Investing on organic produce that is GMO-free and freshly grown with fewer pesticides sounds like a good yet pricey idea. Not anymore. Nowadays, you can get organic vegetables and fruits in local grocery stores or online for affordable prices. Prices are decreased to suit Singapore’s needs.
1. BESTORGANICFOOD
BestOrganicFood, established in 2010, is one of Singapore’s leading distributor and retailer of organically grown produce. Dishing over 60 varieties of organic vegetables and fruits that are grown locally or overseas, BestOrganicFood is a green paradise for those who want to change their lifestyle without breaking the bank.
Here are some of their products:
a. Organic Australia Beet Root (600 grams), Price: S$5
b. Organic Baby Bitter Gourd (400 grams), Price: S$3
c. Local Organic Bai Cai (500 grams), Price: S$5
Free delivery for orders above S$35! Visit BestOrganicFood at Blk 681, Hougang Avenue 8, #01-865 Singapore 530681 or at bestorganicfood.sg.
2. GREEN CIRCLE ECO FARM
A place with luscious greenery and farm animals, Green Circle Eco Farm not only welcomes educational tours for the public and schools but it also sells food without artificial chemicals and pesticides. These produce are mostly locally grown.
Here are some of their products:
a. Kang Kong (300g), Price: S$2.50
b. Lettuce (200g), Price: S$3
c. Lemon grass and Pandan (100g), Price: S$1
There is a minimum amount of S$30 for home deliveries of products listed on their vegetables, fruit, herbs, and condiments tabs. Delivery fee of S$5, is one of the lowest delivery service among other organic groceries in Singapore.
Visit Green Circle Eco Farm at 41 Neo Tiew Road Singapore 719028 or at greencircle.com.sg.
3. QUAN FA ORGANIC FARM
Much like Green Circle Eco Farm, Quan Fa Organic Farm abstains from the use of pesticides and harmful fertilizers. Since 1999, Singapore has been enjoying their nutritious and healthy produce. They offer about 40 varieties of hard vegetables, herbs, leafy greens, and fruits that are from our local roots. Aside from Asian produce, they also sell imported organic produce from Malaysia, Australia, and Thailand.
Here are some of their products:
a. French Bean (200g), Price: S$2.50
b. Romaine Lettuce (300g), Price: S$3.50
c. Cauliflower (100g), Price: S$1.50
Quan Fa’s products are at available at Sheng Siong outlets. Visit Quan Fa Organic Farm at 35 Murai Farmway Singapore 709145 or at quanfaorganic.com.sg.
4. BONUS: PASAR ORGANIC BY FAIRPRICE FINEST
A brainchild of FairPrice, Pasar Organic products are available at the “Just Organic” section at FairPrice Finest. There are over 800 varieties of organic products including vegetables, fruits, canned goods, beverages, condiments, snacks, and infant food. What’s more? FairPrice Finest offers the best prices for organic pasta, noodles, and sauces.
Visit them at the FairPrice Finest outlets or at fairprice.com.sg.
Starting a business in Singapore cannot only be expensive but also difficult. As Albert Kong, CEO and chairman of Asiawide Franchise Consultants that advised 650 franchise clients in Asia, once said: “Starting a business in Singapore is much tougher than other countries in the region especially when it comes to dealing with landlords and managing employees.”
1. SAVE LOADS OF MONEY FOR FUTURE EXPENSES
You must save for the franchise fee, renovation of the space, rent requirements, raw materials, and employee salary. Regardless of whether you are making a huge profit or not, the franchisor will request a share in your revenues.
For example, the franchise fee for a cafe is about S$50, 000 for a 3-year contract. The renovation costs may hit about S$100, 000 for only a 600 sq ft place. The rent of this 600 sq ft place costs about S$7, 000 a month. Additionally, the raw materials and employee salary for the first few months costs an extra S$100, 000. These costs heavily depend on your franchisor and landlord.
2. EMPLOYEE EXPENSES ENTAILS HIGH COSTS
Employees in Singapore are among the highest paid workers in the world. Not to mention, as an employer, you will have to contribute a given amount to the Central Provident Fund (CPF). Employees can leave you whenever they want and because of it, you will have to spend more resources to hire and train again. To avoid this, layout a 1-month waiver for employees that want to resign.
