I chanced upon a post by Sillyinvestor and the subsequent commentary between him and his readers and it hit me strongly. Perhaps because I think it kind of reflected my situation then. By way of background, Sillyinvestor is a primary school teacher in Singapore and his latest blogpost chronicles some of the issues and challenges of…
Ok, perhaps I am a bit late to the party, since this has been widely covered in the mainstream press, as well as various other bloggers and sites. As many of our readers would know from our monthly updates, one part of the fixed expense would be our insurance premiums. This also include the partial…
A reader once commented, even though he has no kids now, but he would envisage minimal outlay when he has one, perhaps mainly the diapers and milk powder. To be honest, raising a child is not exactly that expensive an affair. It is also highly dependent on the expectations of the parents, and striking a…
A happy Lunar New Year to all our Chinese readers! I recalled when I was a kid, during the Lunar New Year period, I will be super excited. My mum will take me and my sibling to go shopping and we will buy two sets of new clothing (predominantly red) so that we can wear…
Aside from the cost incurred during pregnancy and delivery, another area which could potentially chalk up quite a bit during the first few months with your newborn is bringing them for their respective vaccinations. During the first year, there are a few which are compulsory, though there are other vaccinations that are optional but parents…
Monetary gifts are pretty common in Singapore and certain parts of the world, where we would gift money to congratulatory parties, mainly celebratory occasions, such as weddings, baby showers, housewarmings, etc. In fact, it is also an easy (and lazy) way to prepare a gift, as you do not need to think about what to…
A reader asked us to share our “minimalist wedding”. However, when Dave and I got married more than 5 years ago, we were not yet minimalists, nor aware of this concept of minimalism. Now, to think back, ours was in no way a minimalist wedding, and it was every way pretty similar to the traditional…
I have been really really busy of late. Not because of work of course, since I am currently on maternity leave. Yes, you guessed it right, I have been really busy mothering a newborn and a toddler. Sleepless nights, insufficient rest, tired and frozen shoulders…. you name it, I think I’ve got them all. Even…
Kyith from Investment Moats had shared our November expenses report in a local facebook discussion group (thanks Kyith!) and it had generated a lot of feedback and discussion. Well predominantly, it was about the cost of having a baby in Singapore, as well as how “minimalist” or not “minimalist” the pregnancy was. I think in…
A recent video produced by “Talking Point” garnered quite a bit of lively discussion among the local community. This has always been a topic of discussion and a somewhat controversial topic. However, perhaps what might have reopened this discussion is the statistics in the latest report – On average, these households earn a monthly income of…