If you ever lose money in the market, don't bother to think about how you could have used the money to spend on something else. I know a lot of people who lost a few thousand in the market and regretted investing their money, whining that they could have used the money to buy a branded bag, shoes, gadgets, or dine in a Michelin-star restaurant. And some of them were actually foolish enough to really go ahead and spend another few thousand on the stuff mentioned earlier to make them feel better about the loss. Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out how does that works for them. Just like how we differentiate investment from insurance, we  must  also separate investment capital and budget for spending. When we are saving aggressively in our 20s, we are usually saving up money to invest for wealth accumulation or to spend for enjoyment.  Investment capital is money that we are going to put in the market in the hope of appreciation and be willing to bea...

When personal finance articles advise you to "Pay yourself first", they usually mean to save up a fixed portion of your income and then spend the rest.  I find this relatively inefficient.  I do it the other way round whereby I give myself a fixed allowance and save the rest.  This removes the ceiling of my savings as I don't set a fixed proportion or amount aside. Instead, I allocate a fixed amount for my living expenses to maintain my existing lifestyle. This means that I still maintain the same level of spending while my income and savings are increasing. Of course, there are times when I need to do additional top-ups because of big-ticket purchases or other needs. But just like how easier it is to notice how much you are spending on commuting when you top up your ez-link card at the ticketing machine instead of setting up auto top-ups; limiting yourself to a fixed amount of money and topping up when necessary rather than having access to a large p...

This may not be a very popular thing to do as I know a lot of people who have a stack of credit cards in their wallet so that when they buy something or dine in a restaurant, they can ask " Any card got any discount?" or simply just to figure which card would give the highest rebate on their purchases. Not that this is not a good thing, but it isn't really applicable to me because I don't spend much in the first place. I may consider starting to analyse which credit card offers the highest cashback/rebates if I'm expecting to buy a lot of stuff or spend a lot of money, but for now, one credit card works just fine for me. I'm have been crediting my salary into the UOB One account and using the UOB One credit card for the since I finally hit their minimum annual income requirement. I don't see the need to increase the credit limit now even though I could because I hardly buy anything that is beyond the limit.  It makes it easier for me to track my spending a...

Regardless what good things others may say about getting a lower salary for better exposure or learning opportunity, that's BS for me.  This may just happen to the industries that I have worked in, but unless you want to work for start-ups, which have a high percentage of folding up, the company which have the most resources to train you and provide you with the best learning opportunity in their industry, most exposure to the global markets, and best welfare benefits is the one that is wiling to pay their people the highest. Because unlike the smaller or bigger-but-cheapo companies, these companies understand the value of human resources and are more than willing to provide competitive salary package even for entry level jobs to the attract the best pool of people. In fact, some of these companies are even willing to provide better welfare just so their employees can worry less to be able to focus more on their job. Furthermore, it seems that a higher starting pay works in favour ...

As the only child who is also a firstborn, I have the luxury of getting new things for everything ranging from books to clothes to toys. In fact, I don't remember owning any hand me down items from my childhood. However, while my family isn't frugal and is in fact, slaves of consumerism, my parents set a good example of maintaining their stuff and they always try to repair their things instead of throwing them right away when it's not working, so I emulated them and grew up learning how to take care of my things as well. As I learnt more about sustainability, the cycle of consumption, how depreciation works and the concept of utility cost , I started to explore bartering, inheriting pre-loved and buying second hand as an alternative means to source for things instead of buying them from the stores When it comes to buying something used, there are some rules that I have set for myself: I do not buy fabric furniture Unlike clothes, linen and carpet that can be easily washed a...

It is surprising to know that many people didn't know that most things, regardless of products or services, brand-new or pre-loved, personal or corporate, even your salary is open for negotiation. All sorts of transactions are just trading activities, so when it comes to buy/sell, both parties have different interests and objectives The seller wants to trade a product/service for money because the money offers more value than the product/service he has, while the buyer is willing to part his money for it because he determined that the product/service will add more value to him. This is why sellers come up with various marketing tactics to make you desire the product and you may find yourself going through various promotions to try to stretch your dollar and get the best deal you could ever find.  A typical product or service already comes with a price tag. Even though there is a market rate both parties can refer to, most of the time the seller is very willing to lower the price, o...

Everything I own is for sale, ask me and I will give you a quote.  I have to admit that sometimes it is hard for me, but I try not to hold too many sentiments in things, because ultimately, it's the memories with the people that are related to the thing that matters. Resale value is how much money can you get if you put the item up in the market for sale. The resale value is fair because it doesn't factor any sentimental or functional value, but just how much the next buyer will be willing to pay for.  So just because your house worth 1 million according to the market or your painting worth 10 million just because your mom says so doesn't mean anything until you can find a buyer who is willing to pay that amount. If the product is illiquid (can't be sold), or you plan to give it away eventually/ do not intend to sell it at all, set the resale value to zero. Use the purchase price minus the resale value, and divide by the number of times you have used it. That's the ...