Free Uber rides again!

Save! - $10-50 on taxi fares

The long and the short of it:

Uber is giving 2 free Uber Taxi rides again on THURSDAY 23rd Oct!

Additional or local tips!
Mai Tu Liao!!!

The 2 Free rides are only for Thursday (which is 23rd Oct)! Up till Midnight!

Oh boy, Uber is really fighting for its share of the pie. It's giving another free rides day!
See? When there's market competition, we, the consumers really win.

I've tried it in their recent free rides day and am pleased to say they really honor their word. My two rides were free. They did have some technical difficulties, charging me for the 2nd ride, but they came through in the end and reversed the charges.

This time around they are issuing some new T&C.
So... IMPORTANT Things to note:

- The free rides cover up to $35 per ride. Anything above will be charged. This is quite reasonable

- Cancellation fee of $2 applies if a ride is confirmed and then you go cancel it. Reasonable too!

- Demand will be high so expect it to be hard to get an Uber taxi! They experienced over the top demand for the first free rides day so they are putting out a disclaimer that you might need to try a few times before you can get a taxi so take note!


Chiong arh!!! Again. :D



Note: Their previous promo.

Buying Hope on a shoe string budget

Save! - NA

The long and the short of it:

Gamble on the odd ToTo or Big Sweep to tempt fate into giving you a windfall. BUT don't overdo it or get hooked!

Additional or local tips!
$1 for ToTo quick pick gets you 1 set of lucky numbers and if there's no queue, you'll be out of the shop in less time than you can say "I want to Huat big ah!"

$3 for the big sweep ticket so you will end up spending $4 a month if you gamble like me. Hehehe I buy my hope on a shoestring budget. :p

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This is just a fun post. I don't gamble much. Honestly!
Though that's probably what hardcore gambler's say... Hehehehe


I know that in the long run, the statistics are against me but there's always hope that I may just buy that one winning ticket!

Photo credit - sgyounginvestment blog

I do enjoy buying the odd lottery ticket about once a month just to tempt lady luck into making me a millionaire.
(There's this Chinese saying... Buying a hope. My Chinese sucks so I can't write it in Chinese characters. Any readers out there that can helpz? lol)


But in the end, I know that I am buying the lottery just for the fun of saying I buy lottery tickets. I'm not ever serious about winning anything and sometimes forget to check my lottery ticket for weeks and months until I find it in the midst of some receipt stacks. 



You should too. Gamble responsibly and never bet more than you can afford to lose!!!




This is just a fun post about the changes in the Singaporean lottery's (ToTo) winning odds. Dollars and Sense website has just done up a calculation of the odds here. (Disclaimer here - I'm not a statistician so I can't confirm the numbers!)

Please don't anyhow gamble!

Cheap Toiletries

Save!  -Depends.

The long and the short of it:

Don't overpay for toiletries!
NTUC, Watsons and Guardian stores sell them at much higher prices than at some smaller neighborhood stores!

Additional or local tips!
Do a super cheap ass combo by using shopping mall vouchers! (Read earlier post here)
And remember to buy above $20 so you can scan the receipts to get shopping mall rewards points if you're shopping in Capitaland Malls.

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I used to buy all my toiletries from Watsons or NTUC thinking they were the cheapest.
Oh little did I know how wrong I was... I have since discovered Swanston at Chinatown and one that's closer to home, Venus Beauty at Tampines Mall.


Their shampoo, soap and other hair and facial products are wayyyyyyyy cheaper. You can expect to save between $2-6 per item. *Jaws drop* right...


They may be parallel imports but hey, they work just as well for me so why pay more for the same stuff?

Yahoo Finance has just highlighted this too!

Free Uber rides today only!

TODAY ONLY!!!

Save! - $10-50 on taxi fares

The long and the short of it:

Uber is giving 2 free Uber Taxi and Uber X rides today! And today only!

Additional or local tips!
Mai Tu Liao!!!

The 2 Free rides are only for today (which is 8 Oct)! Up till Midnight!

Who doesn't love pleasant surprises in the mail?

In the heat of the taxi apps competition, Uber is upping its game by offering free rides for its Uber Taxi and UberX rides!

We, the consumers, win when there's competition! Don't you just love a really free market?

Here's the proof of the free ride :D

What are you waiting for!
Chiong ah!!!

This is even better than their previous promo.

Cooking saving hack Part 2 - Breakfast at half the time and water!

Save! Depends. You'll probably save more time than money.

The long and the short of it

Boil your eggs and steam your buns at the same time! (Ok that sounded just a little rude :p)

Added tips!

Bring your eggs to room temperature first. Cos one of my eggs burst open during boiling. Not much mess just that the boiled egg isn't going to be a looker.

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Behold! The lazy man, save cooking time and save water all-in-one pot breakfast!

All my eggs and buns in one basket.

I know I know... it's all a little bit underwhelming. But Hey! You save water, time and gas.
It's still money saved no?

Any worries about the water not being safe and cleaning up to be more of a hassle... well those aren't true.

I've thought about it (all of a grand 30 seconds) and came up with the following Q&A to allay thine fears:

Q: You disgusting person you!    What if the egg breaks during cooking and it coats your pot with egg bits! Won't it be hard to clean?!

A: Using another pot will result in the same mess what...

Q: You unhygienic animal!    Won't it be unhygienic what with the metal steamer insert?!
A) It's boiling water... People use that to sterilize canning jars... It's safe. Period.

