Ever since my Singapore trip, when I returned to Singapore in November, my expenses have really risen.
I haven't been tracking expenses anymore, cos it was pretty boring. Typically the same expenses with the main changes every month due to whatever happens in my wife's work.
However, when I went back to Singapore, our expenses really went through the roof.
Firstly, the trip back to SG itself was covered by the company. Cos it's our once a year "return home" trip. The company provides us a pair of tickets on economy class for that.
When we reached Singapore, we pretty much let it loose. As we were only back for 2 weeks, we basically used money to buy time. I was spending as though I was a tourist in Singapore. Not enough time, so we took Grab all over, went to eat out often, it was quite expensive. Over S$200 in Grab expenses and over S$200 in eating out expenses.
Was it worth it? Yes it was. Cos we didn't have much time in SG, a mere 2 weeks to catch up with friends and family, we pretty much just enjoyed ourselves when we were back.
That's what saving is for. Save and be frugal when it's possible and convenient. But when it's really worth it to spend, then spend. Else, what's the point in saving?
After returning from Singapore, we went to Houston for our recce trip to prepare for our move.
A lot of the expenses were covered by the company, cos the recce trip is for the both of us to scout the area to see where we would like to stay and get familiar with the area.
After being there for around 7 days, I quickly realized that things would be very different from Paris.
Most likely our expenses would increase.
Firstly, food is probably not going to be free anymore. There's a good chance that I wouldn't be able to find food as easily as I did in Paris. So I'm expecting an expense of US$200-US$400 per month in food expenses.
Housing in Houston will be covered by ourselves. She will get a fixed amount for housing allowance and we will rent our own place. Currently, in Paris, the lease is signed by the company, so we don't need to bother about the rent and any issues pertaining to it. This will change in Houston. We will have to sign the lease and everything will be under our name. The good thing is, if we manage everything properly, we might be able to have a bit of leftover allowance which can be used to cover utilities.
This is similar for transport.
In Paris, my wife's transport card is free for public transport. The company reimburses her for a monthly pass. This is quite common in Paris. Many companies will subsidize monthly transport for staff in varying degrees. Personally, I pay a little bit every month as I travel since I don't travel a lot.
In Houston, she will get a fixed vehicle allowance. Depending on what car we buy, new or old, fuel consumption, potential repairs, etc...
Buying a new car would be more expensive, but may have less repairs, buying an old car would be the other way round. Leasing a car has it's other issues, such as lease break clauses if we need to leave Houston before the time is up.
Once again, we might have a bit of leftover allowance which can allow us to cover other potential expenses.
Not to mention, the allowance for cost of living adjustment is LESS!
Yes... you heard that right.
My wife gets more cost of living adjustment for living in Paris, than when we move to Houston.
So... In Paris, we get more allowance, and almost all food is free.
In Houston, we get less allowance, and we are expecting food to be fairly cheap, but not free.
To add on, home internet in Paris is €14.99 vs US$29.99 a difference of around US$13. Houston is more expensive.
My mobile line is €4.99 in Paris but will increase to US$25 in Houston. An increase of around US$19.
I don't know the cost of electricity and water in Houston so I can't make a good assessment now.
As you all can see, there's a good chance that overall, our savings per month may drop.
So...
Some potential gains if I manage the housing properly.
Some potential gains if I manage transport properly.
An increased expense in food.
An increased expense in home and mobile internet.
A decrease in cost of living allowance.
If I think about it, there's a good chance I break even.
A fair chance to overall save less.
A fair chance to maybe get a little bit more savings.
Is it worth it?
Well... I don't think so much about this anymore. An additional or reduction of S$1k savings, more or less, really doesn't impact our overall lifestyle. If we project this into our future. It will compound into a large amount. BUT... it's not really important IF we keep our level of spending pretty normal.
This increase in expenses is really due to the move to Paris and Houston. If and when we get back to Singapore, things will settle down again and our expenses will drop to what it used to be.
Overall, we are still keeping a healthy savings rate which will accumulate well into our future.
Above all, I think, what's important is for my wife to enjoy her work. We both live our lives as full as we can and make the best of what we have currently.
I now understand more why some people are willing to spend more money.
Cos there's no pain in earning the money... Well, at least that's what my wife feels.
The idea that... "There's more where that came from".
For me, I still enjoy the frugal life. But if my wife wants to spend a bit more, these days, I don't think about it as much as I did previously.
NEXT...
Maybe we'll plan a quick trip to Germany before we leave Houston. It may be last minute, it may be more expensive. But when I look at the opportunity cost... it's actually cheap.
Cos... it may cost me more now, since we're booking it so late.
But think about it. The next time I want to go to Germany, how do I need to administer it?
Now, I just need to take a more expensive train ride, cos of late booking.
But next time, I'll need to fly in from Houston, OR I may need to fly in from Singapore, depending on when I visit Germany.
So logically, it makes to quickly take my trip to Germany NOW, when I'm still in the Europe region...
More expensive now as compared to IF we had booked it earlier... BUT still cheaper than if I wait for another time to visit.
Even more expenses... But I keep telling myself... It's ok, it's ok... it's just for these couple of years that we're overseas and here for posting. Better to do it now than to do it from SG. Else the expense is even higher... There's also going to be more travels when I'm in the United States... So even more expenses...
It's a weird feeling, spending so much... I'm not particularly used to it.
It's the kind of thing people do when they retire. You know... travel around Europe and US, etc...
But I guess we're just lucky that we get to do this on a reduced cost since we don't need to think about the flight as we are already near the location.
Hey, it's not like I'm here on a holiday K... But since we're already here, might as well travel around and hit these places before we get sent back. Then maybe next time when we are really retired, we'll just hang around in Singapore sitting downstairs at the coffee shop drinking coffee and grumbling about life... old fogeys like us may not want to travel around as much anymore in future.
<<PREVIOUS POST // NEXT POST>>
Did you like this post? If so, could you "blanjah" me 1/4 cup of my morning coffee pls.
You may also consider subscribing to receive the articles in your email, link in the column on the right.