Weekly Blog for a family man in Singapore

Side Hustle to explore if you are working 8am to 6pm

Freelancing:

Offer your skills on platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, or Fiverr. Whether you are a writer, graphic designer, programmer, or digital marketer, freelancing allows you to take on projects during evenings or weekends.
Online Tutoring:
Provide tutoring services in subjects you are proficient in. Many students or parents look for tutors in the evenings or on weekends, making it a flexible option.
E-commerce/Dropshipping:
Start an online store through platforms like Shopify and explore dropshipping. This can be managed during your free time, and you can gradually scale it based on your availability.
Affiliate Marketing: Promote products or services through affiliate marketing programs. This can be done through a blog, YouTube channel, or social media during your off-hours.
Virtual Assistance: Offer virtual assistance services to businesses or entrepreneurs. Tasks such as email management, social media scheduling, and customer support can be done outside of regular working hours.
Content Creation: Start a blog, YouTube channel, or podcast. You can create content during your free time and monetize through advertising, sponsorships, or affiliate marketing.
Online Courses: Create and sell online courses on platforms like Udemy or Skillshare. Develop courses in areas where you have expertise and can share valuable knowledge.
Photography/Videography Services: If you have skills in photography or videography, offer your services for events or commercial projects during weekends.
Consulting: Provide consulting services in your area of expertise. This can be done through scheduled appointments or online consultations outside of regular working hours.
Social Media Management: Many businesses look for individuals to manage their social media accounts. If you have social media skills, offer your services during evenings or weekends.
Real Estate: If you have an interest in real estate, consider becoming a part-time property agent. Property viewings and client meetings can be scheduled outside of regular office hours.
Fitness Training: If you are passionate about fitness, offer personal training services during evenings or early mornings. This can be done at a gym or even remotely.
Online Surveys/Market Research: Participate in online surveys or market research studies during your free time to earn extra income.

Remember to assess your skills, interests, and the time you can commit to a side hustle. It's important to choose something that aligns with your strengths and fits well into your schedule without causing burnout. Additionally, be aware of any contractual obligations or conflicts of interest with your full-time job when pursuing a side hustle.

5 ways to stretch your budget

Stretching your budget in a city like Singapore, known for its vibrant lifestyle and relatively higher cost of living, requires strategic planning and thoughtful decision-making. Here are five practical ways to make the most of your budget in Singapore in 2024:

1. Smart Grocery Shopping:

Take advantage of discounts, promotions, and loyalty programs at supermarkets. Consider purchasing generic or house brands, which are often more affordable than their branded counterparts. Plan your meals in advance, create shopping lists, and stick to them to avoid impulse purchases. Additionally, explore local markets and hawker centers for fresh produce and budget-friendly food options.

2. Utilize Public Transportation:

Singapore has an efficient and well-connected public transportation system. Opting for public transport instead of private vehicles can save a significant amount of money on fuel, parking, and maintenance. Consider using monthly passes or travel cards for additional savings. Embracing alternative modes of transport, such as cycling or walking, for short distances can also contribute to both financial and physical well-being.

3. Embrace a Minimalist Lifestyle:

Evaluate your spending habits and prioritize essential purchases. Adopting a minimalist lifestyle can help you cut down on unnecessary expenses. Before making a purchase, ask yourself if it adds real value to your life. Sell or donate items you no longer need, and resist the urge to accumulate possessions that might clutter your living space and strain your budget.

4. Explore Free or Low-Cost Entertainment:

Singapore offers a plethora of free or affordable entertainment options. Take advantage of public spaces, parks, and cultural events that don't require an entrance fee. Many museums and attractions have discounted rates on specific days or during off-peak hours. Explore community events, outdoor festivals, and recreational activities that won't break the bank.

5. Negotiate and Compare Services:

Regularly review your utility bills, insurance premiums, and subscription services. Negotiate with service providers for better rates or explore alternatives that offer similar services at a lower cost. Stay informed about promotions and discounts offered by different providers, and consider bundling services for additional savings. Being proactive in managing your recurring expenses can result in substantial long-term savings.

