A dollar saved is a dollar and fifty earned

Being a teenager, what bothers me is that my fellow friends at this age aren't doing much saving, not to mention investing! Time and time again I read comments about how friends have to find part-time jobs as they are broke, not much savings left in the bank but still continue their daily lifestyle of eating at restaurants or cafes.

It isn't wrong to socialise, but here are some saving tips which may help you to save that dollar:

1) Bring your own water

I think this is the most common and major source of money-making and method of profiteering for F&B owners. That can of coke which you bought for $1.20? It only costs less than a cent INCLUDING LABOUR COSTS to manufacture! Sometimes I wonder although people know that they are being ripped off by such a high selling price, they would still foolishly drink it. Why not bring a bottle of plain water from home? It can save you that dollar and furthermore, plain water is healthy and purifies + detoxifies your body after consuming all the oily and spicy food!

2) Eating at restaurants

I admit that one should pamper themselves once in a while, dining lavishly. But one should also dine within one's means. These are wants and not needs. I am a person who eats to live and not live to eat. I believe in just filling up my stomach with whatever food that I can find

3) Walk / Cycle / Public Transport

With rising costs of living, taxis are becoming extremely expensive. Although Singapore's public transport ain't worth of the world class status as mentioned, it is still the most efficient + affordable mode of transportation in Singapore. If you have time to spare, wake up earlier and you can save yourself 2 or even 3 plates of chicken rice from your cab fare.

Now, after you have saved up that dollar, what do you do with it?

You INVEST!

SAVINGS ACCOUNT

The simplest way of investing would be to put it in your bank (although the interest rates are miserably and pathetically low)

FIXED DEPOSITS

If you have about $10k to spare and you won't want to be and won't be using this sum of money anytime soon, you could put it in Fixed Deposit (FD) accounts which offers rates slightly better than your savings accounts, at least there's 1%.

Pros: It is GUARANTEED rates (I think this is by far the most important factor as both your capital and interest rates are guaranteed thus even though you put in a larger sum of money, the risk factor is basically the same as Savings Account)

Cons: There is a minimum commitment period

Thus I would advise those who are interested in placing their money in FD that this sum of money should not be a necessity but rather extras that you would not touch and move for the commitment period. You could head on to any banks websites for more information

In my next post, I would be blogging about other investment instruments!

Stay tuned!
Billy~