SG Budget Babe

It is no secret that I'm a huge Taobao fan - after all, I'm that bride who saved tons of money by purchasing my wedding stuffs on Taobao, including my customized wedding gown! I've written about my Taobao wedding purchases here and here previously, and have been using SGShop for my purchases since 2016.

Well, with all the upcoming baby expenses, I've also been shopping around diligently and doing lots of window shopping at Mothercare and Kiddy Palace, among other shops, to compare prices and quality. What I've discovered is that many of the items sold locally are priced at a premium, and I've actually been able to find the same - if not extremely similar - products on Taobao instead, therefore saving me tons of money!

While there are still some items that I'll get in person locally - such as a UV steriliser and a car seat for safety reassurances - I've found Taobao to be cheaper by far for many of the items I feel we will need for our baby. Even after factoring in shipping costs, many of these items cost much lesser than those at baby fairs here!

Without further ado, here's my Taobao shopping list and haul:

Baby Shower Net
Afraid that baby might slip out of your hands during shower time? Use a baby shower net to eliminate any chances of baby slipping or even hitting his/her head so you no longer have to dread bathtime!

Price: S$4.50
Link: here

Baby Rompers
Get those made from pure cotton as some babies may have sensitive skin.

Price: S$2
Link: here, here and here.

Baby Towels
You'll need lots of these for wiping off milk spills and baby saliva. Choose among these absorbent gauze / cotton / bamboo fibre ones from Taobao.

Price: S$2
Link: here, here and here.

Baby Sling
Got no money for a Tula? Missed Aviva's promotion for a free Tula with their maternity insurance packages? Fret not, you can get cheaper and stylish baby slings here as well! This design comes with a baby seat to offer more support as well.

Price: S$18
Link: here

Waterproof baby bedsheets
So that the mattress underneath remains clean, dry and unstained. Can use for baby's bed or even on your own (to absorb any leaking breastmilk!). These ones are washable so you can easily reuse them as well.

Price: S$2.25
Link: here and here, or get a bigger sized one here.

Crib Storage Organiser
All you need for changing baby within this nifty organiser for putting diapers, wet wipes and more. I see similar models retailing in Singapore shops for much higher prices!

Price: S$18
Link: here

Baby Cot
Been eyeing the gorgeous baby cot featured on Zoe Raymond and Naomi Neo's Instagram page? So was I...until I found out that the cot retails for $1,500 and they were sponsored for it anyway. If you're not keen to spend so much, here's a close substitute on Taobao that you can consider for 1/7 of the price.

Price: S$200
Link: here and here

Baby Gym
Perfect for hours of entertaining your baby while you get other tasks done, this baby gym will also train your baby's motor skills while having fun in the meantime.

Price: S$11
Link: here

Baby Bib (for meals)
Great for avoiding a mess during mealtimes as it catches falling food.

Price: S$2.25 each
Links here, here, here and here.

Belecoo Baby Stroller
I love this baby pram for its ability to transform from a horizontal crib into an upright seat, which sees your baby through his/her newborn days all the way till they're a toddler. I've seen the same strollers being sold by third-party retailers here in Singapore for 2 to 3 times of its price, so you might as well buy straight from Taobao and use all that savings to get your other baby essentials instead.

Lightweight, foldable and with a reclining / upright option, this baby stroller also takes heavy weights so you don't have to worry about the pram toppling over!

Price: S$52
Link: here

Dual-function Maternity & Breastfeeding Pillow
This will be a lifesaver for mummies when you hit your second trimester and your baby bump grows so big that you can barely sleep easy at night due to the discomfort. Cushion it and sleep easier with the help of a maternity pillow, which will support your baby bump and even out the weight distribution.

Most maternity pillows are big and bulky (my bed doesn't have space for that!) so I wasn't very keen on getting one initially, until I found this dual-function model that can double-up as a breastfeeding pillow, or even for baby to lie on!

Price: S$13.50
Link: here

Maternity Photoshoot Outfits
Get your maternity outfits for cheap on Taobao for a photoshoot to commemorate your pregnancy journey - after all, you only get pregnant a few times in your life!

