Category: %%curBrbr

day2day burn rate. diff from cashflowPrjn and expenseTrak

##[18]biggest questionable spend: now or upcoming

Posted on by tiger40490

I feel these spends are subtly and effectively encouraged by the /consumer society/ and the marketing powers of brand owners. The pressure is irresistible — Your peers.

  1. — ranked by amount
  2. edu: {USD 50k/year} private college in the U.S.? Looking at myself and within my circle, I feel this is not worthwhile investment. Based on my chat with Kyle (see blog posts), prestigious/branded colleges are just like medical school and branded car — designed for the rich
    • Contrast the enrichment programs my son gets. Much cheaper. Non-academic.
  3. edu: {USD 30k/year} private high school
  4. edu: MSFM roughly S$70k
  5. edu: private pre-school like Mindchamps. Unworthy
  6. flights strictly for family reunion — costs air ticket and unpaid leaves , but is the most rewarding “luxury” money can buy.
  7. {5k/year} overseas sightseeing trips. I seriously doubt the advertised benefits on the kids. Look at LianZhong’s family
  8. unpaid leave to attend interviews, partly to reduce the total cost (and stress) of next job search
  9. edu: kids’ enrichment
  10. car depreciation — If I seldom use it, then perhaps lease
  11. various renovations
  12. —-outside top 10:
  13. {1k/year} electronics? They get outdated soon and require servicing. The ERE author suggested keep using an old model
  14. restaurants? $100/month

commute cost saving#ERE

Posted on by tiger40490

The ERE author Jacob thinks the dominant factor in the commute domain is … car ownership. He believes public transport is cheaper. I agree with him that cycling and walking are by far the superior commute.

  • reduce dependencies on oil, parking, car services… Compared to bicycle, a car requires far more “care and feeding”
  • exercise
  • Walk to office — Henry Yang, Deepak .. are just some of the examples. I too walked for a year between 745 7th and PATH station

Jacob’s fundamental view is “peak oil”. I kind of share that view.

I think we can still keep a car for weekends…

##where I used to(should)spend more than average

Posted on by tiger40490

I know I practice extreme frugality compared to most people, but there are some areas I spend more than my peers. [Let’s always put a current estimate for every item]

  1. [6k/Y] kids’ extra-curriculum programs — I don’t choose expensive ones but I picked quite a few
  2. [5k/Y] unpaid leave for reunion trips — I should also spend more to see grandparents
  3. [1k/Y] unpaid leave for interview
  4. [20/Y] books — I used to but no longer buy lots of used books and a few new books, whereas most of my peers use Internet only
  5. [0/Y] yoga (or other workout classes) — is a luxury. Few guys in my situation spend on this. I’m more serious about my flexibility than most guys

[17]毕业以来第一次感到钱不够 #SDXQ

Posted on by tiger40490

我生活极其节俭．太太也很勤俭．有了两个孩子，在新加坡我一人的收入也足够一家人的开销．经常能剩 30% – 50%. 但是2017 这次赴美，好像毕业以来第一次感到钱不够．存款和收入都是．这个感觉, 出现在选择哪个区买房的时候!

以前我一直相信, 房子小,比较旧的蓝领劳动阶层地区, 就避免房价问题了. 但是, 我想尽办法仍旧不可回避一个问题, 就是这样的地区学校可能不够好, 甚至太差.

saving$1 here n there..worth it@@ #400w

Posted on by tiger40490

We often notice the cumulative effect of saving a few dollars here and there are completely dwarfed by huge savings in big-ticket purchases like education, housing, car, vacation… So we ask

Q: saving a dollar here and there, calculating … is it worth it?
A: yes over the long run
A: yes if it is a consistent habit

Q (more relevant): saving $200/month on accommo, is it worth it?
A: yes over the long run.

Q: saving $400 on a family reunion trip … is it worth it?
A: yes as a consistent habit. 5 trips could save $2k.

Also remember my financial freedom hinges on burn rate (control). That freedom means low-stress for life!

Case study: Kenny Zhu once suggested “why don’t you just buy the Chinese version of richDadPoorDad and give to your parents. Don’t worry if they would read it. If you don’t buy they won’t read. It’s only $10”. That was pretty careless spending. Indeed my parents had no interest in the book.  This is not an isolated example but a sign of a habit. People with this habit waste not just $10 like in this case, but thousands in a year!