Q: Liar!    Won't it take longer to steam with more mass in the pot?
A) Yes it will but erm not noticeably. Anyway you don't watch the water to wait for it to boil so I guess you ain't gonna catch and save on that 0.5 millisecond extra gas used in the cooking of those 2 eggs.

Q: You heathen!    It's against Nature to eat eggs with buns! The pairing of the two are against my religion!
A: Fine. Steam the eggs and boil some sausages instead... Or steam the buns and boil sausages instead... Go think up your own combination / combo...

Q: You're a destroyer of worlds!   Cooking eggs other than by itself in pure unadulterated water is against the laws of the galaxy and will cause a cosmic imbalance that risks turning the world onto itself, causing a massive super nova to erupt! Thus destroying the world!
A: Go jump in the lake you mad F***...

So much water and so little to use

Save!  -Depends.

The long and the short of it:

We have a tremendous amount of rain fall in Singapore and all that water is just getting flushed down into the sea. Collect em and use em!
Beware dengue though!

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Singapore receives like, a crazy amount of rain in a year. When it rains, it just pours (well mostly). A large amount of that stuff flows into our reservoirs and even more of it just flows back into the sea. It's just a huge resource waiting to be exploited!

So... If you live near the ground floor or at the ground floor, grab some buckets and collect some free water. You can use that clear, kinda clean, sky juice to mop your floors and flush your loo. It'd be cleaner and less gray than using water from other washings.


I can't do that cos I live higher up on a HDB and until someone invents a safe way to harness rainwater from the 17th storey, I'll refrain from sticking out a pole to hang a bucket. Least someone gets killed by killer litter.

Oh don't shower or brush your teeth with rainwater though. You'll probably get sick.

UOB's giving moolah to make you use their estatements

Save! Earn! - $20

The long and the short of it:

- Go play the game
- get a score of 7 and above
- subscribe to estatement
- make 2 transactions. Just transfer your funds (min $10) to-and-fro your own accounts with other banks.

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UOB's trying to get people to migrate to estatements and they're dangling carrots.
You just need to:
1) Head over to their game site - http://uob.com.sg/toss-win/

2) Play a game
3) Score above 7
4) Subscribe for estatement
5) Make 2 transactions. Just transfer your funds (min $10) to-and-fro your own accounts with other banks.

DO NOTE!!!!
There are T&Cs.
The most important is being the 1st 50 customers who perform the online transactions during each week. I would suggest trying at midnight for the next opening week which is on 25th August 2014

Doncha say I neber tell you hor.

http://uob.com.sg/toss-win/

A $20 carrot is not too bad!

BTW so... the moral of the story is... Don't do anything like subscribe to estatements unless they dangle some goodies!

I know... Super evil right...

Short size at Starbucks

Save! - $0.50 per cup! Or $26 per year if you hangout there at least once a week.

The long and the short of it:

There's a smaller size for Starbucks coffee than what's listed on the menu. Get it to save some moolah when you just wanna hang out at!

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So... here's a hack that I just tried courtesy of HWZ forum's lifehacks thread.

47) don't know if applicable for singapore... in starbucks, besides the "Tall" (350ml) and "Grande" (470ml), there is actually a "Short" (240ml).
You just have to tell the staff you want a "short". This size is not advertise on their menu. of course, there's the smallest, "Demi" (89ml) but is for espresso shots. might be a wols tip, oh well. - trashtalker

Well me trashtalker, it works! Thank you!

I can now get my usual house brew for $3.20! - as compared to the usual $3.70.
Sadly I can no longer BYO mug due to logistical reasons otherwise I could potentially get a decent cuppa and a nice cooling, wifi-ed, air-conditioned, hipster-ish hangout space with friends for just for $2.70!

An added tip, you can ask for hot milk to go with the daily brew. You don't have to drink black tar.

Don't scoff at that $0.50! With that BYO mug thing, that's a savings of $1 every trip now!
This is definitely a keeper.


See previous:
Using the Starbucks Card
BYO Cup @ Starbucks

Free Moolah from Standard Chartered Dash!

Save! Earn! - $10

The long and the short of it:

Download Standard Chartered Dash App and get the connected Savings account

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It's raining money!

Quick on the heels of the DBS mobile banking giveaway, here's Standard Chartered's offer - Dash

Presenting the Dash App!

Links here for:
iTunes
Android Google Play

It's a much more complex offering than DBS and it's giving more too!

It's giving $10 btw and none of that first-come-first-serve thing either! I like...

Now to save up that $10, you'll need to do a little bit more work. Namely you will have to open up their mobile savings account. Then wait a little bit for the account to be setup. Then transfer it to your bank as per normal.

Do note the $10 will only remain in the app for 30 days. So transfer the cash out as soon as you get your mobile savings account setup. :)

P.S. Their travel insurance offer via the app is actually pretty attractive too! Damn cheap and with ACE insurance which is reputable but aye not tested ah.

Free Moolah from DBS!

Save! Earn! - $5

The long and the short of it:

Download DBS PayLah! at midnight, register and get $5

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Looks like Maybank isn't the only one giving out free money. (Really free money from Maybank and Earn even more money from Maybank.)

DBS is getting into the game as well! Unlike the efforts by the DBS Salary Credit scheme (article here), this new initiative gives you the $ effortlessly.

Presenting the DBS PayLah! App!
Links here for:
iTunes
Android Google Play

Competition = Free $$$

This is just simple. Wait till it's midnight then download the app and register! You'll soon be pocketing $5 from thin air.
Then remember to transfer the money out to your savings account. You do have one right? Heh.

