After having been in homeoffice without seeing my colleagues or friends for over 10 weeks now I have gotten used to the “new life” during the Covid-19 crisis. Here in Europe people behave as if the crisis is over, crowding the parks, having parties at home… I hope we get lucky and avoid a massive second wave. How did my finances do in May? Did I save more money now that I did not leave the apartment much?
May expense report
| April expenses | |||
| Category | EUR | SGD | USD |
| Groceries | -410 | -643 | -457 |
| Utilities | -282 | -442 | -314 |
| Gifts | -233 | -365 | -260 |
| Car | -202 | -317 | -225 |
| Eyes, Hair, Health | -201 | -315 | -224 |
| Other | -147 | -230 | -164 |
| Business | -60 | -94 | -67 |
| Eating out | -45 | -71 | -50 |
| Entertainment | -36 | -56 | -40 |
| Charity | -10 | -16 | -11 |
| Stuff | -10 | -16 | -11 |
| Bars | -3 | -5 | -3 |
| Canteen | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cleaning & Ironing | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clothes | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Travel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Uber | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | -1,639 | -2,570 | -1,827 |
Spending came in relatively low at SGD 2,653, despite high expenses on gifts and groceries. The lockdown makes saving money quite easy.
I did not move my car for the month, the expenses are insurance and renting a garage (I know…)
Saving rate
The saving rate in May was 68%, not counting some cash I put into short term savings in case of emergency, job loss or other issues.
Portfolio update
In May my portfolio increased from SGD 485,422 to SGD 496,768 (~USD 356,000). I invested SGD 8,363 and capital gains of SGD 2,983 made up the rest.
Markets continued to be very bullish, no idea why. The economy is suffering, people are unemployed, markets go up and up. Strange times.
Progress to retirement
The green and blue lines are creeping towards each other. It is great to see the effect of reducing expenses. I just got a big salary increase at work to take effect in the next 2 months, dating back from a promotion next year.
Lifestyle inflation will be avoided and the saving rate should therefore go up. A saving rate north of 70% seems achievable for 2020.
Investments vs. plan
I invested SGD 8,363 into my portfolio which was more than planned (SGD 6,700).
Portfolio allocation
Bought some bonds and some stock indexes to get closer to my allocation. Too heavy on picked stocks and REITs.
Dividends received
SGD 622
Hypothetical monthly income
SGD 1,656
Outlook
Still worried about the crisis ending my expat life in Europe, but am in a good financial position. Trying to stay optimistic!
How about you? Worried about job security?
I’ve been a contingent worker for the decade. Remote work makes so much sense in my industry and Corona is forcing some of the agencies to allow it. I hope it becomes a long-term trend, but they are also trying to put more controls on us. It’s interesting.