Expenses - First 12M of F.I.R.E

Total - S$46,098.58

One year has gone by since I started by post F.I.R.E life. It's time to measure how much resources I've spent, and how these resources have been allocated, mainly because that which gets measured, can then be managed.

My annual budget at least for the first few years post F.I.R.E has been set at S$48,000. The first 12 months saw a total amount of S$46,098.58, which is 96.0% of the budget, leaving room for 4.0% surplus.

Largest spending category was Diving. Scuba Diving to be exact. I think I mentioned this before, but since December 2018, I've been taking up advanced certification courses, and am in the midst of doing my Divemaster program. I've also purchased a full set of diving equipment given the cost of dive will be lower in the future. All this, together with the spend for diving holidays, have led to Diving expenses coming in at a total of S$9,374.15. That's a pretty hefty amount, but I guess the benefits (mostly non-monetary) are commensurate :)

Second largest spending category was Eating Out at S$7,463.87. I'm not surprised as I do eat out most times, and though I'm not one to go crazy for broke, this all adds up. However, to take things in perspective, this works out to be $20 per meal, assuming I did eat out once every day. So this is probably fine.

Third largest spending category was the one and a half month North America Vacation that I took in the middle of 2019. This came up to S$6,158.62. North America has a really high cost of living, and this is reflected even in the AirBnB prices. Eating out there costs a bomb, and I'm thankful that this figure is what it is, given it could have been even higher if I didn't enjoy the generosity of my friends who hosted me during a good part of my trip.

Of course, coming just below the North America Vacation expenses were my other Vacation and Europe Trip expenses. I did a rough count and reckon I probably spent 30% of the entire first 12 months post F.I.R.E (3.6 months) overseas. The associated total vacation expenses added up to c. 37% of my total spending.

I'm not quite sure whether I'll spend that much time travelling as I grow into this lifestyle, so I gather there's a bit of flex in cutting expenses if really necessary in the future.

Notwithstanding the amount came up to c. 10.5% more than the year ended 31 Aug 2018 when I was still in employment, all in all, I think I really did push the limit on my expenses for the first year post F.I.R.E, in terms of going out there to really do some exploring, living, and learning new skills, while keeping a small budget surplus at the end of it.

I'm pretty satisfied and content - I wouldn't have asked for anything more from the year that has passed.