How To Earn Money By Clearing Your Stuff?

Do you have lots of white elephant lying around?
Do you have anything that you always want to clear?

Recently, I been hooked to this app called Carousell.
Both Apple and Android market are able to download for free.

Basically I love this app because it allows me to sell my unwanted stuffs through Carousell's Community with much ease. You can sell whatever junks or crap you have that a lying around your house (Clothes, accessories, books, souvenir, toys, IT gadget Etc.). And I seriously mean ANYTHING. Even people sell tuition services or some other services.

The good thing about this app is that it makes selling of your stuff online so much easier. With just a few taps on your Iphone, you are able to post your sales in the market. It is 100% idiot-proof.

Step 1: Take photo of your goods
Step 2: Key in details of your goods (Pricing, Location of deal, Condition of the good. etc.)

AND VIOLA! DONE!

That simple.

And you can sit back, relax and wait for buyers to contact you via personal message in the app.

In addition, privacy is not an issue. You do not need to leave your HP number or any particulars down.

So far, I managed to make a few sales through this app. I used to sell my unwanted stuff on HWZ or VR Zone (Forums) but the chances of selling in these forums are rather low because there are lots of spam in there. I guess this app is a much better alternative now.

I also know a few people who actually make recurring income every month through Carousell. They use this platform to resell clothings/apparels where they get from suppliers/distributors. Carousell can be another alternative to blogshops. Moreover, these are "rent"-less avenue where small start ups or entrepreneur can establish their mini business through this app. Some day maybe, I wish I can get such lobangs and start up a small scale one.

But first, I have to focus on my studies. Exams are just round the corner.
I guess I will do it after my exams :)



Cheers!
Little Boy

Every dollar save is a dollar earn (Part 2)

            From my continuation of Part 1 Every dollar save is a dollar earn. I will share with you my personal experience of saving and I hope you will share my joy in saving too. 



Getting the best out of credit card

Credit card is a double edge sword, it can rip your wealth apart or it can help you save up with the benefits acquire from card privileges. It is a form of advance payment mechanism which provides you “invisible cash” to pay right on the spot. You just have to pay up the accumulated amount you spent monthly on time, if not you will incur late payment charges where penalty are extremely high (Honestly, you don’t want to get fine for that). So remember to always pay on time. Also there will be an annual subscription fee for the card but I guess waiver for the fee is possible. Other than that, I consider credit card to be important, handy, useful and practical in our today’s modern society. With many benefits, privileges (Dining discount, 1 for 1, petrol discount.etc) and cash rebate, it will be an added advantage as compared to those using cash to pay. 

Currently, I possess a few supplementary cards (Under my sister) and credit cards of my own. I prefer to use UOB one card (Supplementary) because of the attractive cash rebate they offer; 3.33% at different cap level ($300, $800, $1500) but must be able to clock ($300, 800, $1500) each month for 3 subsequent months. Sometimes, I do volunteer to pay using this card for meals with my friends so as to accumulate some cash rebate. Other than that, I hardly spend much using this card. The rest of the amount is usually amassed by my sister. 

Another card that I have is Citibank Dividend card (Supplementary). I use it only when there are dining privileges to it or discounts. Besides that, there is free entry to Zouk. So clubbers go grab this card. Hahaha, ohwell but as for me, I hardly ever go there. This card cash rebate is a little low; at 2% on dining, groceries and at pharmacies. As for other spending, it is 0.5% cash rebate, thus I’m not using it so often. 

Thirdly, I also have UOB JCB (Supplementary). The targeting audiences are probably more for the Japanese people or consumers of Japanese brands. This card offers 5% cash rebate to big Japanese brand name such as Uniqlo, Muji, Meidi-ya. Or 3% Cash Rebate at major departmental stores like Tangs, John Little, Isetan and BHG. For other spending, it offers 0.5% cash rebate. Hence, I will only use this card if I ever were to buy any stuffs from these names as above. 

The last 2 cards are my own credit cards which I sign up under POSB, Multitude and GO credit card. Both cards are the most basic cards for POSB and I don’t think there are any criteria to sign that card. Students are welcome too. Cash rebate offer is really peanuts as compared to UOB One card. It offers 0.3% cash rebate for a minimum of $500 spending per quarter. For a student to hit $500 per quarter, it a little difficult and if $500 is really met, you save $1.50. That is really little. I only use this card for Golden Village movie privileges. 

With all these cards in my hand, I get to enjoy some benefits and save some cash. My personal monthly expenditure charge on my cards is usually less than $120. Saving money is also an art, it is definitely not easy to overcome your emotions and stay discipline in saving. There are times when there is an urge to splurge and invest in yourself or “pay yourself first”. After all, it solely depends on moderation.

Sell away your unwanted stuffs

Another way that I save money or gain some cash is by selling away unwanted stuffs. I just feel disturbed to have white elephants around me, I will rather sell them away or if not a choice will give them away.  I do help my sisters sell away some of their lucky draw winnings too. For that, they reward me with some commission. Not bad huh? I will always try to get the best bargain for every deal and will try not to budge my selling price unless necessary. One fantastic deal that I made was my sales of my PS3. I bought it at $300 (2^nd-hand) and spent nothing more than that because of its “jailbreak” version. After 2 years, I found that I hardly ever have time to touch my PS3, so I sold it. And guess what, I sold it at $330. Amazing how I manage to earn $30 considering the fact the depreciation value of the PS3 and its age. Some good tips to sell away your barang barang will be website such as Hardwarezone Forum, VR-Zone Forum, Ebay or any other forum. Your unwanted stuff can be sold in these places ranging from clothes, electronics, vouchers, food products or rather anything under the sun.

