If you or your friends have ever shopped at grocery places like Safeway, you will definitely know of its Safeway Gift Cards or have even received one of it. If you like the idea of Gift Cards, you will definitely start to like the concept behind GiftRocket.

Why Gift Cards Can Help Each Other To Save Money

Personally I like the idea behind Gift Cards, which are similar to Gift Vouchers as well. And it is a good way to use this as a form of gifting, without having to feel the awkwardness of giving cash directly.

It is also a good way for each other to save money because your gift card can help the receiving party to buy things that they need without having to pay out of their own pockets. Similarly, for you, you get to gift based on your personal budget and without having to be subjected to paying extra. For example, if you know that your friend is interested in an item that’s like $29 but your budget is like $20… so instead of paying the full $29 for your friend, you can provide a gift card of $20 as a surprise and your friend can jolly well top up the rest to buy what he/she needs.

How GiftRocket Can Help You With Your Idea Of Giving Away Gift Cards

If you do agree with what I have shared about the benefit of giving away Gift Cards – the next thing you need to be aware of is that not every business/shop/service have Gift Cards. Therefore the existence of a new service like GiftRocket can help to change things around for you and me. And this is definitely a good service to look forward to!

How Does GiftRocket Work

For a start, you can buy a “gift card” for any business even if these businesses don’t have any Gift Cards…(Giftrocket is still relatively new at this point of writing and if the business, at a particular city, is currently unavailable at their site – you may contact them to inform them or patiently wait as they expand their business).

If you intend to give your Gift Cards to friends who are not near you or in other cities… you can still use GiftRocket to help you.

Lastly, after your gifting, if your friends cannot make it to that business, they can still spend that gift cash somewhere else. Therefore no cash is left stranded on the gift card.

Check Out GiftRocket

If this is something that will help you along with your finances, do check out GiftRocket today!

If one of your goals for the new year is to educate yourself in the area of Stock Trading, here are two books written by local group of writers which you can get as part of your learning guides.

These two books are:

1. Mark Lin’s Secrets Of Dividend Investors

2. Victor Chng & Rusmin’s Value Investing In Growth Companies (under the guidance of Ken Chee and Clive Tan’s Millionaire Investor Program)

And if you think you can go for more knowledge, here is an old blog post that I have written back in 2010 recommending with two other books that will teach you more on the basics of stock trading…

So if you think you need to know more, you can click over at the above link to explore further!

What Can You Learn From These Two Books

1. Mark Lin’s Secrets Of Dividend Investors

If you are keen to build up a portfolio of good stocks in Singapore that will pay you dividends consistently, preferably every month and would like to learn the basic strategies and concepts of doing so, this book will give you a set of guidelines that you can follow.

And if you are one of those advanced traders who is keen to pick up another method of determining the Intrinsic Value of a stock that has been paying dividends consistently, you can pick up a good concept from this book as well.

2. Victor Chng & Rusmin’s Value Investing In Growth Companies

If you like to learn about the concept of Value Investing and applying them into Growth Companies (companies that have been identified by investors to have great positive growth potentials, e.g. around 20 – 40% returns from your stock investments), you will find that this book will be a great read!

Similarly, this book provides you with the basic concept on what you need to learn about value investing and why you need to consider this investment strategy to providing you with specific guidelines that you can use in your stock research.

Do Not Get These Books If You Are…

… not into doing research for your stocks. These two books do not provide or recommend you with a list of stocks to buy  in 2012 but rather a sensible approach that you can take in 2012 to choose your stocks wisely.

I have personally learned over the years that buying stocks merely by following the masses or following the latest news (when the excitement has already taken place) will not help your investment money to have any growing potential. Having a set of stock analysis skills (through learning from the many other stock gurus and traders) can help you to pick up those stocks before the actual excitements kick in!

Therefore if you are ready to make changes in your investment strategies in 2012, do remember to include these two book resources!

