Month in Review: March 2019

March flew by before I even got a chance to enjoy it properly. Can you believe we’re already three months into the year?

Let’s get to the good stuff first.

Money

I’m not satisfied about how my spending turned out for March because of one BIG mistake I made. Which was this tweet:

yall, i dont believe it. im on track to save about 60% of this month's income. wow good job me.

— Nicole (@nicfunemployed) March 22, 2019

I wrote that tweet on March 22…..and basically jinxed myself. Up until that point, my food expense totaled $170 or so. In the span of 9 days after that tweet, I managed to rack up a food bill of ANOTHER $170-ish causing that category to almost hit $400 for March.

On top of that, I had an unexpected air-cond servicing that set me back $215.

Gone lah, my 60% savings rate for the month. Good job me.

I still managed to save but the moral of the story is don’t get ahead of yourself. And also, self-discipline is hard. Subconsciously, I was looser with my money knowing there’s more leftover this month. And that just spells trouble because unexpected things can happen. Suddenly, you’ll need to fork out money for air-cond servicing. Stay disciplined, kids!

On a separate note, transport costs increased. Like, a lot. Like by 140%. I’m not even going to pretend to feel guilty about it. I was having a shitty time last month and it felt nice getting to places faster.

I went to KL only once in March to settle some outstanding errands. I renewed my passport which costs RM200. The renewal process at the JPN in Jalan Dutamas was very efficient and easy.

I wrote about my disdain for body hair removal last month but I also indulged myself with a wax (RM150) last month. I was feeling like going hairless at the time. When it comes to beauty routines, I have to admit, I flip flop a lot on how I feel about it.

Ultimately, I’m being conscious about the choices I make for my body. It’s important to choose things that feel comfortable for you and not force yourself for the sake of upholding some arbitrary beauty standard.

Career

Not much to report on this front. I am starting to see cracks in the work environment I’m in. Office politics have surfaced and I’m skeptical that I’ll see myself staying at this company long-term.

I’m trying to find ways to maximize my potential outside of work. Networking and meeting new people is a good avenue to showcase who I am and what I can offer. But all this will take a backseat for now while I focus on the CFA exam.

Health

As the CFA exam draws closer, more signs of exam anxiety creep into my day. With the stress, I developed severe acne and gained some weight. Not exactly fun.

I’m gonna be straight with you. March was the worst depressive mood I’ve been in recently. I started on an acne medication where a side-effect was depression. I knew that before starting the course but I didn’t think it will affect me badly.

Continuing the trend from February, I went through March in a haze. Like there’s a heavy fog clouding my brain. Sometimes, I find myself having harmful thoughts. I talk about this casually now because I don’t want to alarm people about it. I am fine. I am getting through it.

I am off the medication for now and my mood has improved. I am still experiencing difficulty focusing on tasks that require a long attention span such as watching movies, reading books, writing and studying. Hoping for this to improve as time goes on.

While the medication was a contributing factor, I’d be lying if I said that was it. I’m self-aware enough to know I’m not addressing the underlying issues right now. I think I’ll get around to them after my exam. Anyways, do I talk about mental health way too much? I feel like it comes across like I’m complaining all the time. It doesn’t make for very good content frankly.

Personal Growth

In line with both career and health, I don’t think there was much growing done in March.

Before I write these monthly reviews, I read the past ones. It’s reminder of how circumstances change. What I feel when I write these may not necessarily reflect how I feel tomorrow, in a week and a month from now. It’s comforting in a way. This self-reflection exercise is good, I am actively taking time to assess my life in these moments. And life is just that. A series of moments that are impermanent.

Recommended

Some content I came across in March that you might enjoy:

• Article: How My Stay-At-Home Dad Helped Me Dream Big We never really think of fathers as nurturers in the family. This article is such a refreshing point of view of feminism and fatherhood. Would you consider being a stay-at-home dad?
• Article: Thanks, Marie Kondo! The Resale Market is Becoming Bigger than Fast Fashion. I am all for secondhand and pre-loved good. It’s a growing multi-billion dollar industry! I’m hoping that because of this, the production of new, fast fashion clothes will decrease. It’s bad for the environment and a big money-waster.
• Article: Men Engage with Influencers More Frequently than Women, Per New Report. This is an interesting study about the modern day purchasing habits. How many of you have been persuaded to make a purchase because you saw it on someone’s Instagram?
• Article: Read This if You Feel Miserable in Life. If you’re going through a tough time right now in work or study, this is a good reminder to question your purpose and realign your habits to your goals.
• Article: How to Actually, Truly Focus on What You’re Doing. Basically this article is saying multi-tasking may affect the quality of your work. Deep work is setting aside time to concentrate on demanding tasks while eliminating the distractions of non-trivial tasks (like writing emails).
• Video: Food waste is the world’s dumbest problem. Truly it is the dumbest problem that’s the easiest to solve. Check out the video to see in what ways people are tackling this problem.

Hope your March went well! Wanna have a chat? Comment below or find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Image via Unsplash.