Groupon/Vouchers

Please, I’m not an auntie but I feel if you really want to save up and get good deals, Groupon is a place for you. Indeed, they have all kinds of discounts. Ranging from (food, shopping, travelling, leisure etc), you get massive discount or even 1-for-1 deals. It is a smart way of spending less and a miss opportunity to save more. I don’t like the feeling of paying something more when I can get better deals.

Another intelligent way of spending less is to get vouchers such as this book called “The Entertainer” book. Heard before? Hmm, I got it free though, so I’m quite fortunate. This book contains all the 1-for-1 deals and if my family ever going to use them up, we probably can save thousands over dollar. My family made use of it for nearly every special occasion for dining. Imagine a $200 family meal can cost $100? We are paying value money for high-quality food. Awesome deal!

          Now who says saving is all literally about saving your hard earn money? Spending less is also a form of saving money. Every less a dollar spent, is a dollar earned. I will continue part 3 of how to save money. I hope you enjoyed reading and will one day share my joy of saving money too :)

(Disclaimer: I’m not a promoter of these companies; Maybe they should thank me for promoting for them instead. Haha!)

Cheers!

Little Boy

Every dollar save is a dollar earn (Part 1)

I very much love this quote because it is absolutely true. Saving is a powerful tool that can help you harness all your potential to create wealth. It is very important to do some budgeting and limit your spending to your necessary means or earning capacity. What is the point of earning 10k when you spend 11k? To simply put, spend within your means and save as much as possible. 

I normally advice people who have poor discipline in saving to set aside an amount (be it through automatic bank transferring of a part of your salary to a saving account or other ways). I have one friend who has an obsession of splurging away his money whenever he sees money in his bank. He came out with a brilliant idea of saving his money by withdrawing out his money and putting them physically into a biscuit container. I honestly don’t know how it works but indeed it has helped him curb his spending habit and not touch his money in the container at all.  What a cute little logic. So I believe each and everyone have a special technique of saving and it doesn’t matter how one does it, as long as one is able to save, it’s definitely a baby step to further wealth accumulation.

As for me, I am definitely a saver and not a spender. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a miser but I am just wise and conscious in my spending. I am glad I know myself well enough when to spend and when to say no. One of reason could be my family upbringing who advocates on saving. Here are some tips I exercised on and I will share with you.

Keep track of your expenditure through the use of budgeting apps

I consistently keep track of my expense and cash inflow/outflow. I use this app called piggy, but I got very irritated by its recent app crashes, so I guess I will look out for a better app soon. Anyway, this is a very good way to see where your money is spent on every week or month and shows you which area of expenditure you have to cut back on. Basically, I group my expenditure into 3 different headings:

·        Fixed Expense

·        Committed Expense

·        Discretionary Expense

Firstly, fixed expenses are expenditures that require to be paid in similar amount in recurring months. For example, handphone bills, insurance premium. These expenses are difficult to cut back on because they are usually drawn up according to the contract you sign.

Secondly, committed expenses are money spent on basic necessities such as food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper), groceries and transport etc. A red flag in this sectors show that you are indulging too much in expensive good food, having too many meals, or travelling a lot. So this area can be cut back on a little just by having cheaper and better food alternatives. A few bloggers mentioned this before; I know some people out there pamper themselves with Starbucks/Coffeebean coffee where they charge nearly 600-800% difference from Kopi-O in coffee shop. I will admit hands down that Starbucks/Coffeebean are both intelligent in their marketing and branding to lure consumers into drinking ordinary coffee at a premium. Imagine a person who cuts down drinking a $7 coffee on working days. That will calculate into $1820 yearly. That is one huge lump sum that can be saved. Besides that, many people are also spending on Gongcha/Koi which I feel are just relievers for thirst cravings. It is not only expensive but are also unhealthy drinks. Fortunately I don’t have such cravings and likings for all of these above.

              

Back to where we are, this comes to my third point, discretionary expense. This is the greatest area where you can restrain on your expenditure. The name says it all “discretionary”. These are expenses that are spent on entertainment (movie, KTV etc.), personal well-being (clothing, haircut etc.), gifts, a new computer, a new TV and the list goes on. For me, gifts are compulsory expenditure in this section (sounds ironic, yeah it does). It is especially imperative to watch out for this sector and perhaps one can limit himself to a certain budget. 

Another cause of concern is smoking. I always advise my friends around me not to smoke but to no avail. I also hope smokers reading this can cut down too. No offense, but I just have this mindset that why would one spend money just to quicken his/her death. Some of these smokers will rebut me claiming: 

1. Life is short, enjoy while it last loh!

2. Smoke or don't smoke, fate will still decide when you will die lah!

3. Aiyah, people who never smoke also die from lung cancer

4. Stress lah bro! Smoke already can perform better. 

 I admired some of their response. People have their own opinion which I do accept but I cannot bear to see them harming their own health. If all these money are spent wisely and usefully, I am very sure he/she can make themselves enjoy a healthier and better life. It will be meaningful too if these money are donated to charity. If I calculate $12 a pack for half a week. This accumulate to $1248 a year. Amazing how small money can compile into big money in just one year. You save plus you keep yourself in the pink of health. Hmm, that is killing 2 birds in 1 stone. If I can stay smoke-free without even puffing once in my whole life, I hope and I strongly advise you to stop smoking / cut down smoking. Okay, now I sounds like I am an ambassador for Health Promotion Board.

I will follow on with " Every dollar save is a dollar earn" part 2 in my next post. Do stay tune.

Cheers!
Little Boy