At the end of every month, Mrs Budget and I will reconcile our monthly expenses and see what are we spending on, and where we can optimise or cut down our expenses.
We subscribe to the believe that every penny saved is a penny earned – sometimes its easier to save S$100, than to earn S$100, both of which results in the same net worth increase.
In April, here’s what Mr Budget spent on.
| Expenses | April |
| Meals | $393.69 |
| Transportation (mrt) | $10.00 |
| Groceries / Home | $194.99 |
| Phone Bill | $56.10 |
| Mum | $111.33 |
| Income Tax | $103.05 |
| Malaysia Mortgage 1 | $800.00 |
| Singapore Mortgage | $1,206.91 |
Mr Budget’s total expenditure for April is at $2,876.07, a further reduction as compared to last month’s expenditure of $3,563.78.
Total essential expenses add up to only S$654.78 (meals, mrt, groceries, phone bill).
If you strip it down further, bulk of the payment goes into mortgage payments. There were no expenses recorded under “travel”, “entertainment”, “Haircut”, “shopping” or “Others” as Mrs Budget and I had been holed up at home. This should paint a good picture of our expenses when we retire.
For Mrs Budget, here’s what she spent on.
| Expenses | April |
| Meals | $10.90 |
| Family | $600.00 |
| Groceries / Home | $194.99 |
| Phone Bill | $25.00 |
| Endowment | $303.97 |
| Shopping | $55.84 |
| Dog | $282.63 |
Similarly, Mrs Budget also only spent $1,473.33 this month. Total essential expenses add up to only S$230.89 (meals, groceries, phone bill), while the others are variable expenses. Mrs Budget bought an insurance for her dog hence that’s recorded as a one off expenses.
This monthly numbers also serves as a good indication of our cash flow when we retire, so now we have a good idea of how much we need to retire.
Before covid and post covid, our expenses has dropped by at least 50% – 60%, showing that we really spend a lot indulging in variable expenses such as travelling, entertainment and shopping – definitely something to think about.
We don’t foresee any big expenditure coming in the next few months, and we will continue to tighten our belts and watch our cash outflow so that we can tide through this uncertain period.
How has March been like for you?
October 2019 Monthly Expenses Update
November 2019 Monthly Expenses Update
December 2019 Monthly Expenses Update
January 2020 Monthly Expenses Update
February 2020 Monthly Expenses Update
March 2020 Monthly Expenses Update
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Mr And Mrs Budget 
Staying at home for me is worse. I spend way more on groceries and utilities compared to the money I saved from transportation.
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With the Circuit Breaker kicking in, a total of $400 on meals and another $400 on groceries seems to be a little on the high side for one month imo. Is this budget for 2 pax only, or are you staying with your parents?
Curious, because I think my own budget for meals + groceries for 2 pax went down to about $450/month with the CB kicking in. Quite surprised to see your figures remaining so high (almost on par with my household’s pre-CB budget for meals + groceries actually)
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Hi!
yes you caught us! Its $400 on meals and S$400 on groceries for 2 pax – we spent a fair bit via grabfood this month, sending delivery surprises to our family member. We also splurged on one special occasion meal during our monthsary where we ordered in a japanese meal.
For our groceries, we also spent more than average as compared to others, as we like to buy fish + vitagen – these little expenses do add up. But these food brings us a lot of joy and they are healthy too! Hence we think its ok. 🙂
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