Simple Budget, Simple Life

For people my age, wedding bells have been ringing. A few years ago, we started out in the workforce, fresh from school, trying to earn our keeps and manoeuvre ourselves in the dogs eat dogs world. As we earned our keeps, we also knew we had to save for impending cost bombs - for house, for wedding, for kids, and for retirement. Back then, I set my goal to save $100k and I managed to hit it at age 25 . I knew time was on my side and I had keep my expenses low in order to save. I wasn't earning big bucks - I was just a normal salaried working, earning less than what my peers were earning. Likewise, when I planned for my wedding, I knew I had to keep my expenses low as well because my partner and I were paying everything out from our pockets. I was the Chief Finance Officer budgeting and making sure we clock rebates, and getting the best deals out of everything. I was also the CEO of my wedding, because I dictate most of the "to-do" and "not to do" list.

Like all budget savy young couples planning their banquet, we all aim to clock as much rewards be it cashback or miles from our banquet purchase. After all, a banquet, even at a restaurant, sets us back to a 5 digit sum for more than 100 pax. My partner and I have decided to hold our banquet at a Chinese restaurant next year. So, a few months back, we made our deposit of $2000 to lock in the wedding date. Prior to this, I was at my desk calculating the different cashback I would receive using various cards. After all, my coordinator assured that I could swipe different cards to gain the maximum rebates. Also, it helps that my Chinese restaurant is categorised under "Dining", which meant...more cashback :D (too bad if you hold it at a hotel!) After researching, it boiled down to 2 cards: 1. BOC Family card 2. POSB Everyday card The BOC family card gives me 7% cashback from dining and the cap was at $100. Really good card to use. Also, as a Smartsaver account user, I