As the end of the year approaches, i'm finding myself worrying about money matters again. perhaps that's exaggerating a bit. i'm not worried in that i won't have enough money to spend. rather, the worry for me is finding the path of least unnecessary spending. the biggest issue is the car. its COE is expiring in early may next year, which means that i have to make a decision - extend it or not. each has pros and cons, and the worst part is that i have very limited info. here's my preliminary assessment, which is subject to change if any of the assumptions are wrong.
if i choose to extend the COE, there are 2 options...extending for 5 years and 10 years. each involves paying the cost of a COE for that many years. current rates are about $50000 for 10 years, and half that for 5, so both options are equal on a per-year basis. there's an odd rule that allows only a single 5-year extension, but unlimited 10-year extensions. assuming the resources are available, i would choose to go for 10 years for the greater flexibility. i'm also covered because there's a loophole, which states that if i deregister the car early, i get the value of the unused COE back (both for the original COE and any renewals). and if i do extend the COE, another thing to consider is the incremental annual road tax. it rises by 10% per year up to a cap of 150% after 5 years. not forgetting that the car needs a bit of work. according to the mechanic who did my servicing, the suspensions are basically gone, and will cost $700 to replace.
on the other hand, deregistering the car and getting another second-hand one is a bit messy, too. apart from the rebate for the unused COE, there's another rebatable thing called the PARF, which is linked to the open market value of the car. the LTA website has a handy calculator, which shows that i can get a rebate of about $10000 (excluding the price of the car itself after export or scrapping, so let's assume $15000 total). that sum can be used to offset the cost of the next car, which would be a relief. the biggest drawback to renewing the COE is that this PARF rebate disappears. that aside, the main con to getting another car is just that...a con. or the possibility of being conned, to be more precise. i lucked out with this car, and i'm not sure if my luck can hold out again. i was doing some preliminary checks on sgcarmart, and noticed that there are very few second hand 1.6L honda civics available. well...given my current stage in life, and the fact that i'm living in singapore, i can't afford to be too concerned with what i'm driving. the fact that i have a car is already amazing. was also looking at honda jazzes, fits, and civics with different engine capacities. still trying to keep it within the brand. in general, honda cars with about 2+ to 3 years are going for about $40000 to $50000.
to quickly sum up, pros of renewing:
- reliable, familiar car
- no worries about changing cars for up to 10 years
cons of renewing:
- PARF rebate gone (higher depreciation per year)
- overall more costly (road tax)
- problems may come up due to long wear and tear (mitigated by regular servicing)
cost of renewing COE: ~$10000 (PARf rebate) + ~$1000 (suspension and other parts) + ~$52000 (COE for 10 years) + $1200 (additional road tax) - $x (if deregistered before 10 years)
= $(64200-x) in total, $(6420-0.1x) per year if i use it for the full 10 years.
pros of another car:
- cost is offset by rebates
- novelty of new/different car
cons of another car:
- possibility of getting a lemon (yes, that's a real term. there's even a lemon law for cars in singapore)
- having to make time to shop around, arrange viewings, test drive
cost of changing car: $x (new car price) - ~$10000 (PARF rebate) + $y (any maintenance that's required)
the one thing that this little exercise has shown me is that there's much more uncertainty when changing cars. perhaps it might be better to renew. after all, the current car has been more or less customized to my unique needs through the months and years. as a reminder to myself, the tyres may need changing sometime next year.
a second money drainer is a possible korea trip with the judo people. now that i am no longer affiliated to the federation in any way, they can't touch me. besides, it's not illegal to go spectate at an event. the trip will most likely happen in late november, and a preliminary check on the airfare shows a sum of about $600 total. add on miscellaneous expenditure for a total sum of about...$800 for about a week? maybe less, depending on how many souvenirs i get. i'm not too worried, since i'm following a group. what is of a bit more concern to me is that it's the first time the date and i will be in different countries since we started dating. while we have missed weekly dates before, it's never been because one of us was overseas. logically speaking, it shouldn't make a difference, provided there's internet access and we're still connected by whatsapp. both the far-from-the-date thing and the cost outlay make me a bit reluctant to go, but i'd be lying if i said i didn't want to go. this counts as my annual overseas trip, i guess. will need a new suitcase, since the old one's basically gone. great. more spending. well...the plan isn't quite solid yet, nor do i have all the details. will make an informed decision once i have some more info.