Buying a new car always involves more than simply choosing a make and model, signing on the dotted line and driving away. Every salesperson is going to try to press options and upgrade packages onto the sale. With technology constantly advancing, there are literally dozens of possibilities to add to a car, from the frivolous to the safety-imperative. These are some of the better choices based on resale value and safety.

Resale Value

A brand new car begins losing value the moment you drive it off the lot. A car is not considered a good investment due to steady depreciation, unless it has the rare luck of lasting long enough to become a collectible. However, there are some features that can help raise the value if you trade in or sell your car before it’s an antique. Some of the top options include:

• Cruise Control. Most people who buy late model cars will expect cruise control, and a car without it will immediately seem dated and lose some of its value.
• Air Conditioning. Depending on where you live, air conditioning may not truly be an option. Driving in extremely hot climates during the summertime, for example, makes it a necessity. AC is also one of the options in a car that is slowest to depreciate in value.
• Automatic Transmission. Since automatic transmission has become all but standard equipment, stick shifts have a depreciating effect on resale value.

Safety

• Anti-Lock Brakes. This will soon be a moot issue, as ABS brakes will become mandatory in 2012. Some car-makers are already making them standard.
• Side and Head Protection Air Bags. While the majority of cars have front protection, it is best to have as many airbags in your car as possible for safety and resale value.
• Traction and Stability Control Systems. Different manufacturers have different names for these systems, but they can be lifesavers.
• All-Wheel Drive. If you live in an area where snow and ice are common, then all-wheel capability is a must.

Don’t Bother

A few hard-sold, popular options that simply aren’t worth the investment include:

• Sensor-Based Cruise Control. This system uses lasers or other sensors to measure the distance between the car and surrounding objects and adjusts accordingly. Nice to have, but very pricey.
• VIN Engraving. You can permanently etch the VIN number onto your car for far less.
• After-Market Undercoating and Fabric Protection. Cars generally come off the line with the former already covered. For the latter, you can buy a bottle of Scotchguard at any local retailer.

Whatever car you purchase and whichever options you install, it is imperative to take care of basic maintenance. Fortunately, many car dealerships will offer a maintenance package, but make sure it’s worth the extra charge if there is one. It may seem like a good idea to get free regular maintenance, but check the fees to have it performed elsewhere before you agree. A car engine oil change doesn’t have to happen at the dealership, and it can be cheaper when done somewhere else, even with premium products like Mobil fully-synthetic oil.

Yeah! It’s the time of the year where people have already planned (and went) their holidays, made out a long list of items to buy (to pamper themselves or just anybody in mind) and collecting their well deserved bonus!

And in the usual Financial Planning sense - if you are one of those who are fond of spending away your bonuses (without even thinking and planning), here are a few tips that you may wish to consider to do so first before happily spending (or wasting) it away…

Note: the tips here are meant for your own good and really to help you with your future. Tips mentioned here are not in order of priority as well.

Five Good Tips To Help You With Your Year-End Bonuses

#1 Think Of Your Previous Purchases (Pampering)

Throughout the year, there have been many various types of sales events and the ease of buying things online has even became easier. If you have made your purchases during those times – it’s time to hold your expenses and think twice before spending your bonuses away. You may wish to consider saving a major bulk of it. If you find it hard to do so, just tell yourself you may get to spend a bit more from this saved amount in next year’s sales events.

#2 If You Have A Family – Teach Your Children The Importance Of Saving

It’s quite common for children to follow their parents, when they grow up, in terms of how they spend and how they save.

And if you do have children who are in this stage of learning, you can teach them the importance of saving. Here’s a good suggestion to help you make better use of your bonuses – do a one-to-one matching to your children’s saving for that year.

E.g. if your child is able to help $10 – you can do a match by contributing another $10 to the account. Likewise to show that you are capable of saving as well, you can share with your child that you are going to save a $xxx to your own bank account.

Make this a habit or challenge for each year – and at the same time, you can share the small benefits of saving – getting interest from the bank (though not that impactful) and see how the account slowly grows as you save.

