Chit Chat With Susurrate: Saving $19,000 In One Year

The following is a guest post by Susurrate. He's just like any ordinary guy out there but manage to save close to $19,000 in just one year. Here's his story and how he did it:

Hi fellow readers of SG Young Investment. Recently the Author has been writing about frugality and I guess I could write something as well.

Just a background information for you. I am currently 26 and single and I do go out and have fun with my friends. I come from a low income family, in fact, my parents are WorkFare Income Supplement recipients.

Through sheer hard work and frugality, my parents have supported my education up to a diploma. I am currently working full time earning a middle income and pursuing a part-time degree.

Being brought up in a low income family have allowed me to pick up frugal habits from my parents. Since young, I have been saving money to buy what I wanted instead of asking from my parents, so I guess that’s how I learnt early the value of money.

While I earned more than my parents combined, I do not splurge on luxury or status. Because of this habit, I find myself spending little and have a lot more disposable income than what the media portrays.

Rather than telling people that they should do this and that, or they should not do this and that, I prefer to show than to tell. I have been tracking my expenses for the past 2 ½ years and these are the numbers as well as my take home pay for the year of 2014.

I’d say I’m fortunate to be in a company where my lunch is provided. I have a bento set everyday IF I opt in, instead of rushing and competing with the lunch crowd. I also prepare my breakfast at home and have dinner at home when I have nothing on after work. Clubbing and smoking are not my cup of tea as well.

Total Take-Home Pay:	$38,656.31
Home related expenses:
Phone and Broadband	$710.88
Repairs	$74.84
Transportation:
Public Transport	$1,323.07
Food:
Groceries	$155.95
Dining Out	$675.37
Entertainment:
Vacations	$283.00
Movies	$53.50
Books	$85.01
Gifts / Weddings	$478.54
Others	$96.66
Insurance:
H&S	$781.70
Life / CI / TPD	$3,718.08
Personal Wellness:
Clothes & Shoes	$32.85
Haircut	$80.00
Wallet (one-off)	$56.58
Education:
School fees	$3,814.55
Stationery	$7.46
Parents:
Medical	$526.05
Allowance	$6,000.00
Income Tax:	$19.00
Total Expenses:	$18,973.09
Unaccounted Expenses (5%)	$948.65
Total Savings:	$18,734.57

So there you have it! A savings of $19,000 a year or almost $100,000 in 5 years for a middle income fellow, if I can keep this up (I could probably save more as I would no longer have expenses for my degree). Add another $15,000 in CPF contributions from my employment and I am $34,000 wealthier for the year.

If you notice, I spent more on things that matter, like parents’ allowance and their medical check-ups and outpatient bills, my insurance policies, and building meaningful relationships with friends. I believe that being frugal is all about spending your money wisely, not wasteful spending.. I am grateful for everything I already have.

Lastly, I’d like to leave a quote,

“The rich man isn’t the one who has the most, but rather the one who needs the least.”


My Thoughts:

The guy is a friend whom I've known for the past few months. He's the same age as me and we're on the same journey to financial freedom.

Like him, I do not come from a rich family. I too studied part time for my degree and paid it up completely with the money I earned from my full time job. Even after paying for my school fees which is a five figure sum, my financial position is still healthy and I'm on the way to meet the target of 100k savings in 2 years time. I'll update my income and expenditure on a separate post as we approach the end of 2014.

What has your savings been like for the whole of 2014? Hope you enjoyed the chit chat post. There'll be more to come. Stay tuned!

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Related Posts:
1. Chit Chat With a 17 Year Old Young Couple on Financial Planning For The Future

Consumers who had trouble with Washington Healthplanfinder have a second chance to enroll

The Washington State Health Benefits Exchange has announced a special enrollment through Feb. 23, 2015 for people who have experienced trouble enrolling in a health plan for 2015 through the state’s exchange, Washington Healthplanfinder.

“I am pleased that Washington consumers who have had trouble with Washington Healthplanfinder have an option for getting coverage effective Jan. 1,” said Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. “I encourage affected consumers to act sooner rather than later.”