Waste not any chicken

Save!  -Depends.

The long and the short of it:

Remember those Cold storage / Jasons half priced roasted chickens? Save the bones to make some damn delicious soup!

Additional or local tips!

No need for any salt or seasoning when cooking. Cos the birds are already seasoned for you! Use bones from 2 birds for a solid soup.

Use a pressure cooker to speed things up!

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Who doesn't love a good chicken soup?

Photo from Simple Bites

Being a person who abhors waste, I will save the bones from previously roasted chickens to make into soup! I've like 4 chicken carcasses in my freezer now waiting to be cooked. Hmmm yum yum.

Basically just follow any typical chicken soup recipe (here's one recipe that I reference). My chicken soup is also a lot simpler. I just add some thyme and bay leaves, potatoes and onions plus some chicken pea to have that option into making it a full meal.

There you go. Good healthy non-canned chicken soup that's rich and full bodies with a nice roasted edge. And yes, the soup will look brown because it's made from flavourful roasted chicken bones!

But do you save anything?
If you cook with chicken stock cubes then you probably save nothing.
If you cook your own chicken soups then this will probably save you $5-6 per soup since you still have to buy chicken bones or a whole chicken to make the soup base.

Half priced chicken!!!!!

Save!  - $6 per bird!

The long and the short of it:

Cold storage / Jasons has half priced roasted meats just before closing time! Usually at 9.30pm.

Additional or local tips!
Sometimes they will put up the sign at 9.30pm sometimes they will sneakily not put up anything! And sometimes they won't have it at all. So it's a game of chance and chicken.

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I swear Cold Storage does one of the best roast chickens in town for its price and convenience. Their other roast meats aren't too bad either. Their smoked duck steak is another to die for.

Now these roasted items are normally ok priced. They aren't expensive. I mean one whole uncooked bird already cost $4-6 and you still have to use electricity to cook it with herbs and spices and what nots. So $14 for a whole family sized roasted bird is pretty decently priced.

Smoke duck breast. TO DIE for.

Meat overload. Can get a bit jerlat

It looks ugly but tastes damn delicious. Smaller birds yield much a more tender meat while the larger birds have tougher breast meats.

So then, what makes this a frugallivingsg article you say?

Wait for it... (literally)... at 9.30pm, sometimes... sometimes... something magical happens.
The roast meat counter will have a fire sale and everything cooked for that day will be going for 50% off!!!!    *Goes wild!*

A whole roasted chicken is so versatile that I can make 14 meals out of that one single 50% off bird! Frozen and consumed over 2 weeks. And they were all delish. My saliva is flowing just thinking about those 14 plates of pasta.

My 14 meals of pasta from one bird!

Groceries on fire sale that are not for the faint of heart - Expired foods

Save!  - Depends on how much you spend on groceries and how often you get a chance to pick up quick sale items from the supermarket

The long and the short of it:

Expired foods are ok. If they aren't turning green or white with mould and other weird fungi, it's fine to eat them.
Additional or local tips!
Check out the supermarket about 30min before closing time to pick up Quick Sale items which needs to be sold by the end of the day otherwise they will get chucked. These items will normally be at 50% off.

Alternatively, come in early in the morning. These should be the two timings when items get labelled for Quick Sale.

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Now I'm a big proponent of this.

Expired or expiring foods are OK. 
If they aren't turning green or white with mould and other weird fungi, it's fine to eat them.

One big big example is... sliced bread. My parents always makes sure there is a loaf of clean white Gardenia sliced bread lying in the kitchen. It's the daily breakfast food, a versatile staple. They go through a loaf about once every 4 days but if not... they toss out the remaining slices, sometimes even whole loaves even if it is perfectly edible.

Why? Because of this...

They throw out perfectly edible food. And YET they lecture me on starving children in Africa when I was younger!

Hell, they've even gone one step further and toss out the bread on the day of expiration! It's not even about expired food anymore, they are tossing out expiring food because they can.
It's just too wasteful! It's like Singaporeans are too rich or something...


So what's a kid gotta do to convince the parents? Hahaha I started horrifying them by buying close to expired groceries before proceeding to cook and eat them. I've survived for about 3 yrs now having eaten some food items that are long past their expiry dates so there, it's fine.

Now there are obviously certain things that you should not eat in this manner. Namely, eggs, diary products, oils and canned foods which are bloated or have turned black when they should not. But honestly, even if these items have not gone past their expiration date, I wouldn't eat them if they have obviously turned bad. So just use your common sense. But in case you need some help to start off. Below are some examples:

• White bread that's white. No wispy fungal spores or mould is safe to eat.
• Vacuum packed preserved meats such as sausages, smoked meats and bacon. Best if frozen. Frozen goods last indefinitely.
• Canned foods such as beans. No tomatoes cos the acidity might eat through can. I've had that happen to me so don't chance it.
• Dried goods. Beans. herbs, mushrooms... Dried goods if kept properly dried will last indefinitely.

If you need more convincing, here's an article from TIME magazine that supports this. It's aptly named - Only Suckers Abide by Food Expiration Dates.

Oh and on top of saving food, you'll save money cos near expired items in the supermarkets have to be cleared asap and will often be sold at deep discounts.

Getting more money from your salary with DBS!

Save! Earn! - $60! 

The long and the short of it:

Get your HR payroll to deposit your salary into a DBS / POSB account and that's it! Insta extra $60!
Sadly this applies only to new salary credit arrangements. So basically if you are already sending money to a DBS / POSB account then no fish.

