Would’ve started earlier if we knew 🤭💰

While we’ve both been on our individual money journeys in the past, we truly saw our trajectory skyrocket even after spending > $300,000 combined in just the last 9 months of 2024.

𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙧!

𝘛𝘓𝘋𝘙:

𝘉𝘶𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 > 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺

𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵

𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩

𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 (𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 & 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴!)

💰 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗬

1- 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨

Time is your best asset, even if it is just $100 a month, you will see the rewards in the long term.

Some of our favourite buys that are relatively managed risk wise are:

🔸Index ETFs - you can simply start off with dollar cost averaging in low cost ETFs that track the S&P 500

🔸Mutual Funds - diversified funds in particular countries / sectors that we can strategically invest in (e.g. Asian Equities, Healthcare etc)

2- 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺

We’re currently using the

🔸UOB Lady’s Solitaire for local spending and

🔸Privimiles for overseas expenses!

Read more about how you can convert big ticket expenses into miles 👉🏻 Here

Just between us, we are okay with clocking majority of our expenditure into one card and just transferring our share so we can exchange for miles much faster! This is what works best for us 👩‍❤️‍👨 and we much prefer it to cash back because we travel very often!

3- 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴

While this is not as “exciting” growth wise as stocks are, we’re happy to have started creating these passive income streams relatively young bc

🔸in as short as 5 years’ time, the amount of dividends we receive year on year would be sufficient to fund our regular investments 😉 and that’s a huge deal for us! Who doesn’t love generating more cash from existing cash? 🤪

4- 𝘔𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴

Mik turned her hobby (and talent) into income-generating UGC creations, and we’re also exploring other low capital, low intensity businesses that could complement our primary jobs! There is no reason you can’t, the best tip is to

🔸find something you’re already interested in and happy doing, and turn that into something you can monetise!

🪴 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗬𝗟𝗘

1- 𝘉𝘶𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴

A good piece of clothing truly can last you a long time compared to multiple pieces of fast fashion that stretches out or fades after a few wears / washes. By investing only in quality pieces, we cut down on storage space required, which also means less carpentry and furniture needed (that’s the bulk of your Reno btw). We would go for

🔸classy timelessness over clutter any day!

2- 𝘋𝘐𝘠 𝘝𝘚 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵

It’s not so much about whether you can afford to, but more of a do you want to, or could that money be better off doing something else for you?

This is especially for the ladies - each gel manicure costs easily $100-200, or more if you consider your grab to and fro + hours spent at the salon; same goes for lash extensions, hair treatments etc.

🔸saves you time, and the transport + material cost difference could easily be $200-500 a month!

🔸FYI $500 a month invested (low gauge, 6%) for 10 years would already give you $80+K :) let that sink in…

3- 𝘌-𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

Leo loves to read but there are so many dusty books stacked up on each other, it’s a drag to even find one to get started. The e-book reader is so light and portable, he could easily do a morning or night reading and even bring it out on the go!

🔸Kobo reader

4-𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘦

We’re very happy to have date nights at home (actually even more frequently as we don’t have to factor in jam / travelling out / making dinner reservations), streaming our favourite shows without having to consider the theatre schedule + we can have healthy snacks instead of sugar loaded popcorn!

🔸our best buy: reclinable sofa from JB with inbuilt cup holders and phone chargers

This has elevated our home life so much we really prefer staying in than going out if we can help it these days 🤭

🤗 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗛

1- 𝘎𝘺𝘮 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱

To get this out of the way: a gym membership is only useful IF you are going regularly. We got one which is very well equipped and only a short 5min walk from home. It also comes with unlimited classes for our package at only $80+ a month!

🔸if you’re an eastie, we can intro you hehe!

2- 𝘎𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴

Mik absolutely detests pills, and we found these multivitamins from Finland that has 0 artificial flavouring. She has also been getting her melatonin from iherb!

3- 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘍𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦

We invested in these key pieces:

🔸omnidesk + ergotune - solves back pain with better posture

🔸sealy palatial crest Aristotle bed - the cushion is incredible and we sleep so well on it

🔸wells dispenser + Stanley cups - increases our water intake with cold water anytime we want & is a huge convenience bc we stay in a 2-storey maisonette. Mik loves ice cold water so the temperature retention keeps her ice from melting. Without this, she’d only be drinking bubble tea all day…

🔸window tints & quality curtains - we have the sun heat up the room like an oven so to prevent furniture deterioration + reduce our electricity consumption, these have helped SO MUCH and for a very low cost!

🔸homino drying rack + Miele dryer - you’re paying for the same functionality as a steigen without absorbing their marketing costs LOL but we did spend on Miele bc the drum material doesn’t snag any of our clothes

4- 𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦-𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥

Healthiness aside, have you realised how expensive the price of convenience is? Was appalled that a BK burger was $10 alacarte on Grab, and the delivery fees have also been increasing so much. When we eat out, a meal is easily $40-60; but groceries only cost like $150 a week and that’s with all the additional amounts we have to spend on dairy alternatives for Leo!

👉🏻 Follow us for more practical financial tips!

#mindfulspending #investing #AdultingTips #MoneyTips #couplefinance