The special enrollment applies to people who made an effort to receive health coverage through http://www.wahealthplanfinder.org/ before the Dec. 23 deadline, but who were unable to complete their applications due to a technical error associated with the Washington Healthplanfinder system.

Starting at noon today, affected consumers should fill out an online request form for coverage retroactive to Jan. 1 at: https://petition.wahealthplanfinder.org/. If customers need assistance or do not have Internet access, they can call the Exchange’s Customer Support Center at 1-855-923-4633. Each request will be reviewed and customers will receive a notification of their special enrollment through email or mail.

The Exchange also posted a list of frequently asked questions about the special enrollment period.

Chit Chat With a 17 Year Old Young Couple on Financial Planning For The Future

I wanted to call this an interview but decided to call it a chit chat instead. I've received quite a lot of emails from young students from as young as 15 with regards to planning their finances and investing. I've always been curious on why some of these young students will realise the importance of financial planning while others will not.

Today, I would like to feature a young couple who's studying in a local Junior College. Yes, you heard me right. They are a couple who emailed me separately and I found out their relationship some time later. The interview questions were answered by the girl herself but they did discuss together beforehand. The below ME represents the girl and HIM represents the guy. They requested to be anonymous. In this interview, you'll get to see what triggered them to start financial planning early in life and how they balance it with their social life.

Let's get started!

1) Both of you are young and already want to start planning for your future. What triggered the thought of it?

Me: Hahahaha mine I don't have one particular trigger it was like a train of thoughts? So like one thing led to another then I suddenly felt motivated to plan for my future.

Ok 1. was that I really want a car in future. My family's car's COE expires next year, before I can actually get a license and drive it so that sucks and I really cannot imagine life without a car. I guess I am pretty pampered. Car to me is not a need but it'll be really convenient if I own one in the future haha. I understand that COE in Singapore is insanely expensive so since I have the benefit of still being a youth I should start planning like right now to reach my goal of owning a car even sooner haha.

2. Was that I worked as a banquet waitress so I witnessed many weddings and I can't be sure if it's true, but Singaporeans are getting married later and later haha. I don't know what's the actual cause of it but I guess the expense of wedding and the life after that is really huge so similarly, since I have the benefit of still being a youth I might as well start planning now.

Him: His parents didn't plan their finance properly which in turn affected the family's living condition. I guess in general, we both realised the importance of managing our finance and planning our future in order to have a future of our dreams.



2) Are you a spender or a saver?

Me: Spender I guess. I think my priorities are really wrong. I spend at the things like clothes bags and save on like food but I'm coping so I guess that arrangement's ok with me haha.

Him: Spender too HAHA he spends mostly on food but he works more than me in the holidays and his earnings are > his spendings so all is good too haha.



3) As a young teenager living in Singapore, there's so much entertainment around and food is getting more expensive especially for young people who likes to go to cafes. Are there any savings tips you would like to share? 

I myself really like to explore Singapore's cafes and people like my sister and her friends really often ask me where I get my money to go cafes. Last year Dec I came up with this plan: Stop going franchises like pasta mania, MacDonalds, Nihon Mura etc when deciding to go for casual dinner.

For e.g. if I were to decide where to eat for dinner tonight with my friend somewhere at my nearest shopping mall, I'd go for kopitiam food (around $2-$3) instead of pasta mania (around $7-$10++) so I can save the money to go cafes when I really wanna relax with my friends/bf. I like to either eat really budget at kopitiam or try new cafes so I'll cut the in betweens (the franchises). Also, I'd cut down on like Starbucks, Gong Cha which people like to buy and drink as they shop haha.

This way I not only save money I cut down on sugar too HAHA. I feel that since I really love exploring new cafes in Singapore, not just for the food but the ambience, I have to make adjustments to my lifestyle so on days where I just want a simple dinner, I'd try and eat cheap or at home. As for my bf, he splurges on food and I'm trying to instil this thinking into him haha.



