Anna Agoncillo, Author at MoneyDigest.sg

When Shall You Ask Your Parents For Financial Help?

I cannot deny the fact that there is a wealth of financial information available in the Internet. However, the most underused financial support may be located at the comfort of your own home. Admitting you need the financial help of your beloved parents is not a simple task, but it is crucial in specific cases.

Know when to ask your parents for financial help and when not to.

DO’S: DO ASK FOR MONEY WHEN YOU ONLY NEED A RELATIVELY SMALL AMOUNT.

You are days away from receiving your coveted paycheck. The only problem is, you end up spending more than you meant. It happens! If you are lacking a few bucks to get through the days, you can call your parents to ask for a small loan. An extra S$50-S$100 can make all the difference at the end of the pay period.

This relatively small amount will be easy to return. Furthermore, it will not pose too much strain to the finances of your parents.

DON’TS: DO NOT ASK MONEY FOR A VACATION.

It is totally acceptable to ask your parents for pocket-money in order to fund your school excursions. However, it is not appropriate to ask your parents for travel fund if you are employed on a full-time basis. Reaching your dream vacation comes with a bag of determination and a realistic budget. Like a mature adult, plan to save the necessary amount and earn extra money if you have to.

DO’S: DO ASK FOR MONEY WHEN YOUR EMERGENCY FUND ISN’T ENOUGH.

Unforeseen events can spiral at any moment and you will not be able to handle every situation on your own. No one can predict that a vehicular accident may strike even if an individual safely cruises his or her car everyday. This may entail a significant medical procedure that the insurance company cannot cover. When your emergency fund and your back-up financial plan cannot cover all your expenses, it is acceptable to ask your parents for support.

DON’TS: DO NOT ASK THE IGNORANT FOR ADVICE.

My friend grew up with a silver spoon. His family had multiple properties and threw multiple parties. Basically, they purchased whatever they wanted. His parents’ mindset was that their money will last forever. Since his parents highlighted on the short-term wants rather than the importance of the long-term financial goals, my friend copied their spending patterns.

No money management skills were shaped during his younger years. He carried this out as a young adult. His parents appeared to have everything in order. But if you look closely, you will realize that his parents did not handle their financial responsibilities well. Decades went by and my friend’s family lost everything they once owned.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

If your parents are clearly not displaying financial discipline, do not mimic them. Educate yourself about the importance of savings, investments, and retirements plans. Sometimes, it is better to do things on your own.

Sources: 1 & 2

Creative Ways To Earn Money On Snapchat And Instagram

Social media platforms have infiltrated our lives. According to the findings of the Connected Life by Kantar TNS global study, Singapore ranked third among the countries of APAC.

Third in which scale? Well, third in the usage of Instagram and Snapchat apps. Considering that Singapore’s connectivity speed is impressive, it comes as no surprise that more and more people are using these two apps.

Put your knowledge of social media into good use by earning cash on the side!

SELL YOUR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES

With the knowledge that social media allows daily access of diverse consumers, one of the most obvious methods to make money through this platform is to post an advertisement. For example, you may clean up the clutter in your closet and find the things that you deem to be unused or underused and sell them to your friends and family through Instagram. Or, you can turn your hobbies (e.g., baking cupcakes or making jewelries) into a home-based online shop.

You can either use your personal Instagram account or set up a secondary business profile. Instagram’s business profile allows you to add details (e.g., contact number and location) so that interested individuals can directly reach your brand. Interestingly, it includes a tool called “Insight” that enables you to learn more about your followers and to observe how your posts are performing.

PROMOTE FOR OTHERS

It never crossed my mind that I could be paid to share a selfie simply because I am a blogger. I once gave a “shout-out” for a humble jewelry business while rocking some of their products. No! I am far from a huge celebrity nor am I as close as the famous social media personalities. However, I have a decent amount of followers. Marketers seem to ensure people like me when it comes to promotion.

Well, it might be due to the trust placed by the consumers. According to Singaporeans aged 16 to 24, they seem to accept the information shared by the social media personalities rather than the information distributed by the brands themselves. You may take advantage of this ideal by selling your selfies and shout-outs in Instagram and Snapchat (considering that you have a relatively huge following).

