MoneyDigest - Personal Finance, Lifestyle, Money Saving Tips

Watch Out for these 6 Grocery Store Tricks!

Have you ever experienced going into the grocery with a shopping list in mind, and ended up buying more? Maybe it is because you shopped hungry, or just because of the grocery’s marketing strategies. Some grocery stores have subtle, psychological, and clever tricks to make their consumers buy more. Thankfully, I’ve uncovered 6 Grocery Tricks that will help you save more on your shopping bill.

1. VISUAL ELEMENT: SHOPPING CARTS

Upon entering the grocery, you’ll notice the shopping carts. An invention designed in the late 1930s have grown in size over the years. Since larger purchases are easily done, the bigger the cart, the more money may be spent. So, if you intend to buy a relatively medium amount of items opt for using a friendly basket.

2. SENSORY ELEMENT: AROMA OF FRESHNESS

Imagine the smell of baked breads mixed with the fresh smell of flowers. Very enticing right? This is why newly baked goods and fresh flowers are placed near the front door. The goodness of smell will surely make you feel hungry, and keep your mood up!

Image Credits: Paul Swansen via Flickr

3. RIGHT SIDE PHILOSOPHY

Most grocery stores place popular items on the right side of the shelves to move shoppers from the left to the right. This is because all items throughout the store are strategically placed to follow the “right” path.

4. KIDS MATTER

Another strategy is to target the children’s interests because they play an influence on what goes inside the carts. Supermarkets purposely place cereals, toys, and sugary treats at a kid-friendly level. So, do not give in to what your kid wants (unless he/she makes a huge and uncontrollable scene) or you can just leave your kids at home.

5. HIDDEN ESSENTIALS

Essentials such as dairy, bread, eggs, etc. are placed at the back of the store and far away from each other so you’ll be forced to travel the whole store to get it. Once you have travelled, you probably bought more that what you’ve needed. By knowing this trick, you may start with going straight to the back with your shopping list on your hand to keep you on track.

Image Credits: Redjar via Flickr

6. LASTLY, THE NUMBERS GAME

Instead of putting a price of, “$4” for example, they will put an irrational price of “$3.99 or $3.96” to make you think that you saved more money by scoring a better deal. What’s more? They will also put that if you buy more then you will save more! It’s these small details that may sound silly but it surely works.

Sources: Grocery Coupon Network, Idea Finder, & Lifehacker

Grocery stores, like any other businesses, are looking for making profit. This is why they have used strategies and psychological obstacles to entice you to put more items in the cart. I hope that by knowing these tricks, you will be able to shop smarter and save more!

Why 3 Bank Accounts Are Better Than 1

When it comes to saving, most consumers prefer simplicity as the best approach – that is to put their money in the bank account that offers the best interest rate. However, if you want to save money fast, it is best to have more than one bank account. No, you don’t get three times more interest, you are just separating your needs and your wants and to stay on track with your budgeting plan.

1. Die-die-must-spend account (The Needs)

Unfortunately, i don’t think you can survive a month in Singapore by not spending a dime. Assuming you are a full grown adult, some costs such as transportation and food is unavoidable. With an iPhone or Samsung phone on your hand, you can’t escape from paying your phone bill either. Since these costs are compulsory and belong to your needs, consider creating a primary account for such expenses.

Since you will be spending the money here often, we recommend you to check out the 3 main banks in Singapore: DBS/POSB, UOB & OCBC as they have the most number of ATMs in Singapore. Convenience is the key.

2. Indulgence account (The Wants)

After a long week of work, most people look forward to Friday. TGIF! As a pat on your back, you reward yourself by catching the latest blockbuster or dine in your favourite restaurant. These are wants that are often guilty of wiping out your month of hard work.

It is therefore important to separate your needs and your wants.

The approach here is to allocate a fixed amount of your salary to your wants and spend within the limits. Anything more than 10 percent is extravagant. While you may enjoy your current lifestyle, you may end up slogging a few more years before you can retire.

For your indulgence needs, look out for the bank that offers the best rewards or rebates for debit/credit cards as banks usually have some tie-up with cinemas, restaurants and entertainment outlets. If you decide to take up a credit card, make sure you pay your dues in full promptly.