Price: S$13 and up
Link: here

Diaper Bag
Skip the jujube and go for a much more affordable diaper bag that is equally (if not more) stylish and easier to match with your fashion outfits.

This is a must-have whenever you bring baby out. It is important to look for one that is waterproof and with many compartments inside so that you can fit all the diapers, milk bottles, baby wipes, baby towels, change of clothes, etc.

Price: $11.15
Link: here

*** Sponsored message below ***

SGShop is celebrating its 7th birthday this August, and they've lined up tons of freebies and promotions to share with all of us, making it the perfect time for you to check out your items and save on shipping and service fees!

Key promotions that I reckon are worth taking advantage of during their birthday month:

13 - 30 August: free / agent fee capped at $17
1 - 31 August: enter the jackpot with every purchase made! There will be 3 tiers of prizes available - 7 winners get $70 coupons, 700 winners get 70% off service fees, while another 70 will get 10% off normal sea shipping!

Which option should you pick? Buy-for-Me, Ship-for-Me, or SmartShop?

Here's an easy guide to help you decide:

	Buy-for-Me	Ship-for-Me	SmartShop
If you are…	Not fluent in Mandarin and need a third-party to help liaise on your behalf Need to customize your item or enquire about features	Looking to save money on service fees Fluent in Mandarin to communicate with sellers directly on Taobao	Looking to only make payment once. Items already have estimated weights so shipping fees can be factored in right from the start. The SmartShop items are marked by the blue S logo on the top right corner of listings.
You get	Service fees includes inspection to ensure quality and spot defects	The option to add on inspection fees	No surprises in shipping fees
Ordering process	1. Order and pay for the cost of the product + Chinese domestic delivery. 2. Item arrive at SGShop warehouse in China, where it’ll be inspected and weighed for international shipping to Singapore. 3. You will then be prompted to make a second payment to SGshop for international shipping + 4 - 8% service fees + $0.98 customs clearance. 4. Opt for self-collect or home delivery at a fee. This method involves 2 – 3 rounds of payment (China-to-China, China-to-Singapore and Singapore domestic shipping).	1. Shop and pay through Taobao’s own site. 2. Enter SGShop Guangzhou warehouse address as the delivery destination. 3. Submit your order details with the relevant information such as the Taobao order ID and delivery tracking number on SGshop’s website 4. When the items arrive at SGShop warehouse, they will be weighed to calculate the shipping cost. You will then be prompted to make payment to SGshop for the shipping from China to Singapore + $0.98 customs clearance. 5. Opt for self-collect or home delivery at a fee.	1. Browse under the Smartshop Featured Items tab here. 2. Add to cart and check out. 3. Make payment, which includes product price and international shipping. 4. Choose the collection or delivery method once items have arrived in Singapore.

If you're a first-time user, here are some promo codes I've consolidated for you to take advantage of:

Click here for $5 free via my referral code (with no minimum spending!)
"WELCOME50" for 50% off service fees
"SGBUDGETBABE10" for 10% off economy air shipping

Have fun shopping!

Disclaimer: The bottom portion is a sponsored message by SGShop to get the word out about their services. All reviews and recommendations above are that of my own and sourced through my own time browsing and shopping online. I've been a satisfied customer of SGShop since I've started using them many years ago, and have previously shared about how their customer and warehouse team was a big help when it came to customizing my wedding gown and other items.

If you use my referral code for $5 free, I'll get $5 too! :) you can also share your own referral code with your friends and family afterwards so each of you get $5!

Do also note that all of the Taobao items above are sourced by myself over the past few months and were not recommended by SGShop. If you've any more great Taobao finds to share with fellow parents in Singapore, please feel free to leave me a comment below with the links and I'll be happy to look at adding them to this list!

With love,

Budget Babe

Becoming first-time parents sure comes with lots of stuff (and costs) to think about. One of the key concerns we had was whether we ought to store our baby's cord blood - our gynae and relatives were for it, but the sentiments online were mixed.

We've always heard that storing a baby's cord blood was expensive, but when we enquired, the costs were honestly much lower than what we expected. At just $5,000+ to store our baby's cord blood for 21 years, that works out to be less than $20 a month - even lesser than what we pay for (financial) insurance!

