I should had been an Accountant

My last posts of 2009.:)

Exactly a year ago I did a post on a resolution I had – and that was to do a refinancing arrangement of our DBS Loan for our apartment.

Unfortunately, while the collective funds we’ve got in our little piggy banks now are sufficient enough to proceed with a refinancing plan, we’ve decided not to go ahead with it after all – on account that it’s been a crazily busy end-of-year, what with the Japan trip, Hannah, and also the other projects I have at work that’s going to run till August next year.

So, we’ve decided to go back to the first and original plan – which is to clear the loan altogether in Dec 2010. We’ll be paying a few thousand in excess compared to the refinancing arrangement, but what the heck – might as well just bite the bullet, and a year from now, we’ll no longer be working for DBS.

I was also looking through the rest of our financial spreadsheets again, and lots of little interesting (at least to me!) factoids show up.

In 2009, our utility usage remained semi-consistent at $135 +/- $20 per month, even despite the fluctuating electricity tariffs.

In 2009, $1,900 was spent on camera equipment and accessories, compared to the $7,300 that was spent in 2008.

In 2009, we spent about $22,500 on capital purchases. Capital purchases in my spreadsheet denote anything that’s one-time and that we buy that’s in excess of $100. Does not include items considered under daily expenses, donations, the costs associated with the two big work-related overseas trips I had, insurance and investment premiums etc.

Of that $22,500, approximately $13,200 was on Hannah’s delivery and hospital fees, vaccination fees, baby equipment, confinement assistance and events. The expenses associated with nutrition, feeds, diapers, medical appointments etc. wasn’t included – but works out to another $4,000 or so.

Of the remaining sum of about $9,000…

$4,000 was on home items – the iEcologi we didn’t use, the Panasonic HDC-SD20, home connectivity, a new home laser printer, the IKEA sofa etc.

$3,500 was on personal equipment – the Apple iPhone, the MacBook Pro, Ling’s new handphone, my titanium plated replacement spectacles (love them) etc.

The Δ Deltas in our CPFs, personal savings, joint savings, and investments as revealed in my spreadsheet were lower than originally projected in Dec 2008, and only on account that 2009’s bonus payouts for those of us in the public and civil service weren’t good – but that’s in view of the global recession. Things should look more favorably next year, what with the economy recovering.

Next post will be looking ahead into the new year.:)