Hawker food is part of Singapore’s heritage, and is the place to go to for a spread of local delights without the price tag.
From your favourite Chicken Rice to Wanton Mee and Mee Rebus, wouldn’t it be good to find out the stall that sell the cheapest local fare in Singapore?
The Ministry of Trade of Industry (MTI) has launched a Hawker Guide early last month where you can search for the cheapest hawker dish in Singapore island-wide.
It is user-friendly and you can simply select the hawker dish from their list of budget hawker food.
In this example, Chicken Rice has been selected.
You can then search their database according to their location:
The search results will show the cheapest chicken rice in ascending order.
This is a pretty handy guide that is worth sharing with your friends, or for any visitors that are coming to Singapore! Now at least you know where to get the cheapest Nasi Lemak in Singapore.
Thomas Monson once said: “Choose your friends with caution, plan your future with purpose, and frame your life with faith.”
What if you can plan a financial future with a purpose by choosing your friends carefully? Yes! That is possible.
You may not be able to change the personalities of the people around you but you can change the people whom you choose to be around all the time. Filter out toxic financial relationships and know the 6 Kinds Of Friends Who Can Positively Influence Your Finances…
1. OBJECTIVE ADVISOR
A friend who can give objective monetary advice is the one who is unbiased, unemotional, unprejudiced, and fair-minded. This friend can have a hearty chat with you to point out your financial flaws and give you feasible solutions. An objective advice is something all of us need to hear, especially when it comes to financial and spending habits.
2. CHEERLEADER FRIEND
A cheerleader friend does not exactly need pompoms or shout chants. This type of friend is the one who supports and encourages you even if they do not share the same financial situation. After talking to the objective advisor, you can ask this friend to help you keep track of your financial goals. Having a supportive confidant who will boost your self-esteem can be beneficial for your discomforting situation.
3. FRIEND CARRYING SIMILAR BURDEN
Are you feeling hesitant to decline a group trip offer because of the fear that you are the only left out in the group? Not anymore. If you have a friend who carries the same loads or the same financial situation as you then, the both of you can find ways together. You can either cancel the trip or help each other to build a travel fund. This friend will understand and support your monetary decisions.
4. GENEROUS FRIEND
If you have a friend who will lend you money in a heartbeat then, consider yourself very lucky! However, you must not abuse this generous gesture and pay the sum back as soon as possible. Do not turn into a friend who never repays instead, you must take care to not burn any bridges with your generous friend.
5. RESOURCEFUL FRIEND
There was an American series once called “MacGyver” wherein a top agent defeats his enemies by using his vast scientific knowledge in creating weapons out of the things available in the room such as paper clips or duct tapes. Like MacGyver, a resourceful friend maximizes the use of what he or she has. With his or her resources in money and people, this trusted friend could help solve your financial problem. Although, being resourceful is not easy, it takes a combination of handwork, social skills, experience, talent, and luck.
6. FINANCIAL EXPERT
A financial expert may be the best kind of friend to positively influence your finances. With a background in finance, this friend can help you improve your financial accounts or help you cut down your spending.
Image Credits: pixabay.com (License: CC0 Public Domain)
If you do not have many financial expert friends right now, fret not. Money Digest has your back.
According to Investopedia, “Cost of Living” is the amount needed to sustain a certain level of living that includes basic expenses such as food, taxes, housing, and healthcare. This factor can make a difference especially if your salary is sustained in an expensive city such as ours. Your salary can go further at a developing city but it may barely go buy at a developed one. Logically, it is important to take measures that help you decrease the costs. Start with these four ways:
1. SAVE ON EDUCATION FEES
Aside from transportation, housing, and food, one of the family’s major expenses is the education fee. Childcare as well as tertiary education is costly for the parents especially if they have two or more students in the family. Topping the fees are the pile of miscellaneous such as school supplies, uniforms, camps, and other extracurricular activity expenses. Fortunately, there are some organizations that offer student grants.
The NTUC Bright Horizons Fund offers financial assistance to children from underprivileged families. The amount of assistance varies according to the gross household income or per capita income. Also, there is a minimum co-payment fee of 2% and an additional S$20 for Union Members.
While adults’ aged 35 and above that earn not more than S$1,900 can upgrade their skills with the Workfare Training Support (WTS) scheme. These adults can benefit from 95% course fee funding on various courses including part-time diploma or specialist diploma at the five local Polytechnics. Imagine how many opportunities you can get after!
2. SAVE ON TAXES
Each year, hundreds of tax deductions and credits may go unclaimed due to the lack of taxing knowledge. Be sure to maximize the tax reloads that are applicable to you by checking out the information provided by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, here.