Image credits

Stem cells have the immense potential to treat cancers and blood disorders, and have shown promising results thus far in many clinical trials which are ongoing for regenerative therapies. This is largely due to their unique ability to transform into specialized cells which are able to perpetually create more copies of themselves.

At present, over 35,000 cord blood transplants have already been performed around the world to treat various diseases. In fact, I see it as a form of insurance (like what I told my husband when trying to convince him that the cost was worth it), except that it is even better than typical (financial) insurance because whereas those can only cover or offset costs, this form of biological insurance has the potential to treat and cure the condition!

When we asked around, it turned out that most Singaporean parents choose either to:
- store with a private bank
- donate it to the public bank
- discard it entirely (what a waste!)

However, our journey towards deciding whether to bank our child's cord blood (and later on, WHICH company to choose) wasn't as straightforward as we thought it would be.

We met up individually with the sales representatives of Cordlife, Stemcord and Cryoviva, and even spoke to Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB), but received such conflicting advice that we were honestly stumped whether or not to privately store or donate it. It didn't help that when we asked around, there were many who shared that they donated their baby's cord blood to SCBB instead of choosing to store it privately.

But when I dug further, it turned out that SCBB rejects most of the donated samples. Read more here on why I didn't think donating my baby's cord blood to SCBB was a good idea after speaking with SCBB, Cryoviva, Stemcord and Cordlife.

This article also provides another point of view that encapsulates ours. This line really resonated with me:

Why pay a few thousand dollars to privately bank your baby’s cord blood when you can donate it for free to a public cord blood registry? If your child ever gets sick, you can just look for a “match” in the public registry and it should be there, right? Wrong.

Wait, isn't cord blood banking a scam?!

After spending weeks researching on this issue, I most certainly do not think so.

Science and technology has developed so much such that today, stem cells from cord blood has been proven useful in the treatment over over 80 diseases. The figure was less than half just a decade ago. With over 800+ clinical trials ongoing around the world, and as scientists continue to find new ways of using stem cells for treatment, just imagine how much more potential we could discover in the near future. Some new areas where research into cord blood stem cells is currently being done include brain injury, juvenile diabetes, cerebral palsy, congenital heart defects, hearing loss, liver disease, spinal cord injury, and more.

The umbilical cord blood and lining contains three types of stem cells - haematopoietic, epithelial and mesenchymal stem cells - which have shown immense potential in not just treating various diseases, but also aiding the repair of injured tissues and organs.

Of course, it is still fairly early days, but the cord blood banks are already saving lives (SCBB and Cordlife have had many cases of successful transplants) and as research continues, it is very likely that in the future, more ways of using cord blood to treat more diseases may be found. Don't forget that these undifferentiated cells contain a powerful ability to specialise into different cell types, which is where their promise of treating diseases lie in.

The science is exciting! Who knows what the future will bring, and what more we will discover? I don't want to have to rule out the possibility for my child and my family just because we decided not to bank it to save a few thousand bucks - like what my husband said, he'll rather forgo one family holiday and spend the money where it matters...for health.

Can't stem cells be used from other sources aside from cord blood?

Indeed, haematopoetic stem cells can also be obtained from the adult bone marrow, but not all transplants work out either. On the other hand, cord blood stem cells require a less stringent HLA matching compared to bone marrow stem cells, and also a lower risk of developing graft vs. host disease.

The cost is also significantly different - it can cost up to $64,000 to procure a matching unit for bone marrow or public cord blood banks (or up to $40k provided you're lucky enough to find a match in SCBB locally), whereas it costs nothing if you had banked it privately for your own family's use.

Should I store just the cord blood, or the cord tissue as well?

