We have now ended our second month of early retirement and I find that I am as busy as ever! However I am also thankful that I can rest here and then when I need to. One also finds that time slows down more Alhamdulilah. It seemed like when I was working my 9 to 5, one day would go by in a flash – I wake up and I am already in my 40s. We have just finished the first 10 days of puasa! Time flies kan?!
I was busy this month with a cousin’s wedding and towards the end of the month busy with fasting and supervising my son with his online ugama. This was something I could do at a laid back pace instead of hurriedly like I would have had to do if I was still working. Thankfully I can also let my husband rest after work and not have to worry him about doing this. Alhamdulilah.
Professionally, I was busy with my TAPcert examinations, some more takaful training, taking a class on ‘purposeful writing’ and meeting up with another company for a possible collaboration related to personal finance. Unfortunately I had to say no to the collaboration – it’s a great idea but I think it would require a huge commitment of my time and take time away from family. I am also intent on writing my first personal finance book.
With regard to my Public Gold business owner (PGBO) we had a physical bootcamp and we set up booths for 4 days this month. The booths were at the Consumer Fair (CF32), International Convention Center (ICC) and Aman Hills. Managed to create content on a current financial issue in Brunei which was the introduction of the Skim Tabungan Anak Damit – this did well with over 7,000 views as of writing. And we hit 10.5k followers on our IG – hoping because of this more people become more financially aware.
On to our financial update. February was an awesome month for my finances. Despite having a huge expense – this month was for paying Zakat. My net worth increased by $6,804 to end the month at $1,313,454. Even though I am retired alhamdulilah I am amazed it can still increase. My January income was B$4,934 which was not enough to cover our spending of $8,450 for the month. A part of the expenses was funded by my last bonus – I had put aside some money early for the payment of Zakat this year. The most important thing is I haven’t had the need to sell any ETFs to fund my retirement.
It can be a bit confusing how net worth is still increasing even though spending is more than income but I think the best way I can explain is that it’s mostly because the income for zakat is like in a sinking fund which was funded by my last work bonus so that’s why the income was enough for the expenses this month if you minus out the zakat actual spending was $4,048 which was less than February’s income of B$4,934. Net worth still increased and it’s partly because of increase in value of investments – stocks and gold.
Income
Public Gold (PG) income was RM9,480 around B$3,048 (rate 3.11). Public Gold income can actually be broken down into 4 income streams – Public Gold (RM8,996), PG Mall (RM204), PG Jewel (RM242) or PG Gold ATM (RM36). Most of my income comes from public gold which is purchases for gold/silver bars thru Public Gold app. Secondly, from PG Mall (kinda like shopee or lazada) which is an online retail shop for Public Gold where you can purchase gold items at retail price or non-gold items like kitchen appliances. Thirdly, PG Jewel is the subsidiary of PG that sells 999 and 916 gold jewellery. Lastly, income can sometimes also come from PG Gold ATM if gold savers registered under me happen to go to Malaysia and purchase gold/silver from PG Gold ATM.
If you would like to register for a Public Gold account and become a dealer you can WA me for more details here.
Rental income of $1,818 was deposited on 30th January 2026 for February which comes in like clockwork because it is rented to government – Alhamdulilah. It is usually every 1st of the month but if it’s a non-working day or public holiday they will deposit earlier. This time it was because the 1st of February is a Sunday.
Investment income was $68 for February. My ETFs pay dividends monthly. Full disclosure: about 92.7% of my investments are in a shariah compliant index ETF (SPUS) and around 6.2% are in a shariah compliant international ETF (SPWO). I actually don’t need any more cash right now so I reinvest the income (around USD50) thru monthly recurring subscription into a shariah compliant sector ETF (SPTE) within the Baiduri Capital platform. Since this only buys like 1 share of SPTE every month my dividends don’t change month to month. Each month it will be more or less the same.
Tracking my spending and my net worth was one of the ways I was able to be a millionaire at 39 and retire at age 42.
Expenses
Now let’s take a look at January expenses:
In total, we spent roughly $8,450 in February which is about $5,117 more than my target budget of $3,333 per month (or $40,000 per year). Why $40k a year, – this is because of the 4% withdrawal rate (4% of $1M is $40k) and this is my target budget yearly for retirement based on $1,000,000 retirement fund. Zakat and housing were the top two spending categories in February.
Detailed breakdown of spending:
Zakat – $4,712:
Alhamdulilah this will be the 4th year sharing how I calculate Zakat Harta on my IG since I started paying it. I find this topic very hard to explain in the beginning pasal banyak theory tapi inda banyak yang sharing real life cana durang calculate and pay zakat especially when you have stocks as well as cash and gold. And what prices to use to estimate the value of your gold.
Housing – $1,622:
For the house we live in I pay B$978. Then I have the remaining home financing on the 3rd rental property in Kiulap of around B$644.
Charity – $x:
Prefer to kind of keep this private. This includes birthday gifts.
Taraweeh Prayers Ramadan 1447H
Automotive – $593:
I pay B$593 every month for my BYD Sealion 6 car financing. If you are thinking of getting one it is sooooo worth it.
Hotels – $553:
This February we finished paying for all the accommodation we need in Japan. We will be staying in 3 hotels – 2 hotels were paid for in January and the last hotel was paid in February.
Business – $485:
I had to book flights for a Public Gold annual event – we call it Annual Recognition Night (ARN) which is in June this year and buy iTunes credit which is for subscriptions to apps that help me in my business namely Meta Verified, Boards and ChatGPT.
February bootcampCafe/Restaurants – $461:
This is closer than last month’s estimate but I am still sure I spent more than this will try to swipe everything so it’s easier to track. Restaurants we visited this month were Sushi Excapade, Friday Restaurant, Roasted Sip, Signature 9, Bristodeli, Gripps Cafe and Macchiato Cafe just to name a few – if you have favourite cafes/restaurants do share with us.
Water / Electricity – $12:
Since we have one house not yet rented – I thought it might be a good idea to just top up to take advantage of the cheaper rate. In case you are not aware your first B$6 for utilities is priced at a cheaper rate.
Parking – $11
More parking fees as I had the TAPCert exam and two TBK trainings in Bandar. Thankfully I passed the TAPCert so we are done with that.
Healthcare/Medical/Dental – $1:
Alhamdulilah just the usual monthly appointment for my brother. Always thankful government provides very heavily subsidized healthcare.
Gas – $0:
This month I have been diligently charging my car so I haven’t had a chance to fill it up with gas because there is still a lot left. Also I didn’t really use it for any long distance travelling. Most driving was nearby.
Spending for 2026 – Year to Date
We spent roughly B$18,210 year to date for 2026. That means we still have $40,000 minus B$18,210 or B$21,790 budget left. Now I am thinking maybe I underestimated how much I spend each month 😅.
Net Worth: $1,313,454 (+$6,804)
Another increase to my net worth. I hope next month will also be a positive.
I think moving forward there should not be any big expenses coming up except maybe the family trip in May 2026.
Alhamdulilah.
Closing thoughts
I am sharing these updates in the hopes that readers will find it useful when planning for their own retirements and to also show perspective from the female, mother and wife’s point of view. I realise I don’t really like to take pictures but will try again next month!
Ok that’s it for me this month, gais. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you in March!
Any great sungkai restaurants you want to share?