Feeling hungry after a day long of shopping in town?
Well, look no further.
Now you can enjoy up to 50% discount on selected food items when you dine at Swensen’s @ ION Orchard.
Simply make a table reservation with Eatigo, and you are all set!
Slipper Lobster Roll $17.90 $8.95
Oriental Chili Fish Pasta $16.90 $8.45
Fish & Chips $15.60 $7.80
Farm Roast Chicken $15.60 $7.80
Milo Dinosaur Sundae Dirt Pot $10.50 $5.25
As you can see from the screenshot below, diners can enjoy different tier of discounts on different date and timing.
Screengrab’s on Table Reservation for Swensen’s ION Orchard
Check the timing and make your table reservation on Eatigo here.
Dine with your friends and let them know of this value-for-money deal by sharing this post with them!
Special Conditions
Discounts are not applicable on Swensen’s cake at all Swensen’s outlets. Customers in the same table will have to go for only one type of discount, either Eatigo or Swensen’s weekday lunch treat offer. There will not be splitting of bill or table.
Menu and pricing subject to change without notice.
All prices in SGD and are exclusive of VAT and service charge according to the policy of the restaurants.
I’m going to share some of the ways that you can allocate your portfolio according to the different amounts of money that you are able to invest (those above your emergency fund and not needed for any big-ticket purchases).
Straits Times has done a similar article on this topic, How to invest if you have $20k or more (19 Jul), but I disagree with some of their recommendations (especially since I don’t really like the idea of unit trusts and prefer index funds)
If you have around:
$10,000 (or less) to invest….
100% Index funds or ETFs
You can place your money in index funds or an exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the latter can be bought and sold on the SGX like shares, but some of the funds are specified Special Investing Products (SIPs) and would require you to meet some criteria. This would give you diversification as investing in the fund will give you exposure to the different shares in the fund.
For example, investing in an index fund that tracks the Straits Times Index (STI) will spread your capital across the 30 shares that make up the STI, according to the size of the market cap of each company as the STI is a capitalization-weighted index.
$50,000 to invest….
60% Index funds or ETFs 40% Stocks or REITs
Instead of investing in index funds or ETFs, if you are more adventurous, you can try investing in individual companies or REITs (but I think it’s still good to keep a good part of your portfolio in index funds or ETFs). Picking out individual companies will require a bit more time to research the companies on your own to pick out the good from the rest. The ability to pick out good companies will require some experience to master, but the potential returns will be much better than investing in index funds or ETFs if done well, but don’t try to do so if you’re not willing to put in time to learn and research as you may end up only paying “tuition fees”.
$100,000 (or more) to invest….
70% Stocks or REITs 20% Bonds 10% Cash
With this amount, you may be able to purchase all of the 30 shares in the STI on your own to avoid the expense ratios of index funds and ETFs and another advantage would be getting dividends as the companies pay them instead of waiting for the funds to pay them out. You may still incur some minimum brokerage charges if you try this, but if held over a long enough period, this would be cheaper than using index funds or ETFs.
Another advantage of not using index funds and ETFs at this point is the ability to buy shares that you think may outperform the market. Let’s say you think that the finance sector may not do so well in Singapore, you can cut out the finance stocks, such as DBS, UOB and OCBC, and go for the companies that you think will outperform the market.
You may also want to keep some of your portfolio in bonds and cash as well to better protect your portfolio should the market enter a downturn, you still have an income and cash to take advantage of the drop in share prices to buy into the market at the cheaper prices.
I think that this is a good way to invest if you have above $100,000, unless you have amounts in the millions in which case I have not much idea of how to invest in that region.
Summary
Overall I support index funds and ETFs as a good way for people with smaller portfolios to be able to access a wide diversification across different shares in the index that the fund covers. (You can see my post on indexing at: Thoughts on Indexing) As your portfolio grows, you may want to move into individual shares as they offer the potential for better returns and with your larger investment, it would make more sense to spend more time researching the companies (amount earned over time is higher).
When investing in the market, you may also want to practice dollar-cost averaging to ensure that you do not enter the market at too high a price and get your fingers burnt when the market drops, but don’t invest too small amounts such that you spend a large amount of your money on minimum brokerage fees. While it’s good to diversify to reduce your exposure to any one company, investing in too many companies dilutes the returns of the “winners” that you have chosen.
