I’ve been reading these pop economic books recently – stuff that brings economics into concrete aspects of our lives, along the lines of Freakonomics. Turns out that giving Christmas presents is not smart economics. The thing is, for every $1 I spend on your gift, the chances are you only get $0.82 cents worth of utility from it. Bummer!
I can see it’s kind of true – I tend to get a load of junk from loved ones (and not so loved ones) at Christmas.
However, I think I’ve found a way to make economists happy without turning into Scrooge.
What about spending less on gifts? I don’t mean being cheap. What about shopping for Christmas year-round, in order to pick up nice things when they go on sale?
It takes a bit of organisation – you have to keep the things for a few months – but you can get things cheaper, and if you buy stuff as you see it because “this would suit so-and-so rather well”, you'd probably pick gifts better-suited to the recipient than if you were going out last-minute with a long list of names to buy for. I usually find I pay more than I intended for less than I’d hoped for if I have to contend with last-minute shopping.
My sis-in-law has another suggestion – get some utility out of the gift before you give it. No, she doesn’t listen to CDs before giving them away, or wear clothes before wrapping them. Perish the thought. She recently took up a craft, and has been making gifts. That way, she reasons, the recipient gets a gift with a personal touch, and she gets some satisfaction from having made it. The best case scenario is a win-win, and at worst, the recipient isn’t too happy, but at least someone had fun making the gift...
We can also just plain make the gift, whether or not we have pleasure in making it. There’s the home-made food option – jam, cake, jelly, savouries etc. Always useful given the amount of eating that goes on this season. Cuts down on the chances of people not appreciating it – even if they don't like eating the food, they can feed it to visitors.
Hope shopping for the season doesn't make anyone broke. Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Uberfrug: Overdoing it?
I read with interest the excerpts from the book Men In White: The Untold Stories of Singapore’s Ruling Political Party that appeared in the Straits Times. What struck me was the part about Goh Keng Swee’s legendary “thriftiness” – which I would classify as lokekness.
Apparently, after a hard day of campaigning on a sweltering day, Dr Goh stopped by a sugar cane stall, gulped down his drink and then told the rank-and-file who had clustered expectantly around the stall – and who I presume had been working to get him elected - “I have paid for my drink. If you want to have a drink, go ahead” before walking away.
One of the cadres who went thirsty that day hails the attitude as being good for Singapore. “He wasn't squeezing us. He just didn't want to squander money. Every cent counted,” Chan Chee Seng said. “We were lucky we had ministers like Dr Goh. That's why Singapore could save a lot of money and become one of the most affluent countries in the world.”
I prefer to laud Dr Goh’s savvy of buying of gold in 1968, as recounted in Ngiam Tong Dow’s book, A Mandarin in the Making. Now, 100 tons of gold at US$40 an oz sounds like a much better way of becoming affluent than pinching pennies. I’m also glad that Singapore pitched in to help tsunami victims. Though it cost us, it was a neighbourly and humane thing to do.
Mind you, I’m aware of every cent that I spend, and try not to spend any of it in a careless way. One friend laughed at me the other night - benignly, of course - when we were in Fairprice and got some stuff. Since his tally wasn’t quite $10, I passed him some of my things, and a spare bag, so he could get the ten-cent bring-your-own-bag rebate, which kicks in on purchases above $10.
I’m careful, but I also pay for the drinks and meals sometimes when I go out with friends. On the practical level, I doubt I’ll have too many friends if I only sponge on them all the time, and on the personal level, I’d feel quite ashamed of myself if I became a parasite. On the spiritual level, the Bible tells me to “Withhold not good from whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it” (Proverbs 3: 27). It also warns that “there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” (Proverbs 11: 24)
Well, Dr Goh isn’t poor, so maybe he stayed just within the bounds of withholding what was meet (ie proper).
Still, I think he could have done things better. For instance, he would bring soap flakes on trips to use to wash his underwear in the hotel bathroom. Fair enough – some of us still do it, to economize on hotel laundry, which can be really expensive. But get this: “Former diplomat Maurice Baker visited Goh in his hotel room during a trip one day and saw him drying his one and only piece of underwear on the heater.” (page 164)
I’m sure he was decent. The point is – how much underwear? Having just one piece of underwear would be justifiable if underwear never wore out. One could argue that two pieces was 100 percent more than what was absolutely necessary.
Since it does wear out, I don’t see why Dr Goh didn’t make his life easier by getting two, or even three pieces of unmentionables. This would save him great discomfort if the stuff wasn’t properly dry when he needed to use it again – think of what it must be like putting on damp underwear. If he had three pieces, he could even afford a change in the middle of a sweaty day.
But then, that might make too great a dent on his soap flakes...
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Famous Frug: Jeff Smith
Long before “Frugal Gourmet” made it to our small screens as a segment in Primetime Morning, the moniker belonged to Jeff Smith.
The original Frugal Gourmet was a TV cooking programme that ran for 14 years, from 1983 to 1997, predating Martha Stewart. Smith, the “Frug”, was called "the most visible gourmet" of the 1980s by Time magazine. He was part of a movement to get Americans shop for, prepare and appreciate food. More specifically, low budget cookery.
He also wrote 12 books, which is how I got introduced to him - at the bargain bin of Borders. The 12 books he wrote sold more than 7 million copies, and his first two books occupied the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the New York Times best-seller list simultaneously, and by 1992 he had sold more cookbooks than any other author.
While the Frug hit great heights, his career skidded to a halt over claims that he had sexually assaulted young men. Three civil suits were filed in 1997 by eight men. One was dismissed, while Smith settled the other cases before they went to trial. He always protested his innocence, but his career was over, hence the bargain bin.
Whether or not the allegations were true is still debatable, with one man’s word against another, and nothing said before Smith attained fame and fortune. One thing is sure though – he wrote good books, and the persona behind the writing was generous, and frugal. This is not a contradiction.
Smith’s generosity came across in his readiness to acknowledge the sources of his recipes. In the acknowledgements section of one book, he says he notes that “the list is long, but each name is important.”
He gave little introductions to each recipe, in which he mentioned restaurants, magazines, and individuals, from which he picked up the dish, sometimes giving the method verbatim from the grandmother, say, who passed him the recipe.
In these introductions, he passed on little nuggets of information about the culture that gave rise to the food. In introducing Scottish eggs, for example, he declares: “I do not like the remark about the Scots being cheap. They are not cheap, they are frugal. They waste nothing, a trait that Americans should certainly admire.”
It was only in Smith’s books that recipes would include the admonition to “save the poaching liquids for another use.” Compare that with the usual “drain after poaching” from other, less frugal, books.
Smith passed away in 2004, but he still has his fans – one website, http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=34702&ls=o&pg=3 posts his recipes, and has drawn responses. Some of his programmes are even available for loan from our National Library.
Check them out some time.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Famous Frug: JS Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach is what I call a famous frug – a famous person who happened to be frugal. Like Benjamin Franklin. Not a person famous for being a skinflint, like J Paul Getty, for example, at one time the richest man in the world, who installed a pay phone in his house, and refused to help pay a ransom for his grandson until one of the boy’s ears was delivered to a newspaper. Getty was also famous for a disastrous personal life - he was 0 for 5 marriages. In my books, a rich guy who refused to pay a ransom for his grandson (he got the boy’s father to pay him back the ransom, plus 4 percent interest), and who made visitors pay for their own calls is an “infamous frug” – a person who gives frugality a bad name by confusing it with stinginess.
By contrast, Bach was "temperate, industrious, devout, a home lover, and a family man; genuine, hospitable, and jovial. Frugality and discipline ruled in the Bach home, also unity, laughter, loyalty, and love."
The ravings of an enthusiastic biographer? Perhaps. While all the biographies I’ve come across claim a happy domestic life, I’ll stick to the financial facts. Bach was obviously not motivated by money, and knew how to live within his means, whatever they were. The composer had been Kapellmeister ("chapel master", whose responsibilities were to compose and conduct the music at a church, cathedral, or royal chapel) to Prince Leopold of Cöthen. A happy situation, as the pay was good, and his second wife Anna Magdalena Wilcken, was a singer at the court, drawing a salary that was half of his.
However, his aim in life was to write "well-conceived and well-regulated church music to the glory of God." In pursuit of this, he moved to Leipzig, to become cantor at the St. Thomas School. He accepted a 75 percent drop in salary.
Bach stuck to it for the last 27 years of his life, managing to make do for his family (he had 20 children, though half of them died before adulthood), while entertaining friends, students and relatives (and not just with music). And of course, writing some of the most amazing church music ever. He also wrote lots of secular music, like the Goldberg Variations and the Musical Offering, so he wasn’t exactly a frog in the well. A little aside - Beethoven played his Well-Tempered Klavier as a music student.
Bach was a frug, perhaps because of the meagre salary, but it was probably also a personal preference. Early in his career, he wanted to hear organist Dietrich Buxtehude play. So he walked 250 miles to hear him, and the same distance back again.
On another occasion, a relative, Johann Elias Bach, sent him a barrel of new wine. On November 2, 1748, Bach wrote, thanking JE Bach for the gift, but saying that "the excellent little cask" "was almost two third empty, and . . . contained no more than six quarts; and it is a pity that even the least drop of this noble gift of God should have been spilled." He knows that his cousin would send another, but tells him not to, having calculated the cost of freight, delivery and town excise. Thanks, but too expensive.
I like to think that the frugal lifestyle contributed a little to the musical genius. Bach didn’t waste time any more than he did money, and was constantly reviewing his work. He had a good attitude to his gift, stressing hard work and learning from others, either making copies or adapting works by other composers. "I have worked hard" he said, "anyone who works just as hard will go just as far."
Well, I don’t know about that. Maybe revising his pieces, which he did continuously, helped make them really well-thought-out, with no clumsiness. But is that enough for greatness?
Maybe another factor was divine. Bach was very devout, and many of the manuscripts of his works start with the initials JJ, which stand for Jesu,juva, (Jesus, help). Many pieces end with SDG, an abbreviation for the Latin Soli Deo Glori, (Only to God the Glory).
One of his famous quotes on music is: “The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.” Another: “Where there is devotional music, God is always at hand with His gracious presence.”
Perhaps the Almighty was gracious enough to touch his industrious, frugal and pious servant with that special something that made his music immortal.
One thing I’m sure of – hardly anyone will remember JP Getty in 100 years, or even 50 years. But JS Bach will still be a household name.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The St Michael’s Church jumble Sale - what happened
Went down after lunch , as instructed, and was a bit disappointed. “Not so many things this year,”” said a friend, and indeed, the amount of stuff looked miniscule.
I needn’t have worried. As I helped put out handbags, travel luggage and other bags, they went upstairs and brought more things down. And more, and more. Great for a scrounger like myself, but it does say something about our consumeristic society too.
A couple of bags caught my eye (“is $3 ok?” asked the organiser) and got deposited in the car. So did an old but working fax machine – mine died, and this one, which works on thermal paper, suits my low usage needs perfectly. Nevertheless, I told them to sell it to someone else if possible – after all, it isn’t totally essential for me, but I’ll use it if no one else wants it.
With so many goods, things had to be sorted, hung up and so forth. Just as well, as it saved me from foraging for my own shopping pleasure. But not for long.
Soon, I found a couple of books, a grating machine with a few blades and a pristine cake decorating set, right down to the cloth bags for icing ($1 each).