#3 Donate For A Good Cause

I believe in what comes around goes around and with the fact that there are many other people who are less fortunate than most of us, a small donation can help them (and even yourself).

If you are new to the idea of donation, you may wish to know that doing a donation to some charitable organisations can help you to enjoy some tax relief.

#4 Top Up Your CPF And SRS Account

If you feel that you are not doing much to help yourself during your retirement period, it’s never too late to do so. One good way is to top up your CPF and/or SRS Account. Though the money may be “locked” for years, it’s still a good way to help your money to grow especially when the interest rates on the Ordinary and Special Account are so much higher than the normal saving interest rate.

Topping up your SRS account will help you to reduce the amount of tax payable.

#5 Set Money Aside For Small To Great Causes

This is a good month for you to consider setting money aside – you can consider using your money to:

• Start an Endowment Plan
• Start a Regular Saving Plan For Stocks/Unit Trusts (though the current economic market may not be favorable)
• Upgrade your Health Insurance – consider adding a Rider
• Look into Accident Plans
• Have a Big Dream – saving for your first or additional private property.
• Have a Bigger Dream – consider setting up a small business
• Consider becoming an (angel) investor

There are many other good areas to consider on how to better make use of your year-end bonuses. If you have some good suggestions you may wish to share them here.

For those who have already received your bonuses (and if there’s still some left), hope you can consider some of the tips here. For those who are still waiting, you may take this time to plan something for yourself!

Meanwhile – enjoy your December!

How many Daily Deal Sites are you currently signed up with? And if you are in the US, have you check out Yipit yet?

The Concept Behind Daily Deal Sites

For some of the Coupon Sites that I have came across and mentioned in this blog, Daily Deal sites like Yipit have quite a similar concept – offering deals/coupons that you cannot miss. A coupon site may list out all available discount coupons for online shopping sites whereas a Daily Deal site will list a Special Deal of the Day, enticing you with offers that may have up to 90% off the usual price.

All in all, these sites want your money and want you to engage in some shopping, forms of pampering and de-stressing in whatever ways you want to call it!

Daily Deal Site May Help You To Save Money

Personally I do feel that Daily Deal Sites can help one to save money while still allowing one to enjoy life. I have seen many of my female clients who enjoy a weekly session of spas, massage, manicure or pedicure and they are so willing to pay so much for each session or even to pay one lump sum for a certain package.

But with the existence of Daily Deal Sites, I do see some of my female clients having a change in their spending habits – they are always in the lookout for special deals like a huge discount in a manicure or massage session and they are also less likely to sign up for packages because they know they will have some good deals coming up from one of these sites that can still allow them to enjoy their life!

Financial Planning Point Of View

From a Financial Planning point of view, this is something that we feel that it’s good because it actually help someone to save a bit of money and yet being able to enjoy their favorite hobby – shopping! Though we cannot stop them from not spending at all, at least from these one or two manner, we are able to help them plan or advise slightly better because in terms of budgeting, they have a bit more to spare now!

The only advice for many of those who like the concept behind Daily Deal Sites is to spend on deals that you really need and never buy too many on impulse (thus wasting money away). It is widely known that these deals do have some form of Expiry Date (an average of 2 -3 months) which may have people wanting to buy “on the spot” because they do not want to “miss out on such good deal”… but in reality… you will never miss out on these deals because they tend to return after a short period of time – you just need to learn how to be more patient.

What I Like About Daily Deal Site – Yipit

Though this site is currently operating in the US, I do like the enhancements that they have done to their site – allowing people to choose deals that are more relevant to them and also the choice to receive deals on locations they are familiar with.

These may not be very unique features but I do feel that such features do help to prevent wastage like paying for a certain deal that I will never have any use for it or paying for a service that I will not go because it’s too far for me to get to…

In conclusion, if you like shopping but you still believe in planning for yourself, do include a few Daily Deal Sites to help you to save money today! But do remember to practise some self-control and try not to over-spend on deals that you may not need!

