I haven't been posting much recently.
Some things have cropped up and I've been trying to settle them. Maybe I'll update everyone when things settle down.

Anyway, here's a good clip to watch.

Ever wondered why casinos want people to play using chips?
Or why some restaurants like Marche use a card to charge your purchases?
​Or how about online games where people buy "tokens"?

​It's all similar to what this talk is about. Financial abstraction. Making people less connected with their money so that they don't feel like they are spending money, so that it's just a number on a computer or handphone.
In this way, there's a good chance that people tend to spend more. Cos they don't feel like they are spending money.

Long time ago, I was happy living under other people's expectations. 
So I was pretty happy doing things that made them happy, until I realized that they only bothered that I made them happy and didn't bother whether I was happy whilst doing those things. 

That's when I realized that the idea of living for other people's expectations and putting up a false front, a very tiring and sad thing to do. 

Sometimes it seems like the right thing to do. Maybe some people may thing that they need to fulfill their parents' expectations so they try to hard to make their parents happy. 
But to me, I try to make them happy in other ways. Caring for them doesn't mean I need to fulfill their expectations. Taking care of their well-being is a different matter as living the life they hope that I will live. 

And I think a lot of people may not understand this. That being caring or taking care of their parents or dependents is not really the same as fulfilling their expectations. 
​
For example, someone may love scuba diving and decide to be a diving instructor. But may disappoint their parents, cos the parents want them to be a corporate worker. 
But that doesn't mean that this person doesn't care about his parents and wouldn't be able to take care of his parents whilst enjoying work as a dive instructor.  

So I think it's important to differentiate the difference between living someone else's expectations vs taking care and showing that you care for that person. 
It's really 2 different ideas but very often, they are seen as one, or they are confused to be the same thing. 


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Not going to say much about my expenses this month. 
It's pretty normal and expenses is around the same every month.

Gift ($155) is a bit high this month as my wife was buying lunch treats for her colleagues/staff/friends who have helped her through the past year. 
We also ordered a photobook ($15) cos we always do up a photobook for our trips so that we can capture our memories. (see previous post)

The end of Feb expense update will be more interesting as I have been tracking my expense for the past year. So I'll be showing a full 12 months with some good classification to distinguish what is my wife's work related expenses vs what is our true living expenses. 

So let's talk more about that in a month's time.


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It's the lunar new year period now and many people are done with their spring cleaning and rituals and what not. And everyone wishes and hopes the coming year will be prosperous and good.

And so, as usual, I wander around and look and see and observe. 
Since young, my mum always told me of things to do, things not to do during the CNY period.
She would make preparations, buy new stuff, etc... and as I grew older, I noticed this was the norm for most people. 

​And she told me not to say unlucky things during the CNY period, which I deemed "Ok fine, not too unreasonable, no point being rude or negative any day, so CNY period shouldn't be any different."

What really gets to me is the amount of wastage that I see every year, my mum included, but it's pretty much everyone else as well...

People do spring cleaning EVERY YEAR. They throw out stuff which they bought last time... Most of them are in good condition. This means that they previously bought it and didn't use it much and eventually threw them away. Making space for them to buy even more new things this coming year ahead. 

Then many people stock up their fridges. Food during this period is more expensive but yet people like the feeling of 满, or full, so they buy new rice to fill up their rice buckets, even people whom I know don't cook rice, they will buy rice to fill up their rice bucket, or buy groceries, or new sugar and salt and some people I know will throw away their old sugar and salt cos they haven't used all of what they bought for the whole of the previous year!
But why do they need to buy so much during this period? Food is more expensive so maybe it would actually be more prudent to buy just enough during this period and buy again once the festive season is over? 

Not to mention, most people buy and gift multiple containers of CNY tidbits/goodies.
People buy for their own consumption and gift to friends and family. Then they themselves receive so they have multiple containers of goodies. And many people aren't able to consume all of them. And very often, after 2-3 months, they realize they won't be able to finish all the food and throw them all away. 

And then CNY period gives people the excuse to buy new clothes. Long time ago, people didn't have much money, so they used the CNY period as an opportunity to buy their new clothes for the year. But now... People buy clothes all the time and they have new clothes every month. But still, they buy new CNY clothes just for visiting. Some tailor their clothes just for the first 2 days and never use them again. I know people who purchase clothes that they will only use for one time and not use it again. And they do it every year. 