Then the mass was over, and maids and foreign workers, and parishoners came down. With bags at my stall going for $1 (used), $2 (new) and $5 (branded, not guaranteed genuine), it took just a couple of minutes to reduce the carefully set-up stall to a mess.
Some people, with say, eight bags in their hands, asked for discounts. I was a little reluctant, as the prices were already very good, right? But I agreed in a couple of cases. When I reported what I did, half expecting to be frowned at, I was told, “Good!”
This put me on the right track. I’d been on the Singapore mindset, which, if not trying to squeeze as much out of people and things as possible, was at least trying not to be “had”, and possibly anxious about getting scolded for being soft - a bit “us vs them” and basically nasty – whereas the whole point of the jumble sale was to help people. I must try to remember this more in my day-to-day interactions.
I called it a day at about seven. I got the fax for $5 in the end, as there had been no takers. Spent about $30, got a fax, four new handbags (I’ve given two away do far), one computer bag, a belt, a magazine, two books, a teapot and the cake decorating set and grater.
Satisfied the shopping instinct for a while, and more importantly, for a modest sum. I also felt a bit embarrassed when I saw the stuff others gave, and compared it with the things I had contributed – do I wear things out more (good), or do I just give junk (bad)?
Something to bear in mind as I work on the books for next year’s NLB book exchange.
I needn’t have worried. As I helped put out handbags, travel luggage and other bags, they went upstairs and brought more things down. And more, and more. Great for a scrounger like myself, but it does say something about our consumeristic society too.
A couple of bags caught my eye (“is $3 ok?” asked the organiser) and got deposited in the car. So did an old but working fax machine – mine died, and this one, which works on thermal paper, suits my low usage needs perfectly. Nevertheless, I told them to sell it to someone else if possible – after all, it isn’t totally essential for me, but I’ll use it if no one else wants it.
With so many goods, things had to be sorted, hung up and so forth. Just as well, as it saved me from foraging for my own shopping pleasure. But not for long.
Soon, I found a couple of books, a grating machine with a few blades and a pristine cake decorating set, right down to the cloth bags for icing ($1 each).
Then the mass was over, and maids and foreign workers, and parishoners came down. With bags at my stall going for $1 (used), $2 (new) and $5 (branded, not guaranteed genuine), it took just a couple of minutes to reduce the carefully set-up stall to a mess.
Some people, with say, eight bags in their hands, asked for discounts. I was a little reluctant, as the prices were already very good, right? But I agreed in a couple of cases. When I reported what I did, half expecting to be frowned at, I was told, “Good!”
This put me on the right track. I’d been on the Singapore mindset, which, if not trying to squeeze as much out of people and things as possible, was at least trying not to be “had”, and possibly anxious about getting scolded for being soft - a bit “us vs them” and basically nasty – whereas the whole point of the jumble sale was to help people. I must try to remember this more in my day-to-day interactions.
I called it a day at about seven. I got the fax for $5 in the end, as there had been no takers. Spent about $30, got a fax, four new handbags (I’ve given two away do far), one computer bag, a belt, a magazine, two books, a teapot and the cake decorating set and grater.
Satisfied the shopping instinct for a while, and more importantly, for a modest sum. I also felt a bit embarrassed when I saw the stuff others gave, and compared it with the things I had contributed – do I wear things out more (good), or do I just give junk (bad)?
Something to bear in mind as I work on the books for next year’s NLB book exchange.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Charity, in deed!
The St Michael's Church jumble sale is on this weekend, 12 and 13 sept!
This one of my favourite events of the year.
First, it's a chance to get rid of stuff that I have no use for. The chances are they will find a new home, and new usefulness. Then I might actually see something I want, and it's nice to know that it's all been "pre-owned", so I don't have to feel bad about buying something that, though frivolous, has grabbed my fancy. Finally, it's all for charity, and this jumble sale is charitable in more than one way.
Of course, the money raised will go to charity. But the church also gives coupons to less fortunate people so that they can get some things too, and join in the fun. And the prices are charitable as well - nice and low. I think it's rather good that buyers don't have to choke up huge amounts for something because it's in the name of charity. Yes, I know we're supposed to give until it hurts, but it's nice to feel the pain after you get ten items, rather than slink off, broke, after buying just one item.
I sat out the Great Singapore Sale because I realised I didn't need anything, but the combination of pre-owned stuff (less bad for the environment!), low prices and charity is hard to resist.
And I've come across some pretty weird and wonderful things before. Once, someone donated glasses decorated with 24 carat gold - I got sets (5) of martini, wine and brandy glasses at a few bucks (less than 5, I can't remember exactly how much)each.
I'm not Catholic, but I really like what this church does. Among other things, they also give out free food to less fortunate people.
If you want to just give, that's great too. Pop by around lunch time with your stuff.
If you want to buy, the fun starts at around 3 or so.
Church of St Michael
17 St Michael's Road,
Singapore 327976
This one of my favourite events of the year.
First, it's a chance to get rid of stuff that I have no use for. The chances are they will find a new home, and new usefulness. Then I might actually see something I want, and it's nice to know that it's all been "pre-owned", so I don't have to feel bad about buying something that, though frivolous, has grabbed my fancy. Finally, it's all for charity, and this jumble sale is charitable in more than one way.
Of course, the money raised will go to charity. But the church also gives coupons to less fortunate people so that they can get some things too, and join in the fun. And the prices are charitable as well - nice and low. I think it's rather good that buyers don't have to choke up huge amounts for something because it's in the name of charity. Yes, I know we're supposed to give until it hurts, but it's nice to feel the pain after you get ten items, rather than slink off, broke, after buying just one item.
I sat out the Great Singapore Sale because I realised I didn't need anything, but the combination of pre-owned stuff (less bad for the environment!), low prices and charity is hard to resist.
And I've come across some pretty weird and wonderful things before. Once, someone donated glasses decorated with 24 carat gold - I got sets (5) of martini, wine and brandy glasses at a few bucks (less than 5, I can't remember exactly how much)each.
I'm not Catholic, but I really like what this church does. Among other things, they also give out free food to less fortunate people.
If you want to just give, that's great too. Pop by around lunch time with your stuff.
If you want to buy, the fun starts at around 3 or so.
Church of St Michael
17 St Michael's Road,
Singapore 327976
Monday, August 31, 2009
A Frugal Break
A friend called up and suggested we take a break in Malaysia before a project. It sounded good to me – just after a busy period, and I could draw on my ringgit account for a “free” trip.
It was decided on the morning itself to go up the west coast. So we hit the highway. Going up to Cameron Highlands in one day sounded a bit tiring as the highway drive would be followed by the hairpins of the ascent from Tapah. Why not take the highway all the way up to Ipoh, eat the hor fun and the beansprouts, drink the coffee, and spend the night there before taking the newer route up from Simpang Pulai?
Since there was no actual plan, there were no hotel reservations. We stopped by a couple of places and asked rates. There were a few possibilities, but we opted for the Hotel New Caspian, one of those old Chinese establishments where they are not keen on “upgrading” but they do keep things clean.
We got a room with two single beds, with firm mattresses and pillows, floors clean enough to walk on barefoot without grimacing – they were tiled, with no carpeting, which is just the way I like it. I have a horror of mouldy old carpets. My friend has a host of allergies, but reported no attacks the next day, so it was pretty good. And there was even private parking – the unit next door had no front door or front wall – just drive in and park, and someone was there day and night to keep an eye on things. All that for RM70 a night. Not bad, eh?
A short rest was followed in the evening by a trip to the railway station to admire the building, and to get a foot massage at the Pusat Urut in a corner – quaintly-decorated, with masseurs who use enough strength to relax you after a hard day’s driving. Then on to a late dinner of hor fun, and the famous Ipoh chicken and beansprouts.
After breakfast the next morning, a visit to the bank to withdraw spending money, an obligatory stop by a pharmacy to pick up supplements, creams and such, then to a large limestone cave to admire the rock formations.
On the way up to Camerons, some orang asli had their stalls out with jungle produce. Gave up the thought of buying bamboo shoots and petai as they might not be able to tahan until we got home. We did buy some plants though, and I was glad of it as we drove on and saw how many valleys which used to be forest had been cleared for farming.
Now I’m not in a position to rant against clearing the forest, since I like Malaysian veggies as much as anyone else – who knows if the ingenious China farmers have found a way to stuff melamine or some other noxious chemical into their veggies yet? - but it was a shock to see how much land had been cleared, and I felt bad for the orang asli, who are being squashed.
I campaigned to stop by a few bungalows to ask for accommodation, based on fond memories of bungalow stays as a child. After a couple of misses, we stopped by the Lutheran Mission – yes, the last place that Jim Thompson wandered by before he disappeared.
An anxious face looked out at us. “We’re very busy at this time, and you should call ahead to book.” This unpromising start was followed by a grudging “how many of you?” Two. And “How many nights do you want to stay?” Two.
“Will this room do?” Yippee!
We had the whole place to ourselves for the two days (they had just got rid of a whole house that morning, and were expecting another full house the day we left) at RM35 per head per night, plus service charge, with meals an optional extra. We opted for two breakfasts, and dinner the next night.
The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering about the garden, admiring flowers, loafing indoors, and leafing through books on the shelves. At first sight, “The River Garden of Pure Repose” sounded like a heavy bit of theology, but it turned out to be a rather well-written novel, and I ended up staying up the two nights we were there in order to finish it.
We drove about to see some of the other bungalows and hotels, then went down to Tanah Rata for dinner. Sad to see that the cute little town has ballooned into a patch of urban sprawl. Well, it isn’t as bad as Brinchang, which is all business, but it isn’t picturesque anymore. Pity.
Breakfast of tea/coffee, cornflakes, two eggs (“how would you like them?”) a rasher of bacon and as much toast and jam we could eat was a nice throwback to the days of childhood holidays, and cost us RM8 each. Well worth it, since it was a rainy morning and driving out to find food would have been a chore.
More photography of the flowers in the garden, and we were ready to explore and buy. Well, you have to get tea for those nice people who keep giving you things every time they go off on holiday, right? And strawberries for tea, and “honey” sweet potatoes, and sweet corn. The lunch menu was settled when we stopped at an orang asli stall selling durians. For good measure, we got a couple of bamboo shoots (RM6 for two) and some nuts which sounded like an alternative of candlenut (RM3.50 for half a kilo).
The next it was down to the lowlands, on the highway to Melaka. It was a hot day, and heavy going, especially since I’d stayed up the night before to read. After slogging into town, a good chendol was in order, which we ate by the river, across from some red buildings in town.
Our digs for the night were at the Kancil Guest House on Jalan Parameswara, run by Dawood, a Singaporean. For RM40, we got a room with two single beds, with windows on two sides, and an overhead fan. There were a couple of communal bathrooms and toilets up and downstairs, which were very clean, as was the rest of the house.
I’m a bit finicky about my floors, and had not been keen when asked to take my shoes off upon entering the house, but the place was a joy to walk on. Dawood later explained that he tells his people he just wants his rooms clean, his floors clean, and his bathrooms and toilets clean, but the whole place was spotless. And very quaintly decorated too, with old records pasted onto the walls, a trishaw in a corner, and an old ice grinder in another – that’s what they used to shave the ice for ice balls and ice kachang. And lots of plants in this pre-war two-storey Chinese house – in the air well (where there’s also a well!) and a leafy garden at the back, where you can sit and have a drink or a meal. We preferred to sit in the kitchen, next to the old cooking range (they cook with a gas stove now though), where we could chat with Dawood, who is smart, and open, and willing to share opinions and ideas (properly thought-out ones, I mean) on many topics.
