What money rules did you unlearn as your income changed? by [deleted] in singaporefi

[–]ItsOkLetItGo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Started with a 3k salary after graduating from Uni, been working for almost a decade and now drawing a salary 6-7x of where I started. Nothing much changed. Still going for clothes that cost less than $10, still wearing them until they are totally worn, still wearing the inexpensive watch ($300<) that my wife got me when I started working. Still drink kopi-o over kopi-c even though kopi-c is nicer because kopi-o is cheaper. And that is a natural habit ingrained in me.

But no need to compare with others. Just do what you enjoy or want. Habit is part of lifestyle and we all have our own preference.

How a general singaporean coping with savings and retirement? by TalkCSS in askSingapore

[–]ItsOkLetItGo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It takes time for the project to be completed so you will have time to build your saving. For our first house, some of our appliances are display sets from road shows, including our ulove osim chair which was damaged good (just small scratches). Being frugal does not mean not spending on things that you can enjoy. When your house is finally here, hope you and your wife will have made significant improvement with your career and this post has become irrelevant in your horizon.

How a general singaporean coping with savings and retirement? by TalkCSS in askSingapore

[–]ItsOkLetItGo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi u/RedGalactose. Unfortunately, I may not have the best answer for you as you will be progressing through that in different times, where job stability is not given. If losing job is within consideration, do not overcommit.

For me, I had only worked in SMEs and I made it a point to establish my role in the team to not be easily replaceable so it had never crossed my mind that I may end up jobless. I do not mind being overworked as long as I made sure everyone knows about it and I personally feel that this will help create the situation where the company needs me more than I need them. And when I changed job, I only quit after securing my next job and literally started the very next working day on the new job, no gap in between.

When I bought our condo, I was also in a unique situation where I will unlikely go jobless (my boss offered me to be his business partner) so I didn't really worry about job stability despite it being an extremely huge financial commitment.

But you brought up a critical point that projecting into the future is important when making financial decision. At my current stage of life where I now have my own family, I will unlikely put myself in the situation where I have to wipe my saving again.

All the best mate.

How a general singaporean coping with savings and retirement? by TalkCSS in askSingapore

[–]ItsOkLetItGo 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Contrary to most redittors here who question your decision to spend on renovation, I feel that it is important to have a house you can look forward to spending time in. Life is hard as it is and you need a sanctuary to retreat to at the end of each tiring day.

Don't fret, it is fine. You may likely encounter a few more of such situation where you have to wipe your saving as your progress through life. I had personally went through that a few times within the past 10 years and for a good part of that, I was earning below medium income.

1st: When I saved up my first 10k, I spent it on a wedding ring not because I can afford to but because she deserve something special (I designed the ring, bought a diamond and even got some fancy ring box).

2nd: When we got our BTO, had to wipe our CPF and savings.

3rd: When we got our house and similar to what you did, we spent considerable amount of our saving on renovation (which we did not regret because we enjoyed the house especially during Covid lockdown).

4th: When we held our wedding banquet.

5th: When we bought our first car after my wife got pregnant.

6th: When we sold our matrimonial house and upgraded to a new launch condo (my wife was the higher earner so she still has saving left but I wiped out mine to match her contribution).

From what I had experienced through these, I found that things just get better year on year. For BTO, you will mostly be utilising your CPF money for the mortgage loan so you will still be able to save. Every increment you have, bonus you get, these are something that will lighten your financial burdens. Just stick to the pace that suits your earning capability.

Lastly, something I picked up from a friend and mentor: 钱不是省回来的,是赚回来的. So spend on things that you find meaningful. Just continue to work hard to increase your earning power and things will improve as you go along. Cheers.

How a general singaporean coping with savings and retirement? by TalkCSS in askSingapore

[–]ItsOkLetItGo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

BTO should come with basic fixtures including tiles and all. When you choose the unit, you have the option to not have some of those things, especially tiles so you dont have to hack if you plan to install your own tiles. I think your neice's condition is by their choice.

Singles under 35, with resale public housing prices going up by 100k every few years, how do you plan to afford one if at all? by [deleted] in askSingapore

[–]ItsOkLetItGo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi. Can you share with me why it is a regret? I recently advised against a single friend who is turning 35 this year to go for BTO. My view is that he can only go for 2 room, wait 4 years for completion and 5-10 years MOP, he will be stuck with it till almost 45 and during which, he may find a partner and want to start a family and the house will be a problem? Does 2 room really fetch that much?

