Budget overview for the week ending Jan. 25 2015

I'm going to cry this week. I'm over budget by soooo much. I started tracking my expense last year, but never did any budget. I would just post my expenses into an app, but looking at the actual expense by category and really dig into where my money went is a pain. Especially looking at this chart, it makes me wanna cry.

I know I'm not suppose to not pay my cell bill for 2 month and they charged me over $10 in late payment charges. That's enough for a few coffee at Starbucks. Hopefully, this is never ever going to happen again.

The next major expense this month is food. I know it looks like a lot. For some good reason, I'm taking my friends out for lunch/dinner, which is the reason for the high food bill.

The other surprising expense is Other. I only learned now, I spend so much on unexpected items.

I would highly recommend doing this kind of budget/expense analysis for EVERYBODY because it really helps to stay on top of your spending!

Good night,

Host

Budget overview for the week ending Jan. 18 2015

I'm not feeling good after doing this week's budget.

Here it goes...

There's four categories already over budget *sign*

And just by looking at it, I'm going to get over budget on public transit, internet + cell as well. This will also cut into my savings plan. Just by looking how this month is going, I'm not going to get any saving at all.

Reflection on this week:
1. Spend too much on food. I went out to eat too often + due to some personal matters, I also took friends out for lunch.

Personal Investment Goal for 2015

Under construction...

This will be an ongoing thread, I'm still debating on what to invest for this year.

Some background info about me. I have been in the financial industry since 2012. I have an undergraduate degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. After I obtained my undergraduate degree, I pass all three levels of the CFA exam. For 2014, I have also passed level 1 of the FRM exam.

I have a strong interest in investment. Ever since I was in university, I continued to follow market news, financial blogs, and personal investment. Since I graduate, my investment has always been in Savings account, earning a minimal interest rate around 1%. My goal for 2015 and beyond is to build my personal investment portfolio.

Currently, I'm analysing the market, and I have a strong feel 2015 will not be a rewarding year in the stock market or the bond market. Thus, my money is still in Savings account earning the minimum interest rate. I have a fear of the market.

Ever since the big crush in 2008, the stock market has recovered so well, but not on sound economic reasons. The stock market increase is mainly due to US printing money, namely US QE. With QE ending in the last quarter of 2014, I have a strong feel the market is going to go under in 2015.

As we can see, stock market has been negative for the first week of 2015, and I feel this trend will continue. Thus, for those of you whose starting to invest, I strongly recommend to hold your cash for at least a few months, and see how the market will react in the next few months.

I truly believe US economy is in big trouble, and the only way to save the economy is going to war. I'll not be surprised if US will go to war this year.

More thoughts later...

Wish everyone a successful year!

About Career

My co-worker always stresses on 'control'.

Being in control means stay on top of everything. When something is going into a direction you don't like, act on it, and try to change the direction in favour of you. You can stay on top of things and make it manageable.

Of course, there are many tricks to play.

Need to build a team, find a team of people to work with. Ask favours, know they are on your side.

You can't change the environment, so make best use of it. I agree with this point, there's no perfect environment. Every where you go, there's something you don't like. But, when working, make sure to find your goal. Know what you want to get out of your current job, and grab every opportunity to fulfil your goal.

Salary is a tough topic. I'm sure everybody would like to earn more. Try to negotiate to get your salary increased every year. So you are more energetic to work! Even if you didn't get any increase, it's still a good experience to learn.

Try to think from other people's point of view, and imagine what you would do if you are him/her. Do some role playing and keep on practising, eventually, you will be in their role.

For me, I appreciate all the people I have met last year. The opportunity and support I got from my job has taught me a great deal of things. I have accomplished to finish another project, and the feedback from user is very positive. I'm grateful to the PM who give me an opportunity to perform as I wished.

I travelled a lot last year. More on this later.

For 2015, I wish to advance my career to another level and learn from mistakes!

Hope all the best to all of you, let's have a successful and rewarding year together.

I'll be keep track of major events here, and would love to see your story!

Budget overview for the week ending Jan. 10 2015

Worrisome week!

First complete week to record my budget and I'm all ready negative in two categories! For gas, I swear I didn't use this much, but it just so happened my gas tank was empty and I wanted to fill up the whole gas tank. For $50 bucks it's still not filled up but I managed to stop at this mark.

As for the Other category, I must say I'm a little guilty on in this. The story is I was browsing on redflagdeals and I saw a post for Costco T3 Hairdryer for $100. I got so excited, I'm like this is a must have!!! I have read reviews on this hair drying over the years, and it cost over $200 over Sephora. I thought this is a good deal, why not grab it?! So I did, and here goes another $113. 

This is the only the first full week of January, and there's another three weeks to go.

Not sure how I'm going to survive. If I did this kind of budget last year for any month, I know I would go insane. Just because! Extra spending every month on things that's not a necessity but based on spontaneous desire. This is the top one priority for me this year, cut all unnecessary spending. I know it's going to be a pain, I'm already feeling this pain. 

Good thing is I'm under budget on food? I bought some fruits (banana + apple) and eggs for this week and I'm going to eat out on Sunday. Will see how much it will cost tomorrow. 

Update Jan. 10 2015

I went out for brunch today with some friends, and spend $20. Also went to Costco to buy lemon and honey cost another $15. I'm going to make some lemon honey drink, more on this later.

Overall...expensive week. :( 

Budget overview for the week ending Jan. 4 2015

Budget overview for the week ending Jan. 4 2015

Item	Budget	Jan. 4 2015
Mortgage	2000	397.55
Food	300	123.57
Internet + Cell	110.74	0
Insurance	576.79	0
Public Transit	255.45	15.04
Gas	30	0
Cloth	200	56.49
Utilities	100	0
Other	50	28.32
Total	3622.98	620.97

The is the first time ever I'm creating a budget for myself.

My goal is to keep monthly budget under $4000. This is for a single person and $2000 goes to mortgage. 

Since I'm on a weekly payment plan, the mortgage amount might be lower depending on the number of payment dates per month.

For the first half week of 2015, I'm a little bit nervous on the food section, where I'm almost hitting the half mark of my budget. 

On the other hand, I only have a rough idea on utilities. Based on what I remember, my bills come every two month for electricity and water??? Rental for water heater comes monthly and it will be part of my utilities budget. Will find out more later. 

Hopefully, I'll be on budget to save some money towards more mortgage payment!