3. Forget-about-it account (Retirement/Long Term)

As the name suggests: you create, allocate and literally forget that you have this account. This account is created for the purpose of saving for the long term or retirement. By long term, we mean your bank book ages till it turns yellow or at least been kept for a couple of decades.

While we don’t recommend putting all your savings in a bank as it yield paltry interest that gets eroded by inflation, you want your emergency funds to be guaranteed. Also make sure at the same time you have another pot of money that is working as hard as you do.

We recommend that you choose the bank that offers the highest interest rate. (and the one with the least number of ATMs in Singapore) Keep the ATM card out of your wallet and let it collects dust.

But how easy is it to keep separate accounts? Easy-peasy. Set up automatic transfer to divert the funds the moment you receive your monthly salary. This way you can spend with a piece of mind and at the same time you are sure your retirement funds is in place.

Unless you have the discipline, having 3 separate accounts prevent impulsive splurge and help you save money faster – without you even knowing it.

7 Ways To Stay Fit For Cheap

Do you want to stay fit, but get turned off by expensive gym packages and memberships? We feel you. Keeping your body and mind healthy doesn’t have to make your wallet suffer. Here’s 10 ways you can stay fit without breaking the bank.

Run

This might seem like a rather obvious no-brainer, but many of us forget to even consider it. All you need are some ratty old running shoes, and yourself! Just head out the door, lace them on, and start moving those feet. This is probably one of the cheapest ways to stay fit. If you find that your neighbourhood is not runner-friendly, just head down to the nearest park and get your running fix! Plug in to some good running music such as ‘Eye of the Tiger’ or ‘Happy’ from Pharrell William for motivation.

Get a skipping rope

While skipping rope might remind you of your primary school days, a skipping rope work-out is definitely not for the faint hearted. Long, intense periods of continuous skipping help you burn calories like no one’s business. Best of all, you can stay fit while watching your favourite TV shows! Anyone up for watching The Noose?

Use Youtube videos

You could always buy workout DVDs to use at home, but why buy when you can get it for free? There are tons of workout videos on Youtube you can use to stay fit, so just take your pick from the wide buffet of options! All you need is a computer and some open space in your house, and you’re good to go.

Get dumbbells

While dumbbells might quite be quite expensive, they’re actually a really good investment in the long run, because you’ll be using them many, many times, and you don’t actually need to go to the gym to stay fit again, because you can do a huge variety of effective exercise with just these simple weights. Get those with multiple weights, so you can adjust them if need be, depending on the level of intensity you want for your workout.

Use exercise corners

There are probably one of these in your neighbourhood, so make good use of them. With pull-up bars, step-up benches and more, many of these exercise corners have a many of the simple structures you need to enable you to do a variety of exercises, so you can stay fit for free!

Swim

Just head on down to your local swimming pool, put on your swimming attire, and jump in the pool! The public pools around your neighbourhood have a really cheap entrance fee ($1 on weekdays, $1.30 on weekends), so there should no reason for you not to take advantage of them to stay fit. Just hop on down the morning before work or school, and you’ll have the whole pool to yourself.

Push-ups, sit-ups, crunches…you get the idea

If you really don’t want to spend money on anything at all, and don’t even want to get out of the house, why not just do some calisthenics at home. Simple push-ups, and sit-ups can be done anywhere around the house. Why not make use of your home furniture as well, like using your table or chair to do some dips. It all depends on how creative you are in making use of what you have to stay fit.

8 Interesting Facts about Money (Saving Tips Included)

Did you know that being too relaxed might lead to overspending? Well, that along with 8 other Interesting Facts about Money may just help you save more. Plus, these facts can be really good conversation starters!

1. MONOPOLY MONEY> REAL MONEY

It is a fact that more Monopoly money is printed each year than real money printed throughout the world.

Image Credit: Sy Clark via Flickr

(Source: FactSlides)

2. MICROTEXTS ARE PRINTED THE BACK OF SINGAPORE’S 1000 BILLS

Did you know that the entire lyrics of the national anthem are printed in the microtexts on the back of the S$1000? It certainly is micro to make all the text fit. Awesome!