Have you checked out your local banks’ websites (notice the ‘s’ for the banks) and their revised interest rates for having a normal savings account with them?

If you have not… please do check them out now and come back to this post later… because if you have always depend on your savings account to plan and fund your retirement, it’s time to think twice and plan otherwise!

For The Privileged Few Who Keep Their Earnings In The Banks

I do know of a few friends and acquaintances who are earning way beyond their means and they are good with their personal finances and planning as well, therefore even though the Banks are not giving them “that good” interest rate, their own earning abilities will help them through…

But if you are still working towards being like them… you can consider taking on these few suggestions to help you make your money work harder! They are not guaranteed to work for everybody but if you are persistent enough, they may just work well for you along the way!

A Lesson First – What Does The Interest Rate Work For Your Money In The Bank?

Back when some Local Banks can still offer an interest rate of around 1% per annum, if you manage to have $10,000 with them, you can see a good $100 being given to you as a form of interest at the end of the year. And if you keep that amount + interest for another year, you will have an additional $101 being added on. May not seem significant but if you do the calculations, the additional amount will just keep increasing as long as you do not touch the money!

The additional and increasing amount that’s being given to you is due to the Magic of Compounding Returns and because of the number that’s being attached as the Bank Interest Rate.

Secondly, if you want to know how long it will take for this $10,000, you can use the Rule of 72 to calculate the estimated number of years needed with that interest rate. Simply take 72 to be divided by 1 (the interest rate) and you will simply get 72 years! Don’t look too shocked as yet!

Now… When The Local Banks Decide To Lower That Interest Rate To An Even Lower Rate

When the interest rate is lowered down to just 0.1%, your $10,000 is just making you $10 a year (instead of the usual $100) and it’s also taking 720 years for that money to double! You can look shocked now!

So is this how you want your hard-earned money to work harder for you? If not, it’s time to make some adjustments and take on some of these suggestions…

How To Make Your Money Work Slightly Harder…

#1 Put Your Money Into Fixed Term Deposits With Local Banks or Foreign Banks

You can start shopping around for Fixed Term Deposits with different banks. Not all banks offer the same interest rate throughout, so it’s advisable for you to check out the different rates being offered. For example, I have came across Banks from India (but having their offices in Singapore) that offer slightly higher interest rate as compared to local banks.

#1.5 Put Your Money With A Foreign Country

This little tip is shared by one of my clients who operates a business in Vietnam. Because he works and stays there most of the time, he is able to open a bank account over there and guess what… the interest rate for their savings accounts is, on the average, a double digit per year!

If you do have the chance to work overseas for awhile, it’s advisable to check out this opportunity! But do take note of the terms and conditions attached to it.

#2 Put Your Money Into A Single Premium Plan With An Insurance Company

You may not get a double digit interest rate but you will definitely get higher interest rate as compared to a Fixed Term Deposit, given that you are comfortable with setting that money aside for a longer time frame.

#3 Put Your Money Into A Pure Unit Trust Investment Plan – Lump Sum or Regular Contribution

There are many categories of Unit Trusts - ranging from Money Market, Bonds, Commodities, Equities to Indexes. These are all investment types and definitely carry a certain amount of risk. But from my understanding of many clients, their level of understanding and comprehension of such investment tools are getting higher, therefore the ability to understand the risk involved and the various terms and conditions is there. That’s why I will still recommend this mode of savings for people.

And if you are able to diversify and create a good portfolio, the returns may be quite significant.

#4 Put Your Money Into Stocks, Forex, Options, Private Properties

Another set of investment tools for your considerations. Similarly if you are able to understand them well and learn how to take profits, stop losses, manage risks and create your assets – these tools will definitely help to generate a significant amount of returns for you.

#5 Create Your Own Business Or Be An Investor

I realized that many Singaporeans are slowly becoming more entrepreneur-minded and their abilities to create new business models are simply amazing. If you are one of these people, you can always set aside some of your savings, go into your own business on your own or with some partners and create your returns from there.

