So my answer to him, and probably some other readers who might wonder why I haven't been doing much finance topics... is well... there's really nothing much to say anymore.
I told him... look... how much can I talk about saving, spending less, living a frugal lifestyle?
How much can we talk about investing? Real estate, stocks, bonds, deposits, ETFs...
Everyone has talked about them. They earn, they keep a high savings rate, then they invest in whatever they like... usually lower risk investments, the 5 which I mentioned above.
I don't really like to discuss investments cos different people have different needs and risk appetite, everyone is different and have different needs. Most of the time, people just look at the returns without assessing the risk involved, or they don't even understand the risks.
Or savings rates of 50% -80%, keeping a low household budget of less than $4000, eating cheaply, don't buy branded stuff, look for good deals, use less water, electricity, etc ... All very basic stuff
Don't buy car, use public transport, or use Grab/Uber when there is promo codes to be used.
Get good credit card rebates to offset the expense with 3-5% rebate rates.
And manage the bank accounts by jumping through all those hoops dictated by the bank to get an 2+% on the bank interest.
These are all the simple stuff which many people have already written about. I have also written about them. And it doesn't matter whether people optimize everything.
Like if someone still uses OCBC 360 account, which is starting to lose favor with most of us bloggers, cos UOB One account is better. It still doesn't really matter, as long as people are trying to get some form of better return on their bank deposits.
Or if people like the Citibank Cashback card or whatever good rebate credit card. It doesn't really matter which card is used, just that, it's recommended to use credit cards in general to enjoy the benefits.
So as my discussion with my friend continued, I told him... There's only so much I can talk about certain topics. It gets boring writing about the same stuff all the time.
BUT...
Somehow, people don't find it boring reading about the same stuff all the time.
It's called confirmation bias. People like reading about stuff that they themselves do. Cos it makes them feel that they are doing the right thing, so if I read that 10 finance bloggers are using XYZ credit card, and I'm using that card, then I must be doing something right...
If I keep writing about "why do people buy XYZ, or YYY, or ZZZ" and comment on the silliness of excessive spending all the time, we'd all be patting ourselves on our backs and telling ourselves, "Good job, in not buying into all that consumerism shit."
Although I do think I'd get better readership if I keep dissing at the regular consumers and their overspending habits. Or that saving more is a good thing, etc etc.
But personally, I think, I can't keep writing about those stuff all the time. After a while, it's just boring. Everyone's saying the same thing in different ways anyway. I prefer to talk about stuff I think about, different perspectives and things like that. I'd like to share with people about being happy with what they have, or to appreciate the people around them, or that maybe early retirement isn't the main objective. I do think that finding something you like to do is more important than money.
Early retirement is just part of the journey. Early retirement is just the escape from the thing that you don't like to do. The 2nd part of the journey is harder. It's finding the thing you like, and since there's so many things to choose from, it's hard to choose.
I also want to share my experience with others, my mistakes, my fears, and that leaving your job is OK. The world is not going to end, what's more important is to plan and think what's next. And living a life of good experiences is worth it. But there's a trade off with money and savings.
And everyone has a choice, to choose whatever path they want. They can spend or they can save. In the end, it's their life and we have to respect that. But people also need to be responsible for their decisions, so if they spend, then don't complain about no money or that they can't afford to leave their jobs. Or if they scrimp, then don't regret about not having much life experiences.
The balance or trade off is up to the individual.
And for me, I just like to share my experience and different ways of thinking and looking at things so that others can make their own decision in the best way possible.
So, yes, I don't really talk about finance very much in proportion to the amount of posts I make. But I'll still share the lobangs and good deals which I have found, and when there's a good credit card or bank account which is worthy of mention, I'll still write about them.
(Many thanks to the folks who downloaded/signed up Fuzzie and Shopback using my wife's referral.)
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