Saving

Keep enough savings to go jobless for 6-12 months. Let's call this "emergency funds".

After settling bills and expenses for necessities, portion out some money into emergency funds.

Then for the remaining money, you can put them into investments or spending on entertainment.

Once you have enough in emergency funds, preferably put more money into investments.

Because of inflation, things become expensive little by little over time. Thus, the value of money decreases.

That's why we invest because it's a good way to grow your money.

Multiple Savings Accounts

You can open multiple savings accounts to separate your money for different purposes. At least DBS bank allows it.

I have an account where salary goes into. Then I set up automatic transfers to transfer a portion of the money into an account for spending on entertainment. This helps me easily limit my spending to whatever amount I have in that spending account.

You can also set up another account for travel. Every month, transfer a small portion of it into that account. Once it reaches a certain amount, treat yourself to a trip.

Higher Interest Savings Accounts

Most major banks have a combo plan where you can earn higher interest rates if you save and spend with them.

• DBS Multiplier
• OCBC 360
• UOB One

However, they have different tiers and to achieve high interest rates, they require you to spend a lot of money.

Unless you can meet those criteria based on your expenses in necessities, you are better off just achieving the lower interest tiers.

Also, the interest rates may not last long. It would be better to study each plan's spending requirements, credit card benefits before committing to one.

Don't fall for sales tactics

When a product is on sale for 20% less, it doesn't mean you you will save money if you buy it. You will save more money if you don't buy it.