3. SAVE ON TRANSPORTATION
The good news just keeps on rolling! Early commuters can board the MRT for free before 7:45 am on the weekdays (i.e., excluding public holidays)! The no-cost rides are available at 18 MRT stations namely: Somerset, Bayfront, Bras Basah, Bugis, Orchard, Chinatown, City Hall, Clarke Quay, Dhoby Ghaut, Downtown, Esplanade, Lavender, Marina Bay, Outram Park, Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar, Promenade, and Telok Ayer.
If you missed the cut-off timing for a few minutes, fret not. You can still indulge on 50 cents off your fare if you exited the designated stations. To be eligible for these, you must not enter from the 18 stations mentioned above. Your savings on transportation can pile up as time goes by.
4. SAVE ON WATER
We cannot live without clean water. Therefore, you must employ saving habits to lower down your bills. Learn a thing or two from this illustration:
ART. Whenever I hear this word, I picture beauty, expression, emotions, and empowerment. Truly, Art is a powerful medium that can produce all those. By definition, art is the application of one’s creative skill and imagination that is translated in tangible form such as a painting or a sculpture.
As you witness art in your daily lives, you may wonder what are the active ways you can appreciate it. Appreciation is not only in the knowledge of the different eras and style but is also in the understanding of its timeless qualities. If you think that art appreciation is expensive then, think again! There are a lot of budget-friendly ways you can start with…
1. READ MORE
If you know nothing about art, a good place to start small is by reading about it on the local library. Find books about painting, photography, performance arts, and so on. You can also save time by logging onto your computer or mobile device to search for videos that tackle art.
2. CAPTURE YOUR SURROUNDINGS
Step out of your comfort zone and be brave to take off your shoes and capture whatever you deem as pleasing. The country’s culturally diverse environment shall enrich your knowledge of art. For instance, you can snap the entertaining street performance of “the bead man” at Orchard Road.
Also, in the spirit of the National Poetry Festival, there is creative featured poetry on the different MRT platforms. Follow what catches your eyes – this can never go wrong!
3. VISIT THE LOCAL MUSEUMS
Indulge on the cultural art that is FREE for your viewing. Focusing on one genre that is Asian culture and arts, you can visit the two of the renowned museums in Singapore named Peranakan Museum and Asian Civilisations Museum.
Peranakan Museum is all about the Peranakan ethnic group that is a combination of the Chinese and Malay people. There you will see various documents, jewelries, furniture, textile, wedding accessories and so much more. Admission is free for Singapore citizens and P.R. while it starts at S$3 for children of foreign visitors.
On the other hand, the Asian Civilisations Museum showcases more than 1,300 artifacts from several Asian civilizations such as China, India, and Indonesia. Admission is free for Singapore citizens and P.R. while it starts at S$4 for children of foreign visitors.
4. MAKE DIY PROJECTS
Making art with your own hands is scientifically proven to be self-satisfactory. It makes you value the things you built even more. Also, it adds value to the object’s worth. You may start with simple Paint By Numbers Kit by Paintastic or Canvas Wall Art in these forms:
or
5. LEAVE GENUINE COMMENTS OR REVIEWS
Beyond appreciation, you can support the arts by leaving positive and sincere comments or reviews on the online products or videos by musicians, artisans, and writers. Each type of art is translated through personal taste; so do not be shy to state your own opinion.
Do you want to share your beautiful memories captured on portraits but think that it needs extra filters or finishing touches? Fret not because many Photo Editing Apps that have near-professional quality are available for free on iTunes and Google Play Store. Check these 4 Free Photo Editing Apps to add the personal glamour to your photos…
Being an avid fan of Instagram, I can attest to seeing an abundance of VSCOCam and VSCO hash tags. What makes this photo-editing app so popular? For starters, it gives you a wide range of filters and a complete set of editing tools. The filters are coded in the format of letter and number such as X1, G3, B1, and my favorite C1. Its editing tools include contrast, brightness, fade, tint, crop, rotate, highlights, shadows, sharpness, and so much more. Certainly, these tools may be as efficient as paid studio editing! Not bad for something that is free. Lastly, what separates VSCO Cam from the most is that they have a community where you can share your portraits.
If you own a Smartphone that operates on Windows then, this is one of the best editors you will meet! Photo Editor by Aviary includes a comprehensive set of basic editing tools such as crop and rotate as well as a set of lovely filters such as Arizona and Lucky. Unique features of this app include adding drawings, stickers, and text.
Bring out your creative side with the Repix app. One of the editor’s choices, Repix allows you to artistically edit your photos by using filters, frames, and adjustment tools. Special effects can be added to your portrait by using the brushes. Furthermore, it supports the motion of Samsung’s S-Pen.
Google, one of the smartest companies in our generation, is the proud owner of the Snapseed app. Snapseed allows its users to beautify their photos by applying filters and tools. After adding images, select manual tuning to enable swiping upwards for increase in value or downwards for decrease in value. Value is in terms of several variables such as saturation and contrast. It is very user-friendly, especially for beginners!
MoneyDigest
Anna Agoncillo