Remember, financial management is an ongoing process. Regularly reassess your budget, identify areas for improvement, and be open to adjusting your lifestyle to align with your financial goals. By adopting these strategies, you can navigate the cost of living in Singapore more effectively in 2024 and beyond.

Title: Navigating the Road to Financial Freedom: Journey

In the fast-paced world of deadlines, meetings, and responsibilities, the pursuit of financial freedom can sometimes feel like an elusive dream for working adults. However, the journey towards financial independence is not only feasible but also rewarding. As a fellow working professional, I understand the challenges and triumphs that come with this pursuit. In this blog post, I share my personal journey towards financial freedom and the valuable lessons learned along the way.

The Awakening:

My financial journey began with a moment of realization – a realization that I was stuck in a cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. The constant stress of financial insecurity motivated me to take control of my financial destiny. This awakening marked the beginning of my journey to financial freedom.

Setting Clear Goals:

The first step in any journey is to know the destination. I started by setting clear and realistic financial goals. Whether it was paying off debts, building an emergency fund, or investing for the future, having well-defined objectives provided me with a roadmap to follow. This clarity helped me stay focused even during challenging times.

Budgeting as a Lifesaver:

Creating and sticking to a budget became a fundamental aspect of my journey. Tracking income and expenses allowed me to identify areas where I could cut back and save more. It wasn't about deprivation but rather making intentional choices that aligned with my financial goals. Over time, budgeting became a powerful tool in gaining control of my finances.

Embracing Financial Education:

Financial literacy played a crucial role in my journey. I invested time in learning about various investment options, understanding the power of compounding, and staying informed about market trends. This knowledge empowered me to make informed decisions about my money and to take calculated risks that aligned with my financial goals.

Building Multiple Streams of Income:

Relying solely on a 9-to-5 job wasn't enough for me. I explored and invested in creating multiple streams of income. Whether it was a side hustle, freelance work, or investments, diversifying income sources provided me with a safety net and accelerated my journey to financial freedom.

Overcoming Challenges:

The road to financial freedom is not without its challenges. Unexpected expenses, market fluctuations, and personal setbacks tested my resilience. However, staying committed to the end goal and adapting to changing circumstances helped me overcome these challenges. The key was not to be discouraged by setbacks but to view them as opportunities for growth.

Celebrating Milestones:

Every small victory is a step closer to financial freedom. Celebrating milestones, whether it was paying off a credit card or reaching a savings goal, kept me motivated and reminded me of the progress made. Recognizing and celebrating these achievements made the journey more enjoyable and sustainable.

Conclusion:

As a working adult on the journey to financial freedom, I've come to appreciate that it's not just about reaching a specific financial milestone. It's about the personal growth, discipline, and resilience developed along the way. The journey is ongoing, and the lessons learned continue to shape my financial decisions. To my fellow working professionals, remember that financial freedom is not a destination; it's a lifelong journey that begins with a single step and evolves with every intentional financial decision you make.

2024 Goals

This is the start of the 3rd week of 2024.

A recap of 2023 goals that i have set for myself.

1. Exercise daily by jogging 1/2 hour every morning to keep my energy up throughout the day.

2. Invest in Singapore Stock Market on Dividend stocks and S&P 500 ETF

3. Blogging once a week post.

4. Read a book every week

5. Learn Indonesian language 10 mins per day.

For the goals above, except for blogging once a week post, the rest i was able to hit my goals.

I was able to cultivate habits which i was able to consistently do throughout the day.

For the first goal, exercise daily. After i accompany my daughter to the school bus, i go for a jog daily without fail. I started with only 10 mins of exercise and slowly work my way up to 30 mins of jogging. I'm able to clock in 5000 steps and above with the healthhub app which also gives me points. The points that i accumulate, i was able to redeem NTUC vouchers. So far i have redeem about $50 worth of NTUC vouchers. For my 5th goal, i achieve by doing the 10 mins per day after my jog as i need to cool down before i go and bath.

