Amanda Wanders

The 5 Dollar Challenge

Have you heard about the $5 dollar challenge? The challenge is about saving up every single $5 note you get, without counting how much you have in the jar...

So last week, I decided to dig out my jar and counted the $5 that I had accumulated the past one year or so.

How disciplined was I for this challenge?

SUPER. If I only had two $5 notes in my wallet, I would rather PayNow my friends to get cash from them, than to spend those notes. I only missed out saving perhaps two $5 in the past year when I was in a rush and didn’t have time for the ATM (and didn’t have friends around me)

Do take note that I use my credit card most of the times so the cash that I can save may be different from yours.

THE FINAL AMOUNT I SAVED WAS $445!

Well, it isn’t that much but it is an extra amount of monies that you get to save without feeling any pinch in your wallet or bank account. Please take note that this shouldn’t be your only source of savings! On top of this,

I set aside 40% of my income to set aside to save in the bank every month (I then use these monies to go into fixed deposits, single premium savings/investment plans, or buy stocks as and when I feel the time is right)

Short Term Financial Goal: Clear off our mortgage before age 35

I set aside another 30% of my income to buy into regular investment plans and savings plans (because I realise that I tend to be more tempted to withdraw monies from platforms that are too flexible, so these are like my disciplined wealth accumulation haha)

Long Term Financial Goal: Build up my retirement funds and have a passive income by the time I reach 55

So technically, I only have 30% of my income for day-to-day expenses, allowances, mortgage (we pay for ours in cash), travels (I’m saving a lot on this category this year lol) and also my insurance premiums whatnot. How about you? How do you budget your day to day finances? 😊

Anyways, I can buy durians this season without feeling any pinch now hehe! Or rather, I’d only start feeling the pinch after I finish spending that $445 😂 #durianaddict

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, by Amanda Ng

Finance

Miles Strategy for UOB Cardholders

Would you like to experience business class while travelling long distances? After saving my miles for a really long time, I finally managed to accumulate enough to fly business class when travelling to London a couple of months back.

We both wanted the window seat so S took the seat behind (and it was super hard to chit chat lol)

My personal miles strategy (please take it with a pinch of salt as I’m sharing these based on what worked for me) is to consolidate it all within one bank (UOB for my case) so that I can accumulate and combine all my rewards points (also known as UNI$) across the different cards I use. In this way, you’d get to save on your miles’ conversion fee - it costs $25 each time you convert your UNI$ or rewards points to miles.

UOB Preferred Platinum Card

Earn Rate: 4 miles per dollar spent
Used for: Mobile contactless payment, online shopping & entertainment
Examples: Everything that allows PayWave (e.g. NTUC/Retails Shops) | Buying tickets on SISTIC / Online Shopping
Maximum Cap: $1,000 per month

UOB Lady’s (Solitaire) Card
Earn Rate: 4 miles per dollar spent
Used for: Food and Travel (You can choose 1 or 2 categories every quarter to earn 4mpd)
Examples: All restaurants or food expenses | Airline & Hotel Bookings

Maximum Cap: $1,000 or $3,000 per month

This card is also linked to UOB One Account so you can get a higher interest rate for it if you spend a minimum of $500 monthly! Sadly, unlike DBS Women’s Card, this card is strictly for the ladies only.

UOB PRVI Miles Card
Earn Rate: 1.4 miles per dollar spent
Used for: Everything Else
Examples: Recurring Bills (StarHub/SP)

Maximum Cap: None

Special Earn Rate (PRVIMiles):

6 Miles: Agoda/Expedia/UOB Travel

4.4 Miles: Bus/Train Spend via mobile contactless

On the side, I also use Citibank Rewards Card and Citibank PremierMiles Card for certain situations.

I use it at retailers that rewards SMART$ instead of UNI$. This means that you get cash back in the form of SMART$, instead of rewards points/miles in the form of UNI$
For purchases less than $5. As UOB rewards UNI$ by blocks of $5, anything less than that won’t earn you miles

If you are planning to travel on business class with your miles, the value of one mile is around 3 cents.

