Looking back at my first post on SG Young Investment back in 2013, I was only 25 years old back then. How time flies, this is my 6th year of blogging and I'll be turning 31 this year. Till now, when I meet new people, often I'll be asked the question: "Why did I start blogging?" The answer was simple, because I was inspired by other financial blogs out there and wanted to contribute towards financial education too.
As time goes by and as life gets busier and also life changes along the way, it gets harder to blog as frequently as before with the limited time I have. As I document down my journey towards financial freedom, I also start to realise how hard it was. This is the reality of life because it is not as smooth sailing as what we would want it to be. Many ideas were written and said before but implementing it and seeing it through is another thing altogether. Many long time bloggers are not writing as frequently too and some have even taken a break indefinitely. They are all good people whom I've known for the past few years.
Blogging has enabled me to reach out to more people than I could have ever imagined. It has been an eventful 6 years where I have managed to meet many different people in the finance community. The community has evolved and the outreach is far wider now which attracts a lot of young people who are interested to manage their finances well with finance websites or groups such as Seedly, Dr Wealth, DollarsAndSense etc. They are operating full time and have much more capacity to outreach to more people as compared to part time bloggers like me who only write in their free time. We are all friends in this community.
If I look back at how many posts I have actually posted since SG Young Investment started, it stands at 483 currently. I would have covered all aspects of financial planning including personal finance, investments, housing, macroeconomics, insurance and so on. It becomes harder and harder to write new stuff and I sometimes feel I sound like a broken recorder repeating myself over and over again. Sometimes I sit in front of my computer and find that I have nothing to write or if I have ideas to write, I feel that I have not enough time to really sit down and write like how I do before. I have more important things to do in my life such as clearing my work, planning for wedding and most important resting and leisure as work is tiring enough for the week.
I have significantly reduced the amount of times I post articles for the past 1 year and I would think this would be the case going forward too. I do not think I know a lot in terms of investing and my philosophy for investing is very simple, to make it as fuss free as possible. Throughout the years, I've built up a rather passive portfolio which I don't really need to monitor at all and it still continues growing. It becomes really boring and there is nothing much to write about on investments when a portfolio is like that. I just do the same old thing over and over again and make sure I don't make stupid mistakes which I did just recently on an investment in Hyflux which I most likely have to write off . Still, life goes on and the portfolio will continue itself just that I have to remind myself to make it boring and not look for shortcuts and become greedy again.
I thank all readers who have supported me and many of you have been really kind to leave encouraging comments and even emails to me to say how my blog has inspired you. While in blogging there will always be negative comments too, I really appreciate the people who have encouraged me to continue writing. I may be blogging lesser but I will still continue to write.
Chinese new year is coming in just 1 week's time. Here's wishing everyone Gong Xi Fa Cai and happy CNY in advance!
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Homemade and Handmade CNY goodies
Chinese New year is just around the corner. I like CNY as its the festival to spend quality time with our family with good food surrounding each family reunion table and lots of goodies too.
Recently, I got to find out about Poon Confectionery where we can purchase CNY goodies online and have it delivered right at our door steps. Poon confectionery was started in 1971 back in Pahang, Malaysia and they recently expanded to Singapore to offer the same delicious goodies to us.
Their CNY goodies are homemade and handmade which makes them different from the ones we buy at retail shops outside. Being homemade and handmade, the goodies do taste quite different from the ones I've tried before. I got to try the Almond cookies, Green pea cookies, pineapple tarts, peanut love letter and salted egg chips all with courtesy of Poon Confectionery and cnydelivery.com.
The cookies were so soft and tasty and to be honest its quite different from the ones I tasted before anywhere. The cookies are quite brittle and breaks easily which makes it extra tasty when eaten. I like the pineapple tarts especially as the pineapple filling is fresh and the outer layer is soft. I must say they really know how to make goodies and being handmade is really different from machine made.
A close up shot of the green pea cookies shows the texture of the cookies itself where you can definitely see its not machine made as its not in the best of shape but taste the best. Check out their website at https://cnydelivery.com/ and see what they can offer. They also offer free tasting at their retail shop located at 502 Macpherson Road, Singapore 368204. Feel free to drop by and have a taste of the delicious handmade cookies.
* The CNY goodies are with courtesy from Poon Confectionery and cnydelivery.com. All views on this article are from SG Young Invesment.
Recently, I got to find out about Poon Confectionery where we can purchase CNY goodies online and have it delivered right at our door steps. Poon confectionery was started in 1971 back in Pahang, Malaysia and they recently expanded to Singapore to offer the same delicious goodies to us.