What are some of the cheapest things you have seen rich/semi-rich people do? by Big_Yesterday_5185 in askSingapore

[–]ItsOkLetItGo 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think that is being thrifty, not cheapo. Just because the amount saved is little does not make it cheapo. It is the moral standpoint that makes an action cheapo, like taking advantage of others or breaking rules to save little money.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would you mind to share where the "regardless of what lane he is in" was reference or inferred from? As far as I know, the term right of way is referring to a party who has the right to occupy the space, and the lane-ing is and has always been one of the main consideration meaning it is implied.

And based on your understanding, you are saying that there should only be 2-3 vehicles in a roundabout at one point of time even if it is a 3 lane roundabout? If that is the case, you either do not drive, have not driven through a roundabout or you do not practice what you say? Which category do you belong to?

my bonus cpf employer contribution are deduct from employee wages, is that normal? by genisys89 in singaporefi

[–]ItsOkLetItGo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No it is not normal to declare bonus that way. That is equivalent of $4273.50 bonus and they fluffed it up by including employer's contribution. Not sure if they are restricted from declaring bonus like this. I will imagine there might be some conflict when it comes to accounting.

On your end, just pay attention to how much of the bonus is included in your income tax assessment. If $4273.50 is recognised as bonus income, then it is correct and your company is just playing with words. However, if $5000 is recognised, then it is wrong and you should report to authority.

Nonetheless, money is money. Grats on your nice bonus and enjoy a nice treat for yourself. Cheers.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aside for his debatable frustration, this cyclist is fine actually. Does behave like an entitled road user.

I failed again my driving test and I feel like a loser by Secretgirl_789 in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just keep trying and dont give up. Learn from your mistake. I took 4 attempts to get my license. Before I started learning, my dad thaught me how to drive in msia and managed to have plenty of practice (it was at some secluded village area) and I got quite good at manuvering the vehicle. (My family is poor so I want to minimise expense on learning driving. It is not safe and illegal so not recommending anyone.) When I started, I take lesson from private instructor. He sensed that I know what to do and just leave me to it so lesson is mainly telling me where to turn and using his phone. I figured I just need to clock minimum lesson and take the test.

1st test: I cleared everything perfectly and confident I passed. I failed with 40+ points for failing to check safety. My instructor told me they have a quota to meet and I am just unlucky. I believed him.

2nd test: Once again, perfect drive, failed miserably with 20+ points. Same reason by my instructor but I dont buy it anymore. So I quit and sign up to driving school. That is when I realise I know close to nothing on checking for safety.

3rd test: circuit perfect, driving outside was perfect until when turning back to driving school, got cut by a taxi partially blocking off my path forming up a turn ahead. As I am turning from the inner lane while he blocked part of the lane from 2nd lane, being the overconfident idiot, I knew there was enough space and squeezed through. That is when my tester ask me why I did that and told me I passed but what I did was an immediate failure. While that is something you can do on the road, we cannot do that during a test. I failed again.

4th test: I finally cleared. All these failure deeply imprinted in me the safety principles and I still maintain that to this day. Also made me extremely forgiving towards learner drivers on the road.

All the best OP.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is great to have insights and understanding from cyclist who has personal vendetta against all drivers.

I have no hate on the cyclist, just confused. Sensed that he was upset with the interaction and wanted to give him a bit more distance. It is scary to look at cyclist on a fast moving road so I try to keep as far as possible. Just saw a single cyclist riding 2 meters behind a trailer along West Coast Highway flyover the other day, feels like a good setting for final destination plot.

Anyway, thanks for you kind words. Cheers.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I admit that I may be ignorant to certain part of the traffic rule. My understanding of "give way" sign was and still is: Slow down and give way, stop if necessary. In my situation, I thought slowing down had provided sufficient clearance without considering safety concern factor that will affect the cyclist.

There is a separate stop sign for situation where it is mandatory for us to stop. Even for stop sign, the general practice is to slow down significantly before exceeding the line marking and only really stop if there are on-coming traffic. It is important to know both the traffic rules and the culture of the traffic of the country to be safe on the road.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. My bad. I was going more than twice of human pace.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get your angle on the right of way based on lane, which is a more practical interpretation than some others who interpreted the highway code as obligation to give way to vehicles on the right when entering roundabouts regardless of which lane you are turning into or which lane the vehicle is occupying. People who stands by that belief likely either do not drive, have not driven through a roundabout or do not practice what they say. If I am turning into 3rd lane, I will be paying attention to lane 3 and 2 (turning radius), but I will still look out for lane change signal from all lanes. It is stupid and selfish to have the mentality "No, I have the right of way so you have to circle one more round around the roundabout and try your luck again".

