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Asia’s Interesting Superstitions Surrounding Money

Proud of its value for racial harmony, Singapore is a country that fuses people from different nationalities. Each nationality has formed a culture built on their own set of practices, rituals, and beliefs. Said beliefs do not have to be logical all the time as superstitions exist. Some of the superstitions surround heavy issues like money.

If you are interested to learn more about the Asian diversity in financial superstitions, continue reading this article.

IN JAPAN

The eccentric country of Japan is known for many things. One of which is their ability to morph paper figures – the art of Origami. To attract good fortune or wealth, you will need to put an Origami frog inside your wallet. The word “frog” in their language (“kaeru”) is a homonym for the phrase “to return”. Hence, putting an origami frog in your wallet entails the continued circulation of money.

IN CHINA

As the age-old saying goes: “a purse on the floor is money out the door”. Putting your purse or handbag on the floor famously symbolizes your detachment from wealth. On the bright side, keeping your belongings at close proximity lessens the chances of object misplacement or theft.

IN KOREA

Whether you are shaking your nerves away or acting on an automatic response, you must avoid fidgeting your legs in Korea. This common mannerism is frowned upon as it is believed that you are literally shaking off your good luck or wealth.

IN PHILIPPINES

Have you been experiencing an annoying itch in your palm? Do not forget to put this “itchy palm” in your pocket immediately. What may seem like a product of insect bites is deemed to mean incoming wealth. Regardless of the origin of the itch, Filipinos believe that you must expect to receive money in the next couple of days.

IN SINGAPORE

One of Singapore’s superstition roots from the Chinese beliefs about the numbers eight and four. They believe that number eight is fortunate and number four is unfortunate. These meanings were associated based on the Chinese language. You see, these words are homophones for the words “prosperity” and “death” respectively.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Try negotiating a discount if your apartment or condominium unit ends with number four. Research showed that it will work in your favor!

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5

Tips On Balancing 2 Jobs While Maintaining Sanity

In Singapore, it is not uncommon to hold two or more jobs. You may quickly browse thru your social media profiles to observe how some people seem to do it all. What you do not see behind the lenses is its challenging nature. It is difficult to balance several fulfilling commitments while maintaining your sanity!

On that note, here are some sensible tips that may help:

#1: ACCEPTANCE

Whatever career path you may take, your mindset echoes the way you act and feel. Start by accepting that you will acquire multiple jobs to cover your needs. Realize that the compact schedule will be a norm for you for the next couple of months or years.

#2: ORGANIZATION

Foresee how the upcoming weeks will pan out by having an organized planner. List down the priorities, tasks, or assignments that you need to accomplish next week. Distribute the week’s load as evenly as possible. Keep track of important appointments as well! Then, make smart decisions about social gatherings based on your schedule.

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#3: SELF-CARE

Are you coughing intensely during your second shift? A healthy well-being is essential to juggle multiple jobs in a day. Self-care boils down to the basic needs: quality sleep and balanced diet. Combining these two with regular exercise and social support will help you reach your goal without experiencing burnout.

#4: AVOIDANCE

Transparency is a precautionary factor to avoid “conflict of interest” and other issues. If you are thinking of mainting two or more position for a long period of time, keep the communication lines open. Your primary employer must be aware that you are committing yourself to a second job.

#5: RELAX

Many people choose to block a day off during the week to replenish their strength. While we may not have the luxury of blocking an entire day, we can settle for a break of several hours. Take your mind on a pleasant ride by doing the activities that surround your passion/s.

#6: FOCUS

Focus on the task at hand! Completely surrendering yourself to one tasks enables you to accomplish it faster. Work at a conducive space that eliminates distractions, ignites relaxing music, and inspires you to think.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

#7: END GOAL

Let us face it! You are not exhausting your physical and mental efforts for nothing. You are accepting these multiple jobs with an end goal in mind. Hold that goal dear to your heart and never lose sight of it.

Sources: 1 &2

What Not To Buy Before Christmas

Can you feel the magic in the air? Well, that is partly brought by the Christmastime. We are about 24 days away from this whimsical event and retailers are well aware of that.

It is easy to get lost in the sea of discounts that hit every holiday season. As a bargain-seeker, it is definitely one of the best times of the year. But, please think twice if you are planning to purchase these items:

DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

As a symbol of everlasting love, you might consider gifting a ring or any form of glistening jewelry for Christmas. Basking in the glory of attractive jewelry ranks high on many people’s wishlist. You can get a better deal on glistening bling if your recipient is open to flexibility. Wait for a few weeks after the holidays before purchasing the “perfect gift”.

Worthy steals for quality jewelry typically peak in January – two weeks before Valentine’s day. It comes as no surprise that these deals are in preparation for the Day of Hearts.

FOOLPROOF FITNESS RESOLUTION

Research showed that Singaporeans are more invested on healthier choices (e.g., wholemeal bread or brown rice) than before. This increasing importance posed on wellness contributes to the abundance of fitness resolutions. For instance, a friend of mine is currently getting rid of starch and simple sugars in her diet. One way to motivate her journey to fitness is to purchase new exercise apparel or equipment.

While sports retailers may provide tempting sales during Christmas, I will have to pass. Nationwide discounts on fitness equipment are better in 2018. Retailers seem to take advantage of the New Year’s resolutions to get into shape!

CONTEMPORARY SCHOOL ESSENTIALS

Our reliance to modern technology paved way for lecturers to distribute their PowerPoint or video lessons online. If you are planning to give a useful present for a young student, a cheap tablet or a starter laptop may have crossed your mind. Let us start with the former.

