On the contrary! If I’m posting my expenses it is because I need for you to challenge my expending. It’s good that I feel accountable about this. Also, coming from someone with your kind of income it’s nice to see that you keep a frugal yet reasonable take on things.
Hope you don’t mind the lengthy answer!
I still have PF for investing, yes, but only the minimum requirements in a 3a fund so that I get all the accounts for free. For me it’s worth it because I have 3 CHF accounts, 2 EUR accounts and free unlimited cash withdrawals worldwise. While there is still the FX rate, withdrawing EUR from the EUR account from a Eurozone ATM is completely free. I value that. Also, I love PostFinance’s ebankin, I’m like that.
The rest I have at my employer’s brokerage account. I’m one of those fortunate ones who must trade at their employer’s because of compliance regulations, even though I do not work in finance but in IT. I’ve been simplifying my portfolio, hence the high turnover and high fees.
Also, I’m switching employers in 2021 and my new one is also a financial institution with even higher fees for employees (!), so I needed a simpler set-up. Also because I will have to pay for the transfer costs out of my own pocket and these are per position.
I had been putting fitness off for many years. So I hired a personal coach. No spa, no massages. If only! I know, rich-person way of doing, but it really helped me. As you can see, I’ve needed him much less in 2020 than in 2019 as I do a lot at home by myself now. I consider this an investment in my health, physical but also mental!
I do like audio, also producing it myself. Here are my excuses:
- First I got a fixed PC with a big processor and a lot of ram (CHF 1’200) so that I could be more productive when rendering audio and honestly, I’m happy with the results. It’s not a gaming PC since I don’t render video, only audio.
- Then my portable PC broke down and I ended buying an ultrabook to replace it, also at around 1’100 CHF. I don’t regret this as I use it very often and I’m more productive than from the iPad I had been using in mobility. Did I mention I also enjoy writing?
- As many have done during the soft confinement, I have made some home improvement work. In my case this included finally installing an audio system in the dining room which we have used extensively ourselves and when having people over. Amplifier and speakers set me back around 1’000 CHF.
- As I was enjoying my hobby more often at home, I also spent about 2’500 CHF in new recording equipment including pre-amplifiers, an audio interface and a couple of new microphones.
- The part I regret: I upgraded my home cinema speakers. Never Piega! Just some Dali, but still, this was completely unnecessary as the only improvement that is noticeable is when listening to stereo music, and that doesn’t require a new centra channel speaker.
I know…
I need it for online banking, stupid banks. It only costs me 2 EUR/month so that’s okay. The real expense comes from my Sunrise 42.-/month plan. It’s unlimited everything including calls to/from Europe/US/Canada and unlimited roaming. I consider this a bit of a luxury, but any year other than 2020 I would travel a lot and I also call my family on the phone because they are not tech-savvy. For me this is a confort choice cheaper than eating out.
In 2021 I expect transportations costs to go up, rent costs to go up and also educations costs. I will also need new furniture. But electronics, fitness should decrease dramatically. I have also made the choice to clean my apartment myself, so no more help. And online services should cost have as I will be billed correctly.