Turning 35

My birthday has come and gone, my younger Sister brought me out for dinner and my Mum somehow ended up paying for it, so that was a nice gesture, but other than that, it was honestly just like any other day.

What's exciting about turning 35 however is I can now officially apply for a HDB Flat, I applied for the HFE a day after my birthday, and according to HDB, it could take up to a month to have the HFE approved.

It got approved the next day. Talk about efficiency. 

The next BTO Exercise is in July so I have a lot of time to weigh out my options, which I started doing right after I got the approved HFE.

I am contemplating between getting a SBF or a BTO.

The SBF option I am interested in is the Tengah estate because it's cheaper, I think the estate has a lot of potential for growth and more importantly, a lot of flats, so I think I will have a much higher chance to get a unit there, plus I have friends who will be staying there as well, so it would be nice to have people I can meet up once in a while for a meal when I start to feel too lonely in my own home. I MIGHT end up getting a cat to be my roommate, so who knows. The SBF will either be available immediately or within a year or two, depending on my balloting luck.

The BTO I am interested in is the one in Clementi, it will have a longer wait time and is estimated to be completed by 2019, which means I will almost be 40 Years Old by the time my house is ready. That being said, going the BTO route might make more sense for me at this time because as I was starting to do my finances, I realize even though I have enough funds in my CPF to get the flat now, I don't have enough cash on hand for the renovation works.

As an Interior Designer, it actually pains me to think about having to settle for a basic run of the mill renovation, a basic one that will require me to get a renovation loan to achieve and also wipe out almost all my savings, I'm poor as fuck because I have been putting so much money into my Insurance and Investments, more into the latter, which I will probably be able to get back in another decade and will have an estimated worth of between $60,000 - $70,000, which isn't too shabby, and I will thank my Insurance Agent then.

I may need to save at least another $20,000 within the next 4 years (if I manage to get the Clementi BTO), it is very doable since it's just a matter of putting $400 aside every month, but this means I won't be able to splurge on stuff anymore, like my year end Switzerland trip to visit my Sister because I am estimating that trip to cost at least $7,000 in total.

I might consider a short trip to Thailand or Vietnam if I have a travel itch to scratch, I don't want to deny myself the joy of travelling. 

I am really trying my best not to buy anything unnecessary, I was even contemplating whether I want to buy another tub of Cerave facial moisturizer because I am almost done, but then when I was on TikTok and saw the TikTok Livestream dropping the SkullPanda plushies that have consistently been out of stock, I snatched one without thinking twice. The plushie cost more than the Cerave facial moisturizer, what the fuck is up with my priorities? 

Speaking of PopMart, I recently also went to PopMart at Bugis Junction to get a Crybaby Blindbox and I managed to pull one of the Secret, which was very exciting, but not great for my spending habits because this type of luck will only get me back into the blind box craze again.