Plan for your holiday early and enjoy exclusive Economy Class all-in return airfares* to over 50 destinations worldwide with your Standard Chartered Credit Card.
Plus, receive an American Tourister Puzzle-Lite Spinner 59cm luggage# (worth $120) when you are the first 800 credit cardholders to spend a minimum of $1,000 on your flight bookings.
Terms and conditions apply.
Sale Period: 11 August to 6 September 2015
Travel Period:
10 September 2015 onwards (30 days advance purchase)
25 September 2015 onwards (45 days advance purchase)
10 October 2015 onwards (60 days advance purchase)
09 November 2015 onwards (90 days advance purchase)
09 December 2015 onwards (120 days advance purchase)
(Editor’s note: Clicking on each fare below will redirect you to the Singapore Airlines’s Booking Page. Same destination on multiple lines indicates different inbound/outbound flights.)
Fares to Southeast Asia (Min/ Max Stay: 2 Days/ 1 Month)
You can also make your booking directly on Singapore Airlines’s website here.
Terms & Conditions
# The American Tourister Luggage Promotion is available from 11 August to 6 September 2015 (both dates inclusive) and is valid with a credit card issued by Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited. The Cardholder must be the first 800 Credit Cardholders to charge $1,000 on singaporeair.com/scb (single or accumulated transactions) in order to receive the American Tourister Puzzle-Lite Spinner 59cm luggage. Each Principle Cardholder can only qualify for one Luggage. Visit sc.com/sg/sia for the full terms and conditions that apply.
*All fares shown are subject to currency fluctuation and seats availability
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Gaming the Starbucks system isn’t only fair, it’s probably encouraged. After all, it keeps you entertained, and Starbucks will be happy that it keeps you walking to their cash register. Here’s a few ways that people try to squeeze a buck or two out of a latte:
Get a Tea Bag
If your intent is to sit there as long as possible and talk to a friend, then enjoy a tea buffet. Simply get a tea bag, and you can ask for hot water for a refill. In theory you can do this three or four times before you’re basically drinking water with a faint suggestion of tea, but you’ll have a hot cup in hand while sitting there for an hour.
For those of you not on a budget, do note that it’s best to avoid steeping your tea twice. You know, if you’re a connoisseur or anything.
Get a Starbucks Card and Register It
If you buy a Starbucks card, you have two advantages. The first is that you can control your budget – put a set amount of cash in it every month, and when it runs out you know that you’ve hit the monthly limit.
The second advantage is a free drink on your birthday, and rewards on two tiers (green and gold). These entitle you to use special coupons and rewards, which come crowding into your mailbox. This won’t save you money if you visit infrequently, but if you’re the sort whose there at least once a month, it’s worth the savings.
Staying for a While? Just Buy the Venti.
If you intend to stay and sip for a long time, do consider just buying the biggest size possible. There is no Venti drink on the menu that will cost more than two Grandes or two Talls. It’s simple economy of scale and it makes sense to share or split a Venti with your partner, rather than buying a two Talls.
(Although if you feel you can’t finish it, then don’t waste money by getting the bigger drink.)
Incidentally, a price trick: when faced with three foreign sounding words, most people will pick the one in the middle (i.e. the one the business really wants to sell). That’s why Starbucks doesn’t call them small, medium, and large. Now you know.
Cheap Iced Latte
Say you really need a drink to wake the dead, but are on a budget. A simple trick is to ask for three espresso shots with ice. Put it in at least a Grande cup, although a Venti will do as well.
You then have a two minutes or so to rush over to the counter where they keep the milk, and douse your drink in bovine goodness. Why the timer? Because espresso gets bitter really fast, so don’t linger.
Assuming you pull this off, you could have a very cheap iced latte (under S$5). Be prepared though, it’s strong enough to leave you vibrating for a few hours. Also, it’s not technically allowed so don’t do it repeatedly.
Ask for Your Grande Coffee in a Venti Cup
Just add some milk afterward, or more ice. It will dilute your drink a little, sure, but you’ll get a bit more bang for your buck. Just make sure you don’t go to the extent of emptying out the milk carafes, because the rest of us need it too.
This next one is not a hack, but…
Do remember to use an appropriate credit card, if that’s your mode of payment. If you’re not using your Starbucks card then you may as well get rewards, one way or another. You can find the best credit card in Singapore with SingSaver’s price comparison tools.
MoneyDigest