Then some people buy CNY stickers or ornaments to place around their house, buy new plants to make the place look nicer, etc... and once again, all these will be thrown away in a couple of weeks.

I don't even want to talk about ang bao money, I don't know any parent who's happy to give away free money to other people for no other reason except for wishing them a happy new year and to remain prosperous in the up coming year. 
I'd rather BE prosperous by saving my money and not having to give it away. 

And the thing about all these practices... is... does it really promote prosperity? 
I suppose it shows that this person has been prosperous last year, cos it means they have money to waste during this CNY period. But it definitely isn't going to promote prosperity after the season. I mean... using more money to buy and throw away stuff isn't going to make anyone richer. Except the vendors. 

So the question is... do you want to be prosperous? OR just talk about it? OR try to show it? 

Cos... pretty much, actions speak louder than words. 
It's more likely that you'll remain prosperous by holding on to your money than by spending it on stuff and HOPING that you'll be prosperous in the coming year ahead.


HUAT AH!!! Wishing all my readers a HAPPY PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR AND DON'T WASTE MONEY!!!


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I haven't been posting about getting free stuff from Pasir Panjang for a long time. I usually go and collect on Thursdays. But recently I haven't been taking much stuff cos I have other sources of free food. So I usually go mainly for the fun of it.

So today this is what I took home. Its been a long time since I took so much, cos I have an event I have to plan for so I needed more food. Some of these items were labeled as organic, such as the potatoes, carrots, beetroots, corn. I forgot what else, cos I don't really bother about it. Cos it doesn't appear all the time.

It's amazing that during Chinese New year period, when food and vegetables are getting more expensive, vendors are continuously throwing away good produce. In fact, they throw away even more stuff during this period than on normal days.

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So I was thinking... Just how much does one need to be or feel rich?

So I think a bit more... How do I define rich? 
Well, let's not talk about the uber rich, so let's not talk about big bungalows or luxury boats, cos that's just way out of what most of us are going to be able to achieve. 

Let's look at what many people would deem a wealthy life.
So I'd think someone rich would be living in a condo or landed property. ($3k per mth or $36k per ann)
This person drives a luxury car. ($2k per mth or $24k per ann)
This person can go out and eat and party every day. ($2k per mth or $24k per ann)
This person can buy luxury watches or bags or shoes, etc, regularly. ($2k per mth or $24k per ann)
This person also probably goes for expensive holidays. ($20k per ann)

So this person needs to make around $128k per annum and spend it all for someone to feel rich. 
If I lived this kinda lifestyle, I would probably feel rich. Except that I would probably be poor. 

From an external point of view, if we see someone living this kind of lifestyle, it's easy for us to conclude that this person has made it in life. They are living it up and it's easy to be envious. 
But let's be practical. How many people are able to make $128k per annum? Next, how many people are willing to blast ALL the money away every month?

So... Not many people make $128k every year. Are you sure your friend who is living this lifestyle is one of those who earns $128k per year? 
If this person makes $128k per year and spends it all, means this person also needs to remain employed for him to continue this lifestyle. Which means in the later years, this person will not be able to live this kind of lifestyle. 

So let's go back to the question... Are you rich? 
If rich is defined as living the lifestyle above, then I know I am not rich. And I also think most of us aren't rich. And even if some people are rich and living such a lifestyle, it's probably not sustainable and they will eventually have to downgrade as they grow older. 
Of course there will be some who are able to sustain such a lifestyle for very long and are truly rich. 

So why is richness always perceived? It's always about showing off. It's kinda like... if someone is rich, they must tell everyone. Else, what's the point in being rich? 

Someone wants to live a luxurious lifestyle and he is able to do so. He is perceived as rich.
But someone who doesn't want a luxurious lifestyle and is able to live without. Is perceived as poor? 

Long story short... 
Rich or poor is relative. If you never saw anyone richer than you, you wouldn't feel poor. If you never see anyone poorer than you, you will not feel rich. 
If you are the only person in the world. There would be no such thing as rich or poor. Even if you are just eating grass. 
But if there are 2 people in the world, and you are eating grass and the other person is eating lobsters, then maybe it's easy to be envious and think that the other person is "richer". 
But what if you like to eat grass? And there's so much grass around. 
But the other guy wants to eat lobsters and he has to work really hard to find lobsters. Is he richer? 

