5 ways to Stretch the dollar due to Covid19 in Singapore

I thought it will be useful to check what are the ways that we can stretch the dollar in this Covid 19 in Singapore.

1. Sheng Shiong / NTUC 

Instead of eating out, we purchase food items to cook in the house. This enable mi to save on my expenses and i am able to accumulate more points on the credit card which in turn translate to more rebates for the next purchase. There are lots of varieties of food however ice cream is always the first to sold out, including the cones. This makes me wonder, does everyone have a sweet tooth when eating at home. 

2. Netflix

If you are like me who like to watch movies, however due to the Covid situation. Do check out NetFlix and on top of that Starhub is offering a promotion on it as well whereby you can get Netflix/Broad band/Tv for the price of $79.90. All at the comfort of your home.

3. Refinance your housing loan

If you are eligible for refinancing of your loan, do check out 

https://www.redbrick.sg/free-mortgage-loan-comparison

I did a check during the July Period as my hdb MOP period is going to reach by end of the year and i would like to check how much loan and what interest rate i am eligible so that i can review whether i can afford to sell and purchase another hdb. Guess what, the interest has fallen. Currently it is offered at 1.12% and Redbrick is the largest mortgage company and will match all competition. It may just be the time to refinance your loan. Take note though if you loan amount is not that huge, it may not be viable or possible as some finance or banks will require a min. loan amount. 

4. Skills future Singapore

https://www.myskillsfuture.sg/content/portal/en/index.html

Do check out the above website, if you are Singaporean, you are entitle $500 if you have not used it, there are tons of course for you to choose and if you are 40 years old and above like myself, you can get further rebates on the courses you sign off. This is definitely a good way to stretch your dollar.

5. E-Library

My favourite place when i was young used to be the library. Nowadays whenever i go library is with my kids and we spend a lot of time at the library during the weekend to cultivate their interest in stories, imagination and free aircon. However due to Covid, we didn't really go. That is where i download the overdrive app to download Ebooks from the NLB, if you are Singaporean it is free. There are a lot of books and magazines that can be download and read at your leisure. Take note though it is for 3 weeks, after which you will need to borrow again. In case the book is being taken, you can reserved the book at $1.50. Definitely stretching the dollar.

Stay tune to my next title

Activities for Kids at Kidz Amaze

I've been wanting to write this for so long. That was like 7 years + ago. When i was organizing an activity for kids. There were 36 kids in total and i absolutely loved it. Minus the commute in the bus though. Imagine 36 kids in a chartered bus. 

What started off was a project that started by looking for old folks as i was part of the organizing committee for organizing a visit to old folks. As it has been for the past 5 years since i join the company in 2012, i propose that we should do something different. How about have an event for the under privilege kids? 

We asked around and manage to get Faith Acts to oblige and was willingly to let us take photos to show case the committee event that we have done. In case you are wondering what is Faith Acts. Do check out their website. https://www.faithacts.org.sg/about-us

From there, 1 started the preparations. I was researching on the activities that we could bring the kids for a Saturday morning with 2-3 hours play and also get the volunteers from my company to mingle around so that there will be play. I queried on Kidz-amaze, Snow City, Science Centre. With the budget of $2k on hand, we visited the 3 places for an understanding of the venue and the area where we can house 60 people. We finally settled with Kidz-amaze with budget,location & safety considerations. Here's the website, do check it out. Kidz-amaze people were very nice and really went through with us on all the activities and the safety that need to be taken care of.

https://www.safra.sg/our-facilities/kidz-amaze

We have the venue and location. That was my main concern. 

The other items on my checklist was

- Chartered bus to bring the children to and fro from Faith Acts

- Morning snacks (using the budget) 

- Volunteers to man the stations (meeting with volunteers to assign their roles as playgroup, safety, ushers)

- Gifts for the kids as they finished the event (corporate gifts)

- Prize hamper for the team of kids (using the budget)

- Lunch for the kids (using the budget)

 Overall i would give myself and the team 9.5/10 😀