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Money Saving tip: Don't throw away your mandarin orange peels!

Happy Lunar New Year! With mandarin oranges being one of the core items that you bring along for house visiting, I'm sure you'd have at least a pair of oranges in your house. Other than eating it, how about making the full use of this amazing fruit by saving the peels? It's environmentally and pocket ($) friendly. FYI, these works well for any citrus peels :) Here's what you can do with your peels: 1. Make it with tea  You could either dry it like how the video does, or just pour hot water on freshly peeled skin 2. Use it as a air freshener  Boil the peels in hot water to help freshen the air in the kitchen and pour it into a spritz. 3. Make candies 4. Put it into green or red bean soup Add zest to your dessert with these mandarin peels! My parents do that to give the soup extra taste :) 5. Make an all-purpose toxic free cleansing agent Lastly, my personal favourite for kitchen use. For those families who whipped up many dishes over the

Unexpected review of 2016: hitting $200k in net worth

As we countdown to 2017, I was reflecting on my 2016. 2016 was an average year. Nothing exciting to shout about and nothing major happened.... Until I started to browse through my blog and reviewed my financial portfolios. As I browsed through my blog, I looked back at the little things that happened. I got engaged, got a shock from my health screening results which turned out to be nothing bad (pessimist really), achieved $100k cash savings and this is excluding CPF at 25, transferred money to my mom's CPF which made her happy, travelled overseas twice albeit to nearby areas, and got around $10k performance bonus. These are little milestones and achievements worth clapping for. Here's my throwback to 2016: Jan - Got engaged, but feels bad for wasting his money Feb - Started this blog to pen down my thoughts - Went for health screening.  Had a health scare because I didn't understand my health report. Took the chance to upgrade my hospitalisation plan to the best Ma

5 Last minute Practical Christmas Gift ideas Below $30

It's just one week to Xmas! No wonder the crowd at Orchard yesterday. There were full of people at Takashimaya, ION looking for gifts....or are they impractical ones? Every Christmas, we fret over what to gift to friends, colleagues and families. I, as a self-proclaimed ultra practical person will never buy gifts that are impractical. I'll SMH and feel disappointed when I received impractical gifts like chocolates (very insincere leh, unless it's Royce lol), The Body Shop lotion (no use la!), piggy banks (I'm big enough leh!) and notebooks (not laptops but jotter books! They're fancy, but I get so many free during fairs and I can't finish using!). Since I'm already spending money liao, might as well gift something useful right? Better late than never, so here's my guide to 5 last minute below $30 Xmas gift ideas if you want to gift something practical. Disclaimer, what's practical for me may not be for you and if you're purchasing these onlin

Damn those wisdom teeth

I've a total of 4 wisdom tooth that has yet been extracted. People say that if you dont feel aches, there's no need to remove those tooth. But, I've been having toothache on my lower right molar area. I knew my 4 wisdom tooth were growing in weird directions during my x-rays years ago. The dentist said that she could not remove them as they're still growing and it is possible that my tooth would grow vertically just like normal tooth which does not require extractions. However, years later, I could see that my 4 wisdom tooth are impacted - meaning, they are growing against my molars. Also, I've noticed food stuck at the gums between the molars and the wisdom tooth - very gross because there is a hole that traps food already. I've been putting off the extractions for the past few years. My dentist wanted to do a X-Ray for me to check on the tooth before assessing if I should remove them but I didn't bear to spend the money on the X-rays :X. Was also thin

4 lottery winners who lost it all

I like the caption below: With the Powerball jackpot soaring to $415 million, it’s important to remember that money doesn’t solve life’s problems . In fact, many people’s lives took a turn for the worse, and they managed to lose all the money.  What would I do if I strike the lottery? 1. Keep quiet This might be hard to do considering that I like to share my joy. But, I'd like to keep my mouth shut and not share this news to anyone - not even my partner and family. I can already imagine what my dad would say and think - he'd expect me to fork everything. He'll probably share this with the external family who wouldn't let me off easily. More family politics will ensue. As for my partner, he'd probably still treat me the same, but I can't trust his mouth. If he'll to share this news with his family, I'll be labelled as niao if I dont pay for stuffs. Tongues will wag, and I can't take these. Keep quiet for my own sanity. 2. Continue w

It's not just about PSLE. It's about our society's attitude on Grades

As I trawl through the comments , people were sharing their PSLE scores along with how and what they're doing now. Some are doing well, and some are still finding their way out in life. Now here's my story. I grew up in a vicious environment. A vicious environment perpetuated by bitchy relatives who compare my results EVERY SINGLE TIME. I hated them for their endless comparison and in turn berated myself for not being academically smart. They always had something to say or to belittle me. I had a big ego but a meek personality. Whenever I hear them snickering about my results or "consoling" my parents that my results are "okay", I cry. I was an average student in school. In my primary school, I was streamed into EM2 but was doing okay for most of my subjects, except Maths. I usually top my Chinese, but Chinese was not important. During PSLE, I was hoping for a score of at least 235, so that I could get into a neighbouring girl's school. When my res