This was another difficult decision we had to make, because it meant paying more if we wanted to store more than just the cord blood stem cells. So I did more research and spent hours on Google Scholar to understand more about the three types:

	Haematopoietic stem cells	Epithelial stem cells	Mesenchymal stem cells
Can differentiate into…	Healthy red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets	The soft tissues that connect, support or surround certain structures or organs in our body including the lining of the cornea, skin and liver	Structural tissues - bone, cartilage, muscle, fibrous tissues, and fat.
Can be used to treat	Blood diseases or cancers such as leukaemia, immune-deficiencies, metabolic disorders, refractory anaemia, tumors, bone marrow failure, etc.	Soft tissue repair (eg. diabetic surface ulcers, burns on skins), organ lining regeneration (liver, pancreatic or gastrointestinal lining), and even eye (to replace cornea membrane)	Tissue repair (eg. in stroke patients, heart failure, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, repair of the bone, catrilage and/or tendon, liver failure), immune modulation (HIV, type 1 diabetes, Graft vs. host disease)
Source	Cord blood	Cord lining	Cord tissue (Wharton’s jelly)

Some other common concerns we found online (on Hardwarezone forums) were:

1. During labour, if the gynae missed something and the cord blood is not sterile, it will be rejected and you will still need to pay --> this is not true, as there is no payment if your cord blood is not viable for storage.

2. Why not donate it to the cord blood bank which is free, and you'll get the cord blood within one year if you need it? --> This is not entirely true as it may have already been discarded (without your knowledge!) or used by someone else. Read what I discovered about SCBB here.

3. If you do not have hereditary blood problems, chances are, you will not need it --> not true, as certain blood disorders develop as a result of the environment. Moreover, if one's blood condition is hereditary, then all the more their cord blood will NOT be suitable for usage, since it would have already contained the genetic defect anyway!

4. They are so freaking expensive...they use the fear of humans to make them sign up --> "expensive" certainly is a subjective term, but for as low as $19 a month, if you can afford it, I think it is a small price to pay for such biological insurance. Even my monthly premiums for hospitalisation insurance costs wayyyy more than that, and my ISP cannot treat me (it can only waive off my financial bills), whereas cord stem cells offer me at least a chance of treatment or even a cure!

If you can afford to go on holiday or spend on expensive tuition for your kids, I believe one can most definitely afford to do cord blood banking.

All in all, I do NOT think cord blood banking is a scam at all, and in fact, after spending hours researching on whether to store or even donate, I'm even more sure that for any parents who can afford it, private cord blood banking is the way to go.

The last thing you'll want is (lest anything happens in the future) for you to have looked back in regret and think, if only I had banked my child's cord blood!

I know I don't want to have, or live with, that sort of regret.

Next up, I'll be comparing between the different options and plans for cord banking in Singapore!

With love,
Budget Babe

If you're not hacking the credit card game in Singapore to get free cash (back) or miles for money that you're already spending, it is about time you got on the bandwagon.

Image Credits

I'm a huge advocate of credit cards because the way I see it, it is akin to someone coming up to you and giving you freebies (whether in the form of free cash or flight credits) on money that you're already spending anyway. Of course, just remember to pay off your bills on time, because late fees on overdue credit card payments and compound interest are one of the nastiest things ever!

Whether you prefer cold, hard cash or air miles, your best strategy is to find a card that works for you. I'll cover some of them here:

For those who want CASH BACK

First, read this free guidebook to the best credit cards in Singapore which I've written just a few months ago and compare amongst the different cashback credit cards to find what works the best for your lifestyle and current spending habits. For instance,

If you dine out and pump petrol often, the Citi Cash Back Card might just be the best fit for you.
Want a high cashback rate without any minimum monthly spend? Try the HSBC Advance Card (and get an additional 1% cashback if you're already banking with them).
Need one for your spending on public transport and groceries? The Citibank SMRT Card is the only cashback card that rewards you for travelling on the MRT or buses.
Which credit card(s) should you use for your wedding purchases?
Got a big ticket spend coming up, such as your wedding or house renovation? Make sure you have either the AMEX True Cashback Card or Standard Chartered's Unlimited Cashback Card. I've reviewed both of them side-by-side in this previous post here as well.

Next, select and sign up for the cards that fit you the best while maximising the welcome gifts. While there are often different sign-up bonuses offered by the banks, my personal preference is to always go through SingSaver instead because I get more rewards that way as their model involves sharing the affiliate costs with the user (aka you and me).

This is in contrast to when you sign up with the salesperson at a bank or a roadshow, because the salesperson gets a cash commission of $60 or up for every successful application, and obviously none of that incentive goes to you (now you know why they can be so persistent sometimes!). Having said that, I'm not adverse to signing up at roadshows if the incentive is good enough (such as a free Samsonite luggage, etc)!

