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Funny Internet #1

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Because it's just a movie
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Exercising Financial Prudence Tip #3 - Don't Keep Your Money in Your Drawer

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As a matter of fact, I used to do that as a teenager. I would dump whatever spare cash I have into my drawer and when I have free time, I would count my money. You see the problem? The amount of money in my drawer will never grow unless I continue to dump my spare cash. So let's say I have 1000 dollars inside and I decided to stop dumping money, and after 10 years, it's still 1000 dollars, now the question is, how much is my 1000 dollars worth after a decade? If you factor in Singapore's Annual Inflation Rate , that same 1000 dollars would have become "smaller" i.e. I need to pay more than 1000 dollars to buy what I could have bought with the same amount of money 10 years ago. Pay $223.28 More! So think about it, have you found a better place to keep your money?
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Exercising Financial Prudence Tip #2 - Take Public Transport

I think having a car is convenient most of the time, especially when there's a need to carry stuff or people, or to certain places where public transport is not easily accessible. But the biggest problem with owning a car is the total cost of ownership, the monthly expenses is already quite a substantial amount. Just imagine how much you can save by converting to public transport. Well, I have a colleague who has fully paid up his car loan, but he still spends slightly over 1000 Singapore dollars a month on his car, I think he would spend less than 1/10 of that if he converts to public transport, and the other 9/10, he can use it to increase his investment portfolio. What I think is, Singapore is not a very big place, nowadays, our public transport is getting better, more connected, to more places, at higher frequency, worse comes to worst, one can always book a taxi, and it's just a call away. To be honest, I only take public transport for long distances, the rest I just...
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Exercising Financial Prudence Tip #1 - Use a Cheap Phone

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I'm currently using a Nokia 1280, and I bought it for 30 Singapore dollars at a neighbourhood shop. There are shops in People's Park Centre selling for 26.80, so for those interested, you might want to check it out. It's a basic phone, cheap and useful, and there are two outstanding features: 1. Torchlight - press center pad up twice to switch on, up once to switch off. 2. Speaking alarm - set a time, when alarm goes off, phone tells you the time. And one other thing I like about this phone, it's durable, doesn't stop my heart when I drop it, I know it won't break ;) Nokia 1280 - Black In Singapore, I think most people sign up for a mobile subscription plan, the contract requires one to stay on that plan for 2 years and for your commitment, telcos will offer mobile phones at a much lower rate. So for me, I get a plan that suits me, and I get a phone with a high market value and sell it brand new, or I get a phone at 0 dollars. If you want to save ...
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Withdraw Money from PayPal to POSB Account

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POSB Info for PayPal Country: Singapore Name on account: This must be exactly the same as the name under your POSB account, the name order must also be the same e.g. Tan Ah Kow, not Ah Kow Tan, if order is wrong, click Switch name order. Bank Name: DBS Bank Ltd Account Type: Whichever you wish, if not sure, check your booklet, usually is savings account. Current account is usually used for issuing cheques. Bank Code: 7171 Branch Code: 081 Account Number: POSB account is 9 digit, exclude the dash, put only numbers.
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Budget Airline Excess Baggage Charge (Special Rate)

This morning I went to the airport with my wife because it's that day of the year again, when she will return home to visit her family, and eat all her favourite food, papaya salad, fried ants, yeah. According to a neighbour in her home town, those are the top two delicacies of northern Thailand. The first one is arguably okay for me, but I just can't bring myself to try the last dish. And so we were well aware that her checked luggage was over the 25KG allowance that we purchased during booking, and it's a total of 7KG over the limit, and we just wanted to try our luck and see if we could get through without paying, but before I continue, I just want to emphasize that the point of this post is not to get anyone into trouble. The lady at the counter told us to put our checked luggage on the weighing machine and the overweight came at no surprise. She told us there would be a charge of 20 Singapore dollars for each extra KG over the allowance and the tot...
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How to Pronounce Suvarnabhumi?

