9th month's expenses

My total expense for the 9th month (1st to 30th June) is around CAD1,251, broken down as follow.

Amount (CAD) : Category

Once-off expenses

* 46 : Gifts for family¹
*  9 : Digital camera²
* 26 : 8GB SDHC card for digital camera

Yearly expenses

* 15 : Canadian bank's fee for deposit of Teletex funds
* 60 : Mensa Canada annual membership fee³

Monthly expenses

* 500 : Room rental
*  40 : Mobile phone bill
*  61 : Medical Services Plan
* 110 : Transport - Monthly 2-Zone Farecard
* NIL : Transport - Others
* 206 : Food/groceries
* NIL : Clothings
*  52 : Household Items (including toiletries)
*  10 : Recreation/Entertainment/Restaurant
*  19 : Meals/Drinks
*  43 : Personal Grooming & Make-up
* NIL : Stationery/Postage
*  54 : Others (Lottery, Souvenirs, etc)⁴

Note 1: A friend from Singapore visited. He offered to help me bring gifts back to my family on his return flight. Thus, I bought some fresh ginseng for my family. At CAD50.68/kg, and packed in 180g-220g packets, fresh ginseng seems reasonably priced here.

Note 2: This digital camera was marked down for clearance sale at my workplace. Previously, I had a CAD20 gift card (from my workplace) for my excellent customer service during a "Mystery Shopper" survey. Add to the CAD20 gift card, I also have staff discount, and thus the incredibly low camera price.

Note 3: As I am a member of Mensa Singapore, my Mensa Canada application was considered a membership "transfer". Thus I did not have to pay the new member fee, just the annual fee.

Note 4: I bought more lottery and scratch-n-win cards this month since it is my "lucky month". I also bought a MoneySense magazine for CAD6+, a gift for my house-mate daughter's birthday for CAD11+, and a farewell card for another colleague for CAD3+.