3) Finance is a boring subject to many people. What made you guys interested in it?

Hahaha well I guess the idea of achieving the life and dreams we want that motivated us to do something about our current lifestyle and planning which includes understanding finance better haha.



4) Where did you learn most of the personal finance concepts such as saving money, investing etc? Does your school offer such classes?

I think in the past, my school (like my pri school) did teach us how to save. But of course it's those 'save 20% of your pocket money' kinda thing haha. As I grow older I manage my personal finance like saving money. I don't have a systematic way to save money which is not exactly ideal...... hahaha oops. I guess the way I save is to like have a minimum amount of money in my bank e.g. maybe this holiday I want a certain amount of money in my bank so once it's around that amount I'd stop withdrawing money from my bank and wait for my next allowance instead hahah. But recently I started a savings plan which I'll elaborate on it later on!

As for investing, I only got interested this holidays cos I always thought that was an adult thing. It was until this holiday my boyfriend told me there are actually people who invest at our age so that got me interested haha. My parents did a bit of investment. More last time until something happened so now they only invest in those stable ones? I'm not really sure either but I know my parents have some experience in it so I talked to my mom who referred me to her financial adviser so I guess from now on I can consult that financial adviser cos she's now my financial adviser too haha. Oh and of course, both of us also read up online (e.g. your blog) about personal finance concept. Nah as far we're concerned our school don't offer any classes on personal finance concepts haha.



5) Are your peers interested in finance stuffs too? If not, are there any ways to get more young people like you to get interested in planning their future? 

I guess in general, they would want money (of course hahahah) but they don't really know how and aren't exactly motivated to search for ways etc. Most of them are choosing the 'trouble-free' way out which is to work to earn money but they are unaware that that's a temporary solution and that planning/saving is more important for the future.

I guess most of them ( I admit I used to be like this too) are more concerned about life now than life in future. I feel that there's really minimal anyone can do to get young people interested in planning for their future. There can be talks and speeches by successful people, by finance consultants etc etc but i think their growing environment and their character plays a big part. If they are surrounded by like successful people for e.g., they would naturally want to be the same.

Then again, character acts as a factor as well, one can be offered many opportunities but if he feels contented with his life or something along that line, they wouldn't wanna do anything more. I don't know if I'm making sense to you haha I'm bad at words. I think the most direct and effective way to get someone interested is when they really look around them and realise there are many successful people and they want to be like them. If they are really uninterested, the talks, speeches, shows, any form of moral suasion will only bore them.


6) Are there any other thoughts you would like to share with the readers here?

Hahahaha I guess the takeaway of this whole interview/post would be, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, and that applies to not just finance, but everything in life :)



My Thoughts:

You can see how bubbly the young girl is. I enjoyed interacting with them and am encouraged by their energy in life.

For myself, I realised the need for financial planning much later than the two 17 year old students above. I was still obsessed with the camera phones that were in trend at that time. I even bought a $300+ phone for myself at the age of 17.

To realise the need for saving money at a young age is good. Even though they may not have much money, the act of putting aside even a small portion of their allowance will instil a good habit of savings which goes a long way. 10% saved today may only be $10 but it will be a few hundred dollars when they start working.  The next part is to create a financial plan which is achievable for their long term goals. The purpose is to balance saving and spending money. We don't want to end up saving too much and be a miser or spend too much and worry about money later.

Money is not just an adult thing. Young people can start managing their own finances early in life too. If you're a student and reading this, I hope it will encourage you to start your journey to financial freedom too. Nevertheless, for young students, studies should still be prioritised and career planning is important too. Having a good income will give you a good headstart in life. This will be discussed in the next blog post.

Christmas is just one day away. Here's wishing everyone Merry Christmas and a joyful holiday ahead!

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Does insurance have to replace my entire roof?

Here's a consumer question related to winter weather: My insurer will repair a portion of my roof that was damaged, but won’t replace the entire roof to match. Can they do this?

