Portfolio Reviews (October 2023)

Review of my Portfolio (31/10/2023)

Total unrealized loss: -5.8%

YTD performance: +17.3%

Added in October

Goal 1: ( $67,303.75 / $66,186)⚔️

Growth Portfolio: XLY, KWEB, BABA

Dividend Portfolio: United global durable Equities, OV8, T82U, J69, MU44

Portfolio Weightage

Dividend Recieved

Goal 2: ($8,777.37 / $11,000)❤️

Dividend recieved in OCT = $353.19

Opinons

• The S&P500 fall to the support $415 + it fall below the 200MA.
• It had dropped by 8.5% from previous high, which is consider a pullback. A correction is 10% to 20%.
• Lower low, lower high, SMA 20 & 50 sloping down, but SMA 200 is still up indicate a short term downtrend.

• Remember October 2022, communication sector is the worst performer? Market go through cycles
• The Consumer Discretionary sector had diverged, is good to add more to this sector for growth.
• The reit sector is also badly beaten, the enviroment now is not good for reits. But i will be focus on SReit instead of US reits for dividend.
• The worst performer this year may be the best performer next year.

Rational Spending on Food

• Inflation are all time high, everything are much more expensive.
• When i saw there are people who can spend more than $100 in 3 days just on food, i was actually mind blown.🤯
• Housing, food and transport are the 3 basic necessities that nobody can escape and these are the largest expenses for Singaporean.
• The rest is either a fixed cost (education, insurance, communication, allowance) that cannot be cut or just optional (recreation, clothing) which can be eliminate totally if you really want to save money.

• For housing, if you are able to rent it out even just a spare room, as share previously, you should able to cut 80% to 100% on the housing expenses and you may even generate excess cash.
• For transport, it is also easy to save money if you dont own a car and only take public transport.
• For food, of course if you are able to cook 3 meals per day, everyday that will save you the most. However, most of us would just eat outside for convenience. 😂

• Unlike those who will keep a strict budget and track every single dollar on Excel or budgeting apps.
• I dont follow any budgeting rules or have any special tactics. Because i am lazy. 😆
• I just earn, save and invest as much as possible, with best effort.
• I follow a routine, such as going to the same coffeeshop, order from the same stall and eat the same dish.
• Save time and effort, no need to think too much. When you do it long enough, it will become a habit. 😂
• It is definitely possible to survive with less than $10/day on food in Singapore if you are single , $30/day for a family of 4 dinning outside is more than enough.
• I wont term this as frugal, but rational spending. 😆

2 Most Important Criteria

• For me, the most important criteria on the choice of food is it must be (1) filling, then come the (2) price. Of course, it must not taste terrible and must be edible. 😂
• It become more often that we see complain on social media about the food portion too small and unreasonable price.
• If it is not filling, i will need to go for a second round = waste money.
• I will rather spend $10 for food that i enjoy, than $6 on lame food that spolit my day.😂

Price VS Value

• Price is what you pay, value is what you get. At different price range, i will have different expectation.
• Of course, you may have your own set of standard, but below are mine. 😂
• You will need to know the coffeeshop around you well, so that you will be certain that you will not be overcharged.
• I will usually try my best to control my budget to below $3.50/meal

SAVING MONEY WHEN ALONE

• Breakfast (Weekdays) is usually the simplest. Bread and milo from Sheng Siong, always look for promotion.
• I wont buy from bread shop, they usually charge $4.00 to $4.50 for 3 bread that is too expensive, in my opinon.
• White bread (Brand: Top baker) is usually the cheapest, but you need to invest in a spread. I usually will go for Set B for convenience, $0.18/day i think i can still afford. 😂,
• For milo, if your office got provide free 3-in-1 coffee then can go office to have breakfast or take home 1 sachet end of everyday after work. Save that $0.62 😂

• Brunch (Weekends) i usually skip breakfast, because when i wake up is already 10am+ 😆
• It is either vegetarian bee hoon ($3.70 for 3 dish) or economic bee hoon/mee ($3.30 for 2 dish).
• Vegetarian's portion is usually bigger, thus can last longer. If i add 1 more meat to the economic bee hoon, it will be over $4.
• Vegetarian meal is more value for money, but the chicken wing from economic bee hoon will make my day feels better, is always a struggle between both.😆

• Lunch / dinner (weekdays) i will usually have "cai png" 1 meat + 1 vege which may cost between $2.80 to $3.20. If it is more than $3.50, it is too expensive, then i will not go back to that particular stall anymore. 😆
• I will limit to 2 dishes. Firstly, because it is usually the minimum purchase 😆. Secondly, 2 meat + 1 vege will be over $4 but it wont be able to last me more than 8 hours = waste money.

SAVE MONEY AS A FAMILY OF 4

• Dinning out as a familiy, i cannot eat like what i eat as an individual. It will be very expensive.
• Especially, when you have kids, they dont eat the same type of food as adult.
• Kids love fried food and hate vegetable. Unhealthy food are usually more expensive but more flavourful. 😆
• So when dining as a family, i will usually eat better, with higher budget.

• The key is of saving money as a family is sharing. Sharing is caring.😆
• I usually keep my budget within $15/meal when dinning in coffeeshop.
• Within $20/meal when dinning at fast food restaurant, specifically Mcdonald. Always use the Mcdonald App.

• These are the foods i usually wont eat when i am alone.

• Japanese and Korean cuisine, just add-on a white rice, $0.60, it is sufficient for 2 person. Unlike "cai png" we can have hot food + hot soup. 😆
• "Zi Char" is too expensive these days. This is a good alternative.
• In addition, they got fried fish, fried chicken and ebi which kid loves. Same trick, fried fish omurice + rice. ($5.40). Less than $13 for a meal for 4 person.

• Herbal soup may be another great option, i will only select stall that allow one time free refill of soup.
• These are just some of the example for the choice of food, there are many other example such as yong tau foo, Western food that have rice in their menu.
• The strategy is simple: Add rice🍚🍚😆

CONCLUSIONS

• The food you choose can be a needs or a wants. If we just eat what we need, it is still very affordable dinning out.
• Also, try not to order from stall that dont display the price. You may get heart attack when you get the bill. 😆
• Of course, cooking always save the most but you must have time and have the cooking skills. I have non of those.😆
• It is definately possible to spend less than $10/day on food. It is just a matter of choice.
• I am just practicing living below my means.😉

Previously Review

https://seedly.sg/opinions/portfolio-review-september-2023/