Love the transparency and detailed explanation. I think you are being too hard on yourself. For goal 5: I feel side hustles are a cyclical thing. For example, giving tuition typically has a season from February till November, with some breaks in June. Or selling bakes typically have more income from festive seasons. Maybe you can reconsider restructuring the side hustle goal from a monthly one to an annually one since achieving consistency is not typical of a side hustle. Point 6: You did get a pay raise. Even if you may feel it is not from your own effort, it could have been attributed to market forces or inflation. But that pay raise did come. And it will contribute to higher bargaining power when you apply for a new job. You saw it was you took little effort to get here, but its 8 hours of work, 5 days a week for 52 weeks.
I agree on your comment that Lisa is being too hard on herself. My journey to personal finance also got me to Ramit Sethi's money philosophy of "What is your rich life?" in which you spent extravagantly on the things you love and cut mercilessly on what you don't. Lisa I think if you do love travelling and shopping along the way, don't stress up too much over "I could've spent less on shopping" because it will make the journey less enjoyable and make life much more stressful. You put it in your budget and you even go below it, so enjoy your hard-earned saving process! I enjoyed your video through and through, and we actually are from the same batch (start earning from 2019) so I completely know your struggles. Keep it up and I hope your RU-vid keeps growing!
I really appreciate the realism in your video! It's great to see that you're in a more stable situation now, allowing you to allocate a budget for enjoying life and trying new things. I've learned the importance of treating oneself this year too-setting aside a bit for self-pampering is beneficial for mental health, like traveling to recharge for work and motivation. Nonetheless, it's crucial to be mindful of spending and avoid exceeding your means. Wishing you a fantastic 2024 and success in achieving your goals! Cheers!
Hello Lisa! I’ve been watching your channel for awhile and have been quietly rooting for you! Regarding retirement, you are right, it’s first a philosophical question, that then needs a math formula to solve. In my situation, after I’ve decided what I want my retirement years to look like, I just did backwards math (what type of “income” I need, how much my CPF life would have, and how much/long I’d have to invest for to hit that goal) However, there’s no 1 right answer to retirement. My personal goals this year is actually replenishing my own emergency funds (because I loaned out a lot of it to help a family friend), and to save aggressively for the down payment of the next house 😂. All the best and may your 2024 be glorious!
Thanks for sharing the video! I appreciate your evolving money philosophy and how it adapts yearly, reflecting continuous self-discovery and understanding of personal finance. Personally, I believe delving into investing is valuable, but it doesn't have to be intricate. Instead, emphasizing 'soft topics' like the retirement mindset could be beneficial, especially in the Singaporean context. Keep going and maintain that growth mindset in your approach to personal finance!
Hi Lisa! Thank you for sharing. I really relate to alot of what you've said, what we don't know can scare us, so I hope I can also take courage to learn more about what I don't understand! Instead of shying away because I am intimidated by how much I don't know. Thanks for your inspiration!
I've been following you since your first video, and it's amazing how far you have come along! I totally agree with you that I need an online shopping ban too 😂 I try my best to ask myself if i really need the item, and often leave it in my cart for about 2 weeks-1mth to see if i still want it or not hehe
i do that too! but while it's in my cart for the 2 weeks-1 month, i find myself compulsively checking my cart for any flash deals... like it's a newborn baby that i need to keep checking on 😭😭 i feel like it's not very healthy for my brain to do this so frequently (and not a good way to spend my time either!) good luck with your own online shopping ban if you end up doing it! 🧡
Investing is important to me in the sense that growing passive income aggressively in early years will bear fruit long term. That is important to me other than budgeting. Thus in my own hierarchy of personal finance after I started work: insurance->budgeting->investment->diversification->legacy planning->protection->financial freedom
Thank you for the heartfelt and helpful sharing! I was really looking forward to your yearly eoy money goals review and so glad it finally came out . 😊
love your videos Lisa, consistency is key for finances (and anything in life really) and you're doing very well in terms of both planning and execution, I wish I had your maturity 5 years ago! (I am 31 this year) I can only imagine how tough it is to be the sole breadwinner of your family, having to juggle your family members' needs with your own; despite this you still have the discipline to set aside money every month to invest for retirement. While there's only so much you can do to manage your expenses, it's really important to constantly upskill yourself and grow your paycheck. You're still young and there's a world of opportunity ahead, if you could double your salary in 5-6 years by upskilling (this is definitely achievable) and still maintain your habits of budgeting and growing your retirement funds, you will find yourself having more money to spend in future - and therefore increase your quality of life :) Investing in yourself is probably the best investment you can make. All the best!