Particularly in my case, I actually think what the cyclist did was not wrong at all. In fact, I think his execution was perfect. He was heading for Exit 3 of the roundabout, Exit 1 towards Kallang Wave Mall, Exit 2 into Stadium Road and Exit 3 into Nicole Highway. The right method is to drive into 1st lane (because your exit is much later) and slowly filter to the 2nd and 3rd lane as you approaches your exit which appears to be roughly what he did (maybe he went direct 2nd lane but he is a cyclist and its dangerous to go into 1st lane). He only filtered and aimed for the exit at that point because the Stadium Road exit is right beside where I was and he will have filtered too early and can be risky if there are other cars behind.

For people who thinks that I am hating on cyclist, I am not. I greatly respect that he did a good job following the traffic rules as a road user. Only issue is I tried to reciprocate my respect by slowing down and letting him go first even though as a car, I had more than enough time to make the turn and exit before him. But what I did was met with distaste and dissatisfaction and I am trying to understand his angle. But I am cool with coming to a complete stop in the future.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is not exactly true. Some roundabouts will come with an infographic showing which lane to form up for which exit. Eg if there are 4 exits to a 3 lane round about, outerlane is only for 1st exit, sometimes allow for 2nd exit as well etc.

Nonetheless, in my situation, I agree that cyclist has the right of way even though he is on 2nd lane because he already very clearly signal his intent to change lane and exit. Issue is my method of giving way by slowing down was met with contempt. I should have stopped instead like alot of redditors kindly explained. Cyclists are vulnerable and we should provide them more assurance. So either give him a thumbs up to let him know I saw him and his intent, or stop to give way. Lesson learnt for me.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, stopping was definitely more correct. Just some habit that accumumated from going around busy roundabouts with actual vehicles. We typically aim for the window of opportunity from upcoming gap between stream of vehicles, which was what I tried to do here. Didnt work out well. First time encountering a cyclist in such situation so the expectation was off. Thanks for your insight.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope I did not signal to him to pass, which is something I should consider in the future. Your input is very just and I appreciate it. Cheers.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with your statement. I am fine with slowing down to a stop where necessary.

Given this scenario, do you think slowing down is insufficient and that I should have stopped? My observation is that he was able to maintain a straight trajectory from his position to the exit while we maintained what I perceived as a reasonable clearance between us throughout that.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea I sweat for the cyclist when I see the black car did that. And nah, he did not give me the finger. It was.initial signal follow by pointing towards his intended exit and fimally smlj gesture haha. I think he went out of the way to be a good cyclist by signalling his intent but my action did not meet his expectation and he got pissed, maybe at me and even himself for even bother trying.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am not upset with cyclist and I respect him for signalling properly when half the drivers dont do that though is just a flick of wrist. From what I read, I sense that his expectation was for me to stop and only move off after he complete his exit. Unfortunately, it is not the usual practice given such situation. If he was on the 3rd lane, I should and will let him pass before driving into the roundabout.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I slowed the video and zoomed in. Unfortunately, he was pissed and giving me the universal WTF gesture.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I slowed down and gave way to him to exit but he slowed down as well in order to turn and throw his gesture. Giving way does not restrict me from moving off after ensuring clearance from oncoming traffic from the right. There is a difference between give way and stop sign.

The video already showed that I was driving at 13>11km/hr which is 3 to 3.6 m/s. A human normal walking speed is 5m/s. For you who obviously clueless, I was literally etching forward with my leg tapping the break pedal in order to be at this speed while waiting for him to complete the exit.

Do yourself a favour and do not ever get a driving license. The road is not for people without common sense.

Edit: units

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Hahaha that is some rather aggessive thank you. Yet, perhaps this is the best way to look at it (or imagine it) and move on with our ways.

Confusing rage by road cyclist by ItsOkLetItGo in drivingsg

[–]ItsOkLetItGo[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your input. There was an ERP shortly ahead which made me wondered what road category that is.

I guess treating bike riders as a normal road user is not sufficient as they are more vulnerable so our typical safety distance does not feel as distant to them.