It is not unusual to find a low-priced tablet during Christmastime. At the sight of an ambiguous and dirt-cheap product, it is tempting to swipe the card and finish your shopping. However, people tend to be particular with their tablets. You do not want your money to go to waste!

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Now, let us move on to bargain laptops. The joyous season offers affordable prices for low-end laptop models. Young students may settle for laptops with smaller screens, minimum RAM, and limited hard-drive space for daily use. Stay away from these products if you value longevity. Better laptop deals happen during the Back-to-School season.

What other items should you steer away from before December 25th? Please feel free to leave a comment below!

Sources: 1&2

Beginning your career in Forex: Tips to remember

It is no wonder that Forex is the biggest and the most attractive business market in the world. Millions of people are starting their career in Forex every day. If you want to trade in Forex, you do not need your office but you only need your computer connection and your strategy. When millions of people are trading in Forex, it might seem that all these people are having a good day. They are trading in the markets and although they can lose their money, they can be on track in Forex with a little hard work.

It is actually not that simple in Forex if you do not know the right way of trading. Most beginners in Forex lose their career after only a few months of trading because either they have no experience of the trading market or they have not quite get it right. They make many mistakes which are quite simple for them but deadly when you are a beginner. If you want to trade in Forex and thinking that you have a basic knowledge on the market, this article might come to your help if you want to avoid the mistakes that beginners make in their trading. It will not only give your career head starts but it will also improve your career smoothly in the market.

Sky is the limit

When you start your trading career you must wonder about the profit factor in this industry. To be honest there is no need to do the extensive calculation as you can easily understand the true benefit of professional trading just by observing the life of the successful Singaporean trader. Being an active trader you will be your boss and you set the limit for the potential loss or profit. However, trading is not all easy. In fact, this is not suitable for everyone. You need to trade this market in a relaxed environment so that you can take the perfect decision. Before you consider trading as your full-time profession it’s highly imperative that you consider demo trading account as your practice field. Never start your trading career with the real money since you might lose your entire trading capital. First of all, learn all the fundamentals of this market so that you can easily place your trade with an extreme level of confidence. Never take any risk which you can withstand. Find the perfect balance between your risk tolerance level and profit factor to survive in this industry.

Don’t start with live account

Many traders start trading in the market with all of the strategies they have got on the internet. It is a big mistake for you if you have just started your darer in Forex. You will see that there are lots of strategies for you but you cannot trade them in the live account when you are new. You should remember that it is an investment market where many traders lost their investment. You have to practice in your demo accounts to give you some foundation on the market trading. It will help you in your career and you can understand why demo accounts are here.

Choose a simple strategy for your beginning

There are many strategies that are used by professionals in Forex. Do not try to impress yourself and choose a simple strategy. If your strategy is simple and it works then it is not simple. Any strategy with a simple touch of your hard work and trading techniques can make your career bloom.

Never overtrade, never rush

This is the mistakes that beginners love to make. Do not overtrade in Forex as you are not going to make money if you have placed many trades in the market. Also, do not hurry. You need to be patient to give time to the markets to work out. Be disciplined in your trading and patient for your strategy to work.

Sensible Strategies To Split Expenses with Your Partner

There is truth to the idiomatic expression – “it takes two to tango”. With a relationship that spans for nearly a decade, I came to realize that giving and taking is an essential element to success. Arriving at an agreeable place avoids potential conflicts from rising. Compromise is vital when it comes to financial matters.

Who would be primarily responsible to pay the bills or to account for outstanding debts? Use the following strategies to help you split the expenses.

STRATEGY #1: DOWN IN THE MIDDLE

Living together entails the discussion of bills, loans, and other expenses. The most concrete way to divide an expense is to split it in half. From groceries to rent, you may share the household responsibilities by contributing an equal amount of money.

Keep track of your purchases and bills by creating a document or a spreadsheet file. You may want to consider setting a monthly price threshold to avoid conflicts.

STRATEGY #2: SET A PERCENTAGE

If you and your partner belong to similar salary divisions, the first strategy is beneficial. However, it can be difficult to split everything by 50-50 if you belong to both ends of the salary spectrum. Contributing S$1,000 per month to the household expenses may mean nothing to you. While, it can mean everything to others!

One of the most sustainable ways to conquer this situation is to contribute a certain percentage of your income. For instance, you can agree to allocate 30% of your income towards household expenses and other miscellanous. Both parters will be paying the same percentage to other expense categories such as utilities and transportation.

STRATEGY #3: TOGETHER AS ONE

Some couples prefer to establish a joint account with a foundation of trust and mutual understanding. With this account, you may allocate a percentage for entertainment. Entertainment includes funds for hobbies as well as vacations. Maintaining an account to fund an expensive vacation allows you to team up to achieve a common financial goal.

Motivation is elevated as you work together. Furthermore, your dual streams of income widens the resources for your funds.

STRATEGY #4: TOGETHER YET APART

Another strategy that can be just as effective is separating the expense categories based on one’s financial capacity. You will be responsible to pay for specific bills from your own account or savings.

Under this strategy, each person remains their individual bank accounts and identifies which expense they are responsible for. According to Andrea Rizk, the founder and CEO of of Risk Public Relations, this arrangement maintains maximum financial independence.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

At the end of the day, you must choose a strategy that works well with your personalities and relationship dynamics.

Sources: 1 & 2

Sky is the limit

Don’t start with live account

Choose a simple strategy for your beginning

Never overtrade, never rush

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