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Jan 2020 - Surprising month of $$ Gains from Carousell, Shopback, Angbaos

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! This month is a surprising month of gains from 3 things: 1. Carousell 2. Angbaos 3. Shopback For Carousell, it was a surprising stroke of luck. In a short span of 20 odd days, we managed to earn $1018 from new and used goods 😛 For Angbao, it was surprising because I thought we'd be giving and not receiving. But, we still got $ from our parents and elder sibling ðŸ˜›Granted we gave out more than we got back, but it does feel good to receive some hehe For Shopback, hubby managed to get around $150 cashback  ðŸ˜²mainly from our 11.11 purchases, of which we received $75 for our Amazon purchase OMG. On my end, I just cashed out $20 odd dollars from Lazada 11.11 purchases and policypal travel insurances! Do you know you can earn cashback from purchasing insurances via policypal ? Use "SAVEMONEY" in the promo code to receive 5% off your purchase! Hope we continue such good luck in earning side money!

Adulting starts. ~$2.2k Monthly Household Bills, Referral Codes (MyRepublic, Sembcorp, Circles Life) and $7k top-up to SA

My official adulting started when I moved into my own crib. Older folks will probably laugh at the Millennials. Yes, I won't dispute the fact that we have been well pampered by our parents. I know very well that despite not growing up in a middle-income family, my mum has spoilt us by doing practically everything for us. For that, I'm super grateful. So, with the move to my new home comes new responsibilities in the new year. Honestly, it hasn't been that bad living an independent life. Sure I dont get breakfast or hot meals prepared at every meal time, nor things get magically cleaned, I am getting used to this life. I guess that's because I'm not a stickler for super clean house (I can live with organised mess lol and have yet to unpack all my items HAHA), and I have modern gadgets to save my life, such as: robot cleaner to clean the floor everyday filtered water so there's no need to boil water instant hot water washing machine that's on when

Ending 2019 with extra $6,000 in CPF

One of the best feelings in the world is seeing more $ in my accounts. At the end of 2019, I received an extra $6,000 for my CPF. Total CPF stands at $140k. I intend to top up $7,000 into my SA this month for tax-relief purposes. Have you checked out yours yet? :)

End 2019 Review - inching close to $500k net worth

This year flew by quickly again and I'm one year older, but don't feel wiser. I feel more negative and jaded, especially relating to work. Now that I have my own house, all I want to do is stop work and nua at home haha Reading back  last year's post  made me think - last year was pretty exciting. I like how I can read back on the little achievements I noted down on this blog. I'll use last year's post as a guide on what to blog about. Key things that happened this year: - Travelled overseas for work ✌️ - Travelled to 17 cities. Officially the most travelled year of my lifetime. Probably not able to beat ever - Caught the Northern Lights - Own my first property at a prime location But the most important thing I wanted this year did not happen. Oh well, hopefully next year will be better! On to my  Goals in 2018  and the Reality in 2019 Stay healthy and happy -  ✅I guess. Have a little piglet in 2019 -  ❌disappointment month after month Travel to Europe

Extremely bad start with UOB One

With the influx of posts on social media re UOB One (psst on grabpay) and the receipt of my house keys, I decided it was the time to sign up for a UOB One account plus credit card. It was gonna be the best tool for household joint expenses and joint savings. However, I've faced multiple hiccups that made me VERY frustrated....WHY ME?! 1. Delayed approving process led to losing out of sign up bonus First, I signed up for the UOB One card and Account in early Oct through Singsaver's promotion. The promotion said that I'd get to enjoy cash incentive for registration + UOB's promotion of $80 cash credit with min $1k spent within 30 days of card approval. Mind you, t hese terms were stated to end on 31 Oct , extracted below: S$80 Cash Credit for  UOB  One Account:  Limited to the first 500 new to  UOB  Deposits customers who either (i) deposit and maintain $5,000 or (ii) credit their salary, into their new  UOB  account for 6 consecutive months. Terms and conditio

Insane 11.11 deals and around $750 savings

Hello! I'm back! My blog has been collecting dust with my previous update 2 months back. Glad to provide good updates that I've finally received the keys to my home :). Reno has also started and we hope to be able to move in by end this year! I guess it's a blessing in disguise that my key collection was delayed till now. This is an excellent time to purchase household items at attractive prices on 11.11 (and upcoming Black Friday!) It's practically sales everywhere now, as it builds up to Xmas. Makes me happy while typing these. Who can resist bargains right? Prior to 11.11, I started carting stuff and comparing prices. Hence, as the clock struck 12am at 11.11, I was frantically paying. In fact, in just 1 day, I spent close to $5.5k on 3 platforms. Taobao, Lazada and Qoo. And hey, I contributed to this record  😛 Items bought includes: dining table electrical laundry system Xiaomi TV ceiling fans lights fridge washing machine sofa toilet

PSA - Free staycation for $400 spend plus $50 credit?!

Fancy a free staycation at M Social Hotel and a $50 credit?  If you signed up for the FRANK credit card, you'll get the $50 rebate and receive a free staycation with $400 minimum spend. The last I had a FRANK card was years ago. Back then (think 2012), FRANK account was suitable for undergraduates with their attractive interest rates and customised credit card designs. Their FRANK card was awesome as I recalled a 5% online rebates with low minimum spend. As usual, good things don't last. When FRANK account offered pathetic interests compared to other salary crediting accounts and their FRANK credit card became unattractive due to it's minimum $400 offline spend to start clocking rebates, I cancelled it immediately. Until recently when I spotted this: The credit card still sucks but by spending $400 for a free staycation? Count me in! Furthermore, I received a $50 credit by signing via myinfo which is effectively a 12.5% rebate! Take note that the fr

Fully paid off HDB during key collection. Is it wise?

I've a happy problem now. I'm expected to get my keys by end this year. I was deliberating on the options to settle the loans  - whether to pay off as much cash as we have, to minimise the loan we have. By some stroke of luck, our parents are extending their money to us...with interest of course, but slightly lesser than HDB loan of 2.6%. Works for us since the interest we pay them is better than what the banks give. With this loan, plus wiping out our CPF (leaving $20k behind), we can actually pay the remaining  with our savings at point of key collection. This is our scenario, amounts adjusted for simplicity: Remaining to pay after downpayment $550,000 Parents loan $200,000 CPF OA $100,000 Remaining balance (to pay using cash?) $250,000 And, I'd have paid off my HDB at point of key collection (though effectively, we still owe our parents money with interest). Use Cash, Grow CPF Our idea is to use as much cash where possible. First, the interest g