In April I spent some days on the French coast of Nice, a beautiful town. Also I received a quite nice bonus from work.
April expense report
I spent SGD 4,008. Way too much of course. These were the categories for April:
| April expenses | |||
| Category | EUR | SGD | USD |
| Travel | -12 | -18 | -13 |
| Car | -376 | -573 | -420 |
| Groceries | -314 | -478 | -350 |
| Eating out | -533 | -811 | -594 |
| Business | -192 | -292 | -214 |
| Cleaning & Ironing | -90 | -137 | -100 |
| Eyes, Hair, Health | -32 | -49 | -36 |
| Other | -399 | -607 | -445 |
| Utilities | -438 | -667 | -489 |
| Gifts | -20 | -30 | -22 |
| Entertainment | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Canteen | -36 | -55 | -40 |
| Bars | -111 | -169 | -124 |
| Uber | -71 | -107 | -79 |
| Total | -2,623 | -3,994 | -2,928 |
Notable points:
Utilities spending was rather high, as I had to pay the yearly water bill. My wife showers recreationally and has childhood trauma of her aunt banging the bathroom door asking her for shorter showers. I could try switching to a more efficient shower head, I guess? Groceries spending is high, since I forgot my company vouchers and realized at the cashier once.
Bought some unnecessary things, including a limited art print for EUR 129, a laser distance meter to measure a house and so on.
Fortunately, the expense trend is going down.
Portfolio update
Portfolio increased by SGD 42,564 to SGD 398,237 (USD 292,500). Fresh investments of SGD
35,419 and gains of SGD 7,145 contributed.
Investments were very high since my company pays out our bonus in April. Business is not doing well, but I got a higher bonus, because of so called “outstanding performance”. I do not think I deserved it, but was happy that my work was appreciated.
Dividends received
Monthly investments vs. plan
I invested SGD 35,419 into my portfolio which was quite a bit more than planned (SGD 26,000). This helped me catch up with the weak first three months and I am now ahead of my savings plan again.
I was a bit worried about market valuations, so I am holding more cash than usual. DBS Vickers does not allow European investors to buy ETFs anymore, because of new EU legislation. This is very troublesome, as I cannot buy my favorite bond fund listed in Singapore anymore.
Dividends received
I received SGD 950 from various holdings.
Outlook
I have to reduce spending further. Work is quite stressful in the office, though still mostly pointless. My contract in Europe is ending slowly, I have now entered my last year. My boss hinted at a possible extension, which would be great financially and I would get to enjoy some more years of Europe life. Fingers crossed!