Expenses - May 2019

Total - S$4,523.31

First month where I busted the budget, but no regrets here as there were a few opportunities that came up which was too good to resist. Total spending in May came up to S$4,523.31, and as set out above, the top three categories were on vacation spending, my North America trip coming up soon, and diving.

Booked a couple of air tickets for the later part of this year plus early next year, and converted some cash for vacation expenses in relation to the two diving trips that I did in May.

Front loaded certain expenses for my North America trip as well, and decided to get some USD and CAD in light of what seems to be an upward trend in the foreign exchange movement.

Spent a fair bit of my budget on Diving too. This comprised airfare to Male, rental gear and purchase of gear. I typically charge airfare and accommodation for diving trips to this category, just to get a sense of how much I've been spending on this sport. For other expenses, such as food, tips and transport on such diving trips, I've categorized them under the general "Vacation" category, as that's something I would have spent on vacation in any case.

So I'm c.13.1% above my budgeted amount this month, but that's fine. I could have probably bought the couple of air tickets in June to balance things out, but I reckon that's just being pedantic.

Anyhow, most of the front loading for major expenses in North America has been done, and I'm highly confident of being within budget for the next couple of months, unless some front-loading is required for other planned trips in late 3Q / early 4Q.

In any case, am generally comfortable given I've been under budget by c.20% for the last nine months, which is close to additional 2 months of buffer. Extremely grateful to be living life as it is right now, and sometimes it does feel like a bit of a dream. Am happy, and thankful.