Back home via the old trunk road, as it is prettier than the highway, and with no tolls to pay. Of course, this is only to be attempted on a Saturday (and maybe Sunday), when the minyak lorries etc take a day off. Casual driving, with stops for lunch in Muar, and to meet friends in Batu Pahat. On the way, of course, we kept an eye out for pretty houses. Possible retirement homes in Malaysia – somewhere to put up in our 60s and 70s, perhaps. (May have to move back to expensive Singapore after that, to meet medical needs).
Enjoyed some friends, a few strokes of luck, a couple of foot massages, and cheap, fresh fruits and veggies. Altogether, a good break.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Grocery Games
Since I started trying to break my restaurant addiction by cooking some dishes myself, I’ve found that my grocery bills have gone through the roof. On the plus side, my restaurant bills have fallen through the floor. Overall, I spend less, but still eat quite well, and get a big kick out of making my own chocolate mousse, panacotta and Basque ox tongue stew (with pigs’ tongues – I don’t know where to get ox tongues). Not a bad state of things, overall.
However, I’ve learned a thing or two about how not to go overboard with the groceries.
First, if you go to the supermarket choose it with care. According to Tim Harford in his book The Undercover Economist, stores place goods strategically. By placing certain goods at eyecatching spots, they can actually boost the sales of those items by getting us to buy them on impulse. So the supermarket that is located conveniently in posh areas will probably tempt us with fresh fruit juices rather than the cheaper cordials. Both shops stock both goods, but the expensive stuff will be in the impulse spots of the posh location.
Outlets convenient for busy commuters tend to charge more for the same goods. As do different “brands” of supermarkets, even if they are owned by the same group. An interview with The Asian Parent (http://sg.theasianparent.com/articles/supermarket_differential_pricing_explained_diary_farm_group) showed how Marketplace, Shop 'N Save, Giant and Cold Storage, though part of the same group, charge different prices according to different groups, and across outlets within the same groups.
“Pricing is affected by many factors. Location and rental is just one of them. Other factors include the market positioning of the store, the level of service and store ambience. Retailers also take into account the competitive strategy of each store in each neighbourhood.”
To me, this translates into: “We want to make as much off the consumer as possible, and will squeeze whose more willing to part with their cash as much as possible.”
I don’t like to part with my money unnecessarily. To make sure that I get my money’s worth, especially in these days of inflation – they say that inflation has slowed, but I’m still trying to get over that massive jump in prices from late 2007 to early 2008 – I tend to stay away from Cold Storage unless I need something exotic, like kosher salt. And other such highly unlikely purchases.
Some people say the food there is fresher than other places, but most of the time, the meat I buy goes into the freezer for some time, so I’m not crazy about paying two or three times more for meat that will end up frozen anyway. Sometimes I do buy a couple of pieces of grass-fed steak from QB, but make sure I cook them right away, or keep them in the fridge overnight and eat them the next day.
I also make it a habit to shop at Shop ‘N Save or NTUC outlets in heartland areas – it helps to live near Geylang East. To avoid overdoing the buying, either go after eating a meal, because being hungry makes everything look tempting, or make a shopping list and stick to it, or both. I tend to avoid shopping before meals, but I don’t make lists, since I enjoy checking out the sale items. I take part in a survey of consumer patterns, so I have my food buys to scan into a machine. This makes me quite aware of what I buy, and the price compared with that on other shopping trips. For my trouble, they give me points, which translate into $100 worth of Harvey Norman coupons every 10 months.
I find that saving is less onerous if I treat it as a game. To entertain myself, I sometimes buy something on sale that I normally don’t eat, and challenge myself to make something out of it. Some chicken livers on sale led to liver pate, based on a recipe from a book, which I amended because I don’t like raisins in my savouries, and I don’t know where to find armagnac.
Here’s my version of Smooth Chicken Liver Pate:
3 tablespoons port
2 tablespoons Armagnac or sherry (if you don’t have one spirit or another, just use 5 tablespoons of one)
350g chicken livers, trimmed
100 grams unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt (actually, I’m use salted butter, and add less salt)
85 ml double cream, warmed (any cream will do)
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon allspice
50 g butter, melted, or 1 sheet gelatine (for sealing). Panko flakes (optional)
Poach the livers in simmering salted water until just bouncy and tight, but not firm. Overcooking will lead to grey pate, which tastes ok, but doesn’t look so good. Put them into a blender with all the other ingredients except the last. Blend it into a smooth paste.
If it is more watery than pasty, stir in some panko flakes – these Japanese breadcrumbs are really fine and taste neutral, so they form a good thickener.
Pour into a shallow dish, cover with cling wrap and put in fridge for 30 mins.
Take out of fridge, remove film, and spoon over melted butter to seal. I find this ok, but I prefer melting a sheet of gelatine in a little of the liquid used to cook the liver, and then pouring the gelatine mixture over the pate to seal it. The butter looks too fatty.
Refrigerate for at least 6 hours. The book says consume within 48 hours, but I have kept it for 72 without any loss of taste or ill effects.
However, I’ve learned a thing or two about how not to go overboard with the groceries.
First, if you go to the supermarket choose it with care. According to Tim Harford in his book The Undercover Economist, stores place goods strategically. By placing certain goods at eyecatching spots, they can actually boost the sales of those items by getting us to buy them on impulse. So the supermarket that is located conveniently in posh areas will probably tempt us with fresh fruit juices rather than the cheaper cordials. Both shops stock both goods, but the expensive stuff will be in the impulse spots of the posh location.
Outlets convenient for busy commuters tend to charge more for the same goods. As do different “brands” of supermarkets, even if they are owned by the same group. An interview with The Asian Parent (http://sg.theasianparent.com/articles/supermarket_differential_pricing_explained_diary_farm_group) showed how Marketplace, Shop 'N Save, Giant and Cold Storage, though part of the same group, charge different prices according to different groups, and across outlets within the same groups.
“Pricing is affected by many factors. Location and rental is just one of them. Other factors include the market positioning of the store, the level of service and store ambience. Retailers also take into account the competitive strategy of each store in each neighbourhood.”
To me, this translates into: “We want to make as much off the consumer as possible, and will squeeze whose more willing to part with their cash as much as possible.”
I don’t like to part with my money unnecessarily. To make sure that I get my money’s worth, especially in these days of inflation – they say that inflation has slowed, but I’m still trying to get over that massive jump in prices from late 2007 to early 2008 – I tend to stay away from Cold Storage unless I need something exotic, like kosher salt. And other such highly unlikely purchases.
Some people say the food there is fresher than other places, but most of the time, the meat I buy goes into the freezer for some time, so I’m not crazy about paying two or three times more for meat that will end up frozen anyway. Sometimes I do buy a couple of pieces of grass-fed steak from QB, but make sure I cook them right away, or keep them in the fridge overnight and eat them the next day.
I also make it a habit to shop at Shop ‘N Save or NTUC outlets in heartland areas – it helps to live near Geylang East. To avoid overdoing the buying, either go after eating a meal, because being hungry makes everything look tempting, or make a shopping list and stick to it, or both. I tend to avoid shopping before meals, but I don’t make lists, since I enjoy checking out the sale items. I take part in a survey of consumer patterns, so I have my food buys to scan into a machine. This makes me quite aware of what I buy, and the price compared with that on other shopping trips. For my trouble, they give me points, which translate into $100 worth of Harvey Norman coupons every 10 months.
I find that saving is less onerous if I treat it as a game. To entertain myself, I sometimes buy something on sale that I normally don’t eat, and challenge myself to make something out of it. Some chicken livers on sale led to liver pate, based on a recipe from a book, which I amended because I don’t like raisins in my savouries, and I don’t know where to find armagnac.
Here’s my version of Smooth Chicken Liver Pate:
3 tablespoons port
2 tablespoons Armagnac or sherry (if you don’t have one spirit or another, just use 5 tablespoons of one)
350g chicken livers, trimmed
100 grams unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt (actually, I’m use salted butter, and add less salt)
85 ml double cream, warmed (any cream will do)
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon allspice
50 g butter, melted, or 1 sheet gelatine (for sealing). Panko flakes (optional)
Poach the livers in simmering salted water until just bouncy and tight, but not firm. Overcooking will lead to grey pate, which tastes ok, but doesn’t look so good. Put them into a blender with all the other ingredients except the last. Blend it into a smooth paste.
If it is more watery than pasty, stir in some panko flakes – these Japanese breadcrumbs are really fine and taste neutral, so they form a good thickener.
Pour into a shallow dish, cover with cling wrap and put in fridge for 30 mins.
Take out of fridge, remove film, and spoon over melted butter to seal. I find this ok, but I prefer melting a sheet of gelatine in a little of the liquid used to cook the liver, and then pouring the gelatine mixture over the pate to seal it. The butter looks too fatty.
Refrigerate for at least 6 hours. The book says consume within 48 hours, but I have kept it for 72 without any loss of taste or ill effects.
Monday, June 22, 2009
The Great Singapore Sit-out
Our newspapers are full of ads touting bargains to be had all over our island. The great Singapore Sale is on again.
I must say I was sorely tempted when I accompanied someone into Isetan to exchange a blouse. There were tops, bottoms, undies and what-have-you galore, and at such affordable prices too!
But though I saw a nice blouse that would have suited me perfectly at $10, I managed to make it out of there with my wallet unscathed, thanks to something my sis-in-law Sophia once said. We’d been whining about not having enough space for our stuff when she noted: “Just because something fits you, and looks good on you, and is cheap, doesn’t mean you have to buy it.”
That gave me pause. Until then, I think that if all those factors were present, and I was not actually broke, I would automatically buy the item. ... And would later moan about not having enough space to store all my clothes.
Sophia lives in Rwanda, where she gets exposed to more have-nots than we do in Singapore – can you believe that books and colour pencils there are luxury items? No kidding. Also, she moved house in Singapore 20 months back, and had to contend with loads of stuff, so I respect her pronouncements about movable property.
Actually, I should have known even without her prompting, since I do get exposed to some of the less fortunate, since I volunteer for the Touch Community Services’ Meals on Wheels scheme. Every week or fortnight, I drive around delivering lunch or dinner to old or infirm people.
It’s good exposure – the first time I did it, I was traumatised because I’d thought that one-room flats belonged to our ancient past, and had all been torn down. Nope.
Back in those interior corridors, with the neighbours’ televisions blaring, and other neighbours in various states of undress, all visible through open doors, I felt a blast from the past. I was a kid again, following my parents to visit some old friend or relative. I’d be perched on a stool, with a cup of very dilute syrup, wondering when we could go home. I was generally a rambunctious kid when I was in familiar territory, shouting, running around and tearing up the place, but this was alien territory indeed.
Delivering food makes me more content with what I have – instead of reacting to all the stuff marketing people dangle in front of me, I feel very lucky for what I have. That is, until the GSS rolled around again.
While the GSS offers are supposed to be really great, I plan to buy only according to my need, rather than the good deal being offered.
And since I have pretty much what I need, I think I’ll be sitting out most of the GSS this year.
I must say I was sorely tempted when I accompanied someone into Isetan to exchange a blouse. There were tops, bottoms, undies and what-have-you galore, and at such affordable prices too!
