We’re still around! Life just totally got up wrapped up that we haven’t been on our blog at all since the last post! We’re been busy with festivities, preparing our home for additional people and getting a lot of formalities sorted (embassies etc). It’s been a crazy year end and glad to say, it’s all behind us now!
As we mentioned before, I am back at work and am absolutely loving it! The job itself is quite challenging however just a few days in, I’m quickly appreciating aspects that the younger Ms.K would not have. Call it the benefit of having experience and perspective, but I find this mindset to be truly rewarding. More on that later.
Another big change should happen today, our helper arrives! Yes, we’re living the Singaporean dream – living in a condo, both parents working, helper to care for the child and home. What’s missing? A car, of course. Not to disappoint, we are considering it.
What happened to the super frugalistic SippingCoconuts family that you’ve come to know (and loved?). Did we get a big fat bite by the lifestyle inflation bug?
Maybe. Maybe we’re doing what we can to enjoy the journey that’s within our means. Maybe, and this truly can be argued any number of ways. Value and priority drives decisions. The value we place on every single cent we spend and the priority of decisions change as we go along in life and especially when we are dealt with the unexpected.
My job was unplanned and materialized in 3 working days. I had not the time to consider the many ‘hows’ behind it. It’s a contract role for 12 months. The job however is a good 1 hour 25 mins from home via public transport though. 1 way. No bueno! Family is still important and I can’t see myself spending 3 hours on travel a day which would be away from the young ones. I’ve done it before pre-kiddy days but I don’t think it is worth it now.
What does one do in a situation as this? Hello GrabHitch! We’ve said before that it’s been cheaper for us to take the convenient taxi / Grab / Uber / Gojek (yet to use!) then to buy a car. 1 week into the job and we’ve decided that I’ll be Hitching up and down, bringing a minimum monthly transportation bill to $600. Still cheaper than the estimated $1,000 a month from having a car. Throw in some weekend rides here and there which we generally cab for, let’s just say another $100 a month. So now we are comparing a minimum of $700 vs. $1,000.
But hey, we can now Hitch people to work if we drive. It’s a fabulous way to meet new people as were social butterflies 😀 It has been the highlight of my days when I get a chatty hitch driver!
So are we getting a car? The jury is still out! The big question – what is the status of our FI plans and timeline? We will have to do another post on that for our ‘steering committee’ has yet to meet on this agenda item 😉
Welcome back at work! But glad to hear that you are enjoying it so far.
Yes, it’s never easy to manage two young kids with two working parents and we are also trying to manage it. But I am sure when we look back, it’ll be one of those memories…
Thanks Kate! Happy New Year to you and the family 🙂 It’s been hectic despite having help at home and tiring as well but yes am loving every aspect of work! How are you feeling now that you are back at work?