Make sure you compare and shop around to get the best credit card rewards for your welcome gift! There are some compelling promotions ongoing right now, such as:

American Express True Cashback Card : get $150 cash and enjoy 3% bonus cashback for your first 6 months. Perfect for newly-engaged couples who are about to pay their wedding vendors, or couples with housing renovations due!
Standard Chartered's Unlimited Cashback Card: get $150 cash upfront if you're a new customer, $50 if you're an existing SC user
Citibank SMRT Card and Citi Cash Back Card: get $150 NTUC vouchers upfront!

HSBC Advance Card : get $150 cash for new customers, or $100 if you're already an existing customer

Once you've received your credit card(s) and the welcome rewards, if you need a tool to help you track and remember which cashback credit card to swipe for which category, try this free SGBB Cashback App - which I developed with fellow readers as a passion side project to manage multiple cashback credit cards and stay on top of the game! It is available for both iPhone and Android users, and no, I really don't get a single cent (nor your personal data, since none is collected nor asked from you) from this whether you decide to use it or not!

For those who want MILES

If you prefer collecting miles so that you can redeem free flights for your next holiday instead, I've reviewed some of the best miles credit cards in a previous post here with my friend, the MileLion.

Did you know that you can also bypass the exclusion clauses which dictate that you cannot earn miles for mandatory spending on your insurance and income tax? Through this nifty hack called CardUp, you can actually clock miles for paying off these bills that you cannot run away from and never got to enjoy any rewards on previously!

I'm by no means a miles expert, but as a general rule of thumb I look out for miles credit cards that do not require any minimum spend each month + offer a rate that's at least 1.2 miles per $1 spent locally. That's why I'm not the biggest fan of the Standard Chartered Visa Infinite Card, which only gives you 1.4 mpd IF you spend the minimum of $2000...otherwise, be prepared to get only $1 mpd realistically.

Instead, I prefer the the following miles credit cards:

Maybank Horizon Visa : 3.2 miles for each $1 spent on dining, petrol, taxi fares and Agoda hotel bookings
UOB PRVI Miles : 1.4 miles per $1 spent, with no minimum monthly spend or max. cap on miles earned, making it perfect as a general spending card
Citi PremierMiles : for its generous welcome bonus of 30,000 miles and 1.2 miles per $1 spent locally. Also get $150 of NTUC vouchers upfront.
American Express Krisflyer Ascend : gives you 3.2 miles for every $1 spend on Grab rides (max. $200 per month), making it the best miles card for this category. Also get $150 cash upfront when you apply!

I generally ignore the cards for overseas spending, because as attractive as 3 mpd (on SC Visa Infinite) sounds, that comes with a hefty 3.5% foreign exchange fee. No thanks, I'd rather use my DBS Multi-Currency Account for such overseas spending instead.

So go on and compare, and make sure you get on the credit card bandwagon for its world of free cash, welcome gifts and air miles! There's a lot more benefits to be claimed for money you're already spending, so don't stick to cash payments or you'll be missing out on all of these.

Just don't forget to pay off your credit card bills on time ;)

With love,

Budget Babe

PM Lee shared some tips during his NDP Rally Speech this year (2018). While I applaud the government for some of their initiatives - Medishield Life and CareShield - which I find are fantastic improvements, many of the tips that our dear PM shared didn't seem to be particularly useful for middle-income households like mine.

Here's a summary of PM Lee's tips:

To save money on utilities:

Be mindful of water and electricity usage
For lower income families, U-Save rebates are provided to help offset some of the costs

To save on mobile phone expenses:

Watch your data usage and download using home Wi-Fi instead of 4G
Tap on Wireless@SG when it is available outside

To save on infant milk formula

Breastfeed
All infant formulas sold in Singapore meets the nutritional needs of the children and brands should not matter

For cheaper food options

Look for economical options. Stalls in new hawker centres will offer one option priced at $3 or less.