But though I saw a nice blouse that would have suited me perfectly at $10, I managed to make it out of there with my wallet unscathed, thanks to something my sis-in-law Sophia once said. We’d been whining about not having enough space for our stuff when she noted: “Just because something fits you, and looks good on you, and is cheap, doesn’t mean you have to buy it.”
That gave me pause. Until then, I think that if all those factors were present, and I was not actually broke, I would automatically buy the item. ... And would later moan about not having enough space to store all my clothes.
Sophia lives in Rwanda, where she gets exposed to more have-nots than we do in Singapore – can you believe that books and colour pencils there are luxury items? No kidding. Also, she moved house in Singapore 20 months back, and had to contend with loads of stuff, so I respect her pronouncements about movable property.
Actually, I should have known even without her prompting, since I do get exposed to some of the less fortunate, since I volunteer for the Touch Community Services’ Meals on Wheels scheme. Every week or fortnight, I drive around delivering lunch or dinner to old or infirm people.
It’s good exposure – the first time I did it, I was traumatised because I’d thought that one-room flats belonged to our ancient past, and had all been torn down. Nope.
Back in those interior corridors, with the neighbours’ televisions blaring, and other neighbours in various states of undress, all visible through open doors, I felt a blast from the past. I was a kid again, following my parents to visit some old friend or relative. I’d be perched on a stool, with a cup of very dilute syrup, wondering when we could go home. I was generally a rambunctious kid when I was in familiar territory, shouting, running around and tearing up the place, but this was alien territory indeed.
Delivering food makes me more content with what I have – instead of reacting to all the stuff marketing people dangle in front of me, I feel very lucky for what I have. That is, until the GSS rolled around again.
While the GSS offers are supposed to be really great, I plan to buy only according to my need, rather than the good deal being offered.
And since I have pretty much what I need, I think I’ll be sitting out most of the GSS this year.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
How to make a plastic bag eco-friendly
I picked up a jute bag from a pile that was being thrown out near a friend’s place, and it had pretty leaf designs on it. Very much in the vein of the “I’m not a plastic bag” fashion statement. Unfortunately, though its eco credentials were impeccable, it still had its tag attached, a strong indication that it had never been used before being thrown away.
I retrieved the bag, gave it a little wash, and plan to use it. I’m pleased with it, along with another shopping bag, lined with foil, meant for frozen meats, which I found in that same pile.
However, I’m even more pleased to report that I’ve never bought myself a re-usable, eco-friendly shopping bag. The way I see it, every bag that currently exists is reusable, and will be an eco-friendly bag, if only you’ll use and re-use it. Its manufacture has already taken up resources. Why take up more resources by clamouring for an “I’m not a plastic bag”?
Some of the stouter plastic bags they give you can be re-used very easily and conveniently. Just fold it up (plastic bags fold pretty small) and put them in your handbag. I don’t carry a huge handbag, but it accommodates two or three plastic bags quite well. I try to use these bags whenever I buy anything. They are generally sufficient for any sudden shopping bouts. If I plan to go grocery shopping, I bring more bags specially, which don’t have to fit into a handbag.
This saves on the the obligatory ten cents a bag if I happen to pop into a supermarket on Wednesdays, or if I get something from Ikea. NTUC Fairprice has a good attitude in going green, as it offers a ten-cent rebate on every purchase over $10 if you bring your own bag – it gives me a kick to think of my plastic bags earning their way. I hope that as the recession bites, more people take advantage of this green scheme.
The only exception is Mustafa’s, where it’s a company rule that they pack your stuff in their bags – the only thing I find negative in an otherwise admirable institution.
How to make a much-maligned but often unavoidable plastic bag eco-friendly? Re-use it so you won’t need to get more plastic bags, and when it finally comes to the end of its usefulness to you, either by breaking or getting dirty, give it a proper send-off – throw it in the recycling bin.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
A penny for your thoughts?
Slumdog Millionaire was a bit of wishful entertainment – how nice to be asked questions whose answers I actually know in a big–money game show.
However, I left thinking not about the slumdog hero, but about the guy on the US$100 bill. Yep, Benjamin Franklin, who signed both the US Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, but who never became President. Nevertheless the chap is on the big note, and deservedly.
That’s the man who flew a kite in a storm, and proved that lightning was electricity. He also invented bifocals, which I expect to become very grateful for as I edge towards long-sightedness.
However, what I find most admirable about Mr Franklin is his values. He never patented his many inventions, explaining in his autobiography, “... as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”
It is not as if the man didn’t know the value of money. He did say “Time is money”, and industry was among the 13 virtues he worked on. However, unlike modern man, who has pursued money to the point of exhaustion, inventing the 12 to 14-hour workday, Mr Franklin balanced this with the virtue of frugality: “Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.”
And if we thought that the film Pay It Forward - where Haley Joel Osment starts a movement of not returning favours but doing good to others instead – was a Hollywood innovation, sorry, Ben Franklin came up with the idea in the 18th century.
What I really like about the man is this bit of wisdom: “A penny saved is a penny earned”.
This points to another option to the ever-faster treadmill of work. Instead of working harder and harder, and longer and longer, you can just spend less.
In fact, in view of CPF deductions and taxes, a penny saved is worth more than a penny earned.
I once worked on a booklet about retirement, and came to the conclusion that Mr Franklin’s idea is excellent when it comes to working out how to retire. Basically, everyone is supposed to calculate how much they will need for retirement, and then crack their heads on how to lay aside the amount, or grow it from investments or insurance or whatever.
Having a frugal stance is useful, since you’ll come up with a smaller Number to aim for, and, as far as the savings part of the getting to the Number equation goes, it’s less torturous.
In this economic climate, with minibonds and Hi-Notes going bye-byes, I daren’t speculate on the investment part of the riddle. Maybe we should try to get onto a big-money game show and hope they ask soft questions.
However, I left thinking not about the slumdog hero, but about the guy on the US$100 bill. Yep, Benjamin Franklin, who signed both the US Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, but who never became President. Nevertheless the chap is on the big note, and deservedly.
That’s the man who flew a kite in a storm, and proved that lightning was electricity. He also invented bifocals, which I expect to become very grateful for as I edge towards long-sightedness.
However, what I find most admirable about Mr Franklin is his values. He never patented his many inventions, explaining in his autobiography, “... as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”
It is not as if the man didn’t know the value of money. He did say “Time is money”, and industry was among the 13 virtues he worked on. However, unlike modern man, who has pursued money to the point of exhaustion, inventing the 12 to 14-hour workday, Mr Franklin balanced this with the virtue of frugality: “Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.”
And if we thought that the film Pay It Forward - where Haley Joel Osment starts a movement of not returning favours but doing good to others instead – was a Hollywood innovation, sorry, Ben Franklin came up with the idea in the 18th century.
What I really like about the man is this bit of wisdom: “A penny saved is a penny earned”.
This points to another option to the ever-faster treadmill of work. Instead of working harder and harder, and longer and longer, you can just spend less.
In fact, in view of CPF deductions and taxes, a penny saved is worth more than a penny earned.
I once worked on a booklet about retirement, and came to the conclusion that Mr Franklin’s idea is excellent when it comes to working out how to retire. Basically, everyone is supposed to calculate how much they will need for retirement, and then crack their heads on how to lay aside the amount, or grow it from investments or insurance or whatever.
Having a frugal stance is useful, since you’ll come up with a smaller Number to aim for, and, as far as the savings part of the getting to the Number equation goes, it’s less torturous.
In this economic climate, with minibonds and Hi-Notes going bye-byes, I daren’t speculate on the investment part of the riddle. Maybe we should try to get onto a big-money game show and hope they ask soft questions.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Making the best of your ringgit
I set up a Malaysian bank account in the aftermath of the Asian crisis, when Dr Mahathir’s currency controls made it impossible to deposit ringgit checks into my Singapore account. The dividends from Clob shares have been building up for more than a decade, and I discovered, to my joy, that I had more than RM10,000 in the account.
Yippee! Those shares that I was stuck with because their values plunged, actually paid out decent dividends.
Unfortunately, after converting the cash back into Singapore dollars, I was a little disappointed to find it came up to about $4,000. Not much, especially when set against what I’d paid for the Clob shares all those years ago.
Solution? Keep it in Malaysia, and spend it in Malaysia.
I figure that since most food and common groceries are cheaper across the Causeway, my RM 10,000 will be able to buy about $6,000 worth of things if I spent it there, rather than the $4,000 if I changed it and brought it back.
I’ve tried it a few times, and I think I’ve worked out a safe, economical and enjoyable routine.
First, go across the Causeway, and head towards town. Buy cheap petrol at a station near the Causeway – the huge Caltex station has closed, but there are other alternatives. Then swing up Jalan Wong Ah Fook and turn into City Square. (I like its car park because it’s bright, and security guards do rounds every now and again, so my Proton with Singapore plates feels safer – unlike the somewhat dingy, forbidding car park at Holiday Plaza, say.)
City Square also has a Maybank, where I can withdraw the day’s spending money, and go upstairs to the Watsons to buy personal care products, vitamin supplements and general medications like cough mixture. I believe in taking cod liver oil and vitamins to stave off the upper respiratory tract infections that are endemic here, and these things are cheaper in JB than in Singapore. A bottle of cod liver oil, $6-$7 at home, costs RM 11 in JB.
And if I do catch something, stuff like Prospan, a German cough syrup made from dried ivy leaf extract, costs under RM 14, as opposed to $8 to $10 in a Singapore clinic, assuming you can find a doctor who will sell it to you without making you undergo a diagnosis first. My brother, who recommended it, got the syrup from his physician, who gave him Prospan and some other medicines for flu - and charged $130. I say dump the doctor and buy the stuff from Johor Baru.
There’s an Apex pharmacy in the basement (run by the same management as Watsons) which can dispense anti-histamines like Zyrtec (no sleepy side effect) and Atarax (might feel sleepy) and other “real” medicines if you need them.
Also in the basement are food outlets like Secret Recipe. I rather like their lamb stew and their fusion soups, but I baulk at their prices in Singapore. However, the prices in ringgit are the same as in Sing dollars, so it actually becomes very decent. So much so that I don’t care if they charge me for my glass of water – a practice that outraged me in their Singapore outlets.
There are also other shops seeling clothes, footwear, and even some groceries in the rather limited minimart in the basement.
Then go home.
Or, if the minimart was a disappointment, drive up the road again to Taman Sentosa and park in The Store (outdoor carpark, surrounded by The Store and other shops, with a security guard or two to keep an eye on things). Taman Sentosa also has the virtue of being full of food outlets, from restaurants to coffee shops and a hawker centre. I have a soft spot for the Bamboo place that sells beggars chicken.
Yeah, there are lots of other places that are probably more fun than this route, but with even locals talking about petty and not-so-petty crimes, this route is fun enough for me.
Yippee! Those shares that I was stuck with because their values plunged, actually paid out decent dividends.
Unfortunately, after converting the cash back into Singapore dollars, I was a little disappointed to find it came up to about $4,000. Not much, especially when set against what I’d paid for the Clob shares all those years ago.
Solution? Keep it in Malaysia, and spend it in Malaysia.
I figure that since most food and common groceries are cheaper across the Causeway, my RM 10,000 will be able to buy about $6,000 worth of things if I spent it there, rather than the $4,000 if I changed it and brought it back.
I’ve tried it a few times, and I think I’ve worked out a safe, economical and enjoyable routine.
