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Boost Your Savings
Posted on December 5, 2016 by Anna V.
Haotanto in Budgeting //
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Practical Budget Hacks to Power Up Your Savings
Managing your personal budget is about more than just watching the
income going in and the expenditures going out. An important aspect
that’s often overlooked is developing a clever strategy about how
you activate products and services – which ultimately represents a
dollar value of your total worth. Buying, selling or sharing
specific possessions or skills will have an impact on the growth of
your finances, and it’s not hard to develop a plan that
will boost your budget volume and monetary worth. Find out exactly
what’s worth activating.
Successful
budgeting involves careful assessment of your “needs” and
“wants”. For example, do you need to buy an expensive car, or can
you carpool with friends instead? Do you really need to buy that
designer gown for your friend’s wedding, or can you rent it for a
cheaper price?
Budget Hacks #1
Buy: Electronic Gadgets
In this high-tech era, smart phones and laptops are essential tools
for your work and daily routine. Using communal computers at
community or collaboration centres can be a temporary fix during
periods when your budget is tight. However, it’s best in the long
run to invest in your own gadgets for the sake of your privacy and
workflow efficiency.
Singapore is a haven not only for the fashion-minded and foodies,
but also for the digitally savvy. According to Time
magazine, the country has the widest available range of
electronic gadgets, from portable DVD players, MP3 players and
cameras to mobile phones, tablets and laptops. Sim Lim Square and
Funan Digitalife Mall are the two most popular emporia for
electronic goodies. Tech in Asia, however, cautions against buying
from certain stores in order to avoid possible scams.
Read: 10
Steps to Develop a Healthy Relationship with Money
Budget Hacks #2
Buy: Internet Service
While you can always visit your local internet café, rent portable
Wi-Fi for your business or even leech off your neighbor’s
connection, it’s safer and more convenient to contract for your own
internet service. Going to a café every time you need to work or
check email can be tiring and time-consuming. Renting portable
Wi-Fi can be more expensive in the long run. Using others’ Wi-Fi
connections, even your neighbour’s, makes you vulnerable to hacked
passwords, leaked data and stolen files.
Currently, the three biggest internet providers are M1, Starhub and
Singtel. In addition to these, there are also smaller companies
such as MyRepublic and ViewQwest that are getting positive reviews
from consumers. When choosing a package, remember to consider the
contract terms, speed and price. Most ISPs offer packages with
contract terms ranging from 6 to 24 months and speeds exceeding 100
Mbps.
Budget Hacks #3
Share: Fashionable Apparel
Eye-catching designer clothes and accessories are meant to be worn
and shown off only once at special occasions like weddings, posh
birthdays and galas. However, the mind-boggling price that you pay
to purchase this kind of fashionable apparel may not be worth the
expenditure if you wear a piece only one time.
If you want to appear in a really memorable dress at a special
event, consider renting instead of buying. Her
World Plus recommends the recently launched Rent a Dress
service for those who need a beautiful designer dress for a special
occasion. Prices range from SGD 45-150 for cocktail dresses and SGD
80-200 for long evening gowns.
Budget Hacks #4
Share: Transportation Service
The package price of a car is typically inclusive of the
Certificate of Entitlement (COE), Open Market Value (OMV),
Additional Registration Fee (ARF), other fees and taxes such as the
duty fee, GST and dealer gross profit, and the first year of road
tax. However, in order to calculate the overall financial
responsibility of owning a car, you also
need to factor in the cost of your car loan including interest,
auto insurance, future road tax, maintenance services, petrol and
parking. According to iMoney
Singapore, if you are buying a Mercedes-Benz E-200
Avantgarde, the best-selling car of 2014, the lifetime expense you
can expect is approximately SGD 350,000.
Fortunately, the public transportation system in Singapore is one
of the best and least expensive in the world. According
to Hawksford,
it will cost you only about SGD 150 a month to commute to and from
your office. If
you absolutely need a car, however, consider sharing the cost of
petrol and parking by carpooling. There are various carpooling
platforms such as Tripda and Share Transport that you can check out
online.
Budget Hacks #5
Sell: A Spare Room
Do you have a spare bedroom in your home? Maybe you can turn that
extra room into a comfortable temporary stopover space for
travellers by using platforms like Airbnb.
Take note, however, that Housing and Development Board flat owners
are not allowed to sublet their units to tourists for short-term
stays. As the concept of home-sharing is becoming more popular,
Airbnb has opened talks with the Urban Redevelopment Authority to
start hashing out a clear framework for short-term rentals.
thenewsavvy