5 Ways to Save Money on Hand Phone Accessories

The cost of your hand phone accessories range from $2 to $100+, but its expense adds up together. Hence, it is paramount to be savvy in purchasing hand phone accessories to save money.

1. USE A SOCK ON IT

Instead of buying a new phone case, try to buy a new pair of toddler socks. The phone fits perfectly inside the sock and it is easy to see in your purse. It not only protects your phone to serve its purpose but it also has a wide range of cute designs to choose from.

2. BUY HAND PHONE ACCESSORIES ONLINE

Do not rely solely on the gadget shops in the malls that sell hand phone gear, also explore good prices in the Internet such as: Amazon, eBay, and Carousell. Online stores have sales and clearance of their last year stocks where you can save money. It is important to shop around, and compare prices before purchasing to get the best deal.

3. PROTECT YOUR CHARGER CABLE WIRE

The cable chargers of Apple products usually break and bend. This urges Apple users to buy another costly cable for the Mac store. The solution is simple, take the spring from your old pen and put it on the cable wire. Or, you may buy plastic cable wire protectors for $1.50 to $2 from Carousell.

Image Credits: Raul Gonzalo via Flickr

Image Credits: Raul Gonzalo via Flickr

4. DO YOU REALLY NEED AN EXTRA BATTERY?

Rethink if you really need an extra battery before buying them. Some smart phones do not have an option of replacing the battery by your own. So, it is wiser to invest on an extra charger for your office or your car.

5. STOCK UP YOUR OLD HAND PHONE ACCESSORIES

Do not toss your old hand phone accessories such as your car charger because phone companies may revert back to their old power cord. Instead, clean your silicone phone case in the dishwasher or sell your stuff online to earn more.

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How Much Will It Cost To Live in USA, Singapore, Australia or Italy?

Cost of living is the total expense of maintaining a standard of living in a certain country. This changes over time and is often operationalized in a cost of living index.

In this chart is the comparison of the cost of living of four countries namely: United States of America, Australia, Singapore, and Italy.

 

Clothing And Shoes Ave. (in SGD) USA SG AUS ITALY
1 Pair of Jeans (Levis) 54.95 111.92 111.35 129.67
1 Summer Dress in a Chain Store (Zara, H&M, F21, etc.) 47.82 63.24 76.26 53.99
1 Pair of Men Leather Shoes 113.77 136.22 147.41 166.62
Total Clothing: 216.54 311.38 335.02 350.28
Rent Per Month Ave. (in SGD)
Apartment (1 bedroom) in City Centre 1,359.20 3,312.03 1,944.27 928.25
Apartment (1 bedroom) Outside of Centre 1,032.05 2,133.33 1,380.82 709.08
Apartment (3 bedrooms) in City Centre 2,313.77 5,955.30 3,335.58 1,634.16
Apartment (3 bedrooms) Outside of Centre 1,743.47 3,579.49 2,186.44 1,192.56
Total Rent: 6,448.49 14,980.15 8,847.11 4464.05
Ave. Salary After Tax (in SGD)
Monthly Salary 4,103.69 3,875.20 4,732.34 2,439.03

 

All the data were collated from Numbeo. It is a website that stores the world’s largest database of user contributed information about global living conditions.

Before discussing the variables in the chart, let us first explore a brief introduction of these four countries. United States of America, commonly referred to as U.S., is a federal republic country that is consists of 50 states. According to the International Monetary Fund, U.S. has the world’s largest national economy. It is considered as a developed country.

Australia, or Commonwealth of Australia, consists of the mainland and numerous smaller islands. In 2012, International Monetary Fund ranked Australia as the fifth highest per capita income among the world. It is also considered as a developed country.

Singapore, officially known as Republic of Singapore, is an island country in Southeast Asia. Despite its size, Singapore had the third highest per capita income around the world. It boasts its high regard on education, healthcare, and economic competitiveness.

Lastly, Italy is a parliamentary republic in Southern Europe. Human Development Report highlighted that Italy is a very developed country with its economy being the eighth largest in the world.