First, go across the Causeway, and head towards town. Buy cheap petrol at a station near the Causeway – the huge Caltex station has closed, but there are other alternatives. Then swing up Jalan Wong Ah Fook and turn into City Square. (I like its car park because it’s bright, and security guards do rounds every now and again, so my Proton with Singapore plates feels safer – unlike the somewhat dingy, forbidding car park at Holiday Plaza, say.)
City Square also has a Maybank, where I can withdraw the day’s spending money, and go upstairs to the Watsons to buy personal care products, vitamin supplements and general medications like cough mixture. I believe in taking cod liver oil and vitamins to stave off the upper respiratory tract infections that are endemic here, and these things are cheaper in JB than in Singapore. A bottle of cod liver oil, $6-$7 at home, costs RM 11 in JB.
And if I do catch something, stuff like Prospan, a German cough syrup made from dried ivy leaf extract, costs under RM 14, as opposed to $8 to $10 in a Singapore clinic, assuming you can find a doctor who will sell it to you without making you undergo a diagnosis first. My brother, who recommended it, got the syrup from his physician, who gave him Prospan and some other medicines for flu - and charged $130. I say dump the doctor and buy the stuff from Johor Baru.
There’s an Apex pharmacy in the basement (run by the same management as Watsons) which can dispense anti-histamines like Zyrtec (no sleepy side effect) and Atarax (might feel sleepy) and other “real” medicines if you need them.
Also in the basement are food outlets like Secret Recipe. I rather like their lamb stew and their fusion soups, but I baulk at their prices in Singapore. However, the prices in ringgit are the same as in Sing dollars, so it actually becomes very decent. So much so that I don’t care if they charge me for my glass of water – a practice that outraged me in their Singapore outlets.
There are also other shops seeling clothes, footwear, and even some groceries in the rather limited minimart in the basement.
Then go home.
Or, if the minimart was a disappointment, drive up the road again to Taman Sentosa and park in The Store (outdoor carpark, surrounded by The Store and other shops, with a security guard or two to keep an eye on things). Taman Sentosa also has the virtue of being full of food outlets, from restaurants to coffee shops and a hawker centre. I have a soft spot for the Bamboo place that sells beggars chicken.
Yeah, there are lots of other places that are probably more fun than this route, but with even locals talking about petty and not-so-petty crimes, this route is fun enough for me.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Why wait until retirement?
Was doing an assignment on retirement, and had been trotting out all the advice that financial advisers hand out to 40- and 50-somethings who are beginning to worry about their golden years.
I can't say I was totally convinced that you need 70 to 80 percent of your last-drawn salary per month in order to retire successfully. After all, many of us are not earning 70 to 80 percent of what we expect to bring in with our final paycheck, and we're not only surviving, but bring up kids in some instances, and salting away some cash as it is, right?
Research brought me to the National Library, where I came across a really inspiring book, Get A Life: You Don't Need A Million To Retire Well by Ralph Warner. It not only confirmed my suspicions that I don't need millions to retire well, but it also made me want to get cracking on my retirement.
Unlike all the other literature, which painted bleak futures for those of us who do not sacrifice everything now in order to have comfy nest eggs when we get old and grey, Warner argues that money is not the most important ingredient in a successful retirement - we are.
Without ignoring the need to have a certain amount of money, he argues that we should invest in our ourselves to prepare for retirement - to develop interests outside of work, to make friends outside of work, and to keep up our health.
Too many people, he says, have their identity tied up in their jobs, and once their job stops, often they lose their sense of self. "People who count on developing new interests, activities and involvement after 65 often don't", he writes.
As for those of us whp claim to be too busy earning money for for living and our retirement, Warner suggests "it makes sense to put more energy into maintaining or improving your health than into growing your investment portfolio." Affluence will not make up for poor health later in life, but maintaining good health is particularly important for those single mothers and others who need every penny just to survive their middle years, and have saved little. Good health also makes it easier to produce extra income by continuing to work past age 65.
It would also help to spend a little time thinking about what we want to do in our retirement - volunteer work, perhaps a part-time job, or maybe follow our interests? Some of these may need investments of a little time, energy and money to develop the necessary skills to get into a different field.
What I though was great about the book was that the money stuff only came in at chapter 7. The earlier chapters were all about personal development.
The book also has lots of interviews with golden oldies to ask them their advice about how to retire well. While these people, who lead very interesting and fulfilling lives, do acknowledge the need for money, it's a lot less than what financial advisers tell us we need.
One of his interviewees, Ernest Callenbach, who has written a best-selling novel about ecological sustainability, notes that ÿou'll need some money, "but if you are willing to change your attitudes about consumption, probably less than you think." And while he did save for retirement, part of his plan was to learn how and where he could save further if he needed to. And yet Ernest has a nice house, decent cars, travels a lot and goes out to dinner fairly often (he and his wife being "careful connoisseurs of cheap restaurants.")
Another retiree, Gretchen, observes: "Especially as you approach 80 it becomes increasingly obvious that it's foolish to keep buying lots of things you'll never need. But if you have spent your whole life getting a large part of your pleasure from shopping, you have a problem - it is probably too late to discover that there are far more fulfilling ways to spend your free time." Gretchen gets her fulfillment participating in a project that builds houses for poor people, and can still drive in nails with just two hammer strokes.
One bit of advice in Warner's book is to make some younger friends along with those in your age group - as you age, and those in your generation die out, you may have to tap into the younger set for company. And if you're half of a couple, get one or two close friends who are yours alone. Somehow, the if couples are friends with couples, the dynamic makes it difficult to maintain the strong relationship if someone gets widowed or divorced - jealousy will creep into the picture.
Perhaps because Warner included real-life stories of really happy, fulfilled retirees in his book, with varying levels of physical and economic health, Get A Life becomes that rarity among books on retirement. Far from leaving you feeling guilty about not saving enough, and uneasy about the future, it inspires you to socialise, discover your interests and pursue them, as well as to make time for a little exercise.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Old books for old!
Perhaps not as good a deal as Aladdin got, but I came aross this scheme at www.pl.sg
This allows us to get rid of books we've read (or not) and no longer want, and get books that other people no longer want. Sort of like going to the second-hand bookshop, but cutting out the middleman.
Just remember to bring your own bags to collect your books on Apr 25.
Here is their notice:
Recycle Your Reading - Used books become new reads at the Book Exchange!
Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2009
Time: 10.30am to 6pm
Venue: The Plaza, National Library Building,100 Victoria Street
3 easy steps to exchange your used books for new reads:
Bring your used books to any Public Library from 11 to 24 April, 11am to 8pm. On 25 April, used books are accepted only at the National Library Building.
Drop off your used books and get a book exchange coupon indicating one-for-one exchange for the books accepted.
Bring your coupon to The Plaza, National Library Building, on 25 April to redeem for used books dropped off by other book lovers.
Terms and Conditions:
Each person can exchange up to a maximum of 30 used books. There is no age limit for participation.
We accept children's and adults' fiction and non-fiction books (eg. cookbooks, travel guides and romance novels) in any of the four official languages. We also accept used library books bought from previous Library Book Sales. Textbooks, magazines and audio-visual materials will not be accepted.
Used books for exchange should be in relatively good physical condition.
Only coupons issued with a Book Exchange stamp are valid. Please check your coupons carefully after they are issued to you.
Coupons issued are transferable. You may pass them on to your family members or friends to help you redeem.
Lost coupons are not replaceable. You are advised to keep your coupons properly till the event on 25 April.
Plastic/carrier bags and delivery service will not be provided on Sat, 25 April. You are advised to bring your own carrier bags and/or arrange for transportation of books redeemed.
For enquiries, please call NLB Helpdesk at 6332 3255 or email: helpdesk@nlb.gov.sg
This allows us to get rid of books we've read (or not) and no longer want, and get books that other people no longer want. Sort of like going to the second-hand bookshop, but cutting out the middleman.
Just remember to bring your own bags to collect your books on Apr 25.
Here is their notice:
Recycle Your Reading - Used books become new reads at the Book Exchange!
Date: Sat, 25 Apr 2009
Time: 10.30am to 6pm
Venue: The Plaza, National Library Building,100 Victoria Street
3 easy steps to exchange your used books for new reads:
Bring your used books to any Public Library from 11 to 24 April, 11am to 8pm. On 25 April, used books are accepted only at the National Library Building.
Drop off your used books and get a book exchange coupon indicating one-for-one exchange for the books accepted.
Bring your coupon to The Plaza, National Library Building, on 25 April to redeem for used books dropped off by other book lovers.
Terms and Conditions:
Each person can exchange up to a maximum of 30 used books. There is no age limit for participation.
We accept children's and adults' fiction and non-fiction books (eg. cookbooks, travel guides and romance novels) in any of the four official languages. We also accept used library books bought from previous Library Book Sales. Textbooks, magazines and audio-visual materials will not be accepted.
Used books for exchange should be in relatively good physical condition.
Only coupons issued with a Book Exchange stamp are valid. Please check your coupons carefully after they are issued to you.
Coupons issued are transferable. You may pass them on to your family members or friends to help you redeem.
Lost coupons are not replaceable. You are advised to keep your coupons properly till the event on 25 April.
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Find an expired date? Eat it!
My cousin told me she was on the point of throwing away a bottle of cider vinegar which had expired 2 years ago, when it occurred to her that vinegar can't expire. So she drank it with honey in a home remedy for a cold, and was quite pleased with the results.
Yes, she was right not to throw it - because it's such an acidic substance, vinegar is unsuitable for bacteria to breed in.
If the date on her bottle of honey had expired, I would have told her to hang on to it too - liquid honey has so much sugar that it kills almost all bacteria, and the moisture content is too low to allow fungus to grow.
A moment of thought should bring to mind that the ancients used to put things in honey to preserve them. I recall a rather gruesome tale of how a human head was preserved in honey so that it could be delievered to some emperor who lived a way off. The stuff that crystalises out of honey that has been left alone for a bit is sugar crystals. If you don't like crystals in your honey, just apply very gentle heat.
And of course vinegar is used in pickling.
I appreciate the intentions of our health departments in wanting to protect us from unscrupulous people who would sell us old and harmful foods, but their scattershot method of requiring EVERYTHING be labelled with an expiry date can lead to lots of wastage.
I know of people whose knee-jerk reaction is to throw away anything that's past its expiry date, including that grandaddy of preservatives, salt.
When asked they want to throw out salt, they say, 'maybe it can still be used, but it's cheap, so who cares?' Well, it is cheap, thank goodness, but it has been processed and packed and transported. What a waste of resources, just because some idiot thinks that old salt might... what could they be thinking? It might grow fungus? Germs might get into it? Obviously they think that the salt might harm them in some way, and they're not thinking of their blood pressure.
What next? Are they going to scrutinise their bottled water to make sure it doesn't get too old?
The fact is that we can often tell when lots of different foods go bad. You can see the mould on bread, and you don't have to depend on a rocket scientist to calculate when it goes bad. As for worrying about buying a loaf near the end of its shelf life, relax - the same van that delivers the next day's supply will take away the old ones. That's what happens with unsold newspapers.
You don't need to consult the bottom of a tin to know if it can still be eaten - if it's swollen, throw it away. If it looks fine, and you open it and the food smells funny, throw it away.
Surely we can apply our common sense, or are we so bereft of sense that we leave our brains in the freezer, and depend on the 'experts'? Watch out for 'experts' - the current credit crunch is the work of 'experts', as was Long Term Capital Management, which was cited in a talk I attended the other night (it was free, with a buffet dinner thrown in). The speaker was an entrepreneur, who said that passion was much more important than knowledge, and illustrated his point with LTCM. It was a hedge fund that recruited two Nobel prize winners (economics) and brilliant mathematical minds (the sort AIG just gave millions in moolah to, not for bringing the whole system down, but just because their brains are still so desirable). Bottom line: LTCM lost US$4.6 billion.
