Back in Singapore after the trip

We are back in Singapore! Flew back yesterday and arrived in the evening. It’s been a great trip and we enjoyed the holiday. Still going through some jet lag and it’s good that we can sleep in today to get some rest. As we get older, the recovery time takes longer, which is why we try to have a full day of rest between the time we arrive to when we have to return to work.

We went to a number of cities, towns and villages on this trip and did quite a bit of walking & driving. It can get tiring sometimes to keep heading out every day to a new place but we realised we can only have such high intensity trips when we are relatively young without kids. I can imagine us slowing down when we are older with kids.

Anyway, this trip was only about one and a half weeks long because we had to be back this week for some work commitments. We usually go for about 2 weeks since that allows us to spend more time there. But it worked out for us this time round because we were more tired than usual before, during and after this holiday. Might have to do with the fact that we were dealing with a certain level of uncertainty due to the divisional restructuring and it’s been a busy few months as well.

I just caught up with our personal finances by updating the Google Sheet. Cash and credit card spending has gone up from the holiday expenses. We spent some time in Paris to do our shopping and my wife splurged on luxury goods as a reward for working hard and our anniversary celebrations. Looks like our next few months’ savings will be low as well since we still have end of year and Christmas celebrations.

This might delay our progress towards the S$1 million asset (excluding owner-occupied property) portfolio goal but I’m okay with it. The rate of increase has slowed but we should still achieve it next year when my wife is 30 years old. This is an important age for us because I reckon it’s when we transition from young adults to adults. We need to put ourselves in a stronger financial position to increase the likelihood of us meeting our personal goals.

In any case, this year has already turned out better than last year. I still remember taking over my ex tax manager’s role for a few months when she was on maternity leave in 2016. Although I was sufficiently remunerated with a pay increase and performance bonus for my efforts. However, her transition back to work did not go well and escalating conflict with my ex tax partner created a toxic work environment that I left soon after. Oct 2016 was in fact the month I left my previous job and started my new job after going to Italy for a holiday. Look at how different Oct 2017 is as I return to a job in a more stable and functional work environment that I like after going to France for a holiday.

It was actually a busier year for my wife as it was her turn to step into her manager’s role for a few months since she is on maternity leave until the end of 2017. My wife just finished her performance review and I wonder whether she will be sufficiently remunerated with a pay increase and bonus for her efforts as well. We should know this by the end of the year. Anyway, it’s good enough that she also returns to a job in a more stable and functional work environment that she likes after the trip. I hope we can keep this up and finish 2017 strong. This will allow us to start 2018 stronger as we look to make serious progress with all of our financial and personal goals.