4 miles x 3 cents = 16 cents

This translates to about a 16% return on every dollar you spend! I personally feel that it’s way better than any cash back card which usually provides around 5% return, just that it comes with delayed gratification.
*Do take note that if you use your miles for purchasing an economy class ticket though, the value of one mile goes down to around 1.9 cents.

To see how many miles are required for preferred travel destination, do refer to SQ Awards Chart ( do take note that it changes from time to time)

My strategy is built up mainly from reading The Mile Lion so do check them out if you prefer to diversify across different cards! They even have a guide on what card to use for different categories. What do you think? Let me know your thoughts or if you have a different strategy to share. Always happy to learn!

Psst, you can also check out my business class flight experience on my Instagram Stories here. Perhaps you’d be able to get some motivation to convert to Team Miles? Hehe. Meanwhile, stay home and stay safe! xx

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, by Amanda Ng

Home

5 Items for New Homeowners to Consider

Hello! I’m back to Blogger again!

And since majority voted for many me to share about #ashideout as my first (come back) blog post, I’ve decided to share about the top 5 items I would recommend for people to invest in as we use them on an almost daily basis. Do bear in mind that we bought most items 2 years back so there may be changes to the price or that there may be newer models available in the market!

Key Collection in 2018

So let me introduce to you the 5 “good-buy” items for our home! (Ranked by its usage frequency)

#1 Zip Blinds

No regrets spending on MC2’s Zip Blind because it blocks out the wind & rain at our balcony with the amazing remote (as seen on the left). It gives you the flexibility to stop any one of the panels at your preferred height (example: to block out the sun) simply with a touch of a button!

This allows our balcony to be used as an alfresco dining area when the weather permits, while keeping the air-conditioning in when it rains and the binds are closed. The after sales service we experienced is really good too! Here’s a video link on how it works.

Est Cost: $4,000 (price varies depending on the length and ceiling height)
PS, this brand is way cheaper compared to ZipTrek and I feel that its quality is still good!

#2 Ruhens Water Dispenser

Ruhens WHP-760 is highly recommended for the lazy HAHAHA. It gives you hot and cold water at a touch of a button, so you can say goodbye to having to boil water or spend time making ice to add to your water! Plus it gives you certain pre-set amounts as well so you don’t have to stop for when filling a 550ml or 1.5l water bottle. The water that comes out are automatically filtered as well (meaning you drink this super healthy alkaline water). Vouching for their after sales service too as we faced an issue with our dispenser earlier this year and they gave us a 1-to-1 exchange!

Est Cost: $2,199

#3 Air Fryer

Air fryers are like the best inventions ever. The brand we bought was EuropAce EAF 333Q (S just bought it online randomly) and it worked surprisingly well! It does its job of frying stuffs without getting oil splatters all over the place and provides you with a midnight snack (hello, seaweed chicken/nuggets) real quick!

Est Cost: $70 (didn’t save our purchase price but this was its cost on Lazada 🙈)

#4 IKEA Bed Table

Breakfast in bed, anyone? Just kidding. Although it’s called the DJURA Bed Table, we use it when we are crazy chasing some drama and want to dine in front on the TV instead of the dining table. Perfect height for eating when sitting on the sofa. In fact, we use it almost everyday actually during the Circuit Breaker period 😅

Est Cost: $20

#5 Steigen Solar Dryer

If you are considering to get a washing machine + dryer in one, please consider getting a washing machine on its own with this! Steigen Solar allows to dry out your clothes without having to iron your clothes (S never had to iron his wrinkle-free shirts ever when using this)

The huge plus side for me is that although our yard has no natural sunlight coming in, it has a UV feature that does not makes your clothes stink (TBH, I can’t remember the name of the feature) but it works exactly how it would be hanging your clothes out in the sun.

Another plus is that short people like me don’t have to worry too much about top toe-ing while hanging clothes because you can adjust its height with a remote control! Comes with inbuilt light as well as 2 options for cold and hot air!

Est Cost: $849

Anyway, I could go on and on about the different items at home but I’d just stick to these 5 for now. Feel free to drop me a message on Instagram or Whatsapp if you’d like any other recommendations for other household items or daily necessities!