Speaking of 'experts', here is an interesting article I found on how expired medicines are perfectly usable:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/460159 (if you don't get the page, google medicine expire and look for the url) or you can check up the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide for something similar.
Now then, not all the experts say the same thing. We'll just have to use our own common sense, then.
Yes, she was right not to throw it - because it's such an acidic substance, vinegar is unsuitable for bacteria to breed in.
If the date on her bottle of honey had expired, I would have told her to hang on to it too - liquid honey has so much sugar that it kills almost all bacteria, and the moisture content is too low to allow fungus to grow.
A moment of thought should bring to mind that the ancients used to put things in honey to preserve them. I recall a rather gruesome tale of how a human head was preserved in honey so that it could be delievered to some emperor who lived a way off. The stuff that crystalises out of honey that has been left alone for a bit is sugar crystals. If you don't like crystals in your honey, just apply very gentle heat.
And of course vinegar is used in pickling.
I appreciate the intentions of our health departments in wanting to protect us from unscrupulous people who would sell us old and harmful foods, but their scattershot method of requiring EVERYTHING be labelled with an expiry date can lead to lots of wastage.
I know of people whose knee-jerk reaction is to throw away anything that's past its expiry date, including that grandaddy of preservatives, salt.
When asked they want to throw out salt, they say, 'maybe it can still be used, but it's cheap, so who cares?' Well, it is cheap, thank goodness, but it has been processed and packed and transported. What a waste of resources, just because some idiot thinks that old salt might... what could they be thinking? It might grow fungus? Germs might get into it? Obviously they think that the salt might harm them in some way, and they're not thinking of their blood pressure.
What next? Are they going to scrutinise their bottled water to make sure it doesn't get too old?
The fact is that we can often tell when lots of different foods go bad. You can see the mould on bread, and you don't have to depend on a rocket scientist to calculate when it goes bad. As for worrying about buying a loaf near the end of its shelf life, relax - the same van that delivers the next day's supply will take away the old ones. That's what happens with unsold newspapers.
You don't need to consult the bottom of a tin to know if it can still be eaten - if it's swollen, throw it away. If it looks fine, and you open it and the food smells funny, throw it away.
Surely we can apply our common sense, or are we so bereft of sense that we leave our brains in the freezer, and depend on the 'experts'? Watch out for 'experts' - the current credit crunch is the work of 'experts', as was Long Term Capital Management, which was cited in a talk I attended the other night (it was free, with a buffet dinner thrown in). The speaker was an entrepreneur, who said that passion was much more important than knowledge, and illustrated his point with LTCM. It was a hedge fund that recruited two Nobel prize winners (economics) and brilliant mathematical minds (the sort AIG just gave millions in moolah to, not for bringing the whole system down, but just because their brains are still so desirable). Bottom line: LTCM lost US$4.6 billion.
Speaking of 'experts', here is an interesting article I found on how expired medicines are perfectly usable:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/460159 (if you don't get the page, google medicine expire and look for the url) or you can check up the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide for something similar.
Now then, not all the experts say the same thing. We'll just have to use our own common sense, then.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
A program of action was concerted...
I wanted go to see the St Thomas Boys Choir, from Leipzig - the choir that JS Bach directed when he was working in at the St Thomas Church.
Thing is, I make it a point to only pay for one or two concerts or plays a year.
It's a habit I developed to save money that goes towards wells in Afghanistan: someone came to church once, and asked for money to dig wells there. I felt it was a good cause, but where to get the money? Answer: cut down on the entertainment. Movies are relatively cheap, but concerts and plays, especially concerts, can set you back a bit. I figured that a year or two of just going to my absolutely must-go show, and cutting back on buying tickets for the "would like to go" or the "wow, sounds good, let's go" show, there'd be enough for a well.
Last year, I coughed up $70-something, and saw Murray Perahia from the giddy heights of the third circle. The rest of the time, I just mentioned that I would be interested, and waited for a stroke of luck. Occasionally, someone who got tickets would be unable to go, or someone might get two tickets and only need one, so I, as someone who was interested, would get a magic call.
That's my little trick to get free entertainment. Not much of a trick, really. That's because people generally don't like to waste things - better that you fill the seat than it stays empty, right?
To move further up the calling list, I generally try not to be too fussy about tickets offered to me. Nothing is more annoying than phoning someone and them saying "oh no, I don't feel like it" or "I'm only interested if it's The Rolling Stones or the Berlin Phil" - let's face it, if they have such desirable tickets, they'd call other people first.
Good concert.
What I found interesting was meeting a friend the next day, and she saying her sister-in-law had gone for the same concert, having won tickets on a radio show. "She wins something almost every week," said my friend, noting that she thinks you only need to be a bit anal in order to win. I'm sure it didn't reflect her opinion of her sis-in-law.
This was something - I'm always alert to new ways to score free tickets if no one calls. We don't all have lobangs who can source complimentary tickets, and I don't like to bother my friends much anyway (it's a bit like sponging off the stocks of goodwill they have with other people). But I can be anal.
I think I'll start listening to the radio, with the telephone handy...
Thing is, I make it a point to only pay for one or two concerts or plays a year.
It's a habit I developed to save money that goes towards wells in Afghanistan: someone came to church once, and asked for money to dig wells there. I felt it was a good cause, but where to get the money? Answer: cut down on the entertainment. Movies are relatively cheap, but concerts and plays, especially concerts, can set you back a bit. I figured that a year or two of just going to my absolutely must-go show, and cutting back on buying tickets for the "would like to go" or the "wow, sounds good, let's go" show, there'd be enough for a well.
Last year, I coughed up $70-something, and saw Murray Perahia from the giddy heights of the third circle. The rest of the time, I just mentioned that I would be interested, and waited for a stroke of luck. Occasionally, someone who got tickets would be unable to go, or someone might get two tickets and only need one, so I, as someone who was interested, would get a magic call.
That's my little trick to get free entertainment. Not much of a trick, really. That's because people generally don't like to waste things - better that you fill the seat than it stays empty, right?
To move further up the calling list, I generally try not to be too fussy about tickets offered to me. Nothing is more annoying than phoning someone and them saying "oh no, I don't feel like it" or "I'm only interested if it's The Rolling Stones or the Berlin Phil" - let's face it, if they have such desirable tickets, they'd call other people first.
This attitude got me into concerts by Bryn Terfel (world-famous baritone), Santana, oh yes, and The Rolling Stones. I've been to dance performances, drama and stand-up comedy, in concert halls, pubs and theatres small and large.
Some of the shows I never even thought I wanted to see when I read about them. Often, I enjoyed myself immensely. And if I didn't, well, at least I didn't have to pay for it.
Back to the St Thomas Boys Choir. Nobody called, and I really wanted to go. With tickets from $41 to $121, I could avoid the nose-bleed altitude of the third circle, but I'd probably not make it to ground level.
So I called a friend who works in the papers and mentioned how I wanted to see the concert. I was in luck - she took the hint, and found us tickets.Good concert.
What I found interesting was meeting a friend the next day, and she saying her sister-in-law had gone for the same concert, having won tickets on a radio show. "She wins something almost every week," said my friend, noting that she thinks you only need to be a bit anal in order to win. I'm sure it didn't reflect her opinion of her sis-in-law.
This was something - I'm always alert to new ways to score free tickets if no one calls. We don't all have lobangs who can source complimentary tickets, and I don't like to bother my friends much anyway (it's a bit like sponging off the stocks of goodwill they have with other people). But I can be anal.
I think I'll start listening to the radio, with the telephone handy...
Sunday, February 22, 2009
How to create a feast for 14 for $80
My family used to go out to restaurants to get together, but last year we individually got interested in cooking at home. It was probably prompted in part by the hassle of parking, getting a table if you didn't book ahead, and the high prices in restaurants.
Mum isn't too happy about her sons and their families crowding into the house, especially to eat - no space around the table - so I've settled on barbeques, which are consumed outside the house. It helps that I took over a Charbroil gas-powered barbeque pit from a friend who was moving. It has a good flame and a lid, which makes things much easier to cook - less chance of the "burnt outside, inside raw" problem so common in barbeques.
Just set up a couple of mahjong tables in the drive, cram chairs around them, and turn on the garden lights.
On the menu:
Australian chilled boneless lamb leg at $35.55, from QB ( I go down there once every few weeks to top up on meats and stuff), two packs of lamb sausages from Rudi's, opposite QB, ($11), and two bags of potatoes ($2).
I found half a bag of quinoa in the house and made a salad, using some leftover tomatoes, cucumber, mushroom and sour cream. (All essentially free, because they were all bought for other reasons and were in danger of dying in the fridge.) The sour cream was also offered around to go with the potatoes.
Dessert was white wine jelly, made with a bottle of Moscatel I got on sale at Shop n Save for $11.95.
For drinks, decided to go with sangria, because it is refreshing. Used an old orange (the last from a bag that I bought because it was on sale), which was a little dry because it was old, but usable for my purposes, a lemon (50 cents), three tins of pineapple juice ($1.95), a bottle of Sprite ($1.80) and a litre of orange juice ($1.80), a bottle of red wine on sale at 10.95, and a cup of rum - I asked someone who was going to Manila to get me some, and got a bottle of Tanduay rum, aged for 5 years, for less than $10. These ingredients made three jugs, which could be topped up with more Sprite.
The really convenient thing about barbies is that everything cooks over the same fire, which makes cooking simple. The sausages can be put on the grill just like that, the potatoes wrapped in foil, and the leg of lamb marinated with salt and fresh ground ginger, then wrapped in foil.
Because everyone was eating outside, I used disposable plates and cups, which saved the trouble of cleaning. Not very eco-friendly, I know, but these disposables were taken home from another barbeque, where the host wanted to throw them away, so at least they were used before being chucked. Anyway, I wouldn't have bought cups - I wash out those plastic ones that they serve me drinks in, and would have used my stash.
I used the car as a serving table, putting the jugs of drinks on it, spare plates etc.
The evening was cool and dry, like so many nights have been recently, so everyone was in a good mood, and anyway, the sangria would have seen to that. Being outside, there was no TV to distract us from the bonhomie and conversation - notice how some kid will always turn on the TV and set the volume high, on some dumb show whenever you're eating indoors in someone's house?
A good time was had by all, and they have suggested I have another barbie soon.
Considering how everyone stuffed themselves, and was happy, and my cost was about $80, I might just do that.
Mum isn't too happy about her sons and their families crowding into the house, especially to eat - no space around the table - so I've settled on barbeques, which are consumed outside the house. It helps that I took over a Charbroil gas-powered barbeque pit from a friend who was moving. It has a good flame and a lid, which makes things much easier to cook - less chance of the "burnt outside, inside raw" problem so common in barbeques.
Just set up a couple of mahjong tables in the drive, cram chairs around them, and turn on the garden lights.
On the menu:
Australian chilled boneless lamb leg at $35.55, from QB ( I go down there once every few weeks to top up on meats and stuff), two packs of lamb sausages from Rudi's, opposite QB, ($11), and two bags of potatoes ($2).
