The 50k game

I've hit my target of 50k for this year 2011, and I'm ahead of schedule by a month. I remembered when I started this 'insane' savings program in 2009, I was struggling each month to hit the required amount. I had to consciously and subconsciously remind myself that I need to put in that bit more effort and to push that bit harder to put in more hours in my work to get that bit more just to hit the savings target for the month, before starting all over again for the following month. I did that until I reached the amount of 50k. It was really a struggle in the first year.

In my second yr 2010, it was much easier. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I had done it before, hence I know the mechanics and means to achieve the same thing. The first year was the hardest because it taught me a few good lessons regarding sustainability of my effort and the importance of planning ahead to restrict the number of graduating students (those taking O'lvls and A'lvls) I had in a year. I realised that I can push myself up to a certain limit before I start to get annoyed because of a lack of proper rest and simply just a lack of off-time from work. In the first year, I geared up to the max because I wasn't certain I could keep to my target (I intend to hit my target, no matter what). The result? Periods of moodiness and mild depression. I learnt from my lessons and applied to year 2 - 2010. I didn't push myself to the limit and it was the year that I first started taking planned breaks from work. There are times that I hit my monthly savings target in that year, so as a reward for myself, I took a day off or cancelled my classes. I realised this little break off work makes me more happy than the amount of money that it can bring me, should I chose to work. The subtle change in how I value my time makes a very important change in my life. This journey is a life long journey, hence I mustn't burn out prematurely.

The second important lesson I learnt in yr 2 - 2010 - is that of having a quota for the number of graduating students I have for any particular year. The main reason is that these days, the exams start in the afternoon, so by the time the students come back home from school, it's nearly evening time. There's simply not enough time for me to go around and help those needed ones (most students I took are not the As students, so most of them needed some last minute psycho-ing and just some general revision before exams to sooth their nerves). I'll feel guilty for not being able to be there when they needed my help and encouragement most, especially when I know I can make a difference. The other reason is that by maximizing the number of graduating students, the following year I'll have less recurring students, hence there could be a drastic drop in income. Remember that towards the end of each year, I'll be 'retrenched' and I'll have to work hard to enjoy the same salary that I had the year before. I'm trying to remove this sort of limitations by having group lessons in the future, which would satisfy both my financial need to earn money and my desire to reach out to as many people as I can handle. That would be a great way to solve this problem.

Going forward, yr 3 - 2011 - is the most relaxing year to save my 50k. Coming from me, 'relaxing' had to be taken with a pinch of salt. I still had to work 7 days a week, I still have to work when I don't want to work and I still have to teach students that I don't want to teach. So what's the difference? The mindset changes everything. It's just plain ol' good savings habits that I developed over the years. I'm so used to saving this amount of money that I don't have to track my savings so conscientiously. Years of tracking my expenses and income made me so aware of my peak income months and peak expense months (usually those months where I had to pay off lump sum items for the year, like insurance) that I don't have to track it so carefully. I know if I do this amount of work, I can 'agar agar' save this amount of money. Hence without caring whether I had hit my savings target for this month and that, it actually relieves the pressure off me, thus making it much more relaxing this year. It's like a dance routine that  I had been practicing for 3 yrs.  Even blind folded,  I can feel the beat of the music internally and my well rehearsed muscle memory moves my body rhythmically with the melody. It's a dance that I can do again and again and again.

But no, this is not how it should be done. I die in peace and become alive in war. It's time to move on to new grounds and break new limits. As such, the new target of 100k couldn't have come at a better timing. Oh I do have a lot of motivation to save that amount. It's like a game to me., a dance if you will.  I play my savings game hard and I play it seriously, because I know that if I succeed, the rewards are not the amount of money that I can use, it's the satisfaction and the comfort of knowing that I can do what is seemingly impossible. I might not be able to do it by next year, but who knows until I've tried.