Their CNY goodies are homemade and handmade which makes them different from the ones we buy at retail shops outside. Being homemade and handmade, the goodies do taste quite different from the ones I've tried before. I got to try the Almond cookies, Green pea cookies, pineapple tarts, peanut love letter and salted egg chips all with courtesy of Poon Confectionery and cnydelivery.com.
The cookies were so soft and tasty and to be honest its quite different from the ones I tasted before anywhere. The cookies are quite brittle and breaks easily which makes it extra tasty when eaten. I like the pineapple tarts especially as the pineapple filling is fresh and the outer layer is soft. I must say they really know how to make goodies and being handmade is really different from machine made.
A close up shot of the green pea cookies shows the texture of the cookies itself where you can definitely see its not machine made as its not in the best of shape but taste the best. Check out their website at https://cnydelivery.com/ and see what they can offer. They also offer free tasting at their retail shop located at 502 Macpherson Road, Singapore 368204. Feel free to drop by and have a taste of the delicious handmade cookies.
* The CNY goodies are with courtesy from Poon Confectionery and cnydelivery.com. All views on this article are from SG Young Invesment.
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Monday, January 7, 2019
Cashback vs Airmiles, Which Is Better? - Deal of the year 2019
I am always looking out for good deals and playing the cashback game has enabled me to spend smarter plus get the best value out of my money. This is definitely one of the must do if we want to manage our finances well. How about Airmiles for those who are playing the miles game? Does it let you redeem free air tickets easily or enable you to upgrade to business class or even first class for a more luxurious travel?
With increased competition, the deals out there gets even more attractive for consumers like us. I could even order food for free through Grabfood when they had the $18 promo code for first time users. Free Grab rides were even possible when there were lots of promo codes. Besides all these freebies which emerge out recently, the best thing offered is still free CASH! Banks have been actually giving out free cash for the longest time and with so many banks in Singapore, we can always rotate around and continue getting free cash.
Deal of the year 2019 - Team challenge Starts Now!
For the year 2019, the competition heats up with a special challenge by Singsaver among the financial bloggers. Yes, I am part of this challenge and you can be part of this too. As a run up to Chinese new year in February, lots of Ang Bao $ will be given away for this challenge. All who participate in this challenge will be entitled to guaranteed rewards up to $200, bonus angbao of up to $50 and special giveaway of $888 cash.
This challenge is called team Airmiles Vs Cashback - Which Team are you in? I choose to be in team cashback as I think its a safer, easier and sure win way to be smarter with our money.With cashback credit cards, getting cashback is easy as often there are no hidden conditions to fulfil, no minimum spend required. You get instant cashback on your spending to offset your next credit card bill automatically. Its that simple.
For now, let me introduce the cashback cards available for this challenge and the perks that comes with each application:
1. Citi Cashback credit card
With increased competition, the deals out there gets even more attractive for consumers like us. I could even order food for free through Grabfood when they had the $18 promo code for first time users. Free Grab rides were even possible when there were lots of promo codes. Besides all these freebies which emerge out recently, the best thing offered is still free CASH! Banks have been actually giving out free cash for the longest time and with so many banks in Singapore, we can always rotate around and continue getting free cash.
Deal of the year 2019 - Team challenge Starts Now!
For the year 2019, the competition heats up with a special challenge by Singsaver among the financial bloggers. Yes, I am part of this challenge and you can be part of this too. As a run up to Chinese new year in February, lots of Ang Bao $ will be given away for this challenge. All who participate in this challenge will be entitled to guaranteed rewards up to $200, bonus angbao of up to $50 and special giveaway of $888 cash.
This challenge is called team Airmiles Vs Cashback - Which Team are you in? I choose to be in team cashback as I think its a safer, easier and sure win way to be smarter with our money.With cashback credit cards, getting cashback is easy as often there are no hidden conditions to fulfil, no minimum spend required. You get instant cashback on your spending to offset your next credit card bill automatically. Its that simple.