For the 2nd goal, after each pay day per month, i will put aside money to invest in the stock market without fail. Looking at Reits and Bank stocks will be my target this year as i wanted to increase my portfolio allocation more towards the bank and reits in Singapore. For S&P 500 it is put on auto mode where every month there will be a fixed amount deducted from my SRS account to fund my investment in S&P>

For the 3rd goal, i was not consistent, it can be due to tiredness, lazy. This year i will cultivate the habit of researching for topics to blog on finance during Monday - Thurs only 1/2 for the research. And during Fri / Sat / Sun to do write and publish my blog. At the same time i do research on financials and i can also gauge my understanding by publishing my blog and sharing with people.

For the 4th goal, i was able to achieve easily as i love to read and by bringing my daughters to the library on Sunday. I hope to inspire them to do reading, checking for books instead of staying at home watching Tv.

I will continue on for these 5 goals for 2024. Main thing to cultivate habit for my blog post once per week in 2024.

10 ways to stretch your dollar in Singapore

Cost of living has been going up in 2023 in Singapore. As a Singaporean living in Singapore. I check out and list the 10 ways to stretch in Singapore. Hope that it can help people in the day to day.

Managing your Money

First Step is to see when your money goes to. Compiling of the list of fixed expenses and variable expenses. Fixed expenses like housing, insurance, transportation, utilities, childcare cost etc. It will be fixed. Variable expenses will be on Food, leisure, travel, shopping, fitness, beauty care whereby you can cut down. Hopefully these 10 ways will give you an idea

1. Current Account Opening If you are working and getting a fixed income per month, consider to open an account with either of the 3 major banks in Singapore . UOB / DBS / OCBC. With the salary credit to the current account every month, you can potentially earn up to 7+ percent per year subjected to the criteria that the banks lay out. And the interest is credited every month as well. This will magically create few hundred dollars extra per month that will help in defray the cost of living in Singapore. For myself i used OCBC whereby my salary is credited

2. Invest in T-bills Consider to purchase T-bills in www. mas.gov.sg from there every 2 weeks there is a sale of T-bills. How does T-bills works, You can invest in $500 or max up to $1million. The interest is credited to your account straightaway, take example right now the T-bill is at 3.87%. If you put in $1000, you will receive $38.7/2 which is $19.35 as it is a 6 months period. At the end of the 6 months period, you will receive back the principal that you have invested.

3. CDC vouchers With the $500 CDC vouches that the government has announced, $250 for Grocery and $250 to purchase. For those that do not have app in mobile, you can retrieve paper copies of the codes to use. Extract from Straits Times.

As at Jan 3, at least four of the eight participating supermarket chains are offering return vouchers or other deals for those who use a minimum amount of CDC vouchers for each transaction.

The FairPrice Group (FPG) will give out $8 in return vouchers for every $80 worth of CDC supermarket vouchers used in a single transaction at its outlets until Jan 17.

At U Stars stores, customers who spend $60 of their vouchers between Jan 3 and 17 will get a $7 return voucher, while those who spend $120 in vouchers will receive a $15 return voucher.

DFI Retail Group said customers who spend $100 worth of vouchers at Cold Storage, CS Fresh and Jason’s Deli from Jan 3 to 7 will get $5 cash vouchers.

Those who spend $100 worth of vouchers at Giant from Jan 3 to 7 are eligible to redeem a 2.5kg bag of rice.

4. Drink Water instead of Soda / Coffee / Tea For myself i have cut down my spending on drinks to only drink water. It is good for my health and i'm able to save money. Most restaurants also offer water. It is a habit that i have cultivated.

5. Gym work out For the past 1 year, i have been using the community center GYM. Each entry is $2. I also run near my park. For people who loved jogging and gym. Going to community center GYM might be a good alternative and it does save money.