Additional or local tips!
No hafz.
But you can take revenge by assigning another your salary to be credited into another bank. Not only will you get the sweet taste of moving future funds away, you might get a higher interest rate from the other bank. BUT, scarly that other bank starts a similar promo like DBS...

So no revenge transfers better ya.

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The title is misleading. Max is $60... But better than nothing!

Easy peasy one. Just get your HR payrolls officer to credit your salary to a DBS / POSB account. DBS will then give you a 5% cash reward based on your monthly salary up to a maximum of $60 awarded. So basically anyone earning up to $1,200 should just do this.

The sad news is... If you're already sending your pay-checks to DBS, then well tough luck. They won't give you the cash reward.

Register here and you talk to your HR. 
Fine print here but I think it should apply to most salaried minions like you and me.

Offer ends on 31 May 2014 so do it quick!!!

*This post is all thanks to a tip off from Misty who gave me the heads up! Thanks Misty! 
For all the rest out there, I would love to hear from you too if this blog has helped and to share other money saving tips :)

Free train rides + Breakfast!

Save! - $300-$390 a year on transport fees and a free breakfast!

The long and the short of it:

If you work in the city or near one of the 18 eligible MRT stations, wake your ass up early and take the MRT to your destination before 7.45am.

Additional or local tips!

Missed the timing just by a few minutes? Nebermind.
You still get $0.50 discount so still not bad. As the Hokkien saying goes: "No fish prawn also good."

Also!

Get a free Ya Kun Breakfast voucher (while stocks last) on 23rd May 2014, Friday, when you tap out before 7.45am at Raffles Place, Somerset or Lavender MRT.
I would say go for the free breakfast voucher thingy only if it's on your way. 
While stocks last means there's a high chance the vouchers will run out. Retirees sure to leap on this and organize breakfast keng kai sessions based on these voucher giveaways one. I know cos I will definitely do this sort of thing when I turn old!!!

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Who doesn't love a good cup of Ya Kun in the morning?

Basically, LTA will subsidize free MRT rides for morning trips that end at 18 designated stations in the city area.

This scheme has been around for awhile now, having started in April 2013 to encourage people to ride to work at earlier hours to spread the human traffic flowing into the city.
It must have worked out well for both the LTA, SMRT and commuters since they are extending this to June 2015 (woohoo!)

You can read more about its history and the scheme itself here.

What's more they are giving away Ya Kun breakfast vouchers on 3 separate days!
Friday 16 May 2014 at Tanjong Pagar, Orchard and Bugis (oops! Blogged about it too late.)

Friday 23 May 2014 at Raffles Place, Somerset and Lavender
Friday 30 May 2014 at City Hall, Dhoby Ghaut and Chinatown

The Most Important Details in Brief!

• You need to tap out of one of the designated stations by 7.45am to get the free ride. If you tap out later by a few minutes, you still get $0.50 off.
• Your ride cannot originate from one of the 18 stations.
• The 18 stations are:

Bayfront
Bras Basah
Bugis
Chinatown
City Hall
Clarke Quay
Dhoby Ghaut
Downtown
Esplanade
Lavender
Marina Bay
Orchard
Outram Park
Promenade
Raffles Place
Somerset
Tanjong Pagar
Telok Ayer

• Free breakfast on 23 May (Raffles Place, Somerset and Lavender) and 30 May (City Hall, Dhoby Ghaut and Chinatown)

Earn even more money from Maybank

Save! Earn! - Depends. Between $10-100

The long and the short of it:

Use Maybank's Giro bill payments to get up to $100 rebate.

Additional or local tips!

Since you've to open a Maybank account you might as well chain the combo with their online credit card bill payment offer

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In a previous post, I wrote about pre-paying bills with your credit card. 

What about those that you can't pay with a credit card? 

Giro them!

For e.g. Giro your tax payments. Or home loan payments.

Maybank is giving out more serious money! Here's the offer

Maybank lately has been like a mini-god of fortune. Keeps on giving!

*This post is all thanks to a tip off from Misty who gave me the heads up! Thanks Misty! 
For all the rest out there, I would love to hear from you too if this blog has helped and to share other money saving tips :)

Pre-pay your bills to get the maximum rebates

Save! - Depends. You could save between $20-100

The long and the short of it:

Pre-pay your mobile phone bills and utilities to hit the minimum spending per month for higher rebates for credit cards such as UOB One card or Standard Chartered Manhattan card or BOC Shop card or Frank card.

Additional or local tips!

Shop around for the best card that fits your budget and usage! I'm alternating between Standard Chartered Manhattan card for bigger ticket items and UOB One card for recurring smaller bills. Haven't tried out BOC Shop card or Frank card yet though.

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We all have to pay our mobile phone / internet / cable TV bills and our utilities bills. So why not channel those payments towards your monthly credit card spending? You'll need to spend that money anyway, so why not get some rebates from them?

What if the amount is too little to reach the minimum spending to get better rebates? Well just pre-pay your bills. I have pre-paid my Singtel bills up to 6 months in advance before and likewise for SP Power bills. 

You can pay for Singtel bills via mybill site here.
You can pay for Starhub bills via here.

You can pay for SP Power bills at their customer service counters at Woodlands, Toa Payoh and Somerset. Branch info here.

Note:
- SP Power lets you pre-pay up to 2 months in advance based on your existing bill. So plan accordingly.

Going to the market with NTUC Vouchers

Save! - About $130/yr if you spend about $50/week at NTUC.