I found half a bag of quinoa in the house and made a salad, using some leftover tomatoes, cucumber, mushroom and sour cream. (All essentially free, because they were all bought for other reasons and were in danger of dying in the fridge.) The sour cream was also offered around to go with the potatoes.
Dessert was white wine jelly, made with a bottle of Moscatel I got on sale at Shop n Save for $11.95.
For drinks, decided to go with sangria, because it is refreshing. Used an old orange (the last from a bag that I bought because it was on sale), which was a little dry because it was old, but usable for my purposes, a lemon (50 cents), three tins of pineapple juice ($1.95), a bottle of Sprite ($1.80) and a litre of orange juice ($1.80), a bottle of red wine on sale at 10.95, and a cup of rum - I asked someone who was going to Manila to get me some, and got a bottle of Tanduay rum, aged for 5 years, for less than $10. These ingredients made three jugs, which could be topped up with more Sprite.
The really convenient thing about barbies is that everything cooks over the same fire, which makes cooking simple. The sausages can be put on the grill just like that, the potatoes wrapped in foil, and the leg of lamb marinated with salt and fresh ground ginger, then wrapped in foil.
Because everyone was eating outside, I used disposable plates and cups, which saved the trouble of cleaning. Not very eco-friendly, I know, but these disposables were taken home from another barbeque, where the host wanted to throw them away, so at least they were used before being chucked. Anyway, I wouldn't have bought cups - I wash out those plastic ones that they serve me drinks in, and would have used my stash.
I used the car as a serving table, putting the jugs of drinks on it, spare plates etc.
The evening was cool and dry, like so many nights have been recently, so everyone was in a good mood, and anyway, the sangria would have seen to that. Being outside, there was no TV to distract us from the bonhomie and conversation - notice how some kid will always turn on the TV and set the volume high, on some dumb show whenever you're eating indoors in someone's house?
A good time was had by all, and they have suggested I have another barbie soon.
Considering how everyone stuffed themselves, and was happy, and my cost was about $80, I might just do that.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Here's to cheap wines
When the Straits Times recently reported that drinkers are now turning to supermarkets to buy their booze, I couldn't help a moment of smugness. ("I'm so-o ahead of the curve!")
Just like many others, I've been buying my wine from supermarkets for years. Recently, however, I've started buying the cheapest wines on offer.
Drinking the cheapest wine is risky, and bringing such wines to a friend's for dinner is out - one does not sabo friends, and certainly not if one wants to get invited to dinner again. However, cheap wine is perfectly palatable, and acceptable as a bring-along for dinner if you dress it up a bit.
The idea came after a trip to a restaurant which had an all-you-can-eat tapas special. The tapas didn't impress me as much as the sangria we ordered. Very refreshing. I drank two glasses, which ate into the special savings, but which was ok if you consider it research for making your own at home and saving that way.
I Googled a few sangria recipes when I got home. Tons of recipes.
I chose one that included stuff I could get my hands on easily: cut a lemon and an orange into thin rounds and mash them into the bottom of a jug (or 2, unless your jug is big). Pour in a bottle of red wine, a tin of pineapple juice, half a litre of orange juice, half a cup of brown rum and refrigerate for a couple of hours. When you want to serve, add a tin or two of Sprite (I dont see the point of the recipe that said add soda water and sugar - Sprite is easier). If you want, chop up an apple and toss in the pieces, as the tapas restaurant did.
Since the drink involves fruit, fruit juices, soda water, red wine and other spirits, you don't need top quality (nor, indeed any quality) wine to make it. Great for things like barbeques, for example.
And if the cheapest wine wine on offer happens to be white? Well, here are a couple of ideas:
New Ginger Wine recipe
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon rind (zest of 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (750 ml) bottle white wine
1/3 cup honey or golden syrup, to taste
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup raisins, chopped roughly (can use mixture of regular and golden raisins)
1 ounce brandy, to taste
1 In a non-reactive saucepan over medium heat, combine the lemon zest and juice, wine, honey or golden syrup, ginger, and raisins.
2 Raise the heat to medium-high, stirring constantly until the honey or golden syrup is melted, which will take about 4 minutes, but do not allow to boil.
3 Add the brandy or Cognac and place into glass container.
4 Refrigerate at least one day (or two, to taste), then strain the wine and serve in small glasses; it will be slightly cloudy but very tasty and very good for helping digest those large dinners everybody had!
5 Note: honey and golden syrup have different tastes, and I like both. It's nice to have the both versions of the wine with made, for different folks' tastes!
After you strain the wine, you can boil the ground ginger and raisin mush with water, and strain again. Makes a pretty potent non-alcoholic ginger brew, because the ginger was never boiled before. Good stuff. Then if you really want to be fanatical about being green, as I often am, bury the mush in your garden (or a pot of earth) to compost it!
White Wine Jelly
3 leaves of gelatine
300ml dry white wine
150ml water
110g caster sugar
Put the water and sugar in a pan and heat. Stir until sugar melts. Put gelatine in water for 30 secs until it softens. Add to pan. stir a bit to help it melt. Throw in wine and turn off fire. Pour into moulds and refrigerate for a few hours.
These are not bad at all, and eminently presentable if you're going to someone's for dinner. Beats buying different cheap wines to find palatable ones. Or, rather, by doing this, you can actually find the palatable really cheap ones, and you'll make the lousy ones into something decent... and novel.
Just like many others, I've been buying my wine from supermarkets for years. Recently, however, I've started buying the cheapest wines on offer.
Drinking the cheapest wine is risky, and bringing such wines to a friend's for dinner is out - one does not sabo friends, and certainly not if one wants to get invited to dinner again. However, cheap wine is perfectly palatable, and acceptable as a bring-along for dinner if you dress it up a bit.
The idea came after a trip to a restaurant which had an all-you-can-eat tapas special. The tapas didn't impress me as much as the sangria we ordered. Very refreshing. I drank two glasses, which ate into the special savings, but which was ok if you consider it research for making your own at home and saving that way.
I Googled a few sangria recipes when I got home. Tons of recipes.
I chose one that included stuff I could get my hands on easily: cut a lemon and an orange into thin rounds and mash them into the bottom of a jug (or 2, unless your jug is big). Pour in a bottle of red wine, a tin of pineapple juice, half a litre of orange juice, half a cup of brown rum and refrigerate for a couple of hours. When you want to serve, add a tin or two of Sprite (I dont see the point of the recipe that said add soda water and sugar - Sprite is easier). If you want, chop up an apple and toss in the pieces, as the tapas restaurant did.
Since the drink involves fruit, fruit juices, soda water, red wine and other spirits, you don't need top quality (nor, indeed any quality) wine to make it. Great for things like barbeques, for example.
And if the cheapest wine wine on offer happens to be white? Well, here are a couple of ideas:
New Ginger Wine recipe
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon rind (zest of 1 lemon)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (750 ml) bottle white wine
1/3 cup honey or golden syrup, to taste
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup raisins, chopped roughly (can use mixture of regular and golden raisins)
1 ounce brandy, to taste
1 In a non-reactive saucepan over medium heat, combine the lemon zest and juice, wine, honey or golden syrup, ginger, and raisins.
2 Raise the heat to medium-high, stirring constantly until the honey or golden syrup is melted, which will take about 4 minutes, but do not allow to boil.
3 Add the brandy or Cognac and place into glass container.
4 Refrigerate at least one day (or two, to taste), then strain the wine and serve in small glasses; it will be slightly cloudy but very tasty and very good for helping digest those large dinners everybody had!
5 Note: honey and golden syrup have different tastes, and I like both. It's nice to have the both versions of the wine with made, for different folks' tastes!
After you strain the wine, you can boil the ground ginger and raisin mush with water, and strain again. Makes a pretty potent non-alcoholic ginger brew, because the ginger was never boiled before. Good stuff. Then if you really want to be fanatical about being green, as I often am, bury the mush in your garden (or a pot of earth) to compost it!
White Wine Jelly
3 leaves of gelatine
300ml dry white wine
150ml water
110g caster sugar
Put the water and sugar in a pan and heat. Stir until sugar melts. Put gelatine in water for 30 secs until it softens. Add to pan. stir a bit to help it melt. Throw in wine and turn off fire. Pour into moulds and refrigerate for a few hours.
These are not bad at all, and eminently presentable if you're going to someone's for dinner. Beats buying different cheap wines to find palatable ones. Or, rather, by doing this, you can actually find the palatable really cheap ones, and you'll make the lousy ones into something decent... and novel.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A book borrower be
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be"
While Polonius'advice to his son is all very well when it comes to money matters, when it comes to things like novels and magazines, I think borrowing is wonderful - you get to read the material, without paying for it, and afterwards, you're not burdened with having to store a book or a magazine.
I haven't seen the tops of some of my tables because they're piled high with books bought over the years, so I know what I'm talking about. To try to keep some form of order, I try to give away my books after I've read them, unless they are useful references, but it's a slow way to get rid of stuff, and I think nothing beats the library. (It also is a waste for a book to only have one reader.)
Unlike book shops, the library catalogue is available online, for us to see if they have the book, whether it's being borrowed currently, and where it can be found. A reservation service ($1.55 a book) is available, with an option to pick up the book at a branch convenient for you. Great if the book is at Woodlands, and you live in Marine Parade, say, as it is cheaper than going all the way there t0 fetch it yourself.
Happily, the library collection contains most of the books I want to read - the only question is whether the book in question is being borrowed by someone else, and unavailable, but it's a bearable pain compared with stumping out an average of $18 for a paperback novel and more for a non-fiction book.
There's even more reason to use the library when it comes to foreign magazines. Actually buying them from the shops every month costs about $10 to $15 each time, and they are seldom worth it anyway. I like reading Popular Photography and Imaging, and I even bought one issue (the November one that promised a preview of the next year's cameras), but in all honesty, the mag isn't magic. While the articles may inspire you to try a new technique, it's really just the first step, hardly a complete how-to guide, and you have to do lots more experimenting or research before you start coming to grips with anything.
The actual borrowing and returning is also very easy. Just use your IC and stick it in a machine, which guides you through the borrowing process. Returning is even easier, as you can dump the books or magazines at any 24-hour return bin, regardless of the library branch it came from originally.
All this is due to the magic of RFID technology - electronic barcodes used in supply chain management, and what is a library but a circular supply chain? The system clocks the books in and out automatically, allowing us to borrow right away when we return stuff. Books that have been wrongly shelved are not lost forever, but can actually be located.
The National Library Board was the first library in the world to adopt the technology. Cool, huh?
Another bit of good news is that, as of April 1, renewing our books will be free (no fooling).
And if you want to give something back to the library, you can donate your fiction books, which will be "released" in hotspots like taxis, Cafe Galilee and some Cartel branches, for anyone to read, and either keep, or re-release themselves. Among other things, I tossed my copy of Da Vinci Code in the doonation bin - I thought it was an awful piece of writing, and not something I would recommend to my friends, but it comforts me that someone who might want to read the novel won't have to shell out cash for the privilege.
While Polonius'advice to his son is all very well when it comes to money matters, when it comes to things like novels and magazines, I think borrowing is wonderful - you get to read the material, without paying for it, and afterwards, you're not burdened with having to store a book or a magazine.
I haven't seen the tops of some of my tables because they're piled high with books bought over the years, so I know what I'm talking about. To try to keep some form of order, I try to give away my books after I've read them, unless they are useful references, but it's a slow way to get rid of stuff, and I think nothing beats the library. (It also is a waste for a book to only have one reader.)