This is a common question and it's a frustrating issue for consumers. The short answer is yes, insurers can do that. Home insurance policies cover direct physical damage to the roof, like a tree branch falling in a wind storm and poking a hole in the roof, or blowing a section of your shingles off and allowing water to enter. The insurer will repair the damaged portion of the roof and any resulting water damage. The insurer would not pay to repair any sections of your roof that are not damaged. 

If you decide you want the entire roof replaced, you would have to pay for replacing all non-damaged areas of the roof.

Read more about homeowner insurance on our website. Questions? You can contact our consumer advocates online or at 1-800-562-6900.

Oregon Insurance Commissioner extends comment period on Mutual of Enumclaw holding company conversion

The Oregon Insurance Commissioner has extended the open comment period following the Dec. 15 public hearing of the proposed mutual holding company conversion of Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Co. Comments must be delivered to the Oregon Insurance Commissioner by 5 p.m. on Dec. 29. Comments should be sent to Russell Latham, Financial Regulation Section, Oregon Insurance Division, P. O. Box 14480, Salem, OR 97309-0405.

Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Co. and its subsidiary, Enumclaw Property and Casualty Insurance Co., have requested permission from the Oregon Insurance Commissioner to reorganize into a holding company structure. Holding companies are corporations that own and control other companies. The new holding company would be the direct owner of Mutual of Enumclaw and the indirect owner of Enumclaw Property and Casualty Insurance Co. Read more about the request in our Dec. 9 blog post.

To find information about viewing the plan of reorganization, view the Dec. 15 public hearing notice from the Oregon Insurance Division.

Insurance Commissioner fines health insurer $50,000

LifeWise Health Plan of Washington has agreed to pay a $50,000 fine for overcharging 5,700 consumers $6 to $38 per month for the first six months of 2014. 

The health plans were WiseEssentials 25 and WiseSavings 20, which are catastrophic plans that trade a high deductible for a lower monthly premium. They are usually purchased by young, healthy people who want coverage in case of an injury, accident or serious illness. Each year, health insurers are required to file with the OIC their health plans--called "forms" in insurance vernacular--and the rates they will charge for each plan. The OIC then reviews and ultimately approves the plans and rates, working with the insurers when they need to. 

In this case, the 2014 rates that LifeWise filed for those catastrophic plans had decreased slightly, depending on the enrollee’s age, because the deductible increased. From January through June 2014, LifeWise charged those consumers rates that were based on the 2013 plans, which had higher deductibles.

As part of the agreement, called a consent order, LifeWise will repay the affected consumers the amounts they overpaid plus 8 percent annual interest. View the consent order here. 

You can search our disciplinary orders or file a complaint against an insurance company, agent or broker on our website.

Edmonds man no longer able to sell insurance

The Office of the Insurance Commissioner has revoked the license of insurance producer Earl C. Dennis of Edmonds.

In 2012, Dennis borrowed $210,000 from a 79-year-old insurance client, which was a significant portion of the client’s net worth. Dennis promised to secure the loan with the deed to his house, which he never did. He arranged to repay the client at a 2 percent interest rate; an unsecured personal loan from a bank ranges from 7 percent to 15 percent or higher. Dennis stopped making loan payments and still owes the client $90,000. State insurance law allows the Insurance Commissioner to revoke an insurance producer’s license if they borrow money from an insurance client who is not a family member or financial institution.

In 2011 and 2012, Dennis sold the same client three annuities, which the client paid for by surrendering two annuities that had higher guaranteed interest rates. In addition to having lower guaranteed interest rates, the three new annuities had limitations and penalties that the old annuities did not have. Insurance producers who sell annuities are required to make an effort to verify that annuities are suitable for their clients’ financial needs and they are required to adequately explain the products to their clients. Dennis did not meet those requirements in this case.

The OIC sought to revoke Dennis’ license in August 2014, but Dennis invoked his right to a hearing. The hearings officer upheld the OIC’s revocation, which means Dennis is no longer legally able to sell insurance in Washington state. You can read the findings from the hearing on the OIC’s website.