Or if you have an eye to spot good business, you can always be an investor to these new startups and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Disclaimer:

As mentioned, all the suggestions here do carry some levels of risk and may depend on the markets and economies – therefore nothing is guaranteed! If you have any interests in any of the suggestions, do educate yourself well before going into them. Lastly, it’s not that advisable to put all your hard-earned savings into these suggestions. You will always need some ready cash on hands for any emergency situations!

Are you crazy about online shopping and thinking of getting a new Tablet to pamper yourself? Have you checked out Circuit City which seems like a good site to buy these new gadgets? And have you checked out Dealio first, where you can get some good Circuit City promo codes to bring down the purchasing price even further?

We Can’t Avoid Online (Or Any Form Of) Shopping…

With the ease of getting onto the Internet and also the ease of buying (almost) anything online, it’s a fact that we cannot avoid online shopping any longer. From the conversation that I have with some of the working clients before, it seems like majority of them will also use shopping as a form of destressing from the daily toll of working life…

And it’s hard for Financial Planners to stop them from doing so because most of them will be guilty of that action as well. As such, what we can usually do are to advise on ways to budget out their spending so that they still have enough to plan on their financial needs. Thus with the excess savings, they can just spend on doing what most like – shopping (in any form)!

The Enticement Of Online Shopping – Discounts

One good reason why online shopping is popular is because of Discounts. Many major brands have created their own online stores and will entice anyone who visits the site to join their newsletter and bombard them with numerous discounts (and they must redeem within a short time frame) through the emails.

Therefore there are times when a Want suddenly becomes a Need because of such enticement and there is a strong urge to get it before anyone else. Should the item they want be sold out, some would just try to get the alternatives through other online stores…

That’s Why We Need Online Services Like Dealio To Help Us Save Further

In summary, Dealio.com is a site that consolidates all the available discounts, coupons and promo codes for up to 100 different online stores. For the example of Circuit City, should you be unable to get a laptop from the major store, Circuit City can become the alternative store for you to get it and you can use Dealio.com as a platform to get some discounts off the purchase.

Saving Here And There Will Help You To Go A Long Way

If you really take notice, the savings you get from applying discounts can help you to do even more – like setting more aside for rainy days or to supplement your retirement lifestyle.

At the same time, you still get to satisfy the urge of spending but in a much wiser manner!

Therefore if you are tempted to spend on an online purchase, do check out sites like Dealio.com for some discounts. The savings you get out from it, put them into good use like what I have mentioned above!

With the property market a very hot topic now, along with it comes with many questions especially from first time buyers with regards to loans, e.g. pre approved loans, refinanced loans and etc.

And because I am not from Banks, it’s very hard for me to give them a proper answer, so I decide to relook back into a site that I have previously came across and reviewed as well – CreditSesame.com.

CreditSesame Gives Quite A Good Overview Of What Refinancing of Loan Is All About

Because of the lack of availability of its tools in Singapore, I cannot take advantage of what CreditSesame can offer, but once you are over at that site, it does give you a good overview of:

- What is Refinance

- The Benefits of Refinancing

- How It Works

There’s even an overview of a typical Refinance Process which I believe is applicable to most banking institutions (even for those in Singapore)

But if you can create an account with CreditSesame and make use of the services, you can consider using it to help you find the best mortgage rates and help you to save big as well.

Why Refinancing Your Loan Is A Good Idea

After going through what is refinancing all about, I personally feel that it’s a must-go-through process that everyone with a loan should go through.

This is because the loan package (with an interest attached to your monthly loan payment and payable to the bank) may be computed on the current economic conditions. And economy do changes and specifically bank interest rates, therefore if the rates do go below (in the future) what is given to you during the signing of your loan agreement, its actually wise to refinance it.

This is to enjoy the lower interest payments that you need to pay to the bank. The amount you save from this may be channeled to other areas like planning for your retirement or planning for your child’s university education.