if i choose to extend the COE, there are 2 options...extending for 5 years and 10 years. each involves paying the cost of a COE for that many years. current rates are about $50000 for 10 years, and half that for 5, so both options are equal on a per-year basis. there's an odd rule that allows only a single 5-year extension, but unlimited 10-year extensions. assuming the resources are available, i would choose to go for 10 years for the greater flexibility. i'm also covered because there's a loophole, which states that if i deregister the car early, i get the value of the unused COE back (both for the original COE and any renewals). and if i do extend the COE, another thing to consider is the incremental annual road tax. it rises by 10% per year up to a cap of 150% after 5 years. not forgetting that the car needs a bit of work. according to the mechanic who did my servicing, the suspensions are basically gone, and will cost $700 to replace.
on the other hand, deregistering the car and getting another second-hand one is a bit messy, too. apart from the rebate for the unused COE, there's another rebatable thing called the PARF, which is linked to the open market value of the car. the LTA website has a handy calculator, which shows that i can get a rebate of about $10000 (excluding the price of the car itself after export or scrapping, so let's assume $15000 total). that sum can be used to offset the cost of the next car, which would be a relief. the biggest drawback to renewing the COE is that this PARF rebate disappears. that aside, the main con to getting another car is just that...a con. or the possibility of being conned, to be more precise. i lucked out with this car, and i'm not sure if my luck can hold out again. i was doing some preliminary checks on sgcarmart, and noticed that there are very few second hand 1.6L honda civics available. well...given my current stage in life, and the fact that i'm living in singapore, i can't afford to be too concerned with what i'm driving. the fact that i have a car is already amazing. was also looking at honda jazzes, fits, and civics with different engine capacities. still trying to keep it within the brand. in general, honda cars with about 2+ to 3 years are going for about $40000 to $50000.
to quickly sum up, pros of renewing:
- reliable, familiar car
- no worries about changing cars for up to 10 years
cons of renewing:
- PARF rebate gone (higher depreciation per year)
- overall more costly (road tax)
- problems may come up due to long wear and tear (mitigated by regular servicing)
cost of renewing COE: ~$10000 (PARf rebate) + ~$1000 (suspension and other parts) + ~$52000 (COE for 10 years) + $1200 (additional road tax) - $x (if deregistered before 10 years)
= $(64200-x) in total, $(6420-0.1x) per year if i use it for the full 10 years.
pros of another car:
- cost is offset by rebates
- novelty of new/different car
cons of another car:
- possibility of getting a lemon (yes, that's a real term. there's even a lemon law for cars in singapore)
- having to make time to shop around, arrange viewings, test drive
cost of changing car: $x (new car price) - ~$10000 (PARF rebate) + $y (any maintenance that's required)
the one thing that this little exercise has shown me is that there's much more uncertainty when changing cars. perhaps it might be better to renew. after all, the current car has been more or less customized to my unique needs through the months and years. as a reminder to myself, the tyres may need changing sometime next year.
a second money drainer is a possible korea trip with the judo people. now that i am no longer affiliated to the federation in any way, they can't touch me. besides, it's not illegal to go spectate at an event. the trip will most likely happen in late november, and a preliminary check on the airfare shows a sum of about $600 total. add on miscellaneous expenditure for a total sum of about...$800 for about a week? maybe less, depending on how many souvenirs i get. i'm not too worried, since i'm following a group. what is of a bit more concern to me is that it's the first time the date and i will be in different countries since we started dating. while we have missed weekly dates before, it's never been because one of us was overseas. logically speaking, it shouldn't make a difference, provided there's internet access and we're still connected by whatsapp. both the far-from-the-date thing and the cost outlay make me a bit reluctant to go, but i'd be lying if i said i didn't want to go. this counts as my annual overseas trip, i guess. will need a new suitcase, since the old one's basically gone. great. more spending. well...the plan isn't quite solid yet, nor do i have all the details. will make an informed decision once i have some more info.
-random thought of the day: We wasted $25 for tickets to the GameStart convention.-
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