March was the boring baseline I’d been waiting for. April swung the other way, and the reason was family.
For those new here, my wife and I are your average Singaporean couple living in an HDB flat in Singapore. Our monthly mortgage is fully paid through CPF, so housing doesn’t show up in these numbers. I’ve been tracking every dollar we spend since 2013 using You Need A Budget (YNAB). This series looks at our real monthly expenses, compares them against my alternative income, and answers one question.
Can we sustain our lifestyle without a full-time salary?
This month’s story? Family needs came into the spotlight, the income side had its best regular month of the year, and the total expense figure barely flinched.
Average monthly numbers for April 2026, on a trailing 12-month basis
- Total expenses → $3,289
- Alternative income → $5,026
- Net surplus → $1,736
Apr 2026 Headline: Family Took The Spotlight
People spend on family in different ways. Some travel with their parents.
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