Posted on January 3, 2010 - by PanzerGrenadier

Reflections on 31 December 2009

Photo by mikebaird

It’s the end of the year again and time to reflect on what Panzer has achieved (or not) during the last 364 days of 2009 in his journey towards financial freedom.

Living within your means

Ever since Panzer started his Excel expenses worksheet. He has recorded to around 98% accuracy most of his expenditures. His approach has been to take a cash flow approach, i.e. he records when cash goes out rather when expenses are accrued for simplicity sake and also to give a gauge of how much cash (life force) flows in and out of his life.

The net result is that he has managed to continue to live within his means by ensuring that on most months i.e. 11 out of 12 he will have cash savings on top of CPF contributions.

Panzer hasn’t drastically changed his lifestyle and continues to focus on meeting needs first and satisfying wants later. His approach in spending 10%-20% of windfall gains or passive income on small luxuries gives him the impetus to continue on this path of living within his means.

Saving and investing

Arising from his spending below income, Panzer was able to generally able to save some money each month and slowly build up his investible capital. He was fortunate to realise some small losses only and was able to free up his capital during the run-up since March 2009 to date and manage to hit 10% return on investible capital. This refers to realised capital gains / losses from share trading, dividends, interest and blogging income.

He was fortunate because he managed to catch some of the upward correction in Singapore stock market to do so. Next year would be more challenging as he has liquidated a fair portion of his portion in anticipation of purchasing of property for residential use. Read more…

Related posts:

1. December 2009 and FY 2009 Portfolio Summary and Review
2. Christmas day’s reflections
3. Panzer’s Equity Portfolio as at 20 Nov 2009