“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”
Seneca
The year 2020 almost comes to an end and I have been reading many books about life and investment for the last 6 months.
The last 6 months were the most incredible period of my life. I finished my work early, spent more time with my family, taught my sons about life and money, and yes, planted gingers and vegetables in the backyard of my house.
Income
For the month of October 2020, there was no distribution from any of the Singapore REITs I own. I was surprised to get dividends ( about MYR 2800) from 2 Singapore banks stocks I have since Singapore banks were advised to reduce dividend distribution during this pandemic period.
I received some dividends ( about MYR 1100) from Malaysian stocks and REITs holdings too even though my Malaysian retail REITs were badly hit during this period.
Another big surprise for me in October 2020 was I made some money from my blog! I earned MYR150 from my blog because three readers signed up through my TransferWise link and sent out at least MYR1000 per person.
The motivation I had initially to write this blog was to document my life and FIRE journey and let my children read it when they grow up. And of course, I hope my posts would outlive me and serve as a reminder to my sons and grandchildren in the future.
Expenditure
There were a few extra outgoings this month. I bought a new pair of shoes for my son online and a new rice cooker for the family. I really hated using the old cooker because it was not a non-stick cooker. My wife had to put a lot of effort to clean it.
And yes, MYR 1740 was spent to fix my car! I really hated car maintenance because it cost me tons of money every time I sent my car for service.
I paid for my mum’s townhouse maintenance again (MYR 2000+). Since there are 4 rooms in that townhouse and only one room is being occupied by my mum, it might be a good idea to rent out 1-2 rooms to make some money. Let see how it pants out in the future.
I gave my mum MYR 2300 ( MYR2000+ MYR300 angpow because October was her birthday month).
MYR2000 was given to my friend to organize a donation drive to give PPE ( Personal protective equipment) to healthcare workers in Sabah. I am happy I still could contribute during this trying time.
I paid my family medical card insurance as well this month.
Conclusion
This month’s saving rate was down to 44.39%. Since I only pay my CP500 every 2 months, I have to divide my tax into two equal months as an expenditure.
I still hope to save more than 50% of my income. And will try my best in the coming months to reduce my expenditure and maximize my income. Since it is almost impossible to get a higher income from my job as a doctor during this pandemic, I might need to side hustle more to fill up the gap!