Rich or poor, it doesn't matter. Cos if you are rich, you don't really affect me. 

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Let's imagine if the world restarted.
Let's say you are the first... Or last 10 people on Earth.

What do you do?
Find food and water, find shelter, try to repopulate the Earth, then maybe start a little bit if farming or domestication if animals... Find clothes...
Set up a banking system, sell each other luxury bags, lend to each other to buy homes and luxury boats, create a Government, tax each other...

Come on... That's rubbish right.
With 10 people... Just relax and chill. Find some way to have sustainable food sources and clean water and enjoy life right?
What if there was 100 people. Well if everyone can work as a team, that's great, else we'll just have to break up and go to other areas and set up shop.

But... We have around 4 billion people on Earth now... So... Somehow it's necessary to set up all these additional industries.
I really don't know... And I don't get it.

Life is simple. There's enough food, water, clothes, shelter for everyone on Earth. Yet... Somehow, there are hungry people, homeless people. Houses are left empty or abandoned. Food is wasted and thrown away.

Somehow the current Government and capitalistic society has been built in a way that is selfish and individualistic.
Maybe last time there was some kampung spirit. But now, when was the last time you went out or had dinner with your neighbours?

As countries get more prosperous, the people grow colder to each other.
Power and resources are all concentrated within a very few number of people.

So sometimes, I just sit around thinking... If everyone could just chill... Actually wouldn't everyone be better off?

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I was quite surprised cos I got some comments from my previous post and it seemed like readers thought I was upset by the comment. Whereas actually I wasn't bothered by it. I took it as an opportunity to think about things. Like, there's no end to comparing, if someone compares when he's working, after returning, he's probably going to compare as well and that's just not going to make him happy. How to retire happily if one is always looking at other people and thinking about what they have?

Anyway, today's post...

I was talking with my cousin.
I told him about my dumpster diving last time and the first thing he said was, "why don't you sell the items..."
And so I explained that I couldn't be bothered, it's a hassle meeting ppl and all that. And he was saying that he's sure that there's an effective way to make it work.

Then I was talking to my mum about rescued free bread and vegetables and she was telling me how we could send the free stuff to old folks home or other organizations and I explained that we already do that. And she suggested that we could get more stuff and send it to more people.

And it got me thinking... Why is there a need to do more? Is nothing good enough? If some people want to do more, that's fine. But what's wrong with the people who don't want to do more and just chill.
And I think this has a lot to do with what we learn since young. Everything is results oriented. If you can do something with some result now, the next time, we need better results. But... What's the point?

Like, I don't want to dumpster dive and do more to meet people to sell the items. I found dumpster diving fun last time but I don't do it anymore and neither do I really want to make a business out of it.

I like getting free food and giving it out to others. But I like to chill and be someone who helps out.

So it got me thinking. Why is there always a "what's next"? Is that really necessary? What's wrong with just chilling? Why do people inexplicably need to move on? Why can't they be happy and enjoy the moment?

I've written before about our lifespan.
Most of us will live til around 85 or so. That's around 31,000 days.
I'm 37 years old. I have around 17,500 days left...
Different people will have different thoughts in their later years. And I would say that this period of my life is probably some of the best years I've had.

Now, there's nothing wrong to keep on walking. Neither is there anything wrong with stopping and relaxing. Some people keep walking, some people stop and take a break, some take a longer break, others may sit down and relax forever. And I think... Maybe in this society, we are all judged. Or are affected by other people's judgement. So those who want to take a break can't take a break cos they may be afraid of what others think? Or maybe we have gotten so used to walking that stopping and relaxing becomes unnatural?

And so... I don't get why there's a need to think about what's next? Or how to do more. Cos in the end, after 85+ years... There's only one last "what's next".


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I received a comment recently. And I was wondering whether I should write about it.
But I thought the comment had good learning points. Or at least it made me think more about things.
The amazing thing is, sometimes, we can find life lessons in the smallest of things.

So commenter Bart compared me to AK71. I don't read his blog so I went over and skimmed a little bit. Apparently AK71 makes $15k dividend a month. Meaning it's likely he has a portfolio of around $3m according to my estimations. AND he retired at 30+. Woah!