3. FAMOUS BRANDS ARE THE SAFEST
A household name such as 7-Eleven is your safest bet if you are franchising for the first time. First, the landlord will be more lenient to you as they know the “required look” of the establishment. Second, consumers tend to buy brands that they are most familiar with. In Singapore, the famous F&B franchises are Subway and Ya Kun Kaya Toast.
4. FOLLOW YOUR PASSION
Follow your passion so you do not feel the stress of costs too much especially during the first few months. If you are motivated by your happiness then, you are more likely to succeed in what you do. Furthermore, you may consider franchising a unique business with a popular brand to avoid the competition.
5. BUILD GOOD BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS
It pays to have a good business relationship that is open and honest with the suppliers and the landlord so that if disagreement and troubles arise, you can settle it out in a friendly manner.
How will a 2 to 5 cents increase per journey affects an average commuter? Credits to the Ministry of Transport, they have done up a table to illustrate the impact on monthly transport expenditure of an average family.
(Image credit: Ministry of Transport)
As illustrated above, a working adult would expect their monthly transport expenditure to increase between $2 to $3 a month. That would probably cost you a cup of Starbucks’ latte a month or a decent meal for two in a restaurant if you add up the expenses for a year.
Although it may not be sizeable, a dollar saved is still a dollar earned. Here are 5 ways to cushion the impact of a fare hike:
*Updated 14 Apr 2015 to include a chance to win a $10 EZ-Link top up with the LINE app
1. Claim $10 travel credits with TransitLink Service Audit
You may or may not know of that you can claim a $10 travel credit from TransitLink every month by just participating in a short survey. This survey is aimed at improving the service level of TransitLink’s staff and your feedback is important for them to evaluate their level of customer service.
Once verified, you will receive a SMS notification informing you of the $5 credit that you can redeem from any Add Value Machine Plus (AVM+)
How much can you save or earn a month?
You can do a maximum of one survey for two different Customer Service Officers per month. Each survey will earn you a $5 credit so you can get $10 credit in total a month.
With increasing population comes increased public transport ridership and there is that much that you can achieve by increasing train frequency. The Land Transport Authority is conducting a research to find out if incentivising commuters through gamification can help change the behaviour of commuters. Previously known as Insinc, Travel Smart Rewards is a scheme that rewards commuters for their travel on public transport.
Each commuter can earn points when they take the MRT on Monday to Friday with a CEPAS registered card at a rate of 1 points for every 1 kilometre travelled. To encourage commuters to take train during off peak hours, there will be more points for taking designated decongesting hours from 6.15 am to 7.15am and 8.45am to 9:45am. You can also qualify for different badges such as Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum with every travel during the decongesting hours.
Every 10 points allow you to spin and play a “Snake and Ladder” game to win travel credits. There are different amount to be won and the highest being a $200 travel credit which you can use to top up your fare card. You can let the system auto-play the game for you and you would be surprised to see that you can actually win money (in the form of travel credits) after some time. Just go to another Add Value Machine (AVM) and select “TSR Rewards” to load the credits into your card.
Verify your email address and it will take another 8 days for them to verify the card after you take at least 2 train trips
Start accumulating points with your train trips (Try to travel during the decongesting period to earn more points)
Spin the wheel or set it on auto-pilot
Check how much you win after some time
Load these credits you won onto your travel card at any AVM.
How much can you save or earn a month?
It depends. If Lady Luck is shining on you, you can earn a few hundred travel credits in the game. Otherwise, you should also be glad with a few extra dollars added to your account.
3.Travel free during pre-peak hours
In an effort to reduce congestion and packed trains in the morning peak hours, the LTA has extended the one year free pre-peak travel until 23 June 2015. That is to say early birds who make the effort to shift their daily travel routine and tap out of the 18 designated MRT stations will travel for free. Don’t fret if overslept by 5 to 10 minutes because you will still get a 50 cents off if you exit the stations between 7.45am to 8am. Like the saying goes: the early bird catches the worm.
What you need to do:
Reschedule your routine earlier
Have your breakfast near your workplace
How much can you save or earn?
The cost of an entire trip or 50 cents a day.