For instance, you can feature the songs of rising artists on your Snapchat live stories. Keep in mind that the stories are no longer auto-advanced, which is why you must maintain the interest of your audience.

EMPLOY AFFILIATE MARKETING

How often have you seen websites with sidebar banners that publicize their partners and other affiliates? This is called affiliate marketing. The same principle applies when you are rolling it over to Instagram. You use affiliate marketing to receive cash for the sales of the products or services that you promoted. Use catchy taglines and vibrant HD photographs to drive more sales through an affiliate code or a URL (i.e., to be attached in your profile bio).

SELL YOUR ACCOUNT

If you are ready to quit your social media addiction, consider selling your account along with the audience that you carefully built. Your hard work will not put to waste as budding businesses and other individuals are interested in managing an established account.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Simply wipe out your sensitive information as well as all your uploads before handing it out to the new owner.

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

How To Get Your Finances In Order After Bankruptcy

While experiencing bankruptcy is tragic and bouncing back is challenging, there are some strategies to get your monetary train on track.

1. COMMIT TO CHANGE

You are feeling isolated and helpless due to the recent loss of your assets, bank accounts, and primary source of income. Declaring bankruptcy can shake one’s confidence in many ways. However, you need to be reminded about the brighter things ahead. Is there any place to go to than up? The best thing that you can do now is to pick up the pieces and put them back together.

The first step is to make a strong commitment. Change your financial habits and be ready to perpetually follow through a plan.

2. ANALYZE THE CIRCUMSTANCE

You must analyze the overall financial circumstance that you are in, especially the events that led up to your downfall. Figure out the financial mistakes you made in the past and avoid repeating it in the future.

I have to admit that some setbacks are due to factors that are beyond your control (e.g., layoffs due to recession). While others are due to poor financial decisions. For instance, you became addicted to retail therapy and exhausted all your income on designer goods. You skipped out on emergency fund in favor of your fashion sprees. This is why you must come up with a plan to dig yourself out of the financial trap.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

3. FIX YOUR BUDGET

A new budget will help you rebuild your wealth by placing some constraints on your spending. Treat this as a map that will guide you to your financial goals. Now, let us start with the income. It is most likely that you are left with a single source of income that pays a minimum amount. Search for other part-time jobs or additional streams of income that can aid your journey. Face the uphill battle with a realistic budget.

Find ways to ensure that you are spending less than you are earning. I know it is not easy at first but, you have to endure the tides. Cut the unnecessary spending that you can spot in your previous budget. Rather than purchasing a smaller flat, ask your friends or family if you can crash their homes and pay a “rent” for the meantime. Lastly, sell your mint condition items to earn more money on the side.

4. PAY OUTSTANDING DEBTS

Contrary to popular belief, bankruptcy will not dissolve all your debts. You are not entirely safe yet! Although many of your unsecured debts were discharged, other forms of debts may still be on hold. This includes child support and student debt.

This is why you must gather and organize your financial documents. Determine all your obligations and list them down. Then, figure out various arrangements to pay off each one.

5. KEEP THE FAITH

The graceful bamboo stands firm in a beautiful sunny day. But, it is not always sunshine and rainbows. As strong winds gush through the forest, the graceful bamboo sways with the breeze. Be pliant like a bamboo. Embrace the strong winds of life much like this graceful creature does!

Image Credits: pixabay.com

No plan is entirely perfect and roadblocks are inevitable. Do your hardest to rebound from every setback and reverse the financial situation. The worst thing that you can do right now is to give up!

Sources: 1 & 2

How To Enjoy A Thrifty Relocation

Whether you are upgrading to a newlywed nest or downgrading to a cheaper work space, you are starting a fresh chapter in your life. You are leaving the past behind and looking forward to a brighter future ahead. Simply, this transition is exciting! However, I cannot deny the fact that moving day is stressful. This is why it is important that you employ cost efficient strategies to make your life easier.

Begin by devising a relocation plan. Invest a dollar or less in a handy notebook where you can visualize a timeline that leads up to your moving day. For instance, you may start labeling the boxes by week two. Organizing everything is important to prevent spending money purely for convenience.