The thing is, I didn't feel any pang of jealousy.

You see, when I left the workforce, I already knew more or less how it was going to be.
I decided that I wasn't going to compare with others and what I felt was enough, was enough and I could take it easy from then on.

When we are in school, we compare grades.
Then very quickly we go to work and we compare toys... Stuff like how big our cars are, upgrading to new condo, our watches, bags, who goes to what country for holidays, etc.

And usually, when someone decides on FI, especially early FI. They know they have to stop comparing. They set an AUM they would like to have, then they work hard towards that goal and after that, they are satisfied and leave their jobs for FI and probably living frugally. Usually we have to live frugally even before FI, else it's pretty hard to achieve FI.
Well at least that's what most people who talk about early retirement do.
Some decide they want to have more to uphold a lifestyle others feel that less is enough. So usually, people who talk about FI, arent bothered about what another person owns cos that doesn't affect their own lifestyle.

Now, I'm not saying that it's not possible to retire well like AK71 with a cushy AUM. But most people aren't going to be able to achieve it at 30+. Some have more responsibilities, some have less.

Some will be able to retire with more, some will retire with less. Some will retire older, some will retire younger. Others may struggle to make ends meet.

For me, I have decided to retire with less. And I am very happy with what I have. I have more than the average Singaporean in terms of assets and lifestyle. What's there not to like?
It's not like I don't spend on buffets and expensive food. I still go for nice meals once in a while, except that for most of my daily necessities, I am able to obtain them for free. So I hardly consider myself penny pinching or miserly. I still spend when I need to, except most of the time, I don't need to. It's not like I hold out on myself and I don't buy stuff when I need or want to spend.

So when I read Bart's comment. I was quite amused. Cos... Typically, the early retirement or FI community, doesn't compare much. If I was interested in comparing watches with my friends when I was working, I probably wouldn't be able to retire early.

How to be happy if you're always comparing? There's always someone better off, smarter, richer, more handsome, prettier, etc, than you...

If I retired with $1m, and I get jealous of someone with $2m... How to be happy?
If I retired at 35, but I'm jealous about someone who retired at 30... Then how to be happy?

At any point of our lives, it's so common to compare. But usually, it does nothing for us except to make us unhappier.

And so, I find that this is a good reminder for us to not compare with others so much. As long as we are happy with what we have, what other people own or have doesn't affect our own happiness.


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Yesterday's post was fun to write. It's not like I get triggered all the time. It's just fun to mess around with people and at the same time, put across the point that just cos something doesn't work for someone, doesn't mean it doesn't work at all. 
Different people look for different things and are happy with different things, and there's no need to condemn any idea just cos it doesn't work for yourself. 

Anyway, I was talking with my friend recently. And she was talking about my lifestyle and she kept asking me what sacrifices I had to make to do what I do now. 
And the answer that kept surprising her was... NOTHING...

And she could not understand it.
She said, "That cannot be, you must have given up something to live the way you do. Don't you miss being able to do other stuff when you were working?"

And I also could not understand why she could not understand it. 
Cos... "No, I'm doing mostly the same thing as I did when I was working. I don't miss any food that I used to eat, my lifestyle is pretty much similar or better in terms of quality except that I'm now no longer working."

But as we chatted, things started to become clearer. 

She asked me, "Don't you want to buy stuff? Like retail therapy, just going to Daiso and spending a couple of bucks and just picking out stuff to buy, it's not about the price..."
I answered, "Nope, I'm ok not buying stuff, if I don't need it, I don't buy it. If I need it, I don't mind paying a bit more for it. But generally, I don't need more stuff."

Then she asked, "Don't you feel like going out on weekends to eat and enjoy yourself?"
And I replied, "Yes I do go out on weekends, but not as often as most people and I don't spend so much on each meal. I've eaten expensive things before, but I'm ok with eating stuff which are fairly priced as well. There's not that much difference to me."

Then she continued, "You collect free vegetables, don't you want to choose what you want to eat? You're getting random vegetables, won't you need to buy the ingredients that you aren't able to obtain?"
And my answer to that was, "Nope, I'm perfectly happy with random vegetables. I like the idea that I collect random vegetables and I take it as a challenge to whip out what I can from what I obtain. Instead of I think of what I want to eat first then try to obtain all the ingredients for it."

