TWFT: Everyone loves a bargain!

There are some great emailing lists to get yourself on if you like a bargain - and seriously, who doesn't like to save a few $$!

While getting on more emailing lists does mean the inbox gets a little overwhelmed at times buuuut the big savings can be worth it. It's our generation's version of cutting out coupons.

Sorry lads - most of the bargains are aimed at women (perhaps a reflection of our shopping habits?) but at least you know where to look for pressie ideas (Valentine's Day hint hint).

For Hong Kongers make sure you check out the following:

Groupon
Twango
Butterboom (join the VIP list to get Perfume samples and exclusive early news of Sales)
DimSum and then Sum
Kelly England

Happy (Shopping) Saving!

Low-spend foodie

So No-spend January is almost over and I'm proud to say - so far so good! Not a cent has been spent (ha, it rhymes) on personal items. But more about that once the month's over.

I came across a great article in today's The Age online about an Aussie mum, Sandra, who on becoming unemployed set herself a challenge to spend only AUD120 per fortnight on groceries. Now that's 14 days worth of 3 meals per day for 1 adult and 2 teenagers! No mean feat.

Her blog is gorgeous and full of fantastic meal ideas/recipes nom nom nom :) Perfect inspiration if you're on a No-spend January and want to take it a step further to reducing your overall spending habits.

If you actually read The Age article you'll notice a lot of nasty comments, mainly referring to the fact she quit her job and was receiving Unemployement (Centrelink) benefits. While I really wanted to let you know about her fantastic blog, 120dollarsfoodchallenge, so you can get her great tasting & budget friendly tips (please check it out - very yummy), I have to say I'm absolutely disgusted at the comments made in response to her situation.

It's revolting that people use the annonymity of the web to spew forth venom onto an individual trying to make the best of a bad situation. Yes, she chose to quit her job and ended up on welfare. But few people have taken into consideration the circumstances surrounding why she quit her job (she was bitterly unhappy) and what she's done since (working temporary positions).

From a financial perspective, we can learn from Sandra's example that perhaps if your job is your sole source of income and you hate it, it's time to start a stockpile of cash to give you breathing space to find something new. And if you DO end up in a position where money is tight, her blog is a great example of how to stretch your food pennies further.

At the end of the day - while money is important, life is too short to do something you hate.



Sandra from http://120dollarsfoodchallenge.com/



no-spend January

In January 2010 I placed myself under a self-imposed shopping ban - no purchasing clothes, shoes, makeup, magazines, toiletries or accessories. And rather than being the hell I thought it would be, I secretly got a massive kick out of the mental 'I've saved this much!' calc I did everytime I DIDN'T buy something.

So to prove it wasn't a fluke, guess what I'm doing again this January. And surprise surprise, almost half the month is over already and the world hasn't stopped turning because I can't shop. In fact, my soapbox chest-beating has influenced a few spend-weary gf's to get on the bandwagon too. So proud! It's heaps more fun when your buddies join it; you can all be tight-Sallys together. We're looking at organising a DVD-swap party and maybe even a clothes-swap party too - that way everyone gets something new without spending any $.

Another trick is simply to avoid hitting the shops altogether - don't wave temptation under your nose, it's cruel. Instead of window-shopping I'm heading to the gym, cooking dinner and spending more time with the h2b. And you know what? There's at least 30 half-read magazines stacked up in my spare room ready to be dug out and properly read - no need to buy new ones at all. Fashion's pretty cyclical - keep magazines for long enough and they're bang on trend again away ;)

Shop your wardrobe, this trick's an oldie but a goodie. Go through all your clothes to rediscover forgotten items and create new outfits. Perhaps get a gf to help - she might come up with an awesome combination you've never even thought of.

And finally - get your jewels out on display. If you can see all your accessories easily, you'll remember what's in your collection and be able to resist adding to it unneccesarily (plus it saves heaps of time co-ordinating in the morning and keeps everything in better condition if it's not all tangled).

That's my tip for January - leave the credit card at home and put yourself on a money diet. Come at it from a positive fun attitude though, wow I'm saving $$$, don't see it as a chore - otherwise you'll be binging like mad come February.

my organised 'jewels'

Fancy feast

When I lived in Australia I didn't think very highly of a Buffet - to me they were a cheap way for restaurants to churn customers with substandard food (Sizzler). Made me think of pigs at a trough asking for selmanela poisoning...nice.

Hong Kong, as always, flips Buffet on its head and takes it to a whole new level. All the top hotels produce an amazing variety of buffet choices, and the quality always amazes me (nothing like Sizzler).

I've stumbled upon this great website, Foodeasy, which lists all the latest buffets and specials - perfect for wowing visitors or when your feeling a little greedy (oink oink).

http://www.foodeasy.com/hongkongrestaurant/hotel-buffet.php

TWFT: Kindle

I have bought a Kindle!

What's a Kindle? A Kindle is an electronic book reader - you download books directly from Amazon.com and then store and read them on the Kindle. Its not an ipad, you can't check your email, it's for people who just really love their books. You can type notes, look up unknown words in a dictionary or wikipedia - lots of fun booky stuff.

So how can spending USD$180 be a money saving tip?! To be honest, this post could really just be my way of justifying my purchase (all the other girls in book group have one. And they love theirs...funnily enough I bought mine right after the last book group hehe). Anyway, here's my rationale.