4. Make use of rebates
Rebate is one of the most straightforward way to offset your travel expenses. Whether you are using NETS FlashPay or EZ-Link to take the trains or buses, there are different rebate schemes out there for the savvy commuters to make full use of.
If you are using the EZ-Link card, you can earn up to 7% cash rebate with the Imagine American Express Prepaid Card. This card acts as a two-in-one and you can use it either for shopping with merchants that accepts AMEX card or using it simply as a Ez-Link card to commute. You will earn a 2% rebates by taking the buses or trains with the Ez-Link purse and 5% rebates on all other spends with the AMEX purse. (Tip: You can set up EZ-Reload where your Ez-Link purse will be topped up by the AMEX purse) You can also earn further rebates and rewards by topping up your Imagine Card with another credit card of your choice. For example, you can use the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Card or the DBS Woman’s Card for 10X points.
What you need to do:
Decide if you want to use Ez-Link or NETS FlashPay as your primary card for public transport
NET FlashPay: go sign up for a OCBC Frank Card and register for auto top-ups on Nets FlashPay’s website here: http://bit.ly/1y8LSJe
Ez-Link: Sign up for a AMEX Imagine Card, then activate, register and reload it on the Imaginecard’s website here: http://www.imaginecard.com.sg
How much can you save or earn?
6% rebates for NETS FlashPay or 7% rebates + X* for Ez-Link (where X* is arbitrary – can be miles, rebates or points)
5. Use Off Peak Monthly Concession Pass
To further reduce bottlenecks during peak hours, the government will roll out a new Off-Peak Monthly Travel Pass (OMTP) on 5 July 2015 which will allow unlimited travel outside the weekday morning peak period (6.30am – 9am), evening peak period (5 – 7.30pm) and all days on weekends and public holidays. Instead of costing $120 for the current Adult Monthly Travel Pass, the OMTP will cost just $80 for adults and $40 for senior citizens and person with disabilities.
If you work out the maths, there are about 22 weekdays in a month so assuming a one way trip cost $1.80, if would have cost you close to $80 a month. (which is about the cost of an OMTP) The difference is you can now make additional trip on weekdays (say, a lunch break that is a few stations away) and weekends without paying the extra dollar.
What you need to do:
Work out your monthly travel expenses and see if it exceeds the cost of an OMTP of $80.
If it does, check if you can reschedule your daily routine
Make sure you tap IN outside the peak period timing (before 6.30am or after 9am for morning) and (before 5pm or after 7.30pm for evening)
How much can you save or earn?
If you travel twice a day with an average trip cost of $2, it would have cost you $120. Purchasing the card will allow you to save $40.
Now that you have learnt how to reduce your travel expenses, start to implement these tips so that you can better manage your travel expenses. You might even reduce your overall expenses on transport!
6. Get a free EZ-Link $10 top up with LINE (Updated 14 Apr 2015)
EZ-Link has just collaborated with LINE in a recent news release on 13 Apr 2015, commuters can now stand a chance to win a $10 free top-up and other attractive prizes when they use LINE.
What you need to do:
Download the LINE App from your Google Play or your Apple’s app store
Add “EZ-Link” as your friend
Send a message “EZ-Link EZ-Reload” daily from now till 31st May 2015.
Stand a chance to win EZ-Link $10 top-up values, LINE merchandises, electronic gadgets, jewelries and many more
How much can you save or earn?
If you are lucky, you can win a $10 top up to your EZ-Link or other attractive prizes such as a ASUS phone, Swarovski jewellery, Krispy Kreme treats, Mi Powerbank, etc
Do not be disappointed if you do not win as you can attempt this daily until 31st May 2015 and i’m sure you could win something!
Visualize beautiful and serene sandy beaches of Boracay, Philippines or the bountiful shopping escapades in New York City, USA. Your everyday spending using your frequent flyer or air mileage credit card can turn your dreams into reality. Bringing the world closer to you, here are the best credit cards in Singapore that you shall consider:
DBS Altitude American Express Card offers rewards for air mileage and dinner deals. Dinner deals include discounts at over 1, 000 places nationwide with the DBS Indulge program. For example, cardholders get 1-for-1 Buffet Dinner at Hotel Jen Singapore.