(Source: Monetary Authority of Singapore)

3. ALL GOLD IN THE WORLD CAN FIT A TENNIS COURT

All the discovered gold in the world will be able to fit a court of 62 feet and 82 feet on each side. Imagine a whole tennis court covered with gold bars!

(Source: Forest, C., 2009)

4. THE FIRST CREDIT CARD WAS CREATED OUT OF EMBARRASSMENT

Interestingly, the first Credit Card was created because of a man’s embarrassment who had to pay for dinner but forgot his wallet. It surely is a shameful moment especially when you have a date with a pretty lady.

(Source: FactSlides)

Image Credit: 401 (K) 2012 via Flickr

5. NEWER IS BETTER

To save money, fill your wallet with new money. Research showed that you are less likely to spend bills if they are smooth, crispy and new.

6. HIGHER DOMINATIONS WILL EQUAL TO LESS SPENDING

Another way to save money is to stack up more bills of S$100 and S$1000 because research has shown that people are more likely to spend smaller bills, and are reluctant to spend bills in higher domination.

7. BEING TOO RELAX LEAD TO OVERSPENDING

According to the study by Columbia Business School, when people are placed in a calming environment (i.e., classical music with comfortable chairs), and when they feel extremely relaxed, they overspent by 15%. So, it may be best to walk up the escalator or do simple exercises first before shopping.

8. SOME FONTS CAN SAVE MORE PRINTER INK AND TONER

If you want to save money on printer ink or toner, one thing you should do is to change the fonts that you use for printing. Century Gothic, Ecofont, Garamond, and Courier are some of the fonts that naturally use less ink.

(Source: Ehow)

Do you want to learn more? Here is a colorful infographic by Daily Infographic that you can share to your friends! Or, do check out other Money Digest articles.

6 Ways to Save Money as a Triathlete

Combining running, swimming, and biking gear expenses…some people spend more in competing for Triathlons than others. If you will adopt these 6 Simple Ways, you may significantly lower your financial expense of training and joining in triathlons.

1. EXPLORE YOUR CHOICES

Don’t just rely on the sports shops in the malls that sell Triathlon gear, also explore good prices in the Internet such as: Bike Plus Singapore, Ebay, Amazon,Treknology Bikes 3 Singapore, 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.

2. REGISTER EARLY

Take advantage of the lower early-bird fee for Triathlon events. If you wait for the last minute, then you will have to pay more! Also, choose races that fit your budget and capacity.

Swim/Bike/Run by bradleypjohnson via Flickr

Image Credit: bradleypjohnson via Flickr

3. SHARE YOUR TRIATHLON RESOURCES

Share your Triathlon books and other racing magazines with a group of friends. What’s more? The Internet is full of free training videos and tips that you may repeatedly watch in the convenience of your home. You may also watch it on hand phone anytime and anywhere!

4. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE TOWN’S SPORTS FACILITIES

You may train your swimming skills in the Town’s swimming stadium, which costs about $2. Another great and cost-free way to train your cycling and running skills is to park hop across the lush greeneries of the Park Connector Network.

Park Connector Network connects all the parks in North East, East, North, South, West and Central Region. You can download the walking trail or cycling trail here.

5. SAVE ON TRAVEL EXPENSES BY CAR POOLING

With the price of gas and taxi fares, consider car pooling together with others to the Triathlon events. Enjoying a chat before the race will help you calm your nerves.

6. LASTLY, DON’T BUY THE UNNECESSARY

For instance, there’s no reason to purchase a swimming cap because every time you register for a Triathlon, they will most likely give it to you for free.

Aside from renting a bike in the racing venue, you may covert your road bike into a Tri bike. Do this by making a few position adjustments, and by adding aerobars and aerowheels. You didn’t have to buy a new bike plus you save more money!

Image Credits: Jimmy Harris via Flickr

There are more ways to save money as a Triathlete (e.g., making your own hydration drink), you just have to be diligent, clever, and resourceful!

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