We managed to set a new low for our expenses in August, spending less than $3,150 and after including this month’s expenditure, our average monthly expenditure this year has been cut to around $4,259.

Since we have switched to UOB One from OCBC 360, there is much less incentive for us to dine at restaurants during weekends and I reckon this will help to keep our food expenses down,  a huge factor in the overall decrease in expenses.

Let’s see if this trend continues for the next few months.

Eating Out: $508.05

Hawker ($180) – Pretty reasonable as we alternate between home cooked food and lunches

Fast Food ($13) – One Burger Up meal as we reined in on fast food.

Restaurants ($315.05) – We really cut down on restaurants this month and the only notable “high” expense was a weekday 1 for 1 lunch buffet at Swissotel Ellenborough Cafe using the Amex Platinum Card.

Groceries: $230.10

Supermarket ($131.50) – 4 visits to NTUC in total. It was a rather busy month work wise and we could not squeeze in more visits. Or perhaps we already have a well-stocked up home.

Wet Market ($75.60) – Only 2 trips to the Kovan market to get the usual chicken breasts, thighs and halibut coupled with some bi-coloured corn and fresher vegetables.

Baking ($23) – The Mrs decided to bake some cookies for our students.

Beverages & Snacks: $72

Snacks ($49.70) – We bought a Bengawan Solo Pandan cake which I truly enjoy and appreciate and some cookies and popcorn bought from across the causeway.

Beverages ($22.30) – A cup of Koi, a 1 for 1 Venti-sized Starbucks Java Chip Frappucino and some Yakult (much cheaper) purchased across the Causeway.

Utilities: $214.51

Electricity, Gas & Water ($112.81) – Electricity usage moderated to about 354kWh for this month. 32KWh of gas and 7.8 Cu M of water meant the bill added up to $112.81.

Cellphones ($101.70) – $51.55 for me and $45.65 for the Mrs for our mobile services. Mine comes with upsized data to 7GB. When we made a day trip across to the causeway the previous month, I forgot to deactivate roaming services and even after a call and a 75% waiver, I still had to pay $4.50.

Transport: $90

1 EZ Reload transaction for the Mrs and two Grab top-ups made by the Mrs.

Departmental: $262.80

Clothes ($88) – Loot from our trip to City Square Mall in JB. The Mrs bought two pairs of shoes in addition to the usual cheap tops and bottoms from Padini.

Personal items ($74) – Items bought at Watson’s which include shaving blades, shampoo and toothbrushes.

Books ($100.80) – Two trips to Popular, one in Singapore and the other in JB as we stocked up on storybooks that are meant as gifts to our students.

Miscellaneous: $105.10

Others ($105.10) – Bai Jin at a funeral and bought a 12 time gym pass at Punggol Safra’s Energy One Gym.

Total: $1,482.56
Overall Total: $3,143.56(included fixed expenses of $1,661)