Simple Budget, Simple Life

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 ...

Right now, my head is still spinning. Spinning from the unfriendly ibanking BOC portal and trying to figure out my credit card statement and payments. I was palpitating when I saw huge amounts debited in my Aug statement. It was a $280 "annual fee", $19.95 "goods and services tax", and near $80 "interest in the payment" amount. As much as I enjoy earning BOC's interests and rebates, I get confused sometimes with their ibanking portal. BOC has gotta up their portal design man. I always have difficulties understanding their credit card statements. Called BOC and it turns out it is my CC anniversary so I was "welcomed" with a $300+ annual fee charge, which they will help to waive off. Goodness, what if I didn't check my statement properly? As for the interest in the payment, apparently, I didn't pay my bills?! How could I have let this happened?! Hope they waive this off cause I've been paying my bills diligently. Followi...

One of the best feelings in the world is travelling for a holiday. But before this, we often go through the worst feelings planning for a budget holiday (if you're a rich kid, please ignore this post 'cause it's not relevant for you yo!) I recently went through a hair-pulling experience planning for my Taiwan trip for 2. My partner is supposed to plan it for me, but I trust no one when it comes to making wise (money) decisions. I don't know what type of personality I have, but I really need to be in control and know I'm making my money worth when booking for flights, hotels and what's not. I'm not niao ok, just particular about how I spend my money 😂 Who wants to pay full price when we could pay cheaper by being a little more diligent? I'll summarise the following tips on what I did to save money from my Taiwan trip. Look out for airlines promotion - Sign up for your favourite airlines newsletters to know the promos first hand and hit it when...

I'm contemplating on this endowment plan from FWD which gives 2.02% interest p.a. It guarantees return when the plan matures after 3 years. This is the best "savings" plan I've seen. I'm thinking of putting $15k for this, which will mature to $15,927 after 3 years. That is, if you don't terminate your policy early. What are your thoughts to this offer? --- After thinking for half a day and seeing some comments, I've decided to go ahead with this offer. Looking forward to my $927 gain in 3 years' time! Would you be joining me? :)

Some people see putting money into CPF as a foolish thing to do. They do not believe in the CPF system for it locks their money up unless conditions are satisfied. They may be right, and they may be wrong, for there are no perfect systems. I am putting my faith in CPF as a way for me to generate higher returns for my retirement. A 4% p.a interest in risk-free environment. Other than CPF, which other systems provide such benefits? I am only in my twenties, and have close to 30 years till 55 before I could start withdrawing my money (assuming this policy does not change). I was apprehensive about this initially - what if I need the money in the future? Once I put my money in, the action is irreversible. It does not have the liquidity like my 1 year FDs, SSBs or my savings account. Maybe I should park my extra cash into more FDs? But the interest rates are not attractive at all. As I tabulated my finances, I figured that I have at least 1 year worth of my salary for immediate expenses...

I blogged about my achievement of having $100k savings before age 28 some time back. One way I could achieve this was to make sure my money grows through FDs. However, in recent months, the interest rates have been dropping. I used to see CIMB offering 1.8% p.a for a $10,000 fresh funds deposit, now it's 1.2% p.a for a 6 months tenure with a minimum $20k deposit. One year ago, I chanced upon the State Bank of India  offering a 1.6% interest p.a on minimum $10k deposit. It was the best deal I've seen then. I was contemplating about putting my money into a foreign bank but went ahead thinking that the Deposit Insurance Scheme would insure me. Prior to making my deposit, I popped into the bank to enquire on the FD rate, just to be sure it was 1.6%. The bank teller looked at me and asked, "Do you have $10k?", "Are you a Singaporean?". When I told her I'd be withdrawing my money nearby and am a Singaporean, she gave this insouciant expression and cont...

When it comes to skincare products or toiletries, I've a few rules that I follow: - as best as possible, items should be free from SLS and parabens - application should be hassle-free - and most importantly, product must be value for money With that, I'm going to share with you my budget 4-steps skincare routine which cost you less than  $55 , bearing in mind some of the products could last over a year! 1. Makeup/Sunblock Remover >Nutive Organic Virgin Coconut Oil : $18 for 444ml In recent years, there's been a hype surrounding the many uses of coconut oil. One of which is the use of coconut oil as a makeup remover. What attracted me to this method were 2 reasons. One, a tub of coconut oil is cheap (I found it on qoo10 which sells a tub of 444ml oil at $18), much cheaper than some commercial makeup remover. Second, it is a natural product compared to the chemicals loaded drugstore remover. I have been using this for close to a year now, and there is ...