6. Library Resources in books, magazines are free resources in Singapore. Can access online at www.nlb.gov.sg and you can download the libby app to borrow books as well. All the financial books, comics, stocks, property i borrow from the library. Normally people only read once or twice. Also can go to sg books don't throw in facebook group.

7. Carousell Consider to sell the items that you do not need in Carousell app. I have been using the app to sell some things like TV, mini fridge, tricycle, bike etc. It helps that i can recover part of the cost that i have utilised when i first do the purchase.

8. Facebook Groups SGfreerecyle and SGfreerecycle 2 which members will share the items they do not need and will give to people who need it. The objective is to reduce waste and i find there are a lot of stuff that people do not mind giving out as they have no use for it. Also consider to donate to Salvation army if you have stuff that you do not need.

9. Games at a discount or free Last year i pick up the command and conquer ultimate game option at a price of $19 SGD. Warcraft 3 at $20. It was a bargain i pick up during Hallowen period and end of the year sales. Even Diablo 4 was at a discount. Consider picking up games after 1 year as normally they will be promotion or sales which you can further stretch your dollar.

10. Skills to pick up Instead of signing up courses, why not consider searching in you-tube. Nowadays Youtube provide alot of information and course which is free. Consider what topics and courses you want to go in. Research in Youtube and do a trial out. For myself, i really love youtube.

LIVING TO 100 (SINGAPORE)

Recently i watched a Netflix series on Living to 100 (Secrets of the Blue Zone) whereby the last episode feature Singapore as one of the manufactured Blue Zone. I was intrigued why Singapore was being singled out as a manufactured Blue Zone. Singapore is also a young Nation where it was independent in 1965 and we just pass our 58th Birthday on 9th August 2023. In s span of 50+ years, we have grown our life expectancy to 83 years old which is higher than United States. How did the Government do it?

From the series of the Netflix series, it dives deep into countries in Europe, Japan, Costa Rica, Sardina (California) whereby there are a lot of people live past 100 years old. How do they manage to live beyond that? One of the key is physical activities that keep them utilizing their bodies, be it planting, walking, doing chores, cooking. Another key is resting, sufficient rest is needed, for the people in Costa Rica they take an afternoon nap as and when they needed. The other key is eat well, for Japan wise they eat plant based food which reduces calories intake and also provide the nutrients required for the human body. One other key would be the community get together and bond together which i believe it helps to destress in the emotional part of the body. Coupled with the 4 main keys. Human can live beyond 100 years old.

How true that Singapore people can live to 100 (Blue Zone). Are we really considered to be in the Blue Zone? From my perspective, i do feel that the life expectancy has been longer. Back when i was age 8 years old, my nanny passed away when she was 30+ and my nanny's husband pass away when he was 50+. My grandmother passed away when she was 90+ and my grandmother-in-law passed away when she was 70+. Currently my dad / mum and my father-in-law / mother-in-law are still well and healthy, they are in their late 70s+ . I believe with the current health care system in Singapore, my parents and my-in-laws will possibly live to 100 and beyond. Why do i say that, every year, they will go for health check up to see any issues on their body. By the way my mum have a lot of operations before and my father in law as well. They are still living healthy.

As i mentioned the 4 key points for living to 100 and beyond.

Physical activities : In Singapore as owning a car is very expensive. As of today in Sep 2023, the COE has went past $100k+ for a COE for a car under 1600cc and almost $150k for a car above 1600cc. COE stands for certificate of Eligibility to own a car. Coupled with Road tax, insurance, Car park, maintenance. A car can cost from $30k onwards which amounts to $2.5k per month. Not many people can afford it. That is one of the policy that Singapore has geared towards to for carlite. So most of the people take public transport. So the average Singaporean will be walking about 7000 steps to 15000 steps per day which translate to about 6km to 13km per day.

Resting: This is one key that i think it is very difficult to achieve in Singapore. People in Singapore are working an average of 45 hours per day, coupled with the traveling and dinner time that could stretch till 3 hours. People in Singapore are quite sleep deprived. Most people in Singapore will sleep late during the wkends to catch up on rest and recuperate. My view is that this should be tweaked to have 4.5 days of work with Friday as a half day or 3pm to knock off so that people can unwind and recuperate over the weekend.

