One year- extreme methods to save up

So what happened was I got brutally retrenched during Covid time with no severance, invested in education to switch career so I could get a job, failed investments etc etc so now i don’t have savings.

After Covid, I tried to save up but unfotunately I got major illness and almost lost my life. So incurred little tickets of medical bills along the way. I only managed to pay off the bills this month. (Got a bad SME boss who even tried not to pay my salaries for months when I was bedridden)

I feel like a major failure. I am so upset, yet at the same time, I am grateful that I am alive (sort of, I am trying my best to recover). Please don’t bash me in the comment area as to why I don’t have much savings.

Now I really need to save for housing. My salary is 4000 after CPF, so it is a bit tight.

I am thinking of the following methods, anyone can recommend more methods I would be grateful:

1. Home cook light food like cold pasta, boiled eggs, veggie to bring to work. This will save a tonne. Cut out BBT and just drink plain water.
2. Switch all hobbies to overseas online lesson. Probably will only keep my gym card in Sg.
3. No clothes, no makeup, no purchases for the next 1 year.
4. Defer my Master education and certs, and study on Udemy instead
5. No overseas trips (actually have been doing this since Covid)

Staying positive :”( Life can be really tough.

Netizens’ comments

1. sounds good. But occasionally pamper yourself to feel good. i am sorry you are going through all these. Take good care of yourself.
2. You are doing very well now! Just continue perservering. I am cheering you on!
   Other than cold pasta, etc, if your office have a microwave, prepare some food that you can heat up, like fried rice, ready roasted chicken (from NTUC or Cold Storage) to liven up your meals. For cold pasta, you can warm it up too, just sprinkle a teaspoon or two of water so it does not get too dry in the microwave.
   Set aside a small sum to reward yourself once a while for self-motivation.
   You didn’t mention rent or utilities, so assume you are saving on this.
3. Plan sounds okay
   Maybe just to add
   -For mealprep, you can look at youtube or look at r/EatCheapAndHealthy to make a variety of food to cook. Make use of microwave at work if there is. If not, invest in something that keeps your food warm. Cos cold food all the time is not gd for stomach in my opinion. Just always bring water bottle with you.
   -U can occasionally indulge, e.g., buy clothes, especially when on sale. If there are clothes you wear one time and don’t like, can sell them at lower price on carousell.
   -Remember to stay healthy. Health is the most important.
   If you can go to the park or stay at home to exercise a bit every week, try to do so.
   At least you start now rather than later 🙂

Ladies: How do you maintain smell-free down there if you are outside all day?

I am a foreigner and I am genuinely curious. I hope nobody finds my question offensive.

See, I come from a country where toilets with bidets, toilet rolls and waste bins in each cubicle are the norm. Ladies are expected to either wipe or wash their private part after peeing, thereafter wash their hands.

Here in Singapore, I see cubicles would typically have a large roll (the thin kind of tissue roll) and a sanitary napkin disposal unit. There are no bidets for washing.

Then, usually the tissue roll cannot be used to wipe as it is very thin and would stick to the private part if you attempt to use it to wipe.

Also, there are no waste bins for you to dispose the used tissue, as the sanitary napkin disposal unit is, well – for this purpose only.

More often than not, my female officemates would come out of the cubicle and NOT wash their hands at all.

Question to ladies: How to do you keep youselves clean and smell-free down there if you are outside all day? Am I missing something?

Netizens’ comments

1. ?? The toilet paper can be flushed. Our sewage system here is able to flush toilet paper.
   • Thanks for this! I have always wondered. In my home country, if you flush toilet paper, it will clog the pipes. It’s a no-no.
2. It’s so humid here, it’s natural to be able to smell yourself. As long as you keep yourself clean, you are fine. Some other ways to consider:
   -wear breathable panties and avoid liners
   -shave
   -if no bidet, use wet tissue
   -if no wet tissue, wet a stack of dry paper (I do this in the office)
   I know what you mean by having bits of paper stuck after wiping. I generally avoid pooping out of home.

Not giving back my engagement ring to dead fiancé family? Dead fiancé name “John” & I’ll start at the beginning, about 4yrs ago.

I was engaged to John, after dating for 4yrs. When he proposed, the ring he used was 2 sizes too big. We went to the store, that he bought it from (2 weeks before proposing) & he kept the receipt.

Gotten the right size & kept same style. We did plan to have to wedding, after 3yrs of planning & saving. 10 months after the proposal, John passed away in a car accident. I used the savings for wedding to pay for his funeral.

The day after the funeral, John’s brother came to me asking for the ring. I asked why, his response was that the ring had been passed down their family for 5 generations.

Told him that was BS, because I have proof of the ring was brought for me, less than a year ago. We argued for a bit & he then stormed out.

Then I get the calls from john’s family, saying I’m a liar & demanding the ring. Then I got a letter from their lawyer, in the letter they also demanded that I reimburse them for costs of John’s funeral.

We ended up going back and forth through our lawyers and I managed to keep the ring.

I thought that madness was over, until john’s sister recently messaged me. She & her BF are engaged, but haven’t gotten a ring & she wants John’s ring.

After I said no, she went crazy & messaging non stop demanding. I have blocked her over & over, but she finds a way around it.

I was having brunch with my friend, my mobile was on the table, a message from sister popped up & my friend saw it. My friend knows about everything, before sister’s 1st message.

I explained about her messages, friend believes I’m AH & I should give her the ring. She told my other friends & they are all saying the things. Now I’m doubting myself.

Restaurant had me work without hiring me

A few days ago a restaurant I had applied for messaged me on Indeed inquiring if I was still interested in a serving position and asked me to come in for “training” at a scheduled time we agreed on.

