SimplyJesMe

I wrote a post previously that I was still with HDB loan because of the peace of mind and lesser cash upfront needed when I purchased my house.

Now with the all-time low interest rates, I have decided to cave and change to a bank loan. Now is the time when we have 20 years lowest interest rate, I would be a fool not to consider it. Currently, I could get 1.45 to 1.5% for my home loan from various banks. The best part of all, is that DBS has a 5 years fixed interest rate. That's incredible!

Considering I only have 21 years left, 5 years is like 25% of the loan and I happily signed on with it. A lot of you may have the same considerations as me - What if interest rates go up and higher than HDB interest rate of 2.6%?

The last time it went anywhere near in the recent 20 years was in 2001, and the highest was 2%. My solution is to repay a lump sum if the interest rate go much higher.

A lot of us do not know that you can actually pay the bank loan early without the 1.5% penalty - By either giving the bank 1 month's notice (check the contract terms), or after the lock-in period, which is 5 years for my case. When it's time for you to re-finance the loan, take a look if the interest rate is still acceptable, or if it's time to repay a higher amount, such that you have a lower loan value remaining and will not need to pay so much interests, even with a higher interest rate.

For that, you need to set aside some funds. which I have 5 years to do that.

In any case, for the interest rate to go down from 2.6% (HDB Loan) to 1.5% (DBS Loan) is a huge savings of $50,000 (over a period of 20 years and only if the interest rate does not increase much)! That's compounding interest for you and shockingly huge when it's over a long period of time.

For people who are still with HDB loan, probably time for you to consider. No obligations since I am not earning any commission from any banks. I saved some money in the long run, and hope some of you will benefit too.

Right now, if you have not heard of Shopee, you are definitely losing out. With huge marketing budget and a clean, fuss-free online platform, it is no wonder that Shopee is the fastest growing platform, not just in Singapore, but also the whole of South East Asia.

We are not wired to be parents.

When we were born, we were looked after by our family. When our parents took care of us, it was easy to enjoy life and be selfish about own needs. My parents were the traditional type, they said we could only date after 18 years old. Dating is rarely a successful deal at the first try and many of us go through a few relationships in order to find someone suitable and settle down. That took a few years for most of us.

I blogged previously stating how 30 to 40 years old is a period of 'Not enough time'. Yet I find so many becoming a hamster on a wheel, whereby you allow non consequential people and circumstances to dictate your schedule.

If you cannot manage your time well, it's difficult to feel happiness.

Success? What exactly is success?

I used to think that to be successful is to be rich and not have to work at all. To be a 'tai tai' was like an ideal dream and that defines the pinnacle of success. Now that I am in my 30s, success is not so straight forward anymore.

Online shopping is a way of life for many of us, especially for working adults and that makes up around 26% of the population. There is still a large portion of the population who is not into buying things online and I don't understand why.

I always think that diapers are very much overpriced but super necessary. Ask me to use reusable diapers and wash the poop and urine every day, I will not do it, I would rather pay for disposable diapers. However, as with all things, they should be made cheaper because we change diapers so frequently at every 2 to 3 hours. I blogged about it previously that Huggies Total Protection Silver Pants is one of the cheapest and bought them from MyCK stores for my elder daugher.

These days, I am busy teaching my daughters all kinds of things. I corrected my elder daughter's pronunciation, questioned her on alphabets and quizzed her on colours. The different types of transportation, why lizards can climb on walls and how there are no monsters in the world, those are just some questions parents have to answer every day. For the younger daughter, she is just learning to walk and feed herself but you can see she is eager to grow faster so as to run and play with her sister.

Some days, my daughter love school so much she looked forward to going to her lessons even on weekends. Other days, she cried so much and clung on to us before her teachers dragged her away. The teachers also take it personally that she does not like to go to school on those days and asked me why.

My business is now more than 1 year old! Time flies and I can't believe I survived a test of ups and downs. I can't say it was an easy time because it was definitely a steep learning curve working in my own business but this past year was definitely rewarding.

Jes

A Singaporean lady who is busy juggling a toddler and travel job while striving to make good financial decisions. A blog to share travelling tips, good savings habit and most importantly, things that make life beautiful!