The next thing that you must focus your energy on is packing the boxes by yourself. You may ask a little help from your kindhearted friends and family if you want. The bottom line is that this strategy saves a decent amount of cash. While packing your stuff, do not forget to label each box.

Let us be honest! There is nothing worse than the hassle of scavenging through a pile of mystery boxes. Sometimes, people would rather purchase new things instead of wasting time in searching for two or three items that they really need. Avoid unnecessary or impulsive buys by marking each box with a permanent marker and writing down what section of the flat it belongs to. Leave your valuables inside specific boxes that you can keep a close eye on. You may even go further categorizing each item in your notebook.

Image Credits: Book Glutton via Flickr Creative Commons

In the process of carefully putting everything in place, you will realize that there are some old investments that you do not mind leaving behind. These said investments are the items that you do not want to bring in your current residence. As long as these items are in mint condition, you can sell them on online marketplaces such as Carousell and Gumtree Singapore. Scam or spam messages are bound to flood you if you display your details in the open. So, set up an independent account just for this. Take down said account once you are finished moving. Selling your old stuff helps you to save money by shipping less and to earn more money on the side.

In the last couple of weeks before your moving day, you must narrow down your options to a single moving service. Make it a habit to get written or documented quotations from different moving services. I am not referring to the nuggets spoken by famous personalities. Instead, quotations refer to the prices offered by the companies. Show these written or documented quotations to the next company to persuade them into matching or lowering down the prices of their predecessors.

I hope that these tips can help you to enjoy a fuss-free moving day. If you can think of other ways to relocate in an affordable manner based on your personal experience, comment below and share your story. Your views are greatly appreciated! 🙂

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

Practical Ways To Stand Out As An Exceptional Employee

There is more to an exceptional employee than mere attention to detail and laser focus!

1. SOLVE PROBLEMS

You are happily employed at a small-scale advertising firm along with 8 employees. Your boss decided to gather all of you to discuss about the reinvention of your website. He asked your opinions about the potential problems that can occur with this shift. You raised a couple of issues including the lack of stock images. You immediately suggested to organize a cost-efficient photoshoot. Your boss was impressed!

As you can see, there is a fine line between highlighting and complaining about an issue. Pointing out the issue helps to get the attention of the people involved. However, it must not end there. You have to come up with realistic solutions to conquer the problems.

2. BE POSITIVE

In my experience, there is always that one employee who exudes a pessimistic mindset in the workplace. It can lead to lack of motivation and poor work etiquette. Negative thinking may also start to rub off on other employees and reduce the overall productivity. It is important to find ways to handle the pessimistic employees.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

It is impossible to live in a world where conflicts do not exist. Stressful days are bound to occur as you need to meet the deadlines and work on a strict budget. Despite the emergence of these days, it helps to remain positive. A resilient employee is able to stay optimistic about the future and encourage others to share the same mindset even during the most difficult circumstance.

3. TAKE INITIATIVE

On a different scenario, imagine that you are a contributing writer for a large-scale lifestyle website. The boss assigns your daily topics but, you are free to come up with your own ideas. Your interaction with the team made you realize that your boss is passionate about Golf. You decided to do your research about the distinct sport. You wrote an article about it and handed it to your boss on the next day. Furthermore, you included 3 more topics that focused on the current trends in Singapore. Your boss was shocked – in a good way!

Outstanding employees do not wait for the tasks to be assigned. If there is an urgent need, they act upon it appropriately. They are proactive in other areas including communication. Instead of responding to a selected few about a project, they keep the whole team in the loop.

4. ACCEPT CRITICISM

I witnessed a petty office brawl between two supervisors before. They came from divergent departments and each of them had a point. However, the other one was fueled with aggression and took things personally. A mediator had to break the tension between them. Obviously, you must deal with the same situation in a mature manner.

Exceptional employees are able to tolerate conflicts and take constructive criticisms. Instead of displacing the blame to other people, accept the idea that you need to make some changes.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

Committing a mistake is not a mark of a poor employee – failing to adapt is.

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

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