While all these tips are fine and dandy, I can't help but feel many of these are quite...redundant? It is either stuff that we already know, or oversimplified such that it doesn't address other costs involved. And all that talk about households having only had one land line ($8 / month) vs. today where every family member owns a smartphone was quite redundant, because it isn't as though we can go back to living like a dinosaur!

Since I belong to the middle-income household range (where CHAS and other subsidies don't really help us much), we need to find other ways to cut down on expenses and cope with costs of living instead.

Here's SG Budget Babe's tips instead for the middle-income sandwiched generation:

To save money on utilities:

Switch to energy-efficient appliances such as LED light bulbs.
Install curtains and dark blinds to block the sunlight and heat, keeping your house cooler.
Set your air-con to switch off after a few hours and your fan to switch on thereafter, in order to circulate the cold air around the room for the rest of the night after you've fallen asleep.
Store hot water in a thermos flask instead of reboiling it multiple times a day.
Take shorter showers. Brush your teeth with a cup of water instead of letting the water run.

To save on mobile phone expenses:

Switch to a SIM-only plan. I like Circles.Life, MyRepublic and Zero for their cheaper rates which typically offer more value-for-money than our 3 local incumbents.

Circles.Life has always been extremely affordable, especially if you don't need too much talktime, or can do your calls over Whatsapp.
MyRepublic currently offers the best deal, where $35 gets you 7GB and unlimited talktime every month. If you're signing up with their broadband, you get another 3GB on top of the 7GB!

Don't go for the newest phone models, which typically are hyped up and cost a lot more. See if you can buy off Carousell instead, or get an older model from an Ah Beng mobile phone shop.

Want an iPhone? Then be prepared to fork out over $1000 for it, in which case you're not entitled to complain about how expensive mobile phones are anymore, since you made the choice to go for a more expensive option.

To save on infant milk formula

Breastfeeding is great, but PM Lee seems to not have factored in other costs such as:

Lactation consultation sessions for when your baby is unable to latch well
Jaundice phototherapy treatments (common among Asian babies who are breastfed)
Breast pumps and parts (especially for working mothers)
Breastmilk bags, bottles, cooler pads
Lactation massage (for cases of oversupply, or to clear engorged ducts)
Nipple creams (for cracked nipples, which happens quite often to breastfeeding mothers)
Milk bottles and teats, which need to be changed every few months as your baby grows (to help the mother preserve her sanity as another family member takes over some of the feeding sessions)
Steriliser - whether hot water, steam or UV steriliser
Milk boosters - fish papaya soup, fenugreek supplements, lactation cookies, etc
Calcium or post-natal supplements - so that we consume enough nutrients to produce nutritious breastmilk for our growing babies

All infant formulas sold in Singapore meets the nutritional needs of the children and brands should not matter

I'd rather say to go for the more affordable brands like Australia Gold or Aptamil, instead of the more expensive brands that are constantly advertised to us.
After your kid turns one years of age, you can switch them to goat or cow milk, which is still cheaper than formula milk.

Buy from Malaysia (at your own risk).

I would also like to add to our dear PM Lee that infant milk formula is not the most expensive cost for many of us parents - have you seen the costs of infantcare?! At $1000 and up a month, that is WAY more than what milk powder will cost us, and what worries us more.

Being a SAHM (stay at home mother) is also not always an option for some families, considering how the rising costs of living has made a dual-income household almost mandatory in order for most people to be able to cope. In my household, all 4 of us work (includes my in-laws, who intend to work until they hit retirement age or until no one is willing to hire them anymore) in order to keep up!

For cheaper food options

Eat hawker food (but don't keep going for the hipster ones, DUH) and avoid cafes or restaurants if you cannot afford it.
Cut down on snacks and drinks outside.

Try tracking how much your snacks and bubble tea is costing you and you'll be surprised. I realised this after tracking every one of my expenses, and found that my snacks cost almost as much as my hawker meals sometimes!

Make your own meals at home and prep them to bring to work. Even better, share with a colleague and take turns cooking!

Other tips

Make sure you park your cash in a high-yield bank savings account.

Don't settle for a meagre 0.05% p.a. interest rate anymore, please.

Up your credit card game and utilise cashback cards to the fullest.