The long and the short of it:

Buy NTUC vouchers at a discount and use said vouchers to shop at NTUC. Remember to use your card to get LinkPoints.

Only applicable if you are not spending over $500/month using the OCBC NTUC Visa Plus! card which is only available to NTUC Union members. Cos that combo gets you can even better rate.

Local tips!

Check out Gumtree, Carousell, HWZ and the usual forums for people trying to cash in their vouchers. Just be careful of deals that sound too good to be true. Don't get scammed.

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Now that you've whet your appetite doing some frugal groceries shopping, here's a more advance level challenge. Using vouchers at NTUC.

Not many people know this yet or don't bother with it, but you can still receive NTUC LinkPoints when you shop using NTUC vouchers. (I've checked with them on email and have tested this out so it works as of 4 April 2014)

So where's the extra savings? Well, there are usually people on forums such as Gumtree, HWZ and Carousell looking to cash in their vouchers. NTUC vouchers should go for at least a 5% discount on those forums. Sometimes, the vouchers may even go for 10% off. Just make sure collection is not out of the way otherwise your 5% savings will end up enriching SMRT or SBS!

A word of caution - Don't get scammed!

If the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

An example would be a super good voucher offered at 40% discount but requires you to do payment via internet banking or Western Union and they will mail the vouchers over afterwards. There is a risk that the seller will run off with your money.

Cash On Delivery (COD) is the safest or paypal (Should be able to claw back payments).

If it's Yellow let it Mellow, if it's Brown Flush it Down

Save! $20 per year on flushes

The long and the short of it

If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.

Local tips!

Use outside toilets also can.

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The common adage - If it's Yellow let it Mellow, if it's Brown Flush it Down... Just how much can you save?


This is a bit unhygienic but if you do practice it, it can save you about 2-3 flushes a day but with today's water saving toilet bowls, you'll only end up saving about $20 a year. It's not a lot and honestly doesn't seem to be worth it considering that you run the risk of stinking up the home.

So here's a better way. Save your waste water to do manual rinses and flushes. Where to get the waste water you say?

1. From brushing your teeth and washing your face each morning. (I can fill close to half a bucket just with this.) Though you might think eeeewwwww water from my mouth?! Remember where that water is going... into the toilet bowl... Not exactly a clean place either.
2. From the washing machine (might be a little stinky with the soap smell but ok once it's been diluted with water from other sources)
3. From washing vegetables (not meat hor. The oil is not good for your toilet plumbing.)
4. From mopping the floor

And if I could, I would also save my shower waste water but alas, I think my family will freakout if I stopper the drains to pump out water after each shower!

I've been doing this for a few months now and there is little to no smell, the bowl water will look a bit cloudy but I can live with that.



What can I say, I hate waste and it's just sinful to use good drinkable water to wash down our crap. It's a sin I say!

This is quite advanced so do it only if you can stand it!

Bar the soap

Save! Maybe $50 per year? Cos shower gels are *&(%#! expensive as hell while bar soaps are cheaaaapppppp!!!

The long and the short of it

Go for the bar soap.

Local tips!

Don't drop it in camp next to an indian fella!
Heh heh heh just kidding...
(No offense ah my fella indian countrymen :p The cheena babi in me just couldn't resist this stereotypical toilet humour.)

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This is simple and probably more for males cos it's about daily no fuss maintenance and they usually heck care beauty labels etc one.

STOP USING LIQUID SHOWER GEL!

Just use the bar soap. It's more or less the same and it costs at least 10x cheaper. You'll save a tonnes of moolah just by making this switch.
They are also easy to store and you can buy in bulk too to save even more.

You just can't stack those bottles of liquid shower gels

AND to further minimize waste, just slap your new bar soap onto the last slivers of the old bar soap and they will merge into one. Totally zero wastage.

Shower gels you still need to open the cap and put your finger in to dig... if you know what I mean...

So happy together...

Same for the soaps you use to wash your hands. Get a bar soap. Bloody cheap.

Save more on groceries by not buying from supermarkets!

Save! $5-10 depending on what you buy for groceries and how much food you go through each month.

The long and the short of it

Go direct to suppliers or pseudo suppliers for certain groceries. Especially pantry items.

Local tips!

Look up Phoon Huat or Kwong Cheong Thye. These are the two I know. If you know more, please share!

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When you think about groceries shopping you think supermarkets such as NTUC, Giant, Mustafa, Sheng Siong or even the wet market. For most items yes, it will be cheaper to get at the supermarkets but there are some items that can be gotten cheaper at... the suppliers of course!

I've looked up and did a rough comparison and if you're buying the following, it's actually cheaper to get from... Phoon Huat!!!! (HUAT AH!)

Items that are definitely cheaper:
- Unsalted butter (if you bake)
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Cooked whole beans
- Nuts (raw or otherwise) *heard victoria market carries them at good prices too but haven't checked. Thing is, confirm cheaper than supermarkets can le.
- Vinegars
- Oils
- Frozen fruit meats
- CHEESE!!!! OMG GOD DAMN CHEAP! (Ok not cheap but cheaper. Soooo much cheaper)
(1kg Mozzarella is only $11.80! Eat till cheese come out of the ears!)

Just be sure to call them before you head down so you don't make a wasted trip and plan your journey so your cost savings don't end up spent on petrol or the bloodsucking SMRT and SBS. I personally like the Aljunied MRT branch cos its super big and tends to have items in stock. Calling before hand is important.

