What will happen when you find out that you are jobless from tomorrow? Can you survive? The need to save money

In a country where there is no unemployment benefits (which I agree with by the way), where prices of basic necessities and hence the cost of living are continously increasing, and the income divide is becoming more significant, how long do you think you can survive if you lose your job and your income the next morning when you wake up.

I, for one, can’t survive past 2 months. And when I mean survive, I mean scrimping really. Its really difficult to save money in this country (I mean Singapore, not Israel). Having been working for the past one year, I reviewed my finances and discover, not so shockingly though, that I am hardly better off than 1 year ago. Money in my bank account is not growing like ERP gantries. They just disappear into thin air. Being an ex-financial planner, I have no emergency fund to fall back on, thinking of axing my insurance plan for the time being and basically fulfilling all the attributes a person who has been financial-planner trained should NOT have.

Maybe going to University was a wrong choice. The government says that no one should be denied an education because of their financial disability. So what do you do, borrow from the bank lor, the legal loansharks. Everything that you can borrow also borrow. Not enough? borrow from friends la, from close ones to not so close ones, its even better since they don’t charge interest. End result: You have to pay the bank back $500 a month for which one third is just for servicing the monthly interest incurred.. At least friends are nice, they don’t charge interest.. Bah.. There is something wrong in the system, charging so much interest (4.75% p.a.) in the first place, determined to make a profit out of your financial disability. Can’t they make it interest-free or at lower interest? Those who need to borrow so much from the bank means they already are facing some financial difficulty. Charging them so much interest which is easily approaching one month of take-home pay a year is exorbitant. Almost 1/4 of the take-home monthly salary goes into repaying the bank loan of which 1/3 is for interest. No wonder the bank account refuse to grow. Someone like me will be in the mid 30s before I can repay this bank debt before thinking about using the money for something else. And how to support the government of getting married and having children at an earlier age when you are in such trouble.

And that something else will be to plan for the parents’ retirement. Being Asian, my father does not plan any retirement savings. He expects the children to take care of him and the mum. So either provide for them, or they will end up picking soft drink cans or cardboards like the many 70 years old around. No elderly people should be forced to work, they deserve a rest at their age. And yet, I see so many of them working, barely making enough money to make a living. And I am dismayed that I cant make a difference to them, coz I have my own parents and financial difficulties to take care of first. (Selfish, ain’t I?)

In light of Straits Times 30 money-saving tips that makes saving money sound really cool and hip and easy (note: do not try those tips unless you are in the middle-upper class, many people probably won’t have enough budget for the tips), I also have a few money-saving tips in Haifa and the excuses to go with them in case you feel malu.

• Take a 40 min walk to and from school in the hot humid weather instead of the bus. Savings: S$4.50 Reason: Its healthier to walk to school. I eat too much during the night.

• Skipping the conference in Tel Aviv. Savings: >S$20 (inclusive of taxi and train rides) Reason: Conferences are boring, I sleep most of the time.

• Avoid lunching in school. Bring home-cooked food, some bread, buy from the bakery, eat energy bars or cup noodles. Savings: S$3 to 7 a meal depending on your substitute. Reason: I’m dieting/The food in school sux/I miss Singapore food, I don’t have appetite for food here.

• Keep your hair for as long as possible before cutting. Savings: S$ 25 per haircut. Reason: Singapore is too hot for me to keep long hair, I will like to try keeping long hair in Israel.

• Buy a half falafel for dinner instead of one full falafel and be thick skin enough to ask for the other half of the pita bread. Savings: S$ 3 per falafel and you have almost as much for dinner. Reason: Not needed. You don’t have to tell anyone abt it since you eat alone at home. (Note: I don’t do it actually, I just buy half, but it can be done if extreme measures are needed)

• Avoid paying tips for meals in the restaurants. Savings: 10 to 20 % of the total bill. Reason: I from Singapore, muz pay tips one meh, i dunno and dun care. (But you should not be eating in a restaurant anyway if you are trying to save up.)

• Follow your landlord to the swimming pool. Savings: S$20 per swim.

And a few others which cannot be described here. These will be enough for you to get by everyday and the savings can be used to pay the interest to the bank.

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