In the comparative chart above, Italy was shown to have the highest cost in Clothing and Shoes. Most of the famous chain brands originated from the U.S., which is why the country had the least cost on clothing and shoes. Furthermore, it is the reason why some items are cheaper when you buy it on its online store.

The Average Rent per Month is overwhelmingly dominated by Singapore. Renting a bedroom apartment at the city center will cost you about S$3,312.03 in Singapore. With that amount, a person can already rent two 3-bedroom apartments in Italy’s city center. The higher cost of rent in Singapore is due to the 718.3 km2 total area of land wherein millions of people reside.

Image Credits: Lina Hughes via Flickr

Image Credits: Lina Hughes via Flickr

Lastly, in most of the factors, Australia sits strong on the second place. Although rent and clothing may be costly in Australia, the average salary per month is S$4,732.34. It is the highest among the other four countries.

So, if you are moving to a different country and curious about its cost of living, look it up on Numbeo. It has been mentioned in internationally renowned newspapers and magazines such as BBC, Forbes, The Economist, and New York Times among others.

Sources: International Monetary Fund, Numbeo, and Wikipedia

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5 Cats That Hit Internet Fame All The Way To The Bank

You can think of countless ways to earn money. With this money, you can buy a pet or two. But, in rare cases it is the other way around. Your pet or pets can earn countless amount of money for you and your family. All you have to do is be equipped with a video recorder or a hand phone.

These cats had become Internet sensations and have been making their owners rich by showing off their adorable or grumpy faces.

5. KEYBOARD CAT

Although he passed away in 1987, this video from 1984 has been earning his owners about $175,800. The YouTube video had gotten more than 38,309,946 views. In this, keyboard cat plays a fast-beat music while in costume.

4. MARU

Maru, a male Scottish Fold cat from Japan, become famous due to YouTube, print, and television. His YouTube videos have an average of 800,000 views each and earns roughly $21,800-$181,600 in total.

Watch Maru’s introduction video with over 20 million views in the present:

3. TWO TALKING CATS

Mossy and Stina are two adorable cats that usually fight with each other. In this rare captured moment of more than 58 million views, the two cats seem to be having a deep conversation.

Both of them are described as female, healthy, and vigorous. They have been earning their owners about $8,500-$70,700.

2. TARA THE HERO CAT

After courageously rescuing her owner’s son, Tara has been making appearances in news and even in the first pitch of a Bakersfield Blaze game. She has been reportedly earning about $55,600-$463,700 for her owners.

1. GRUMPY CAT

Grumpy Cat or Tardar Sauce is an Internet celebrity that is best known for her grumpy facial expression. Her owner, Tabatha Bundesen, says that Tardar’s face is permanent due to underbite and feline dwarfism.

Image Credits: Neon Tommy via Flickr

Image Credits: Neon Tommy via Flickr

Aside from appearances in Reddit, YouTube, and The Wall Street Journal, she has recently graced the small screen in the Christmas special for the Lifetime network.

According to the Business Insider and Telegraph, Grumpy Cat has earned her owner nearly $100 million!

Sources: Wikipedia and ViralNova

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Subscription boxes in Singapore You Need to Look Out For

Subscription Boxes

The subscription box trend has really taken off in Singapore and around the world with a wide array of boxes you can sign up for. Subscription boxes are usually a monthly affair, where a mystery box of goodies will arrive at your doorstep each month for you to unwrap! This can also be a cheap, efficient, and fun way of trying out new products that you wouldn’t otherwise have heard of. Boxes usually contain sample sizes of products or even full sizes, and are thoughtfully curated to have something that will appeal to everyone. If you are interested in buying the fullsize product, quite a few of these services have websites where you can do so, often at a discount from the retail price.

That being said, with all the different boxes in the market, here is a quick rundown of different subscription box services in Singapore.

