Results of my Financial Fast

Last week, I invited many of you to join me on a Financial Fast as the first step to unlocking your savings potential and understanding your regular spending tendencies!

After a week, how has everyone fared? Did you learn anything new about yourself?

For me, this isn't the first time I've tried out the #financialfast #dayrefinancialfast on myself, so my insights weren't anything new – merely reaffirmed. Here's what I rediscovered:

Opting for kopi over branded coffee instantly ramps up your savings.

Considering how your daily coffee fix at Starbucks will cost $5 to $7 on average, opting for the coffee shop or hawker centre version of $1.40 instantly saves you heaps.

For those who have access to a coffee machine in your office pantry, the cost then falls even further to $0.

Just by changing your lifestyle to exclude Starbucks, you'll be saving $140 a month, or $1680 a year. This is pretty massive!

I've been trying to reduce my caffeine intake (to keep my teeth white for the wedding) so I went one step further this week to drink plain water in the morning instead and pat my cheeks in order to stay awake. The only Starbucks coffee I had all week was a treat from a client who was trying to engage me for a new campaign.

I'm not saying you need to avoid Starbucks altogether, but drinking it daily can really put a toll on your finances.

Skipping restaurants and cafes are another big savings plus.

Even when I was out in town with my girlfriend yesterday, we opted for cheap Thai food which was good and cheap! $1.90 Thai ice milk tea and $4.50 for soup noodles in the heart of town. It was a slight walking distance away and a simple set-up with seats that were a little cramped, but it isn't about the atmosphere as it is about the company you're dining with, right? 😊

Give me my hawker food anytime!

Not having a single alcoholic drink helped!

It helped my tummy (it is flatter now, yay!) and also saved even more of my cash, as normal cocktails at a bar can start from $16 and up. For our Christmas gathering prior to the financial fast, we couldn't exclude the social alcohol, but saved by getting them from FairPrice instead and having it at a house party by making our own mixers. It was great!

If you can't avoid taking a taxi, use promos like GrabShare.

That is, if you aren't in TOO much of a hurry.

My GrabShare ride this week was to a cinema because I got so engrossed in work that I was almost late for my movie appointment with a friend! If I had taken public transport, it would have taken me twice as long and the fare would be about $2+.

Thanks to a GrabShare promo, I managed to get there in 15 minutes for just $1!!!!! 😱😱😱😱 cheaper than taking public transport! 😅

Watch movies on weekdays (Mon to Thurs) for cheaper rates.

Movies are my soft spot. Although there are ways to stream it online, I try to support the production by watching it in the cinemas instead.

After all, as an artist myself, I can fully appreciate all the work and money that goes into making a movie, and I don't want to contribute to the demise of the industry by watching it online for free.

If you could know your future in advance, would you live life any differently?

This week, I caught The Age of Shadows (purely because Gong Yoo was in it) and Arrival. By using our OCBC and MasterCard promotions, we managed to save another dollar on each ticket. Compared to watching it on a Friday or weekend, we only paid $7.50 and $8 for our tickets. Even though it meant getting home late (especially with work the next day), none of us minded.