And with so many different banking institutions, it’s good to have services like those from CreditSesame.com to help you source out the better ones and save you time and efforts!

Do check out CreditSesame today and use it to help you to refinance your loans!

I was doing my research online for resources that I can use to implement my Six Accounts strategy and I ended up finding this bank from Pittsburgh – PNC Bank and its special announcement: PNC Bank Announces New Accounts To Help Customers Save, Manage Money and Avoid Fees. And after going through the details on how PNC Bank intends to help their customers save money, I just have to share!

What’s So Special About This Announcement And With PNC Bank?

Though it’s quite common for you to say that Banks have new accounts introduced every now and then and there’s really nothing special about it!

I do agree on that but this time round, what PNC Bank has done is something quite different (personally this is what I feel as compared to what I am having in Singapore)! This is because PNC Bank listens to what their customers and consumers wanted through their research and thus the new accounts are created. And this is what they wanted from their usual banking:

The Assistance From The Bank to:

• Manage Their Money
• Avoid Mistakes
• Save
• Use Credit Wisely
• Get Rewards

Just basing on Managing of money and the use of Credit wisely, it’s not always an easy task but somehow I feel that PNC Bank is beginning to do a good job on it with their Virtual Wallet system and its incorporation into the new accounts.

For More Details On The Announcement On How PNC Bank Is Going To Help Customers Save Money, Watch The Short Video Below:

A Bit Of Highlights On Their Virtual Wallet System And How It Ties To The Six Accounts Strategy

I mention in my previous post that to have proper management of your money, it would be good for you to implement the Six Accounts Strategy and have at least six individual accounts for different purposes. The main issue with this strategy that I can see, is where and how to have these Six Accounts so that you can get started… This is why I decide to do my research online for such resources.

And I found there’s such a resource – The Virtual Wallet from PNC Bank!

The fact that I like Virtual Wallet is that it’s one main checking account that allow you to perform 3 different functions at one time:

1. Spend
2. Growth
3. Reserve

Thus with Virtual Wallet, it seems like the Six Accounts Strategy can still be implemented with ease.

And it’s also comes with the calendar function for you to monitor your bills and payday. You can also use this function to set up dates that you intend to pamper yourself – with good eating out or shopping. Lastly, there’s also the Wishlist function that you can use to take note of the things that you really want to buy and you can start saving up!

Now… I wish I do have such banking services in Singapore in the coming future as well! For my friends who are Pittsburgh, I do hope you can check out the new accounts and the Virtual Wallet service from PNC Bank.

It’s always interesting to find good personal finance sites that are created to help people manage their credit, or complicated loans like loan mortgage refinance. And I have just found one new site which you may be interested in managing your credit and loans online – CreditSesame.com.

What Can CreditSesame Do For You?

When you have signed up with CreditSesame (it’s free to join), you can actually input and monitor your credit, debt and loans details within their interface. After which, you can also track your Credit Score.

CreditSesame will then do their own analysts based on thousands of loans from major banks and then use the information collected to evaluate against your own personal financial situation. Of which, you can get their recommendations and options that will help you to make changes and save you money over time.

CreditSesame will also help you to analyze your loans, credit, mortgages and credit card debt and present to you the facts like:

- Your free credit score

- Home value data

- Debt-To-Income Ratio

- and whether your debt is optimized

CreditSesame Is Honest On How They Make Money

CreditSesame is honest in how they plan to make money and after reading on how they do it, I believe it’s going to be a win-win situation for you and them because you get to manage your credit and loans (thus saving you money) and they get paid from helping you save money with their efforts.

It’s Same To Use CreditSesame

CreditSesame has the Verisign stamp on the site, which is visible on most secured sites. Thus the information you have submitted will always be safe and secure.

Also Check Out Their Blog For Personal Finance Tips

It’s always good to educate yourself more in terms of managing your Personal Finance and CreditSesame has a blog that you can always go back and pick up some Financial Planning and Personal Finance Management tips.