. (wow time really flies!)

We also did a lot of outdoor activities with Ally to reduce her screen time with gadgets or TV if we would to stay at home all day. We don’t totally restrict her from watching shows on iPads as I think some of them are actually quite educational. But we do restrict her screen time to about an hour a day and we always try to engage her with other home activities like handicrafts, singing, playing jig-saw puzzles and drawing.

For our outdoor activities, we managed to run, swim, cycle, scoot, play sand and explore different playgrounds around our neighborhood. All these activities are really good for Ally as she gets to go outdoor and learn a lot about nature. We are also glad that she enjoys going outdoor when we spend quality time together on weekends. Outdoor activities cost are minimal and the benefits are great for young children as compared to just buying stuff to entertain them. As a minimalist family, we try our best not to always buy toys for Ally but we give her undivided attention and time by doing activities with her. I think that’s the  greatest gift we could give her and at the same time trying to teach her how to appreciate things she currently have.

We have managed to compile the breakdown for our May 2017 expenses as below.

Food ($748.77)

$592.63 – Mainly meals for the three of us (this includes snacks, and drinks, etc.)

$156.14 – Mother’s day celebration with both families

Personal ($506.90)

$155.40 – Kate’s toiletries and facial care

$119.00 – Dave’s working shoes

$27.00 – Kate’s haircut

$205.50 – other personal stuff

Grocery ($185.55)

$185.55 – mainly groceries and other household items from the supermarket

Ally ($99.23)

$5.30 – swimming float

$36.90 – new sandals

$57.03 – snacks, toiletries and misc

Transport ($309.75)

$240 – Ezlink card reload for both of us (for bus and train rides)

$69.75 – Cab rides

Utility ($151.91)

$102.02 – Mobile phone bills and Internet

$49.89 – Electric, gas and water bill

Donation ($77.50)

$77.50 – temple and giving.sg to raise funds

Gift ($10)

$10 – colleague’s baby shower

Monthly Fixed Expenses ($2615.07)

$400 – Half day child care for Ally

$29.90 – Newspaper subscription

$69.00 – Property Services and Conservancy Charges

$1,200 – Parents allowance

$2.58 – iCloud 50 GB storage (monthly fees for Kate and myself)

$913.59 – Insurance premium (annual premiums amortised into 12 months)

Total Expenses = Total variable expenses $2,089.61 + Total fixed expenses $2,615.07 = $4,704.68

Note: We did not include our mortgage in this annual budgeting because we are using CPF to pay for our monthly instalments. Another reason is we will most probably be clearing off our mortgage upon reaching FI, thus this budgeting is use to gauge our post FI expenses.

We incurred our second lowest expenses of the year this month even though we are still spending quite a bit on food and replacements of some personal stuff for both of us. But I guess these are all money well spent. We are still trying to do more activities with minimal cost, yet not compromising on having fun.

We are really grateful with our simple lifestyle nowadays and we hope that we could maintain this lifestyle. How was your May?