For now, let me introduce the cashback cards available for this challenge and the perks that comes with each application:
1. Citi Cashback credit card
- $200 vouchers for new Citibank customers
- $30 vouchers for existing Citibank customer
- $150 cash + $100 cashback = $250 for new SCB customers
- $50 cash + $20 cashback = $70 for existing SCB customers
- Singsaver Exclusive: $150 cash for new and existing AMEX customers
- $20 CapitaVouchers from Bank if you apply via MyInfo
- 3% cashback for first 6 months
4. HSBC Advance
- $150 cashback for new HSBC customers (T&Cs Apply)
- $100 cashback for existing HSBC customers (T&Cs Apply)
- Bonus 5% cashback on contactless payments
5. UOB YOLO
- $50 cash for new and existing UOB customers
6. OCBC 365
- $100 cashback for new OCBC customers
The sign up bonus are attractive as usual. The difference is this time there is a mechanism that if Team Cashback or Team Airmiles win, those who sign up for the respective card will receive additional angbao. The angbao bonus starts with minimum $20 for each person who applied for a credit card in the winning team. It can go up to $50 bonus for each person if total card applications is more than 1000. I'm not the only blogger participating in this challenge, there are probably 5 other bloggers who are also in this so its quite possible that we can get more applications together.
So which cashback credit card is good?
Personally, I've tried 2 of the cashback credit cards above. They are the AMEX True Cashback and Standard Chartered Unlimited credit card. The AMEX true cashback credit card boost a high 3% cashback for any spend for the first 6 months, up to $5000 total spend. This will come in handy for the upcoming Chinese New Year spending or if you're planning to buy some stuff for the start of the new year. For $5000 spent, you will get back $150 cash in your credit card statement. For every application now, you will also get $150 instant cash reward. Sounds like a good deal isn't it?
For the Standard Chartered unlimited credit card, I still own this card and I must say this is the most fuss free cashback card I've ever had. It gives 1.5% unlimited cashback on all eligible spend with no minimum spend required. Basically, I just use this card to pay for everything and I will get cashback for every dollar I spend. For each application now, you will get $250 cash & cashback instantly, which is the most attractive offer among all the cards here. If you don't have this card and are new to standard chartered, then this deal is really good for you.
I'm also considering the HSBC advance card which gives 2.5% cashback if you spend more than $2000 per month or 1.5% cashback for any spend below $2000, no minimum spend required. HSBC has good offers with partners such as Golden Village to offer special rates movie tickets at $9.50 on weekends or $7 on weekdays. We can also get Gold class tickets at $24.50 for weekdays and $34.50 for weekends. This is good for those who love to watch movies at the cinema.
I'm also considering the HSBC advance card which gives 2.5% cashback if you spend more than $2000 per month or 1.5% cashback for any spend below $2000, no minimum spend required. HSBC has good offers with partners such as Golden Village to offer special rates movie tickets at $9.50 on weekends or $7 on weekdays. We can also get Gold class tickets at $24.50 for weekdays and $34.50 for weekends. This is good for those who love to watch movies at the cinema.
Bonus: Ang Bao & $888 Cash Giveaway for 2019 Team Challenge - Cashback vs Airmiles
The team challenge will run from 7 Jan to 31st Jan 2019. The status of the Ang Bao per application will be updated daily at this link as seen in the image below. As long as either Cashback or Airmiles wins, the minimum Ang Bao payable is $20 and up to $50 per card application. Do remember to check the link daily.
Share this with your friends as the more applications we have, the more Ang Bao each one of us will get!
To stand a chance to win $888 cash, comment and tag 3 Friends on this post on why you think Airmiles or Cashback is better. The top 3 most creative answers from the winning team will each receive $888 cash!
The team challenge will run from 7 Jan to 31st Jan 2019. The status of the Ang Bao per application will be updated daily at this link as seen in the image below. As long as either Cashback or Airmiles wins, the minimum Ang Bao payable is $20 and up to $50 per card application. Do remember to check the link daily.
Share this with your friends as the more applications we have, the more Ang Bao each one of us will get!
To stand a chance to win $888 cash, comment and tag 3 Friends on this post on why you think Airmiles or Cashback is better. The top 3 most creative answers from the winning team will each receive $888 cash!
Apply for a cashback credit card and join the team challenge
If you do not have a cashback credit card or looking to get other bank's cashback card, this would be the best time to do it with such good deals on the table. Personally, if you do not have any cashback credit cards at all, the Standard chartered unlimited credit card will be the best for you. Its $250 cash given to you instantly after you apply for the card and additional Ang Bao $ if cashback team wins. I am quite confident that cashback team will win as its a more common credit card among the masses in Singapore as compared to Airmiles cards.
Let's make cashback team a winning team to start off 2019 with good luck and prosperity!
Apply for your cards here today.
Let's make cashback team a winning team to start off 2019 with good luck and prosperity!
Apply for your cards here today.
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