Even before looking for a place to move to in BGC, we had reviewed our finances and tried to figure out just how much more we could afford to pay for a place closer to work. Sure there would be some cost savings in terms of gas and commuting fares, but ultimately a place in BGC had to cost more than our arrangement in Cubao. That defined what units we could look at and directed our search to focus on certain condos within BGC as primary options.
With the move set for this weekend and less things being unknown variables, I've been running the numbers again to determine the new home budget once we move and what this may mean for indulgences like eating out, aggressively buying board games and other geekery. Long story short, we can definitely still afford the move without overly impacting our current way of life but certain changes definitely have to be adhered to.
Last year one of our biggest cost drivers was eating out and ordering delivery since we fell off the wagon in terms of cooking meals at home after all the stress with Yoshi and the increasingly terrible traffic to and from work. I'd like to think that we've started the right with our efforts to prepare packed lunches and dinners for the work week given the financial and health benefits of said actions.
I also worked on updating my various ledgers and trackers and made a somewhat surprising discovery - 2017 marks my last year of premium payments for my life insurance polices! These were financial instruments that I had secured for myself during my early call center years have been steadily paying for some time now. The policies happen to end within this year despite my having gotten started on them at different points in time by a funny coincidence. So after this year I should be a bit more liquid again unless I take on a new investment instrument to continue to save for the future or something.
So yeah, it always pays to dot your I's and cross your T's with your home finances. I didn't think we couldn't afford the BGC move but it's always nice to run the numbers to see how things might work and that the lifestyle changes may not be as drastic as feared.
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