Phoon Huat catalogue here but no price list. Sadz.

On the other hand, Kwong Cheong Thye is where you can get your chinese / asian cooking sauces and also other ingredients. However, they only have 1 retail outlet near Aljunied MRT.

My mum only goes there to buy the Yu Sheng veges and sauces for CNY (HUAT AH!!!)
I saw other nuts and assorted pantry items too.

Cooking saving hack Part 1 - Planning to eliminate waste

Save! Maybe about $0.50 on heating and water per cook, depending on how frequent you cook and the proportions. If you cook often, this adds up.

The long and the short of it

Plan your meals so you only need to cook once in awhile and have little to no waste. It's also more environmentally  friendly!

If you cook pasta, cook it with a stew to use the starch water.

Save any fat rendered out from crisping bacon or roasting chicken.

Local tips!

Use sturdy reusable plastic food containers to freeze your stews and meals for another day.

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I hate food wastage and I try my best to use up all and I mean all that I put in the pans. I just hate throwing out anything in the kitchen. The best way for processed food bits is to the compost heap (which I don't have and don't know how to start... yet) or into the stomach.

Fat Drippings
Starting off, I save all fat drippings and freeze them to use in mashed potatoes, bruschetta, salads or for simple stir-fries. Chicken fat, bacon fat whatever fat that's rendered off, I pour off and save. These drippings are flavor bombs and can and should be reused! There are entire forums dedicated to this (e.g. Chowhound, SeriousEats, CookingJunkies)
You might say the fat is unhealthy etc but you should just listen to common sense, which is to have everything in moderation.

As long as you're not drinking it by the gallon, you'll be fine...

Image taken from Butterbeliever, like many a home chef converted, also thinks like I do!

Pasta Water
For awhile now, I have been thinking of how to save my pasta water as I hate to pour them into the sink since:
1) it's a waste of about 2-3 litres of good clean food grade water (the horrors of waste!)
2) starch being starch, it might clog the drain

So I thought, since I love to do up big batches of stews and need water and starch from potatoes to thicken them, I might as well cook these two meal items together. Cooked pasta water becomes the water base for stews and the pasta starch will also help to thicken the stew! 
2-in-1 ah!
Just moderate the salt level accordingly i.e. use less salt in the pasta water.

So now, I try my best to plan pasta with a stew. Then I'll partition the stew into plastic food containers (reusable ones mind you) and freeze them for later consumption.

Frozen foods can last indefinitely but the tasty stews normally don't last more than 2 weeks. Just remember to thaw the stew first before you pop it in the microwave. No point wasting good energy heating up frozen food. Let Singapore's sunny weather do that for you.

So this is a simple cooking hack. Save energy, save your pockets and save the Earth.


What are some of your cooking hacks to save on gas and food waste?
Share them with me in the comments section!

Toothpaste - No need to be so excited and squirt too much

Save... Not sure but you should be able to cut down your toothpaste usage by at least half. Maybe around $3 a month?

The long and the short of it

Don't use that much toothpaste. Just a pea size amount will do.

Local tips!

Small ang moh pea hor. Not the ginormous edamame pea

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This ad just screams! "More toothpaste = better!" Why not just empty the whole tube in each brush!

Advertising is at the same time one of the best and worst things to happen.


Above is a typical toothpaste advertisement and oh it's so nice to brush with a whole toothbrush slathered with that minty fresh toothpaste. It's like the only way to keep your pearly whites... well... white.

Actually... no!


This is actually how much toothpaste you need!

That's still too big a pea but at least my toothpaste now lasts me longer than a week

Toothpaste is basically an abrasive (think very fine mobile sandpaper) and a small amount will be enough to do the job since abrasives don't dissolve. A small pea sized dollop will do!

Still not convinced? Here's an article by HowStuffWorks.

And lastly, do your teeth a favor. Cut back on the whiteners. They whiten your teeth by eroding your old coffee/tea/smoke stained enamel to reveal the fresh new shiny white layer beneath.
Use whitening toothpaste often enough and you'll erode your teeth away. So don't!
Whiteners are expensive too so that's a doubly good.

Eat less save more

Save! Potentially a lot. Maybe about half of your food spend

The long and the short of it

Cut down on your meal portions because we are all eating too much....

Local tips!

Order less side dishes. Don't order "value" meals.

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This is more philosophy and method than a good deal kind of post. 

We all eat way too much now in this modern, affluent society. That's why diabetes and gout are on the rise. Both are "rich man" diseases. Rich in the sense that we can fill our bellies and not have to go hungry. A very low bar.

So to combat health problems from eating too much and save our bellies and our wallets, we should all try to cut down on consumption. 

For e.g.

• When ordering Cai Fan 菜饭, aim for just 2 side dishes instead of the usual 3. 
• Always avoid taking the meal options in fast food outlets and just buy 1-2 individual items. 

These actions may just save you a few cents but you're treating your body and wallet so much better.

Try it. Start slow.
Do frugal Fridays!
Where you subtract one item off your lunch since you've the weekend to look forward to so a bit of "misery" in smaller food portions shouldn't hurt that much!

Work your way to a slimmer self and a fatter wallet!
Better for your heart and mind too :D

Getting a haircut (not the salary kind)

Save! $6.20 per trip to the barber and if cut your hair once a month, that's $74.40 a year!

The long and the short of it

Mainly for those who don't need a VIP treatment for their tresses.
Get your haircut or trimmed at Snip Avenue. $3.80 haircuts. Nuff' said.