Each book you purchase on the Kindle is about 30% cheaper than buying the physical book. This is probably because the publisher is saving on paper, printing, transport...all those things.

So let's say you read one book per month and each book is USD$20 - you spend $240 per year on books. If you bought those books on a Kindle you would spend only $168, which means you save $72 per year. OK, given I've just bought the Kindle, if we include the purchase cost it'll take me almost 16 months before I'm ahead, but after that I'll save save save!

The financial downside of a Kindle is - you can't borrow someone else's 'book' (which would be free) and you can't sell a read book.

Plus, as the Kindle is hooked up to your credit card the danger to go 'shopping' at Amazon is always there. I've made myself promise - no new book can be bought until the current one is read. Two weeks in and the promise has been kept (ask me in 6 months...).

Fine, so maybe the Kindle isn't the most awesome money saving tip, but you are saving the planet from producing books each year. This alone has to be a HUGE saving of global resources!

image from www.amazon.com

Money tool for Americans

I've stumbled across this great website which tracks your ACTUAL spending by getting direct data from your bank accounts.

Looks like it's only relevant for American residents though, which is a shame.

Definitely worth a look if you want to see what you really spend, rather than what you think you spend. Plus they lots of interesting articles and links on personal finance.

http://www.mint.com/

Protection and Prevention for redundancies

As an expat, there are simply so many things to spend money on. It's only too easy to live hand-to-mouth from month to month. As the wages come in, they quickly go out on holidays, outings, experiences, shopping.

But one thing you might have noticed during the GFC is how vulnerable the expat employee market is to an economic downturn. When things started getting nasty in the  financial markets, companies needed to cut costs in order to stay afloat. And not just small belt tightening, I'm talking about limb-removing cuts here. Entire departments losing 20% of staff, all foreign travel suspended...no free fruit in the kitchen.

As expats, we can be a little more expensive than a local hire in many cases. We can demand housing allowances, children's education allowances, drivers, helpers (maid), blackberries, corporate credit card. The list of perks can go on...together with the incentive to sack expensive expats first during a crunch.

So what can we, as an expat, do to protect ourselves from this situation. Other than working hard, being innovative etc (which are covered off in a million other blogs), we should consider:

1. Emergency expense reserve
Set aside 3 - 6 months of expenses in cash or liquid assets (i.e. money market) for easy access should your source of income dry up. The cash reserve will allow you to pay your bills, while looking for a new job, and save you from having to liquidate your investments in order to eat.

2. Stand alone insurance policy
Your employer will, in many cases, provide you with some level of insurance cover. And in many cases, this insurance will cease when your last day at the company ticks over. This will leave you without insurance cover, and could be very stressful. Look into the costs of having a basic stand-alone insurance policy, so that you have emergency cover should you lose your job.

3. Stress test
Having a monthly budget is great while you have a job to keep track of expenses etc and exactly what you are spending. Now take this budget...and zero out your income. What impact does this have on your cashflow and long term financial goals? Use this opportunity to work out where you can make some savings in your budget to see you through. And use this to work out how long your savings will last in a worst-case scenario. Scared? Think you won't make it? Great - use that knowledge and fear to give you the kick you needed to start saving more!

Saving money on makeup

Just to mix it up a little - here's a video from MakeupByTiffanyD. Tips for saving money on makeup/great cheap products.

Its the big things

How many times do you read savings advice columns that simply say to cut out the Starbucks and takeaway lunches? These two always seem to make it to the top of every list but to me they're getting a bit stale. While I'm not saying these aren't good ideas, that can save around a thousand dollars a year, they do seem to suck the fun out of life a little!

Another idea is to focus on the big ways you can save money instead.

One area is travel. For example, my boyfriend and I attended a wedding in New Zealand over Easter. Given I was a bridesmaid we knew the date months in advance. And given the wedding was over Easter, flights were  no doubt going to be expensive. So I booked our flights in October last year. One week before we flew I double checked to see how much these flights now cost - and they were HKD4,000 more expensive! By booking 6 months in advance I saved over USD500.

Another area is big ticket items for your home. Checking websites like ebay, craigslist and Asia Expat in many cases you'll find exactly what you need for huge discounts - even free. It also doesn't hurt to ask around - if someone is thinking of gettting rid of the exact item you need, they'll usually give you a great price for saving them the time and energy of trying to sell it. When we moved to Hong Kong we purchased all our furniture from one of my boyfriend's colleagues who was moving into a smaller apartment. We saved thousands buying his furniture, not to mention saving hours trawling through the shops and more money again on delivery.

Clothing is another area to save big. The obvious thing to do is of course shop during the sales. But for special occassion dresses, sometimes you can't wait. While already popular in many other cities, new to Hong Kong is the idea of buying second hand gowns online. Designer Gowns HK buys and sells preloved designer dresses, shoes and accessories. And once you've worn your fabulous frock to the ball, you can resell it again so you never have to wear the same thing twice. Or if you'd prefer to see the dress in person, try the Pedder Building in Central HK.

The same goes for designer handbags. Not everyone wants a knock-off Chanel from the markets, sometimes you want the quality of workmanship of the real thing, without the moral dilema of buying fakes. Websites like tradeit.com.hk and shops like Milan Station sell second hand designer bags for 30 to 50% off the original price.

Just these 4 ideas alone will save you thousands each year - and you can probably keep having your Starbucks!

 

image: http://www.freefoto.com/preview/09-16-58?ffid=09-16-58