i suggest volunteerism to curb the feeling of inadequacy in oneself. it helps me realise my own priviledges and to be thankful with how much i already have now
Hey Lisa, thank you for this video! It did gave me some inspiration too! My situation in 2023 is pretty similar to yours, when I spent more this year and I am also plannjng to disconnect myself from online shopping next year. I will also recalibrate some of my saving goals after having switched to a new job within the same company but took on a slight pay cut.
Hi Lisa! Can you share an update on which credit cards you’re using? Also since you are planning to travel, will you consider to use miles credit card as well? I would love to know your thoughts and experience 😊
Hey Lisa! Been watching you for a while, wondering if you're thinking of making a video about your side hustles? Always been thinking about what side hustles I can explore to supplement my main income and just to diversify sources of income too... Maybe something like what kind of side hustles and how you started, and a breakdown of roughly how much you earn from each, how it varies from month to month
hmmm... possibly! it's a video i've been thinking about since i started my channel but i've always hesitated because i don't think i've been very systematic with going about it -- a lot of my side hustles have been opportunities that have come my way since starting this channel, rather than me actively seeking them out. so the only "active" thing i did was start this channel! but yeah... it might help others by just sharing even my limited experience. i'll consider!
19:12 You mentioned that you have been mindlessly buying things. Would be good if you have an episode on sharing those specific things that you think you might have done that!
good idea! it might be part of a larger video about why i'm doing an online shopping ban and my relationship with consumerism... it'll be a big video haha. i'll consider!
Perhaps an easy way to start your education on investing is to learn how you can maximise your CPF and reduce your tax obligations, which seem to be lacking from your investment goals. Adding to your CPF Isa form of investment but without the risks that come with stock investment.
thank you 🥰 i have a yeti nano mic that i stack on top of the box it came in HAHA. and i record sitting down at my desk so i don't move around so much!
Hi Lisa! I'm glad to see a notification on telegram that says you posted a new video! Though I only have the time to watch it now I've always wondered what do you use your medium-term investment money for? I honestly started budgeting and trying to do my personal finance better bcs of your videos so I do everything that you do at the beginning, but I'm confused bcs of that specific category. Bcs for me, if I want to buy something, I save but I do it all at once. For example I want to buy a new shoes and Bag, I save for both of them all at once instead of saving for shoes first, then bag. Also I have some questions to you though it's not really related to the video Are you interested in doing budgeting with cash stuffing? Or have you done it? Have you tried weekly budgeting? Looking forward to more videos next year!
hi! thank you for watching 🥰 for my medium-term investment money, i'm putting it aside for goals that are 5-7 years in the future! hence why it's "medium-term". i see short term as
Heyyyyy just wondering if there's a community or channel you use? Would love to be part of the conversation on educating about retirement and investing! I hear you about online shopping. I don't know how but after awhile, I just got bored acquiring stuff. Like it was this realisation that buying stuff didn't bring me any happiness and that it was more important for me to have time to spend using them on friends and family. So you could show me the latest tech gadget, iphone, etc... and I would just be, ehhhh I'd rather chill than take the time to learn how to use such things.
i'm not sure where i'll be posting it yet! but it'll probably be on my usual channels -- either youtube, substack, or patreon. depends! and thank you for sharing 🧡 i hope to eventually get to that mental state where i'm not so concerned about the acquiring of new stuff too... i think a lot of it is also curating my environment such that i won't be so influenced all the time haha
You could possibly set a very small sum of money for aggressive investing imho. You should consider reducing the 400/mth for holiday. Respect for always thinking about your family.
Hi! Great educational video. I enjoyed it and look forward to your financial journey. I would like to know if you consider CPF savings as part of your long term retirement investments?