Local tips!

Plan your trip. Head down during your off days in the weekday mornings or afternoons cos the quene can get quite busy in the evenings and weekends. Otherwise, bring a book or something.

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If you need a simple haircut, nothing beats Snip Avenue now for their price. It's a cheap ass $3.80. 

Nothing is cheaper except maybe the Tekong barber.

Image taken from Alanchow76's Blog

I've been getting my hair cut there for about a year now and it's saved me quite a bit. I used to the go for those QB House types which used to cost $10 and now cost $12! So this is saving me quite a bit.

Pros:
- Cheap. Damn cheap. Cannot be cheaper cheap.- Many branches

Cons:
- Only for a simple haircut. Any other hair treatments etc will be costly. So go there for simple haircuts. Nothing more. (Sorry girls!)
- Long queues during peak hours and they will pick to allow the high value customers go first which is understandable. They need to make money too. So go during the off peak hours hor or be prepared to wait.
- Messy. So go have a haircut and be prepared to head home to bathe. 

Update!
Just got my haircut there and one more thing to take note. Be very clear you're just there for a haircut. The hairdresser I was assigned to was quite pushy and kept saying I had an oily scalp and thinning hair at the top of my head to scare me into getting a shampoo or hair products.

Be firm but polite. Just nod and say "uh" Get your hair cut and leave. $3.80 gotta face some hard selling for the price lah.

Their branches can be found here.

1-for-1 Cathay movie tickets

Save! Potentially $10.50 per movie ticket. 

The long and the short of it

Download the Nets Savers App and use the Cathay movie deal

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Another movie offer for film fanatics!

Go download this neowh!!! NETS Savers App (iPhone or Android)

(The app will prompt you to sign up. The dumb software then proceeds to crash when I tried to sign up numerous times. Don't say I never tried hor. But hell the offers do not require a sign in! So... Huat ah!)

How to use:

• Navigate to this image 

Should be easy to find right... should be idiot proof

• Flash to the cashier (the image... not your privates... hur hur hur) and pay using your Nets @ Flashpay card
• Make sure your Nets @ Flashpay card has enough value. If not, top it up at the atm or translink counter or whatever can be used to top up ezlink cards. 
• Promo till 30 June 2014 or while stocks last (what does this even mean???)
  
• Valid at all Cathay cinemas and all days Mon-Sun and holidays!(Hosay ah!)
• Valid for blockbusters, sneak previews and opening day of new movies! (Hosay ah! x 2)
• Must buy over the counter
• Not valid for 3D or special movies like movie marathons ah, film festivals ah... 
• 1 redemption per customer (Easy lar... split the purchase. Everyone has smart phone nowadays what)
• Cannot combine with other promos (Like seriously do you need another promo?)

Nets @ FlashPay really winning me over now. Many sweet deals!
Their sweet Taxi deal

Nets @ FlashPay for taxi rides

Save! Potentially $0.2-1 per taxi ride. If taxi like a tai-tai but with corporate slave-minion pay, spending $200 a month on taxi, then you save $10 a month. That's $120 a year. 

The long and the short of it

If you take taxi often (read, spend more than $30 a month), use Nets @ FlashPay for trips costing more than $6 (haha where got taxi rides so cheap nowadays! Sobz)

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Was on TODAY newspaper ok! So should be legit

If you take taxi often or will occasionally kena a very chor (expensive) taxi fare, this will help you to save a little bit of your money.


Basically, Nets @ FlashPay will give you a 5% rebate when you pay using their card. However, there is a $0.30 fee. So if your taxi fare runs above $6, the 5% rebate earned will be greater than the $0.30 fee. 

Now why go through all the trouble to get another card? Cos this card always acts as an ezlink card and can be topped up just the same.
Basically to me, this is another ezlink card. Quacks like a duck, it is a duck lor.

Got bee one.

How to use:

• Offer runs till 31 Dec 2014 (always important to note the end date)
• Need to hit $30 a month on taxi rides. With taxi fares being so expensive now, $30 is damn easy to hit. It just takes 3 x $10 rides. 
• Rebates are capped at $10 a month (That's if you spend $200 a month on taxi... Which is a lot.
• Rebates can be redeemed only 2 months after they are issued. E.g. you pay for the taxi fare in April, you get to redeem in June.
• Once rebates can be redeemed, you got 3 months. So in the earlier example, you got till Sept to redeem
• Redeem at the Add Value Machines at bus interchanges and MRT stations.

Add Value Machine

Downside - If you don't have a card yet, each card costs $12. Has $7 value and $5 non-refundable card deposit. :( 

BUT this is standard. Same as ezlink card. What to do? LL

And if you don't know already, the Nets @ FlashPay got other benefits. 

My other posts here - sweet 1-for-1 Cathay movie tickets deal

Simple way to save on public transport

Save! Potentially $5? I'm seriously not sure how much cos luck play a large part.

The long and the short of it

Sign up for the Insinc and just use public transport as per normal.

Local tips!

Well none. More like reassurance. This thing (actually a research study) is backed by LTA! (Ah Gong's initiative ok!)

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Way back in 2012 or was it earlier, LTA basically commissioned a research project to run this programme called Insinc to gather data and reward people for participating and riding public transport.

It's all very government conspiracy theory like but hey! They're giving out moolah for your travel information so why not?
Wait wait wait, isn't my privacy at stake you say? Well, sorry folks, ezlink cards have been and can be used to detect where you are already without you signing onto Insinc. Remember you need to give your IC when buying ezlink cards? Yessssshhh...

