The Covid-19 crisis shows no sign of stopping in my current home in Europe. Memories of the office are already fading – the other day I could not remember the name of one of my coworkers from the same floor. How did my investments do in July?
Worst things first – expense report July
| July expenses | |||
| Category | EUR | SGD | USD |
| Clothes | -1238 | -2,006 | -1,458 |
| Car | -445 | -721 | -524 |
| Gifts | -405 | -656 | -477 |
| Other | -656 | -1,056 | -769 |
| Groceries | -252 | -408 | -297 |
| Eating out | -214 | -347 | -252 |
| Utilities | -173 | -280 | -204 |
| Cleaning & Ironing | -90 | -146 | -106 |
| Stuff | -80 | -130 | -94 |
| Uber | -72 | -117 | -85 |
| Business | -60 | -97 | -71 |
| Eyes, Hair, Health | -55 | -89 | -65 |
| Bars | -43 | -70 | -51 |
| Charity | -30 | -49 | -35 |
| Travel | -27 | -44 | -32 |
| Entertainment | -20 | -32 | -24 |
| Canteen | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | -3,860 | -6,247 | -4,541 |
I spent SGD 2,006 on clothes, unbelievable. The reason for this was that I made use of some very steep promotions and bought two branded suits, shoes, shirts, a winter coat and a light coat for autumn during this month. I bought them in an outlet at the end of the sale. Nobody buys work wear during homeoffice/Covid-19 times so it was a good deal.
Personally I do not care about clothes much, but my boss told me after last year’s promotion that I must dress better in my new position, so I try… It feels a bit silly to wear suits when you never see any customer, but well…
My car was not moved at all and spend the whole month in the garage, yet incurred yearly tax bill, insurance and garage fee. I miss carfree life in Singapore!
Also I am having a bit of family crisis and had to move to another country temporarily to take care of it.
In August I have to reduce spending again – cannot continue like this!
Saving rate
Saving rate in July was 65%.
Portfolio update
In July my portfolio increased from SGD 524,235 to SGD 548,293 (= USD 399,400). I invested SGD 9,509 and capital gains of SGD 14,549 made up the rest. Markets are so strong despite the massive crisis…
Progress to retirement
Investments vs. plan
I invested SGD 9,509 into my portfolio which was more than planned (SGD 9,300).
Portfolio allocation
Bought some more bonds
Dividends received
SGD 1,143
Hypothetical monthly income
SGD 1,828
Outlook
In the next few months I need to retool the approach. Finances are going well, but overall life designing needs to happen. A bit difficult, as the Covid crisis makes my job and the general future quite uncertain. Right now I am in home office, but at some point they might figure out that they save a ton if they just send me back to Singapore.
My goals for August are reducing the expenses from crazy July levels, meeting my healthy life goals and staying sane in the home office 🙂
How about you?
Happy to know you’re doing OK.
Stay safe, and who knows when you might end up back in SG again!
Thank you Kevin! I miss Sg indeed, autumn is starting here already…