The Web Dev Budget Experiment (Part 3/3)

The month of June went by. By the end of it, my monthly personal expenses amounted to a grand total of 1,0007.55GSD. Looks like I blew my budget by 7.55SGD. Which amounts to maybe 5 cups of coffee.

So what's SEF?

SEF stands for Scrooge Emergency Fund. See, that column that says 2SGD every damn day? At 2SGD a day, that's 712SGD a year I put aside. What am I gonna do with all that money? I dunno. Take a vacation? Buy that new laptop? Bring my parents out for a nice dinner? Pay more of my mortgage?

Money doesn't spring from nowhere. Whatever you don't spend, is whatever you have left. Pretty obvious, isn't it?

Many of my friends earn more than I do, but somehow I'm the go-to guy for emergency loans. Not because I'm better at earning money, but because I'm better at not spending it. Go figure.

The Financial Finale

Yes. it is possible to survive on 1,000SGD a month. The best thing about it all? I didn't break a sweat doing it. I wasn't even trying particularly hard. I was even able to get sick, and pay for medical attention.

But of course, there'll be the usual protestations...

What if you get really sick? Like, hospitalized?

What if I get cancer? Or struck by lightning? Or run over by a Lamborghini? I mean, we're talking about extraordinary circumstances here. Come on, really? If you expect your monthly expenditure to cover extraordinary circumstances, 10,000SGD a month wouldn't be enough. And most people in sunny Singapore don't earn half that.

What about family? Kids?

What about a pet dog? Cats? A goldfish? Look, this is about personal expenditure. What it takes to keep you going. Don't give me crap about spending on family, wife (or wives), kids and shit. Don't bring anyone else into it. Personal expenditure, got that?

What about entertainment?

Hey, I watched movies! In fact, I watched two movies!

I tinkered around with my code, did research online and in the library. That happens to be free... or at least dirt-cheap. Oh, that doesn't sound entertaining to you? That's because you're not an awesome tech geek. You have expensive tastes. How is that my problem?

Your lifestyle determines how much you need

A friend once commented that I am an expert on the minimum amount required to survive. I beg to differ. I am an expert on the minimum required amount for me to survive. Happily.

Everyone's personal situation is different. Some people can't live without their air-conditioned restaurants, Starbucks coffee and Prada handbags. Some people will die if they don't spend money at bars and flirt with girls on weekends.

That's fine. It's all good.

But if you can't do it, don't assume no one else can do it. Likewise, this is how I survive on 1,000SGD a month, or less. I don't expect everyone to be able to do it, just because I can. In order for you to live the way I do (and like it), you would have to be me. And honestly, if everyone lived like me, Singapore's economy would grind to a halt.

You see, as a web developer, I don't earn a lot. But there is one saving grace. I have zero appreciation for the finer things in life. I can't tell red wine from Ribena. I don't know, and don't want to know, whatever the hell blue cheese is. And as for cigars, I'd prefer to kill myself using cheap tobacco. And I fucking hate hanging out in Orchard Road.

Spartan? I'll show you Spartan.

Some friends have commented on my spartan lifestyle. Sorry, guys. I don't dine in hell and there's no way I'm donning a shield and loincloth and uttering cheesy lines while kicking people into bottomless pits. The point is, this isn't spartan to me. I don't feel the least bit uncomfortable living this way.

And still...

...we have the oddballs screaming about how the cost of living is going up, how the foreigners are taking the jobs and how they used to be able to get high-paying jobs and go for holidays, and other whiny shit like how Singapore is the most expensive city in the world.

Bitches, please. In tech parlance, 404 Error: Fucks Not Found.

You wankers were lucky to be overpaid for your services at a time where there was no better and cheaper talent around. And instead of preparing for the day you would no longer be that fortunate, you chose to get accustomed to a lifestyle you didn't have the ability to sustain. You want expensive holidays and nice things? Stop griping and go earn some money instead.

Just my 2SGD worth. You can take that to the bank!
T___T