Baby or no, is that your business?

For the first 20 odd years of my life, I've walked a predictable route.

I was drilled from young that, to succeed in life, I must study hard. I didn't study hard enough to get scholarships but it was passable. I walked the standard educational route, just like everyone else - passed my PSLE, passed my O Levels, went to JC and went to the local uni.

The next was to find a job, get a flat, get married.

And have a baby.

But in this common route, there is something unpredictable and out of my control i.e having a baby (and possibly getting a successful BTO ballot, though we can always go the resale route).

If you realise, in the left column of my blog lies some goals I set back in 2016. Of which, having a kid was set at 30....because I was guessing it would not be easy to hit the jackpot after hearing stories from others.

Ever since I got married, I've received irritating comments from colleagues who are not close to begin with, asking me when I'll be taking my maternity l…
3 comments

Disappointing revision to BOC Family Card

All good things always come to an end.

Readers would know I'm quite an advocate of BOC, given it's relatively attractive rebates and interests it has been providing me. Just a few hours ago, I received an sms from BOC informing of the "enhanced" benefits for my Family Card.
From 23 Apr, enjoy 10% cash rebate on Dining everyday (local & overseas) & Movies. Plus, get 5% on Telco bills! Continue to earn 5% for Online, Supermarket, Hospital bills, selected merchants & 2% on supplementary card. 
At first glance, I smiled. Dining rebates is now enhanced from 7% to 10%; movies are now included for cashbacks; and enhanced 5% on telco bills! That was until I opened the T&Cs link.

And then I frowned.

The BOC Family Card was my main card for dining spends. With 7% rebates on all dining, with a max rebate of $100, it was the best dining card I could find. Clocking above $500/$1500 on this card also gives me a 0.8%/1.6% interest on my BOC Smartsaver. The best return I could get was $100 rebate and $80 interest with a $1500 dining spend. Best of both worlds.

Not anymore.

In summary, the negative points are as follows:

  • Minimum spending to clock rebates is now $700, compared to $500
  •  There are now 3 individual caps set in place:
    • $30 for dining at 10%; max spend for max rebate = $300
    • $30 for online at 5%; max spend for max rebate = $600
    • $40 for Supermarkets, Hospital bills, NETS FlashPay Auto Top-up, Selected Merchants and Telecommunication bills at 5%; max spend for max rebate = $600
      • Meaning to say, after clocking $300 on dining, I would need to spend another $400 on supermarket and online purchase to get $30 and $20 rebates respectively ðŸ‘Ž
  • With the less attractive dining rebates, I might switch to other credit cards, which affects the amount I clock on BOC card for my Smartsaver account....which also makes me consider switching out of Smartsaver account ðŸ¤”
Thoughts on this?

Comments

  1. foolish chameleon27 March 2018 at 15:24

    what will be a good alt to this BOC? some cats are good, some cats got worse .. i am also in the middle, to change out or not..

    ReplyDelete
  2. P W Yee27 March 2018 at 22:20

    It seems that it is still better than 2nd option maybank credit and it's associated savings program.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rebecca Tan21 April 2018 at 17:19

    same sentiments too. used to be my main card but I have now stopped using it. not worth the effort.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Audi Wong8 May 2018 at 23:56

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown26 July 2018 at 20:41

    One more surprise I just found. They annual fee of $190 cannot be fully waived. Only partially waiver. Have to pay $50 plus GST. The CSO claimed it's recent change in marketing decision, and said because the card has better rebates!?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cherry30 July 2018 at 18:28

      What?! Did u pay it or choose to cancel the card in the end?

      Delete
  6. WCK18 August 2018 at 10:15

    After reading the above with all the T&C, not going to apply for it after all. Why bother if they want to play these "must jump thru all the hoops" game

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nreits28 October 2018 at 22:16

    Very disappointing in fact :( was advocating boc to family and friends previously ... was not even note that the changes took place

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

No rude messages please. Unkind messages and spams will be blocked and deleted.

All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner of this blog will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

Popular posts from this blog

My 10 credit cards and which to say goodbye to 😢

Image
I know I've loads of credit cards. But it scares me a little to know that I've a total of 10 cards after tabulating the below. Guess it's timely to do a review of the cards I have so I know which to use and which to say byebye to!
Here's the summary of my 10 credit cards and which to say goodbye to:
To keep 1. SC Manhattan - to keep for big ticket items (note: card is no longer available for application)
2. SC Unlimited cashback - no min. spend to keep for 1.5% cashback on all spends
3. SC Spree - to use for contactless spends (2%); no min spend, max spend $3000

No minimum spend and up to $60 rebate. Earn 2% cashback on all online spends in local currency, all contactless and mobile payments. Earn 1% cashback on all other retail spends.
4. BOC Sheng Siong - to use for Sheng Siong spends (no min spend, 7% rebate, max spend: $700)Cash RebateSpend CategoryCondition7%Sheng Siong Spend• No minimum spend
• Cash rebate capped at  S$70 per billing cycleAdditional 5%Sheng Siong S…
Read more

End 2017 review - net worth at $287k

Image
I've gotten lazy. I should have joined the hype like everyone else talking about my 2017 achievements and setting 2018 goals, but no, I felt like there wasn't a need to. Who would be interested in my 2017 achievements anyway? But I figured, tracking these down are not for you, it's for me. It's for me to document down bits and pieces of my thoughts so that one day I can look back and recall what I went through.

So hey, it's the 2nd week of 2018. Work has drained the hell out of my soul and I've only worked barely 1 week this year, although I've had a sucky end to 2017. When others were celebrating, I was buried with work. While others were chit chatting casually, I was stuck in meetings and meetings taking notes and doing loads of useless nonsensical stuff that does nothing to improve my life. The only thing I gained out of these was my salary. I am trading my time, my soul, for money.
2017 Review Ok, enough of complains. Here's a throwback on what I di…
Read more

How I save >$150k before 28 - updated tips

2 years ago, I shared my achievement of hitting $100k cash before 28.
Today, I'd like to share how I accumulated >$50k within 2 years time. Honestly, saving around $25k a year is nothing to brag about. But I hope that with my revised tips - which doesn't differ much from what I had two years ago - would inspire or motivate you, especially the younger ones, to do the same for yourself.  To save money, start with discipline. Set a goal - When I achieved $100k at 25, I set myself a new goal to hit $200k by 28. I still have some time to go and may or may not hit $200k given that I've huge expenses coming up (wedding and housing/reno). But, having this goals helps me to work towards it. - The thing is, I don't force myself to save a fix amount each month because I think I am disciplined enough. I still continue my indulgence of eating good food, going for holidays, and buying stuff I like because I know I have a healthy amount of savings to afford it. It feels good to kn…
Read more