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Easy Ways You Can Save Over S$3,000 A Year

Life is unexpected; you will never know when an emergency or financial crisis will hit. With that constant reminder, who does not want to save over S$3,000 a year? That said, here are the Easy Ways You Can Save Over S$3,000 A Year:

1. WATER SELECTION

If you are purchasing bottled water from the stores that are priced at S$1/1.5L bottle then, a family of four goes through at least 20 bottles a week. This is why it is best to drink from the safe tap. Filling up your reusable water bottle or jug only takes seconds and only costs S$0! With the tap water, you save about S$960 annually!

2. POWER STRIPS OFF

Power strips or otherwise known as power bar, trailer lead, or extension block, can spike your electric costs even if you turn it off.

Image Credits: US-power-strip-rotated via Wikimedia Commons (Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)

Accounting for about 5-10% of your home’s energy bill, the best way to save from this is to unplug it completely. Unplugging your power strips can save you approximately S$70-330 per annum.

3. LIMITING AIR CONDITIONER USAGE

At 900 watts or more, your air conditioner (AC) is one of the major appliances that contribute to a huge chunk of your energy bill. So, if it is running for 8 hours a night for 365 days then, your medium-sized AC unit will cost you about S$600 annually. A good way to save about 50% is to time your AC to shut down after 4 hours. Then, save about S$25 on AC – a month!

Furthermore, here are the 5 Cost Saving and Energy Saving Air conditioners For your HDB:

Image Credits: home.intraix.com/5-aircons-to-buy

4. ELIMINATE THE DRYER

Instead of constantly putting your clothes in the dryer, hang it in properly in a clothesline. The dryer, like the AC, is contributing to a huge chunk of your energy bill. It feeds on energy and a lot of it. So, by letting your dryer rest, you can save about S$103 a year. That is if you regularly have 6 loads per week and take 20 minutes per load.

5. HAVE HOME COOKED MEALS FOR DINNER

Aside from packing lunch at work, cooking at home every dinner will cut your costs effectively and immensely. The cost of the meat, vegetables, and spices are lesser at the grocery than at the restaurants outside. This is why you must limit your restaurant trips or take-out meals to at least once a week.

For instance, you are going out for dinner at an average restaurant for 3 times a week then, it can cost you S$240 a month or S$2,880 a year. So if you limit your outside dinner trips to once every week then you can save up to S$1,920 a year!

SUMMARY (M-1 month & Y-1 year):

A. Water: S$80/M , S$960/Y

B. Power Strips: S$5.8-27.5/M, S$70-330/Y

C. Air Conditioner: S$25/M, S$300/Y

D. Dryer: S$8.6/M, S$103/Y

E. Dinner: S$160/M, S$1,920/Y

Image Credits: pixabay.com (CC0 Public Domain)

Thus, the total can go up to S$3,613 worth of savings in just 12 months! 🙂

Sources: 1,2,3 & 4

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.

6 tips to save on your air ticket

Planning for a getaway? It’s never too early to start planning for the trip. Before you get excited over your dream destination, it pays to start scouting for the cheapest tickets.

There are many factors that affect the price of the ticket. The price of a ticket may fluctuate and differs across different airlines and the route taken. Ultimately, it depends on the basics of economics of supply and demand which explains for the variation in pricing.

Here we share with you 6 tips to save on your air ticket:

1. Choose your departure and arrival date wisely

Airlines segment their market to increase their profitability. In other words, they charge different travellers different price for the same route. How do they do that? Business travellers usually travel on a Monday and return on Thursday and Friday, and flying on these days would usually be more expensive than if you travel on mid-week, say Tuesday and Wednesday. Avoid these dates if your travelling plan is flexible.

2. Buying early on the right day

While it is ideal to purchase your ticket when airlines launches a sale, you can also enjoy up savings if you make your purchase on the right day. According to flight comparison website Skycanner, it would be the cheapest to book as early as possible for budget and short-haul flights. The best time to book is 28-29 weeks ahead of your travelling date from Singapore. Whereas for full service and long-haul flight, it may be cheaper to wait, but not too long from your flight date. A general benchmark would be between 17-22 weeks ahead of scheduled flight.

3. Flying on less peak hours

If you are flexible with your travelling plan, flying on less popular hours will get you cheaper ticket. Most people do not want to reach their destination late in the evening or depart early in the morning, but as long as public transport is available to bring you to and fro from airport-accommodation, why not?

4. Use flight comparison websites

With advent of technology, the introduction of flight comparison websites have helped many individuals compare prices of different airlines at their selected date. There are many sites like SkyScanner, Kayak, Zuji and Expedia which does the job for you. Use at least 2 to make sure that you are getting a bargain for your air ticket.

5. Credit Card Perks

Before you book your next flight, check if your credit card is eligible for rebates, air miles or free travel insurance. Many banks are offering travelling credit card to chalk up your mile points which can be used to offset your next ticket or upgrade your seats. If you are a frequent traveller, you may even redeem for free tickets. If not there are also rebates and free travel insurance as an icing to the cake.

6. Shop for Travel Vouchers

You can search for travel vouchers that are up for sale on classified sites like Gumtree and STClassified. These vouchers are usually offered by individuals who have won them in lucky draws and gifts and do not intend to travel. These vouchers are usually being offered at 10-20% cheaper off its value.

7. Use our Hotels Search Engine (*Updated 9 March 2015)

Have you heard of Trivago, Expedia, Hotel.com? Yes, these hotels aggregators search thousands of hotels to find you the best deals but which one to use? Use our hotels search engine (http://hotels.moneydigest.sg) as we search these aggregators to bring you the best price guaranteed hotels.