Eating Well: Singapore has been introducing more complex carbohydrates in the food and educating the masses in Singapore. Simple Carbohydrates vs. Complex Carbohydrates (healthline.com) More details can be found in the link.

Community and Get Together: Singapore has community centers all around Singapore. There are total 119 community centers in Singapore. Each community center has a basketball court (free) , badminton court ($6 per 2 hours usage), stage for performance, gym ($2 per entry), activities and classes. Every festive there will be get togethers whereby people gather and watch performance, play, have fun. I've been to these activities and i really like the crowd and get together. It creates bonding and social network. Chinese New Year Celebration ($28 per pax), Mother's day Celebration ($5 per pax), Moon Cake Festive ($2 per pax), carnival activities (free).

Will Singapore continue to be a Blue Zone? My view is that we would need to tackle the cost of living whereby in my earlier article wrote about that the minimum cost of living in Singapore has risen drastically. The average family of 4 in Singapore need about $6.6k per month to have a decent living. I still remember when i was 8 years old, my whole family of 5 only need $10 per day to buy ingredients from the market whereby my grandmother will cook for the whole family. One month expenses of food will amount to $300+. Unlike today if we are eating outside, we would need minimum $15 per day for per pax (including drinks). That is how high the cost of living had rise in Singapore. Hopefully in the future Singapore will be able to be self-sufficient in the food and water whereby we do not need to import food and water from Overseas. Water for Singapore will reach self-sufficiency in 2060. Another 37 years from now. Hopefully by then we can reach self-sufficiceny in food as well. What can be done? Invest in more businesses that can generate food, get more free trade agreement on essentials, invest in technologices that incentives for creation of food. Create farming vertically on lands in Pulau Ubin, reclaim the lands there since it is going to be taken over by the Government. Make it a farming area. Food is critical if we want to maintain the Blue Zone.

Cost of living in Singapore 2023 for family of 6

Recently there was a study on cost of living in Singapore from NTU and Lee Kuan Yew School of Public policy that.

$6,693 for a couple with two children aged 7–12 and 13–18 years old.

That's quite substantial to me. As i read through the key findings of the report.

I decided to dive deeper to my family household expenses to see how much i need per month and how near of off the budget of $6,693 am i.

Monthly my budget should go up to $3.5k after rounding up to the nearest hundred. Of course the above only indicates the living expenses per month. As i stay in hdb, I also have a housing loan of $800 to service every month. With that in month, the monthly household income would need to be at least $4.2k to at least cover my household income and the housing loan.

Let's see what does MIS calculator show.

By rounding up to almost $6k per month. With that in month. Household income will need to be at least $7.2k per month. A difference of $3k per month. Let's see what does it comprise of.

The main differences are MIS include social participation, clothing and personal care and healthcare and insurance.

For health care if i will to add on the medishield plans i had for both my daughters and my wife. The out of pocket expenses will come up to $100 per month. For insurance my family have the savings plan which amount to $1k per month. For social participation, normally is about $100 per week which amounts to $400 per month. Clothing amounts to $300 per month for my 2 daughters and my wife. (For myself, i only buy once per year before Chinese New Year which normally cost me about $200, shoes about 2 pair cost around $160, roughly about $30 per month) Additional $1730 a month. If i total it up will be $5930 household income that i need to earn per month to have a minimum living standards in Singapore. The $5930 per month is almost roughly the same of what the MIS calculator have estimated. The main difference is that my household include my Mum and a maid. My total annual household expenditure amounts to $42k. Including the 3 categories of healthcare, insurance, clothing, personal care and social participation will require another $20.8k rounding up. That is for 6 people living in my household. Do check the webpage out for insights and you can try out the MIS calculator.

What is MIS? – Minimum Income Standard (whatsenough.sg)

It also shows links and information to be below.