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Month in Review: March 2020
Every month, I track my spending and share them openly here. In my Month in Reviews, I go over notable (and often discretionary expenses) for the month and reflect on some key areas of life tied to money, either directly or indirectly: career, health, relationships and personal growth. Writing these updates gives me helpful insights into my own life, and I hope they help you as well. By sharing my experiences with money, I also hope to encourage you to feel comfortable approaching your own finances and keep the conversation around money alive. Spending Breakdown I never thought I’d say this: The silver lining to enduring a global pandemic is…
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COVID-19 and MCO Resources for Malaysians
Our lives have changed drastically in such a short span of time and it can be overwhelming to deal with such a change. Some of us are lucky enough to still have our jobs, but there are large parts of our society that are now out of work. For some, having our children at home means that they’re not learning maths and science in school. For others, the inactivity and lack of social interaction can creep up on us and weigh on our emotions. And it’s also hard to keep up with all of the news surrounding COVID-19 and what you can do to help yourself and others during this…
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Month in Review: January 2020
Every month, I track my spending and openly share them here. In my Month in Reviews, I go over notable (and often discretionary expenses) for the month and reflect on some key areas of life tied to money, either directly or indirectly: career, health, relationships and personal growth. Writing these updates gives me helpful insights into my own life, and I hope it does the same for you as well. By sharing my experiences with money, I also hope to encourage you to feel comfortable approaching your own finances and keep the conversation around money transparent and alive. Spending Breakdown Barely a month into 2020 and my budget has gone…
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How I Spent My Money in 2019
A little over a year ago, I moved to Singapore. Plenty happened since then, most of which was reflected in the way I spent my money in 2019. Challenges came with my move such as building a network of friends from scratch in a new city and finding an affordable place to rent. The biggest challenge was juggling my expenses both in Malaysia and Singapore. I was paying off my car in Ringgit but paying rent in SGD. I’d use my credit card to pay for a meal during a weekend in KL and then back in Singapore, I’d be scratching my head figuring out how to consolidate my expenses.…
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Month in Review: December 2019
Well, happy new year folks! This one’s a little bit late but better late than never! My final month of 2019 proved to be one of the hardest months to keep my spending in check. Let’s dive in: Money Investment – S$5000 In December, my total cash outflow came up to about S$8600. This deceptively looks like I blew all my money away but a huge chunk was actually contributed to investments. Barring that particular outflow, my actual spending came up to about $4600 in December. It’s still a relatively high number because of the splurging I did around Christmas-time. Most of that splurging was done in KL as seen…
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Month in Review: November 2019
Well, hey there! I’ve been awfully quiet (again) on the blog and on social media. But with good reason. As some of you may know, I recently started at a new job. And adjusting to a new job (again) takes a lot of focus so I needed to prioritize that for now. I received a lot of encouraging comments on my previous Month in Review that really warmed my heart and I’m going to push harder to give you more content. I’m sorry to keep you guys hanging, I’m in awe of your patience to put up with my now inconsistent posting. Thank you all for that, truly, from the…
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Month in Review: October 2019
As we hurtle towards the tail end of this year, I find myself taking stock of the four areas of life that I value; money, career, health and personal growth. Often, in the effort to progress in one area (eg: career) I end up sacrificing another (eg: health). It is a never-ending balancing act that I’m sure is a common human struggle. These month-in-reviews showcase these struggles. Ultimately, I hope you can find solace in the fact that we’re all going through shit together. Let’s get into it. Money Hitting the S$3k mark frequently in the last months has been a worrying trend. I expect that my privilege as a…
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Mid-Year Review 2019
Month in Review: December 2018
Month in Review: December 2019
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Asset Allocation for Malaysians: What is The Best Portfolio Mix for You?
Over the last few months, I wrestled with the concept of asset allocation. In theory, this is a straightforward concept but in practice, I don’t take asset allocation into consideration when making investment decisions. What Is Asset Allocation? At some point in your investment journey, you might find yourself thinking, “There are just too many investment options out there, how do I choose the right one?” The answer is there shouldn’t be just ONE investment option that you should be putting your money into. Ideally, your investments should consist of a variety or a mix of assets that fit you. This mix is different for each individual. Think of a…
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How To Calculate Your Economic Net Worth
Do you know your net worth? I have to admit this question scares me. As someone who loves tracking her expenses and investments, I have long avoided actually calculating my net worth. Naively, I thought that by age 28 I would have accumulated a net worth worthy of someone who’s well on their way to financial independence. But that’s hardly the case anymore. Your Financial Net Worth The simple calculation for net worth is this: Take all the assets you own and subtract all the debt you have. Voila, you have the dollar value of what you are worth in this capitalistic society. Assets – Liabilities = Net Worth In…
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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: 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…
