When I was in SG, I basically used my UOB One card to spend.
I get 3.33% rebate for spending S$500 per month, for 3 months in a row.
I also get around $150 per month due to the bonus interest generated by the UOB One account.
I attribute the $150 return to the credit card spend. Cos, IF I don't spend S$500 on the card, I won't get the bonus interest. The bank account would just generate the base pathetic interest.
So for me, when I spend S$500 on the UOB One card, I deem to have "earned" S$150 + S$50/3 = S$166.67, DUE TO me using the credit card.
That's around 33% "return".
Sure, one could argue that the bonus interest is due to the amount I have in the bank account. But I view it that, IF I didn't spend $500, then I would just get base interest.
In SG, I was struggling to hit my S$500 spending on my UOB credit cards. Cos I was getting so much essentials for free, that my spending every month was usually less than $1,000.
In Paris, I basically had the same issue. We didn't go out to eat much so spending was pretty low.
Food was free and I was trying to use my UOB credit card as much as I could, but also not spending unnecessarily. Even with the additional 4% exchange rate fees and FX rates, it's ok for me, cos I take it that my return for spending is 33%.
Now, in US, I'm starting to face the same issue.
I'm spending a bit more in US cos we are eating out and buying food.
There are numerous ways to save on petrol. Some need me to sign up for membership accounts and such. But I don't like that cos there are so many membership accounts and it's getting annoying.
Some pump stations have discounts for cash purchases. 10% cheaper than other stations around the area. So I just pay by cash for my fuel purchases.
Furniture has taken up quite a lot of my quota for last month and this month. So I have no real issues hitting my minimum spending this month.
I've started cooking and packing food for my wife for her lunch at office. So we're saving money there. Whereas in Paris, she was eating at the office canteen.
But the increase in expense if that we need to buy groceries and we tend to eat out more. So it's a plus and minus so it tends to net off.
I think I'm one of the few people in US who doesn't have a TV in the home. We never turned on the TV in Paris cos we never had the cable subscription, so when we reached US, we decided that we won't need a TV here. We just watch our usual shows on the laptop.
Essentially we just bought a mattress, sofa bed, bar stools (cos a bar island is built into the apartment), a drying rack, cos we don't want to use the dryer all the time and kitchen stuff, pots, plates, cutlery, and some miscellaneous stuff like our modem router.
Buying stuff in bulk is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper. It's not like in NTUC, where you buy a bigger quantity you save 10% per gram.
Savings here is like 50% or more if you buy stuff in bulk.
Buying a whole bunch of chicken could cost 50 cents per 500gm, or $1 per 500 gm depending on the bulk you buy.
Or 500gm of oats could cost $1.70, whereas 1kg of oats would be $2.30, a mere 60 cents more, for another 500gm.
So of course we will buy food in bulk, except that we have to eat chicken for a week or so. Then pork for a week or so, then beef... etc... you get the picture.
Overall, I think there's no significant change to spending between SG and Paris and Houston.
A frugal life is very ok. Just can't eat out all the time, and will have to adjust to make more frugal choices. Like in SG, we can always eat a $5 meal downstairs, but in Paris or US, that's not possible. So will just have to work around it. Is it very troublesome? No, not at all.
I suppose it depends on a person's propensity to change and adapt. Some people might adapt better, some people might not like change. Or the may feel the inconvenience isn't worth the savings.
So I suppose it's a choice and about thinking of ideas about how to make a new routine for savings.
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