When me and my wife were discussing whether she would like to go Suvarnabhumi or Don Mueang airport... Me: So you want SU VAARR NUB HU MI (slowly read out loud) airport? Wife: (laughs) SU WARR NA POOM. Me: Why POOM? Wife: Thais say SU WARR  NA POOM. Me: Ok... Now I know why that taxi driver in Bangkok gave me that weird look when I told him to go SU VAARR NUB HU MI, and why my wife chuckled in a corner...
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Airline Currency Conversion VS Bank Currency Conversion

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Yesterday I bought a Tiger Airways ticket for my wife, flying from Thailand to Singapore and at the payment section, I noticed that there is an option to pay in Singapore dollars; usually when I buy from Thailand to Singapore, I pay in Thai Baht and then my bank will do the conversion and charge me in Singapore dollars. Tiger Converts 2615 Thai Baht to 108.18 Singapore dollars So I did a quick search on Google using 2615 thb to sgd  and the result is about 103 Singapore dollars. Obviously I should continue to pay in Thai Baht, so I did and here's what my bank statement shows: Bank Tentatively Charges Me 102.90 Singapore dollars But do note that 102.90 is not confirm as it's still pending settlement. When the bank finally charges, they will use as of that day's conversion value, so the final amount that they charge could be slightly higher or lower, but I'm sure it will still be much lower than what Tiger Airways is charging. So make sure you do a qui...
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Suvarnabhumi or Don Mueang?

As you will know by now, some budget airlines will be relocated to the old Bangkok airport i.e. Don Mueang International Airport. When buying ticket, bet you will wonder which airline fly to which airport. No worries, I'm sure you've seen the code BKK, and you probably know BKK means Bangkok, you are quite right. BKK is also a 3 character airport code, see here , BKK = Suvarnabhumi Airport (New Bangkok International Airport) So what about Don Mueang? See here , DMK = Don Mueang International Airport So make sure you know where you are going before you buy that ticket! Anyway, they are not incredibly far apart, check this out.
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A leader's job is not to provide answers?

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Singapore Minister Chan Chun Sing Then what is a leader's job? If we give answers, will the government listen? And if we are supposed to give the answers, then vote you in for what? We pay tax for your salary for what? Shocked, disappointed and disgusted.
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Long-Term Visit Pass - Plus (LTVP-PLUS)

http://www.ica.gov.sg/news_details.aspx?nid=12665 Good news for those of us who cannot get PR for our beloved spouse, because the Singapore government has come up with a enhanced long-term visit pass called LTVP-PLUS or LTVP+. I'll sum up the key points in the FAQ provided by ICA so you don't have to go through one big page. Do let me know if I missed out anything or correction is required by dropping a comment. GENERAL LTVP+ will be in effect from 01 Apr 2012. LTVP+ holders will enjoy extended duration of residency, public healthcare subsidies and easier access to employment. No separate application required for LTVP+; an application for LTVP will automatically include your spouse for LTVP+, if eligible. LTVP applications submitted from 01 Feb 2012 will automatically be considered for LTVP+. The first approved LTVP+ will grant 3 years residency and subsequent renewal will be 5 years. Current holders of LTVP will be considered for LTVP+ on next renewal. If holde...
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How to Marry a Thai in Singapore

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You should refer to here -  https://www.rom.gov.sg/reg_info/rom_marriage.asp Please spend some time to go through and understand the information on that section (legal provision, other information, filing of notice, solemnization and etc), if your still not sure, feel free to drop a comment here or you can use their FAQ . The ROM website did a really good job of putting together the information that you need in a well-organized manner. I've done it once and I think the guide is very easy to follow. The only hiccup I've had with my marriage is during the  Appointment for verification & Statutory Declaration where both of us were required to read out a wall of text and my wife had difficulty getting past the first few lines and the counter guy got fed up and told my wife to stop. Definitely my oversight as I didn't arrange for an interpreter beforehand but luckily, there was a licensed interpreter at the scene and we managed to get her to do the interpretation ...
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Commission Calculator for DBS Vickers SG Stocks

Made this little tool to help me calculate the costs of buying or selling a stock, just enter number of shares and price and it will show both buy and sell costs at the same time. Can even choose by cash upfront, online or phone and it will calculate using respective rates. Cash Upfront ONLINE By Phone Shares: Price: Value: Commission: Clearing Fee: ...
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