Anyway, it's simple, sign up here to be in the programme and they will run this weird ass super math equation casino like game in which you will probably win something if you take public transport long enough.

Sign up here - Insinc.sg

Already $3.6mil given out so far and I personally have gotten about $9 from using it for... oh maybe 3yrs. Yes it's loose change but hey, that $3 can buy me a meal ok. 
Must be cheapo to be rich some day. 

PS: the programme was slated to end by Dec 2013 but seems like they are still getting good demand and LTA is continuing it indefinitely. So just jump in lah. Cost you nothing.

Milk the NS IPPT for what its worth

Save! Potentially Earn $200 extra on top of your incentive for a complete extra 20 RT cycle. 

The long and the short of it

This is obviously only for born and bred Singaporean males with jobs that allow them to leave work early. And are also fit enough to Pass or get Silver or Gold in the first place.

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Face it. If you're a born and bred Singaporean male (or 2nd generation PR), you gotta do NS and that &*%#(@$% shit sucks bricks. So why not milk the system for what its worth.

This here only works for the fit fit kind.

If you Pass your IPPT or get any of the Silver or Gold incentives, you can squeeze out even more just by failing your IPPT first and going for a full 20 session RT before passing on your last session of RT IPPT session.

Why do this? Cos you'll get off work earlier on certain days to go exercise and MINDEF will pay you to exercise. MINDEF actually pays you ~ $16 for each RT or IPT session you attend. It's actually to offset your travel expenses so the savings won't be that much, maybe $10 per session instead?
  
That's still a stinking good deal. And also a damn stinking chao way to earn extra money.
And there's quite a number of people doing it already. I'm talking about those obviously damn fit people who run 10min under at RT sessions. Damn obvious can!

BYO Popcorn

Save! Potentially $8 per movie trip. That's a savings of $96 a year assuming 1 movie a month for an average moviegoer.

The long and the short of it

BYO popcorn!

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Popcorn prices are just ridiculous. It's mark up is probably... oh... about 1000000%. 

Seriously! Have you ever checked out how much one packet of dry unpopped corn kernels cost? Even the super bloody atas brand kind in atas supermarket cost only $5.80 for a box of 4 servings!

If you pop the corn yourself from scratch then the mark up just becomes ridiculous.

So if you have a microwave, learn how to pop your own corn and BYO. You have a bag right? Use it. Be a ninja!!!!!

 

Recipes:

- http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_popcorn/

- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/perfect-popcorn-recipe.html

(I love Alton Brown!)

- http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/10/13/how-to-pop-popcorn-on-the-stove/

(You don't even need a freaking microwave to pop corn but ok lah not as convenient.)

Uber App new launch and their amazing offer

Save! Potentially $20-40, depending on how many friends you can get. Basically you're offsetting your taxi ride using Uber's promotional launch sign-up deal. 

The long and the short of it

Sign up for Uber App with a referral code and also start referring friends! No referral code, no $20 hor.

So use my referral code! 
ya3yu
You can sign up using this link here.

(Disclaimer: I will get $20 when you use Uber to hail a ride, only when you actually use it. But hey! $20 is not bad ok for both you and me.)

Note: Uber rides are more expensive than normal cab rides. Duh. So plan your ride so you get it free rather than spend a bomb instead. (Hence this post is under Advance)

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So whenever a new launch takes place, there are usually some deals tottered out to attract sign-ups, first customers etc. 

The big thing now would be Uber, which is basically a customized private driver service. It's a tech start up that's trying to shake up taxi services here. They have already been established in the States and are making a foray into Southeast Asia. I'm not too sure how that would work here. But hey, not my main concern here. They are offering a service and giving me something to use their service. How? Read on!

 

Since they are new in Singapore, they need users and are now doling out moolah to get people to use their app. In fact, they are giving out $20 to every new sign up who uses an existing referral. (My referral code is ya3yu. Link here - https://www.uber.com/invite/ya3yu)

 

iPhone App download - here 

Android App download - here

 

Signing up for the App nets you $20 of Uber moolah. You can then start referring friends, family, strangers... Each referral will potentially net you $20. POTENTIALLY. Cos the $20 will only be credited when that other person uses the Uber service.

 

My cheapo senses are tingling! Here's how to use this to maximise your dollars. 

There are 2 types of Uber fares:

1) UberX - no frills and cheaper

2) Uber Black (or just Uber on the app) - more prestigious and more expensive

 

Since you have $20 now, you can just use that for short rides to hard to reach areas or when you just want to have a little bit of luxury. Short distances using Uber Black (or just Uber on the app) should not exceed $20. (Use their fare calculator hor.)

I know UberX is cheaper but the quick scans that I did show very little cabs so my guess is, fewer cab drivers are willing to take up Uber's offer. So even if its cheaper, you get no cabs. No point right...

 

Here's their website and more importantly, their fare types and some inking of their fare structures.

DO NOTE:

• They will farm for your credit card and address cos you need to input those details to open an account and for Uber to charge to your card for the services. They're giving $20 so this to me, is a fair exchange.
• Base fare is $7. Min fare $12. Per km above 18km/hr is $2.25 while under 18km/hr is $0.85 so the driver has a major incentive to avoid gridlock type jams.
• Flat rate from CBD to Airport $50
• Flat rate from Airport to CBD $55
• No ERP or peak hour surcharges

If you're a techie or still curious about Uber, you can read more about them here - Tech in Asia UberX Beta