When I initially received this $15/day challenge (3 meals + Transport), in my mind I was like, Easy Peasy lah - IF i don't succumb to taking a cab to work. Haha.
I used to take cab to work every single day. Yes, Every, Single, Day. I think a substantial amount of my salary goes to taking the cab to get to work to get my salary. It's a vicious cycle.
In recent weeks I cut down on this bad habit and took the train several times already!
Every single morning, I'd look at the time and my brain would do a silent debate on whether to
(A) continue sleeping
(B) wake up and take the bus
My decision is usually made depending on
(1) how sleepy I was
(2) the time
If it's early, I'd see if I'm already fully awake or still sleepy. If my eyes cannot open fully, I'm still sleepy.
And if it's slightly late and I'm between rushing for the bus or sleep some more and slowly take the cab, I'd take the cab.
If I'm not early not late, I'd see if the cab fare is worth the extra sleep. For example, $20 for 30-60mins more sleep is worth it. $20 for 10mins more sleep is abit expensive.
In my previous job, a $12 fare would get me 1 hour more sleep. How worth it is that? I had no intention of stopping at all.
Then I changed job and the fare became $20 for extra 30 mins sleep. It's quite an expensive lifestyle habit to upkeep everyday, but also not easy to get out of this cycle which I've had for years.
Actually, I secretly think that I'm on comfort cab's priority list now because of my frequency in booking their cabs. I get a cab immediately whenever I use the SMS function, even during rush hour or rainy weathers. When my friends use the hotline/ uber/ grab in the same location as me, they usually still have to wait for awhile after I get mine.
Or maybe it's just that the SMS function rocks? Lol every morning I only have to copy paste the same message. No need to key in so many fields.
So ya, if I cabbed today, the whole $15/day challenge is OVER.
Luckily I took the train.
I actually forgot and was doing the decision making process above when I saw Christina's whatsapp notification and closed my eyes for 30 seconds for a slight final snooze before I forced myself out of bed. Slightly late already, but cannot cab! Must take public transport today!
I took a nice new dress which I initially wanted to wear but it's abit creased. I wasted another minute thinking whether I should take the time to iron and be late or just change to another normal dress.
Sigh in the end I made the rational decision of sacrificing my "fashion for the day" in exchange for $20 worth of cab savings.
Haha I just walked out of the wrong station while being too occupied with dayreing!
So anyway, I got a question to ask - the $15 budget is suppose to cover transport and 3 meals. But I don't usually eat breakfast leh, can I not or is it a must? Can just pretend I took a free slice of bread from my home kitchen? Lol.
Was feeling slightly hungry so I decided to get breakfast.
90 cents for a red bean bun.
Breakfast:
$15 - $0.90 = $14.10
Transport:
$14.10 - $1.91 (bus & MRT) = $12.19
For lunch today I went to Bugis as I had work errands to run. Good also lah means I can eat alone, else gotta see where my colleagues decide to go!
Haha "Splurging" 1/3 of my budget for this yummy mala mian which I try to have every time I'm at Bugis! I always order double portion pork belly with noodles but today I also added potato slices too. Very filling meal for $5. $1.20 ice teh-o cos it's cheaper than my usual $1.50 ice lemon tea.
Not bad eh, cheaper than my average meal in City Hall!
Lunch: $12.19 - $5 - $1.20 = $5.99
Luckily, I had no plans after work else how to survive with so little money left?!?! Lol.
I actually spend $2.30 everyday on a cup of ice cold Teh-c Kosong after lunch. It's a must for every weekday, even when I'm on budget! Nowadays I don't even have to say my order and the counter will auto prepare my drink. Hahahah.
Beverage for a better day:
$5.99 - $2.30 = $3.69
Finally ended work!!! Such a busy Friday!
Anyway, something happened just now. Colleague A was telling me that Colleague B is distributing curry puffs, and asked if I wanted one. Colleague B told them that the puffs were sent to the office from her secret admirer. Minutes later, I received a message from my bf asking if I received the surprise food delivery!!
So those puffs were actually mine?! Not sure if the delivery man said the name wrongly or the colleague heard wrongly.
He ordered 10 of them but I only got to see 3 because colleague B already distributed the rest before it got to me T_T
I mean, I'd have distributed it anyway leaving 4 to bring home to my family but something's quite sad about having something taken away from me without my knowledge, before it even reached me. Haha. Nevertheless, it was a nice gesture from bf! :)
Transport home:
$3.69 - $1.91 = $1.78
Uh oh what can I have for dinner with $1.78?!?!
My mum doesn't cook during weekdays so I can't save money by eating at home for dinner! T_T
So for dinner, I figured that plain bee hoon should be quite cheap. First stall I asked quoted me $2! Omg but I only have $1.78! So said never mind and went to another stall to ask. To my relief, this one charge $1.50 only!
Hehe. Left $0.28 so I decided to fry an egg at home to go with the plain beehoon. Mum says a tray of 30 is around $4-$5. So it's like around 20 cents per egg! Within budget!
Ok something to confess. Technically I over budget because my first egg failed so I used a total of two eggs. Didn't put enough oil the first time round and the whole egg burnt. Plus I had to waste some more extra time scrubbing my burnt pan 😭😭😭😭😭
2nd egg also wasn't easy. My frying stick had water so when it touched the oil, flames went up and I got a shock. Luckily it's just a flash else I really don't know how to put out the fire! Thankfully the egg wasn't burnt and I could finally eat.
Omg the cabbage in the beehoon tastes raw?
Don't care already, I'm gonna take a nice drink from the fridge. Bought the whole pack few days back so not counted into today's budget! Hehe. 😝
Hope you all enjoyed today's post! And I learnt that $15/day is not so easy peasy after all!
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