Case study: Junli told me he had to work on the lawn. The professionals can save you the time and effort but cost you $2k, so why not? Well, this is not just one isolated incidence. There are many other things you can DIY and save many thousands.

Some argue that it’s more important to save on the bigger ticket items. I agree it’s more important. The small savings are a different habit.

  • Smart buyer of big tickets items may or may not be a saver on small items.
  • Over-spender on big ticket items is unlikely a saver on small items.

I am a firm believer of burn rate, which could (intensify or) reduce the burden and psychological stress. A carefully controlled burn rate makes me nimble so I could take on more opportunities.

Remember the question from financial planners — how much would you need during retirement? Once you establish your lifestyle (spending pattern) you are unlikely to change it after you retire.

I think my live-alone burn rate (ex-housing) is below $1k either in U.S. or Singapore. A typical burn rate for a peer is perhaps $2k to $4k depending on his/her income. If I save additional $2k/m, over 10 years I would have 240k more in the bank. I would feel the difference when I buy a home.

[16]reduce burn rate$7→5k like some SG families #vacation

Posted on by tiger40490

Look at the posts about the computed non-mortgage spend, excluding Zofia’s personal spend. Latest calculation shows $5800/month in late 2016. With or without this data, it’s possible to propose some answer to this question:

Q: some families (such as Raymond [1] or Wenqiang) have monthly take-home income of 7k. Our monthly spend + mortgage + wife’s personal spend is at least 6k. So if we were such a family, how could we reduce the monthly spend from 5k to 4k, practically?

A: (luxury) fewer vacations. Budget airlines; 3-star hotels.
A: (luxury) avoid yoga centers. Try (though it’s been very hard) to do a bit by yourself every week.
A: (luxury) less eat-out
A: (luxury) /rationalize/ boy’s training regimes. We have paid for many things and most don’t show result.
A: have better tracking of the unaccounted “personal” spend

Q: what’s the “comfortable minimum” non-mortgage spend, given kids’ fees, taxes, bx, utilities…
A: I guess 3k. Breakdown:

  • I think the “taxes” category could be $1500k/m (currently $2k+/m). would need to avoid MindChamps.
  • I think medical category would be $300/m excluding medishield premium
  • I think the “intangible investment” category would be be $700/m (currently $1200) including bx and boy’s training. Would reduce piano and bx.
  • vacation/dining budget of $200/m (currently a whopping $1k/m !)

[1] around 4k+ take home for himself, and 2k for his wife.

y i say most things=more costly than]SG, again

Posted on by tiger40490
哪里找好价钱, 这种信息, 对收入有限的新移民特别重要. 谢谢你给我这个信息.
现阶段, 没精力搜集. 所以, 我说的 2-3 倍价格差, 免不了
When you come to a new world, there is a transition process before you get familiar with the life here and become comfortable. You can try not to compare the life you have now with your life in SG, until you get more familiar with the new world.

A couple of examples:

* my wife bought a PC for $1800 when she came to US in 1998, and then we bought a laptop in 2005 for under $400 (P4, 15 inch TFT, 512MB, 60GB)

* my wife went back to China a few times in the last couple of years, the 1st trip she bought a lot of clothes because we thought clothes are cheaper in China, but now she stopped doing that because she found clothes in US is as cheap as in China.

Unbelievable?

y i say most things=more costly than]SG

Posted on by tiger40490

Hi LS,

You asked me to name some items. By nature I’m not quick for such questions. I only remember the final “conclusion” after looking at and forgetting hundreds of shopping items, such as

  • every kind of stationeries
  • laptop (Yes!)
  • simple Chinese food in supermarkets or restaurants
  • bread (Yes!)
  • vegetable and fruits
  • fast food
  • furniture
  • mobile phone air time
  • movies
  • public transport
  • medicines
  • doctor visits

Trying to be objective, I feel 90% of everything are obviously pricier than in Singapore, usually by 50% or more.

Assuming employer pays for my accommodation and transportation in both U.S. and Singapore, to enjoy my modest S’pore living standard of S$1400 ( about USD 900/month), in U.S. I would now spend $1800/month ($1500 – $2000). Bear in mind this is excluding rental and transportation which add about $1100.

Taking rental and transport into account, overall price level is 2 to 3 times SG level. Our combined after-tax income (converted into Euro) is roughly unchanged. Can you see our financial pain?

Right now, we are cutting back from our comfortable S$1400 living standard to about half that level. But good thing I’m not a comfort creature, so I can accept a simpler lifestyle with relative ease, but adjustment is not easy.