Beauty/Cosmetics:

1) BellaBox 

Bella Box

(Image credit: makeupstash.com)

One of the most established beauty boxes in Singapore, this box will set you back $19.95 per month. Each signature blue and white polkadotted box contains 5+ surprise products for you to try! Their website also reveals some sneak peeks of next month’s box.
2) The Little Black Beauty Box (styleXstyle)

The Little Black Beauty Box

(Image credit: cindykhor.blogspot.com)

The LBBS partners with TANGS to deliver a luxury experience to you each month for only $22.90. As they are partners with TANGS, the LBBS tends to have higher end products, and comes packaged in a sleek matte black box.

3) Glamabox http://sg.glamaclub.com/glamabox/

Glamabox Singapore

(Image credit: sweetestsins.blogspot.com)

Glamabox is a subscription service fronted by Lisa S, and runs about $19/month. Each box contains 4-5 products thoughtfully selected for you.

Food/Drink:

4) Thirsty

 photo IMG_1308.jpg

(Image credit: Irisslove, Photobucket)

 

Thirsty, a well-known craft beer shop, has a subscription monthly beer club that will set you back $165 for 24 bottles of craft beer. A good way to try out hard-to-find craft beers if you enjoy your drink!

5) Nom box

Nom Box

(Image credits: weekender.com.sg)

Nom box is a dessert themed subscription box, that comes in two sizes, the normal Nom box ($28) for 4-5 types of desserts/snacks from cafes and the Nom Box + ($39) for 6-8 desserts/snacks. They have many well-known cafe partners and you can easily check out the past boxes for an idea of what you may be receiving!

6) BoxGreen

BoxGreen

(Image credit: Box Green Singapore)

Have a new year’s resolution to eat healthy? BoxGreen delivers 4 natural and wholesome snacks that are guilt-free and healthy to you each month for $19.90. What’s more, for every box delivered, a meal is donated through Willing Hearts to help the underprivileged in Singapore! So you can eat healthy, and be doing a good deed at the same time.

Clothing:

7) Lowinsky

Lowinsky

(Image credit: jocelyncjx.blogspot.com)

Lowinsky’s subscription box caters to both men ($58) and women ($38), with up to 5 pieces of hand selected apparel and accessories. If you don’t like something, you can let the team of stylists know so that they’ll be able to better select apparels for you for the next box!

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5 Ways to Teach Kids About Saving Money

Money gives people, of all ages, the decision-making opportunities they need. Educating your kids to make wise money decisions earlier on will affect their finances in the long run.

The most important thing you must do is to make saving money as fun as can be. Here are 5 Ways to Teach Kids About Saving Money…

1. MONEY INTRODUCTION

Once your children can count and discriminate, introduce them to the different denominations of money. Take a conscious effort in providing them information about money and savings and be ready in answering their countless questions.

Watch this cool way to introduce money and its values:

2. SET UP BUYING GOALS

Setting up realistic goals is the foundation to learning about the value of money and saving. Ask your children what they want to buy with their money. For instance, the toys, video games, and stationery items are the things they shall save money for. These goals will help the children learn to become more responsible.

3. USE A PIGGY BANK OR A MONEY JAR

After identifying the short-term goal, provide your child with a small piggy bank or a money jar where they can fill up their savings with. Have your child draw the picture of the specific toy on the side of the piggy bank or the money jar. Through this, they will be motivated to get what they want.

You may also want to help your child understand that some items will take longer than others to save for. For these long-term goals (e.g., going to Universal Studios), provide them with a bigger money jar.

4. ENCOURAGE SAVING

Be the good example to your children by putting some of your coins into their money jar. Since most young children want to be like their parents, seeing you do it will provide them with inspiration to save.

Aside from this, you may give them money in denominations that encourage saving. For example, give your children a $6 allowance that consists of three 2 dollar bills. Tell them to set aside $2 for their money jar.

5. PLAY GAMES INVOLVING MONEY

Image Credits: Rich Brooks via Flickr

Image Credits: Rich Brooks via Flickr

As I said, the most important thing you must do is to make saving money as enjoyable as can be. Play games that teach children about financial concepts. Such games include Monopoly and The Game of Life. They will not only have fun but it will also shape their money management skills.

Sources: Money Crashers and Family Education

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