Budget Update August 2020
Suraya's Monthly Budget Update

Budget Update: August 2020

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Budget Update August 2020

Budget Update: August 2020

Over RM17k. I’ve never spent this much money within a month in my life. Two categories made up 80% of the total spending in August 2020: Wedding (44%) and Donations & Gifts. (36%)

What can I say? I guess I learned that (1) Wedding planning is expensive, even with drastically reduced guest count due to pandemic – thanks pandemic, (2) being a filial daughter is my obligation, I will do my best to fulfil financial expectations, and (3) having the money to do both without getting into debt is one of the biggest blessings one could ever have.

Still, I acknowledge I do experience financial anxiety, even without debt. I keep thinking of what I can do to increase my income so I can ‘replace’ that money, keep revisiting non-viable and previously dismissed business ideas. My head goes, what else can you do, Suraya? What else can you do?

It’s exhausting but nothing worth having is easy, ay?

My Spending Breakdown in August 2020

In this section, I’m sharing what I spent on in the whole month, in their respective categories. From highest to lowest, my expenses were:

Budget Update August 2020Budget Update August 2020

Yay of the Month:

  • MPH Distributors added another order of Cerita Duit Orang Malaysia: Jilid 1 woohoo!

  • [Category: Groceries] Went back to grocery delivery services – I forgot how amazing HappyFresh was! Stopped using them for a few months because they kept running out of timeslots during MCO so I gave up on it, but now everything is fine.
  • [Category: Wedding] Bought all of my dulang hantaran items, his ring, cloth for the family outfit, and paid wedding venue deposit. To my extreme happiness, we get to save money on the reception outfits as the boutique included dress rental as part of the package <3 We saved like, what? RM1500 just there alone? Scoreee
  • I have to say, giving myself permission to SPEND was an experience in itself. Had fun shopping and looking for deal-stacking opportunities.

  • [Category: Donations] Gave my dad RM5k to contribute towards his dusun project.
  • [Catergory: Misc Wants] Treated myself to a book haul from BookXcess! And it happens that two books from one of my fav self-development author are available! Added them to cart real quick.

  • [Category: Misc Wants] Bought myself a new pair of Nike leggings. Even though I got it for cheaper at RM150 at O.C., I still thought it was a fairly pricey item. But gosh I’m so glad I got it – my two other yoga pants are getting hole-y after years of frequent use and this serves as an early replacement for them.
  • [Category: Misc Wants] I also got myself a fire extinguisher. A very practical RM42 purchase

  • Did another 30-day yoga challenge. Didn’t complete this time around (I got to Day 27 by end of August), but still proud of myself.
  • [Category: Business] Eliminated one recurring subscription! Instead of renewing my subscription to Grammarly, I bought another software, Linguix instead. It was $49 (~RM200) on lifetime deal.
  • Read two books: Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending by Elizabeth Dunn & Micheal Norton (how do we extract maximum happiness from the money we spend?)  and Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin (how do we stick to habits?).

Nay of the Month:

  • Mostly happy with my spending for the month, except the amount. RM17k… Still hard to wrap my head around that.
  • [Category: Misc Wants] Bought myself a lash kit… which I don’t have the skills to use. What was supposed to save me money, didn’t. The experience inspired this tweet:

  • [Category: Food] Oh damn, Grab’s HOTDEALS was my kryptonite. Usually I can wait >1 month before succumbing to food delivery but I made 5 Grabfood orders in August alone!! My tastebuds are happy but I am not >:(
  • Still haven’t received that special SME grant, Geran Khas Prihatin worth RM3,000, originally announced back in June.
  • Tried to sell some items on Carousell but no one’s biting yet 🙁

Things to Look Forward to:

  • Turns out that I like the 30-day challenge format so I plan to complete another 30-day fitness challenge!
  • Still working on mindful eating
  • Liquidating some of my investments so I can fulfil a promise to my mom: allocate RM20k to do some renovations at family home.

What’s your yay of the month, nay of the month, and something you’re looking forward to? Tell me in the comments section!

To read about my past monthly budget update, click here. Graphs are taken from my expense-tracking app Money Lover (how expense tracking works)


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4 Comments

    1. hi Amir

      Sure sure. I’m currently paying for a medical card (RM113.33) and personal accident insurance (RM53) every month. Both are term insurance ie non investment linked ie the ‘burn every month’ type

      The medical card, via agent. The PA, via online portal

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