Unlike book shops, the library catalogue is available online, for us to see if they have the book, whether it's being borrowed currently, and where it can be found. A reservation service ($1.55 a book) is available, with an option to pick up the book at a branch convenient for you. Great if the book is at Woodlands, and you live in Marine Parade, say, as it is cheaper than going all the way there t0 fetch it yourself.
Happily, the library collection contains most of the books I want to read - the only question is whether the book in question is being borrowed by someone else, and unavailable, but it's a bearable pain compared with stumping out an average of $18 for a paperback novel and more for a non-fiction book.
There's even more reason to use the library when it comes to foreign magazines. Actually buying them from the shops every month costs about $10 to $15 each time, and they are seldom worth it anyway. I like reading Popular Photography and Imaging, and I even bought one issue (the November one that promised a preview of the next year's cameras), but in all honesty, the mag isn't magic. While the articles may inspire you to try a new technique, it's really just the first step, hardly a complete how-to guide, and you have to do lots more experimenting or research before you start coming to grips with anything.
The actual borrowing and returning is also very easy. Just use your IC and stick it in a machine, which guides you through the borrowing process. Returning is even easier, as you can dump the books or magazines at any 24-hour return bin, regardless of the library branch it came from originally.
All this is due to the magic of RFID technology - electronic barcodes used in supply chain management, and what is a library but a circular supply chain? The system clocks the books in and out automatically, allowing us to borrow right away when we return stuff. Books that have been wrongly shelved are not lost forever, but can actually be located.
The National Library Board was the first library in the world to adopt the technology. Cool, huh?
Another bit of good news is that, as of April 1, renewing our books will be free (no fooling).
And if you want to give something back to the library, you can donate your fiction books, which will be "released" in hotspots like taxis, Cafe Galilee and some Cartel branches, for anyone to read, and either keep, or re-release themselves. Among other things, I tossed my copy of Da Vinci Code in the doonation bin - I thought it was an awful piece of writing, and not something I would recommend to my friends, but it comforts me that someone who might want to read the novel won't have to shell out cash for the privilege.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Road Warrior
Yes I drive. It is not as green as taking public transport, but I am the owner of an 82 year-old who is not in the pink of health. I also like to entertain some of the oldies in the extended family, who are now into their 80s and 90s.
I considered taking cabs after a lorry mangled my old car (with me in it), but Mum and I had one miserable experiment. She gamely walked with me to the main road to hail a cab, but even though it wasn't peak hour no cabs stopped. Soon the sky got dark and it poured. The two of us trudged home, soaked, and she begged me to buy a new car. I saw her point.
The other possibility was to get a diesel goods vehicle to save on the vehicle, road tax and fuel, but the thought of oldies with fragile bones bouncing in the back with no proper seats and seat-belts made it a no-no.
A little research and I settled on a Proton Wira, 1.5 litre. It was cheap(-ish, this being Singapore), with a boot big enough to accomodate a wheelchair if necessary, and maintenance would also be reasonable, if I crossed the Causeway to Malaysia. I'd heard that Korean cars might be cheap up front, but they hit you hard on spare parts.
I got the 1.5 litre instead of the 1.3 l version because the smaller one had this really ugly faux-wood dashboard that clashed with everything inside the car, and I imagined how irritated I'd be every single time I sat in my car and opted to cough up $2K more for a ride with less jarring interior decor.
For the sake of frugality, I didn't want to take a loan. My theory is that it's better to have no money in the bank for a few months, and slowly build back a cash cushion, which will earn next to no interest, than to take a loan, which will cost you 2 or 3 percent per annum, compounded. Because she was anxious to close a deal, the salesperson agreed to no loan. I also asked for a further $200 discount (I believe that most big-ticket items are negotiable, and one should always try to get something off, as a matter of principle). She offered me leather seats. And alloy wheels. And she finally agreed to $100 off as well.
The Proton option proved to be ok, when I had to change my rear bumper after someone banged into the car when it was parked and disappeared, plus a rear light (after I backed into a Lexus -- thank goodness I didn't change the bumper earlier). I drove across the Causeway to leave the car with a respectable mechanic while I jumped into a friend's vehicle for a few days in Fraser's Hill. When I got back, I had a new bumper and lights for RM440. Compare that with the Lexus. I put a dent in his rear door, and the paint looked ok. A panel beater could have got lucky and restored it without destroying the paint work, but my insurance paid over $8,000 for a new door.
Which brings me back to choice of car. Perhaps the wealthy should spare a thought for other road users and the environment before they buy their lux cars? The door of the Lexus was repairable - no nasty sharp edges to the dent I inflicted, but it was changed. I understand that if you coughed up for a lux car, you'd want everything to be tip-top (especially if someone else's insurance was paying for it), and I admit that it was my own silly fault, but I can't help thinking that the new door was unnecessary.
I considered taking cabs after a lorry mangled my old car (with me in it), but Mum and I had one miserable experiment. She gamely walked with me to the main road to hail a cab, but even though it wasn't peak hour no cabs stopped. Soon the sky got dark and it poured. The two of us trudged home, soaked, and she begged me to buy a new car. I saw her point.
The other possibility was to get a diesel goods vehicle to save on the vehicle, road tax and fuel, but the thought of oldies with fragile bones bouncing in the back with no proper seats and seat-belts made it a no-no.
A little research and I settled on a Proton Wira, 1.5 litre. It was cheap(-ish, this being Singapore), with a boot big enough to accomodate a wheelchair if necessary, and maintenance would also be reasonable, if I crossed the Causeway to Malaysia. I'd heard that Korean cars might be cheap up front, but they hit you hard on spare parts.
I got the 1.5 litre instead of the 1.3 l version because the smaller one had this really ugly faux-wood dashboard that clashed with everything inside the car, and I imagined how irritated I'd be every single time I sat in my car and opted to cough up $2K more for a ride with less jarring interior decor.
For the sake of frugality, I didn't want to take a loan. My theory is that it's better to have no money in the bank for a few months, and slowly build back a cash cushion, which will earn next to no interest, than to take a loan, which will cost you 2 or 3 percent per annum, compounded. Because she was anxious to close a deal, the salesperson agreed to no loan. I also asked for a further $200 discount (I believe that most big-ticket items are negotiable, and one should always try to get something off, as a matter of principle). She offered me leather seats. And alloy wheels. And she finally agreed to $100 off as well.
The Proton option proved to be ok, when I had to change my rear bumper after someone banged into the car when it was parked and disappeared, plus a rear light (after I backed into a Lexus -- thank goodness I didn't change the bumper earlier). I drove across the Causeway to leave the car with a respectable mechanic while I jumped into a friend's vehicle for a few days in Fraser's Hill. When I got back, I had a new bumper and lights for RM440. Compare that with the Lexus. I put a dent in his rear door, and the paint looked ok. A panel beater could have got lucky and restored it without destroying the paint work, but my insurance paid over $8,000 for a new door.
Which brings me back to choice of car. Perhaps the wealthy should spare a thought for other road users and the environment before they buy their lux cars? The door of the Lexus was repairable - no nasty sharp edges to the dent I inflicted, but it was changed. I understand that if you coughed up for a lux car, you'd want everything to be tip-top (especially if someone else's insurance was paying for it), and I admit that it was my own silly fault, but I can't help thinking that the new door was unnecessary.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
How horse manure can sweeten a long drive
One way to save money and fossil fuels is to pack a few errands into the same drive. I finally won a $15 book voucher for a photo I posted on the new library portal, http://www.pl.sg/ Problem is, they wanted me to pick it up from their Pasir Ris branch.
"By the time you drive there and back, your $15 voucher will be worth $10," noted Mum. How true, but I wasn't about to forego the voucher. (I'm a budding photographer, and after critiquing many other pictures posted for not having any photographic virtues whatsoever, it was a relief to win my fortnightly prize --very embarassing if my pix, bristling with photographic virtues, never won anything, right?)
Solution: Go to Pasir Ris Park Car Park C in the morning and do some dumpster diving for horse manure. There's a pony riding park, and they throw the horse manure away, nicely bagged in bin bags. Good for fertiliser, if you have a garden. If you're in a flat, you may wish to consider your neighbours'sensibilities before adopting this "free fertiliser"practise.
Then walk over to White Sands, where the library is. The walk takes five minutes each way (seven if you're sick) and saves on parking charges. Otherwise my $15 voucher might turn into an $8 voucher.
Finally, drive to Ikea to get free drinks using the Friends of Ikea card, which gives us 2 free drinks a day, with as many refills as you like. The food at the cafe is not bad, but if you want to save more, get the free drink then move down one floor to buy their cool $1 hotdogs.
Suitably refreshed, can either walk across the road to Giant supermarket, or drive across if you plan to buy a lot of groceries. Parking at these places is free, of course.
Giant had an offer - buy $100 in a receipt and pay with your OCBC card, and get a $10 voucher.
I think all those savings justifies the drive to Pasir Ris from MacPherson.
"By the time you drive there and back, your $15 voucher will be worth $10," noted Mum. How true, but I wasn't about to forego the voucher. (I'm a budding photographer, and after critiquing many other pictures posted for not having any photographic virtues whatsoever, it was a relief to win my fortnightly prize --very embarassing if my pix, bristling with photographic virtues, never won anything, right?)
Solution: Go to Pasir Ris Park Car Park C in the morning and do some dumpster diving for horse manure. There's a pony riding park, and they throw the horse manure away, nicely bagged in bin bags. Good for fertiliser, if you have a garden. If you're in a flat, you may wish to consider your neighbours'sensibilities before adopting this "free fertiliser"practise.
Then walk over to White Sands, where the library is. The walk takes five minutes each way (seven if you're sick) and saves on parking charges. Otherwise my $15 voucher might turn into an $8 voucher.
Finally, drive to Ikea to get free drinks using the Friends of Ikea card, which gives us 2 free drinks a day, with as many refills as you like. The food at the cafe is not bad, but if you want to save more, get the free drink then move down one floor to buy their cool $1 hotdogs.
Suitably refreshed, can either walk across the road to Giant supermarket, or drive across if you plan to buy a lot of groceries. Parking at these places is free, of course.
Giant had an offer - buy $100 in a receipt and pay with your OCBC card, and get a $10 voucher.
I think all those savings justifies the drive to Pasir Ris from MacPherson.
Why the Frugal Sporean
Times are hard and probably going to get worse. I believe that while last year might have been a time to play "offense" to earn money, this year is a year to play defence. I am setting up this blog to share my efforts at getting as good a life as possible, for as little as possible.
While saving money is important, it does not have to come at the cost of destroying the earth. In fact, I've found that an environmental conscience can co-exist happily with being frugal. Case in point: burning less fossil fuels will be good for your pocket and the earth.
Nor does saving have to come at the cost of your character. I do not advocate sponging off your friends, or not giving to worthy causes. Rather, some of the money saved can be used to help the lot of the less fortunate. "Can't afford to waste money, can't afford to hoard it" seems to me to be a better motto than "Waste not, want a lot"!
While saving money is important, it does not have to come at the cost of destroying the earth. In fact, I've found that an environmental conscience can co-exist happily with being frugal. Case in point: burning less fossil fuels will be good for your pocket and the earth.
Nor does saving have to come at the cost of your character. I do not advocate sponging off your friends, or not giving to worthy causes. Rather, some of the money saved can be used to help the lot of the less fortunate. "Can't afford to waste money, can't afford to hoard it" seems to me to be a better motto than "Waste not, want a lot"!
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