There's no need to conform to norms

I probably come across as a frugal lady from my previous posts. I don't spend incessantly, don't crave for much, nor chase for the latest fashion or makeup. But, I've my shares of impulse purchases. And this purchase which I'm taking about, makes me regret every time I think about/sees it. And, it's not even my money. My engagement ring I don't think I've shared this story before, but my partner was kinda pressurized to get a diamond ring for me. On the spot. I guess I was feeling frustrated of his inaction, and his NATO style. He is so lepak that if I hadn't got him to pay for the ring, I'm probably still not engaged. (On a side note, there's no point being proposed to early, because we have no plans for marriage yet.) I'll not dwell too much on this but to cut the story short, I chose my diamond ring at a warehouse sale. Yes, I suck. Just because it was a warehouse sale from a reputable jewellery store (think 50%* off signs plas

The things I look forward to

It's mid Nov. How time flies. I remember celebrating Xmas in the office not long ago and exchanging gifts. It's going to be another Xmas soon. In the past 11 months, I don't think I've made much significant achievements. But as I squeeze my brain cells hard, I recalled achieving my goal of having $100k cash at 25 . I recalled that I was proposed to, but hey, no progress in terms of marriage/wedding. I recalled that I took on a new portfolio and am not liking it very much. I recalled spending a lot of money on my SC Singpost, Manhattan and BOC Family card just to chalk up rebates, and am now at the stage where I barely spent much - I didn't even spend anything on 11.11. I recalled getting a good performance bonus, and will probably not get this grade in the future. I recalled crying in office and back home because of mistakes, criticisms and stress. I recalled the quarrels with my fiance because I felt that he does not care about my feelings and even thought of c

The start after a break

It's 1 Nov tomorrow. After a decent break from work, it's back to the grind. During my break, I had various thoughts: A) Quit this job - because I don't know what I'm learning - there's always so much shit to clear up and my bosses cannot lead - too much things on my plate and the bosses will always say they are giving me exposure - don't wish to stay till promotion because it could be at least 2 more years (that's a long time) - bosses don't communicate and don't give proper directions, leading to wastage of efforts and resources B) Stay because - my bosses like/trust me and my performance bonuses show - I should wait for my promotion -the economy is bad and I should stay till I get my increment which would at least be $300+ - everywhere else sucks, as said by everyone. Worst still, if I go into a company full of petty, competitive b* who play politics, I'll probably cry my way home. At the end of it, I chose to stay put. At

[Guide] How to deposit cash to parent's CPF?

The thought of depositing cash into CPF struck me when I read some blogs on reducing tax reliefs and also earning the decent interest rates given by our government in the current low interest rates climate. Since then, I've been researching on the pros and cons of this move and concluded to transfer $7,000 cash into my mom's Retirement Account. Here's why: 1. To reduce my tax payable My estimated tax is around $2,400, assuming there are zero reliefs. By topping up my mom's CPF, I'll get a relief of $7,000. Now that will reduce my tax to around $1,900. 2. Growing spare cash  I mentioned that I'm always on the look out for safe places to park my cash, mostly FDs. But the FDs these days are disappointing. I've on standby, at least $60k cash in my BOC account  . So, emergency funds are settled. I've also 2 FDs accounts which have yet to mature. The remaining cash could be put to other uses, like giving it to my mom by parking the money into a sa

Should credit card companies inform us on the statement cycle during card activation?

I recently signed up for the HSBC credit card so that I could get the Samsonite luggage with my >$1k spend. Let me just say that their application forms/page are not user friendly and their processing time was really long. I called the HSBC customer service to enquire when I'd receive the card, and they said mine was still in processing stage despite me making a few calls previously to ensure that I've submitted all my docs and that I need the card by end of the month. They said they'd expedite. Which, they did. Because on the day of making the phone call to the customer service, I received my card. Now, didn't the customer service officer told me that my application is still in processing stage? I reckon the guy just didn't know what was going on and would tell all applicants that their cards are in process. Not a good impression on their banking services. Anyway, I was relieved to get my card on 30 Sept because I needed to pay a payment of >$1k. I imme

Being low maintenance helps in saving $

I am a self-proclaimed low maintenance lady and I attribute this lifestyle and my personality of wanting to make my money worth (most of the times), to why I manage to save $100k at 25 . I love browsing through famous instagramers' feed - from their immaculate makeup, fashionable outfits, to their pretty manicures. But, I've never bear to splash cash to be like them. I'd rather have spend my money on food than makeup, and nice clothes that doesn't cost a bomb. Here's how I keep a low maintenance lifestyle: 1) I don't do makeup Must self-praise that I've genetically nice skin. I seldom have acne breakouts, and have no freckles. My only concern are those pores and blackheads on my nose, but well, nobody will look at me with a magnifying glass. I guess genetics play a part, but I've also refrain from using makeup loaded with harmful chemicals. Do you know that I know nothing about makeup? Test me with the names of makeup brands and new makeup produc

Driving License. To get or not?

It's rather funny that I'm talking about this at this age, when most of my peers receive their licenses after "A" levels at 18. But, I've never been bothered to learn driving. Here are the reasons why: 1) My family has no car and the only one with a license is my dad Many of my peers have family car. They were used to being driven around by their parents, and learn about driving through their trips. But our family never had a car. I had no sense of cars, driving or traffic rules and laws. Driving was unfamiliar to me and the closest experience I had was Go-Kart. Most of my peers who learn driving has a car at home, and it stems from a need to learn driving because their parents asked them to. Some were even sponsored a car after learning driving. Also, because my mom doesn't have a license, and we get on well without a car since we live is such a convenient location, it just doesn't strike me that I MUST learn to drive. 2) I'm clumsy, careless