​"How about weekends? Don't you go out to eat? Or go out with friends?"
"Yes we still go out to eat on weekends maybe once a month but we are ok to eat at home. We enjoy my cooking. And I still meet friends, but we don't go out every week. I have a few close friends whom I meet more regularly and we eat at reasonably priced places. Other friends who aren't so close, we meat them maybe once a quarter. That doesn't add much to our overall expenses."

"But, but... there MUST be SOMETHING, you have given up..."
"Errm... but there isn't. I'm living pretty much the same as how I have when I was working in terms of overall lifestyle. In fact, I feel that my quality of life has increased."

And that's when she realized that all this is cos I was born different. Or maybe my character is different from others. 
She realized that... I didn't have the normal desire to spend. To go out and play. To go out and find entertainment. To buy stuff. Etc...

Then she said...
"ERSG, you are just different, this whole lifestyle you are having is different from others. You feel that you have made no sacrifice cos you never did all those other stuff previously when you were working. So now, you still don't feel like you lost anything or sacrificed anything.
You may not know this, but most people DON'T function the way you do. People want to be able to have retail therapy, they want to go out and splurge on things, they like to go out and find entertainment and sign up for SPA packages. They like their new phones and gadgets. 
YOU are the ABNORMALITY. 
Why don't you look at the bunch in your community and tell me how many people could integrate and live with your current lifestyle. Why do you think they can't?"

And that's when it dawned upon me. Even in the freegan community, not many people managed to integrate their lifestyle to the same extent. There are a lot of people who still buy stuff. Getting free stuff is just supplementing their overall lifestyle but they did not give up spending on stuff. Cos to them, there will be sacrifices for some things that aren't so easy to obtain for free. 
I'm ok with eating vegetables for 70% of my meals. I don't feel like I missed out on a lot. 
I did miss roti prata so I went to buy 2 egg prata for $3. But overall I don't feel like I missed out on anything. 

And all these realizations made me notice something as well... That I've been looking at everything from my own point of view. Cos... living like this is soooooo easy for me. So I think it's sooooo easy for everyone else. So when people condemn me in the comments, I wonder why all the hate.... But now.... I realize... that I'm the abnormal one. For most people, there WILL be sacrifices. 

An example is like in school... there's always this smart boy who doesn't study but manages to get good grades. And he looks around and wonders... what's so hard about it? 
And all the other students hate him for it, cos HE JUST DOESN'T UNDERSTAND HOW HARD IT IS TO STUDY AND GET GOOD GRADES!!!

And I look at my own situation and now realize that the situation is very similar. 
I feel like I haven't given up anything. Instead, I feel like my overall lifestyle has gotten better. That's cos my previous lifestyle was naturally frugal and I've been frugal all my life. I never wanted much. 
Then there are most other people who naturally want stuff. And they must be baffled. How can ERSG live on so little. He MUST be suffering, he must have sacrificed a lot to live like this. He must be missing out on something. 
So it's easy to conclude that I live like a beggar in the street, cos to them, my lifestyle currently, is to deny everything they ever wanted. 
But yet to me... my lifestyle is good enough for me and I'm very happy with it. 

And these give me a better insight to others. That actually, such change is hard. It's not second nature to everyone, and most people aren't frugal by nature. People struggle with their wants vs needs all the time. They have to budget and hold out on their wants so that they can fulfill their needs. Put off their wants to other months, or later in their life before they can indulge themselves. 
And it's a tough mental struggle for many people...

But for me... there's no real struggle and I've taken it for granted. 
I thought since it was easy for me, I thought it should be easy for others as well. 
BUT... now I realize. It's not. 
Somehow... people want things, stuff, things to eat, new experiences, whatever... 
I may not understand it, but I now acknowledge that such desires are there in many other people and that it's not easy or going to be easy for me to relate to many people. 

And my friend ended by saying...
"ERSG... you're in a sweet spot, this is just for you. Not many others are going to be able to emulate what you have done, cos you are born different, or your character is different, or whatever. You are able to so easily integrate into this lifestyle cos of that. You don't want anything. You are contented and happy as you are. Most other people aren't going to be able to accept it, or they will need to try very hard and make many sacrifices to live how you live."


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