I got there on time and was directed by the owner to shadow the head server. I did this for 3 hours, taking my own tables at some points, and had some really nice interactions with the guests and the employees.

The head server was very kind and taught me their everyday routine, it was very apparent from all my interactions with the other employees that they were under the impression I was hired, as I also believed.

I want to make it clear that at this point I had not been asked for so much as an identification document or a resume or anything to prove that I was really me.

I chalked it up to the owner was still working on getting the paperwork ready and she would surely get my information by the end of the day.

Instead, 3 hours into my shift, the owner told me I could go home out of the blue. I was surprised as I was expecting to work the full shift and things had been going really well.

I asked the owner if she was sure and if she needed anything from me before I left, like the forms of identification needed to properly hire me.

She said no and that she would text me details about my next shift. Skip to the next morning where I have a message on Indeed that “unfortunately it didn’t work with you.”

So I guess my question is I know there are so many points in this where I should have been more diligent and aware of what was happening, like not being asked to interview out the gate and her not asking for my info, but at no point did she say this shift was an interview itself or that I wasn’t hired, everything seemed to point to me being hired.

I know it’s hardly any money at all that they would owe me, but I feel like this is extremely unfair hiring practices and want to know what I can do about it.

my family sat around in a circle and discussed how sad it is i’m single

i’m 26F and never had a boyfriend. I always feel compelled to give a reason why but the truth is I don’t know. it just never worked out for me. It really is one of my biggest insecurities.

So to add on, as part of my culture, and this culture really emphasizes getting married and if you’re not married by 30, people look down on you and treat you like you’re a freak show.

During this conversation, my aunt said “i’m giving you one year to find a boyfriend” in front of our extended family. i felt so mortified and embarrassed.

and so i asked her, “why is it ok for you to say that to me? it’s like if i told you ‘you have one year to lose weight.’” She said nothing in response.

To me this is beyond rude behavior, but now i just have this conversation stuck in my head every time i’m upset.

like how pathetic am i that my entire family literally gathers around and discusses what’s wrong with me? Then they go on to say my brother will have no problem because he’s so good looking.

i feel so bad about myself.

then after this conversation ended and they moved onto the next one, they kept looking back at me and saying “it’s ok it’s ok you’ll figure it out” but the only thing i’m trying to figure out is how to ban these people from my life.

i am on a solo trip overseas right now, and instead of asking how i am when she called, my mom asked “did you find a boyfriend yet” and then laughed.

And so i hung up on her and i’m not sorry at all.

My husband married me because he felt sorry for me.

I came from a complicated situation and as a result have no friends or family. My parents never cared about me (abandoned me when I was young), I moved around a lot so it was difficult to make friends.

I had casually dated before him but nothing serious (I was 18 when I met him, he was 23).

I thought we were in love… but I guess it was a one sided thing – which in hindsight is obvious.

I was the project girl from the wrong side of the tracks he wanted to save.

I think he wanted to leave early on, but some mixture of guilt and hero complex he didn’t.

I got pregnant and he committed to me out of duty.

We’ve been together close to 20 years now.

I gave him everything I had to give. I sacrificed my career for his, and to raise our children. I thought we were a team and his goals were mine too, so while our kids were young I put myself through school to acquire a job and skills that would help him start his own business. Our company, to better our lives for our family, I thought.

I feel so incredibly stupid, and beyond heartbroken.

I woke up every day and loved and sacrificed for him.

He stayed with me out of obligation. I was a chore.

There are a lot of things in our history that make it pretty obvious that he didn’t love me, but I was blind to it at the time.

A lot of things make sense now.

I spent 20 years blending my life with his, and now I have nothing. His family, his friends, his career.

I’m back to square one with nothing.

He seems to be fine with the idea of us staying together for the practicality of the situation. I don’t believe that he is interested in another woman, but content with being a workaholic and me being his domestic/business labourer in exchange for financial support. He sees nothing wrong with this arrangement. It’s best for everyone.

I am so devastated. I have never been loved, and likely never will be.

There is something so defective about me that I was doomed to live a loveless life from birth.

I resent him so much for lying to me, and taking so much from me thinking he was helping.

I could have lived a very different life.

It all started when I was in my mid-20s. I had already started my career in Singapore, and had some savings to my name. I was looking for ways to increase my wealth, and that’s when I heard of the potential for investing in overseas property.

I had heard stories of people who had gotten rich from investing in overseas property, and I wanted to try it out for myself. It seemed like an excellent way to diversify my investments, and potentially generate a substantial amount of wealth.

So I decided to take the plunge and invest in overseas property. I started small, with a single property in Australia. I chose a location that was close to the city and had good potential for growth. I was lucky enough to purchase the property at a good price, and I quickly began to see a return on my investment.

As time went on, I kept investing in more overseas properties. I would research different locations and then find a property that had good potential for growth. I always made sure to do my due diligence and verify that the properties I was investing in had good rental prospects.

I also made sure to diversify my investments, and spread out my risk. I invested in different countries, in different types of property, and in different locations. This allowed me to minimize my risk and maximize my return.

As the years went on, I kept reinvesting my profits into more overseas properties. I was able to steadily increase the size of my portfolio, and I eventually became a millionaire.

I’m so glad I took the plunge and decided to invest in overseas property. It’s been an amazing experience, and I’ve made a substantial amount of wealth.

If I could give any advice to someone looking to invest in overseas property, it would be to do your research. Do your due diligence and make sure you’re investing in a good location with good rental prospects. Also, diversify your investments and spread out your risk. This will help you minimize your risk and maximize your return.

Investing in overseas property has been a great experience for me, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to increase their wealth.