A Singaporean millennial's journey to adulting

The concept of $100,000 by 30 has been so popular in recent years. As someone who was mildly obsessed with personal finance, it was an idea I subscribed to too because of how this goal seemed within reach back then as a fresh graduate. With my ‘always-below-the-median’ meagre salary, finding ways to stretch every dollar became my personal mission. I was a big fan of food discount apps and cashback deals, and would also feel so pleased with myself for not having to fork out the full price for any restaurant meals. Slowly but surely, I reached the holy number that I (and honestly every other person out there) have set out to reach. Not gonna lie, seeing that figure in my finance tracking sheet did feel good. It gave me that little ego boost, and I even felt a little smug about it. It showed that even corporate peasants like me could do it. So what do humans do when they’ve achieved something? They look for a new goal. If you’re someone who frequently reads financial blogs, you would’ve c

There’s something about the end of the year that makes you particularly reflective. We tend to do a yearly round up or set new year’s resolutions, hoping that the next year would finally be the year that we make it. While I didn’t set any new targets for the year, I decided to still do something to take advantage of the do-something-to-feel-like-im-adulting-right feeling that I was having.  And being the slight psycho that I am (I might be the only person I know who enjoys tracking my net worth monthly ), I decided to reorganise my personal finance sheet - by extending the number of tabs I have to include more aspects in life.  Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels like my life’s more put together after noting down life’s figures on an excel sheet? Haha.  Anyway, after drawing inspiration from a few finance YouTubers/bloggers, I decided to track the following in this holy personal finance sheet that I now proudly own: - Financial port

Personal finance is a topic that I’ve always held very closely to heart, especially so after graduating university. After earning my own income, I’ve worked to be more educated in this area so that I can make informed and intentional financial decisions because I knew of the downstream impact it could have on my future self. Also, with the basic fresh grad pay that I was getting, it felt imperative to stretch every dollar I had. So it felt like any knowledge on money management would be extra useful for someone who didn’t command a high pay. After being in the workforce for slightly over 6 years, I came to realise that my money beliefs have shifted quite a bit since I first stepped into the workforce. Thought it might be interesting to jot them down to see how much I’ve grown as a person. 1) Some things that seemed frivolous, are actually worth spending on I was someone who was really strict with my own finances. I do my daily expenses tracking to make sure that my expenses were reason

I was 18 when I first set foot in the CBD for work. Back then, I managed to secure an administrative position in a private bank, earning $7/hour. I remember squeezing alongside adults decked in office attire – ladies in killer heels and body-hugging dresses, and men in neatly tucked shirts and pants. I also remember feeling engulfed by this overwhelming feeling of adulthood, thinking that that was what I was supposed to be working towards once I graduate from school.   “Is this it….?”    I remember that there was this moment of realization that this didn’t seem like my way of living. Is this what adult life is all about? Rushing beside frantic working adults everyday after alighting from Raffles Place, feeling anxious as I fumbled for my card at the gantry, because I delayed my card-tapping by 0.2s which might be causing a potential queue to form behind me. Fighting for a seat during lunch at one of the crazily crowded hawker centres (because who can afford $12 salads everyday with a m

 Hey guys, it’s been a while since I’ve popped by. After realising my interest in writing and pivoting my career into the content space, I’ve ironically turned into one of those who have unknowingly made something they’re interested in into a job.  That means tragically turning what I’ve previously enjoyed into something I find a chore. Nevertheless, I’m trying to make it a point to jot my thoughts down here to make sure that future me would have something to laugh at. Anyway, back to the main point of today’s post. I’m currently covid positive, which means I’m stuck in my room nursing my health back while enjoying this mandatory solitude.  Which means loads of space to think and ponder about life. Woohoo! Being away from work for a week also meant that I had some headspace to not think about work. Which made me realise how much I don’t feel like heading back to work next Monday. And then I suddenly felt pretty sad - am I supposed to have Monday blues for the rest of my life?  Like… is

I began this whole personal finance journey proper only after graduation , when I got my first proper 9-5 job. I had this whole ‘the world is your oyster!’ mindset, and I felt like I could finally have the freedom to exercise my own financial choices, and be fully responsible for it . When I first came across the idea of FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early), I was hooked. You mean, it’s possible to not slog away 40 years of my life and then reach the point of retirement? What wonderful amazing idea is this!  Wow, now THAT sounds real tempting.  I started reading up sites and blogs, looking through articles which were written by people who were already on this journey, and I was feeling super pumped.  Not just random people living in the States too, there were articles written by Singaporeans, as this FIRE trend started taking over globally.  Something about people practising it in Singapore which makes it more.... relatable?  Like, even Singaporeans ARE achieving it ! It’s p