With a fee of S$180 every year (waived for 1 year), and a minimum annual income of S$80, 000 for Singaporean, PR, and Foreigners, you can earn 3 miles for every dollar spent on online flight and hotel transactions. Earn 2 miles for every dollar spent overseas and 1.2 miles for every dollar spent locally. The best thing about this is that your accumulated miles will never expire! Use it at your convenience.
ANZ Travel Visa Signature Credit Card’s minimum annual income eligibility for Singaporeans/PR is S$60, 000 while its S$90, 000 for Foreigners. With ANZ Travel Visa Signature, you may indulge on the complimentary access to airport limousine at departure or to airport lounges around the world. Earn 2.8 miles per S$1 spent on direct flight booking with Qantas and Jetstar airlines and 1.4 miles per S$1 for local spending. Aside from giving you rewards on air mileage, this card lets you convert your Travel$ to Cash Credit. The annual fee of S$200 is waived for a year.
I cannot begin to enumerate the wide selection of rewards, Citi PremierMiles Card can gives to its faithful cardholders. You earn 2 Citi Miles for every dollar spent overseas and 1.2 Citi Miles for every dollar spent locally. These miles are redeemable in 70 airlines worldwide!
By signing on to S$193 fee a year (waived in the first year) and a minimum annual income of S$60, 000 for Singaporean, PR, and Foreigners, you are entitled to not just milage rewards but also dining and petrol deals. Enjoy up to 14% discount at Esso stations and 13.6% discount at Shell stations. Exclusive dining deals to Wooloomooloo Steakhouse, Yan Ting, LaBrezza, Tiffin Room, Long Bar Steakhouse, Bar & Billiard Room and more, are courtesy of Citi Gourmet Pleasures. What’s more? REceive 10, 000 Citi Miles upon annual membership renewal and round-trip ticket to Bali on Singapore Airlines with S$12, 500 (15, 000 miles) spending.
With the lowest minimum annual income eligibility among these 4 cards…American Express Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Gold Credit Card requires S$30, 000 annual income for Singaporean/PR and S$60, 000 for Foreigners. Enjoy 1 KrisFlyer mile for every S$1.60 spent. Earn 50% more KrisFlyer miles when you charge S$5, 000 or more to your card in a year and 50% additional KrisFlyer bonus miles for a minimum spend of S$12, 000 in a year. Not only is the first year waived but you also get a welcome bonus of KrisFlyer miles.
Worry not about the accumulation process since miles are credited directly to your KrisFlyer account.
Food leftover or food waste consists of numerous discarded materials. Over the last decade, the amount of food waste generated in Singapore had elevated by 45%. In fact, in 2013, the food waste rate reached its peak of 796, 000 tones and with only 13% of it recycled.
1. SHOP ONLY WHAT IS NECESSARY
Shopping for groceries? Make sure you buy what is realistically necessary for your whole family. Even though the produce is enticing, avoid being greedy with it, as you certainly cannot consume all of it. Plan out your meals and make a detailed shopping list of the ingredients you need. Stick to the list. If you live far away from the grocery store, be careful about your purchases.
2. COOK THE RIGHT PROPORTION
Mouth-watering massive proportions of food in restaurants sound tempting but you only generate more leftovers once you adapt this culture to your home. Avoid cooking more food than your family can consume. Over-serving your friends and family especially during special occasions will only generate more monetary and food waste.
3. EAT THE LEFTOVERS
Save the unconsumed food when you either ordered too much restaurant food or when you cooked excessively. Regularly label these leftovers so you can keep track of how long it has been in your refrigerator.
4. MORE THAN THE EXPIRATION DATES, TRUST YOUR SENSE
Milk, bread, and other grocery products have expiration dates that you can use as guidelines. But, do not solely rely on it. Trust your senses to prevent medical expenses in the event you had a stomach flu or food poisoning. Use your sense of smell, sight, and taste to test the condition of the food.
5. PRESERVE YOUR FOOD BY CANNING
Canning, a method that applies heat to food in a closed container, helps to preserve food and stop its natural spoilage. Lengthen the shelf life of your favorite fruits by following the steps on this video:
What’s more? You can decorate the containers or jars by using paint that you already have.