Read the Ultimate Cashback Guidebook and compare among the best cashback credit cards in Singapore here! Use the free SGBB Cashback App to manage and track the rewards among your different cards.

Download and shop around on apps for coupons and deals.

Fuzzie: cashback app
The Entertainer: 2-for-1 deals
Eatigo: 50% off during non-peak hours
Mileslife: get free miles on top of your cashback when you connect to a cashback credit card for payments

DIY your morning coffee; skip alcohol and cigarettes.

Starbucks = $7, kopi at the coffee shop - $1.30, but DIY = $7 coffee powder a month
Clubbing and alcohol at pubs / bars are expensive. If you really crave for alcohol, just buy from duty-free and drink at home.
Cigarettes are expensive and bad for your health. Enough said.

What other tips do you have for reducing the cost of living in Singapore?

With love,

Budget Babe

It can be really mind-boggling as a first-time parent to figure out what's necessary and what baby items are good-to-have. After all, we're constantly being flooded by ads online and by Instagram influencers, all of whom seem to say that pretty much everything is a must-have!

Instead, I turned to the helpful community of Dayre mummies for advice, and consolidated our own version of a truly Minimalistic Baby Essentials Checklist that we'll be using:

Image credits

In this list, I also share where I chose to get many of my baby items from, and there are plenty of ways that one can get for free or at a reduced price if you're savvy enough to know where to look. I started my search on Mothercare, but didn't end up purchasing any from it in the end as I found cheaper substitutes elsewhere - Qoo10, Carousell and Taobao were my go-to places for value purchases!

Item	Price	Source
3-in-1 Baby crib	$110	Taobao
Baby bath tub	Free	Mount Alvernia Hospital
Baby bathing net	$4	Taobao
Breast pump set	$100	Spectra S1 (pump was second-hand from friends, parts were from Qoo10)
Breastmilk storage bags	Free	Goodie bag from attending Cordlife pregnancy conference
Milk bottles x 3	Free	Goodie bag from attending Cordlife pregnancy conference & gifted by AXA's Know Your Planner
UV Sterilizer	Free	Free from Cordlife package
Bottle warmer	$12	Carousell (second-hand)
Baby clothes*	$140	Taobao, Primark (London) and friends
Diapers (70 pcs)	Free	Free samples by requesting from Merries, Goons, Huggies, Drypers, Mamy-Poko and from other baby goodie bags by insurance agencies. Also from NTUC Good Start Bundle.
Baby wet wipes	$10	Cloversoft, Pee-Ka-Poo & NTUC Good Start Bundle
Waterproof changing mat	Free	Goodie bag from attending Cordlife pregnancy conference
Ruyi / Eucalyptus oil	Free	Goodie bag from Mighty Sprouts
Car seat	$120	Baby fair
Stroller	$55	Taobao
Baby carrier	Free	Gifted by a friend / also a free gift with Aviva's MyMaternityPlan
Nail clippers	Free	Goodie bag from Mighty Sprouts
Baby soap	Free	Goodie bag from Mighty Sprouts
Nursing cover	Free	Goodie bag from Nestle (request online)
Baby towels	$10	Taobao
Waterproof mattress protector	$10	Taobao
Nursing bras (5 pcs)	$25	Qoo10
Diaper bag	$13	Taobao
Crib Storage Organiser	$18	Taobao
Nursing pillow	$13	Taobao
Diaper & nipple cream	$20	Blended
Breast pads	Free	Goodie bag from attending Cordlife and TMC pregnancy conference
TOTAL COSTS	$660	-

Feel free to build on this list or make more suggestions in the comments below if you think there's anything else I've missed out on!

How many baby clothes to prepare?

*For baby clothes, we bought:
- 8 x newborn rompers
- 6 x 3 months old rompers
- 2 x newborn mittens
- 4 x pajamas
- 4 x socks
- 5 x bibs ($3 from Carousell, and 2 were free from goodie bags)

I didn't go overboard on buying baby clothes because my mother-in-law said that friends and relatives would probably gift them to us when they visit us and the newborn baby, and she's usually right so we're taking her word for it. Otherwise, if you're not too fussy, preloved baby clothes would be a good alternative too as they're usually softer, and your baby will outgrow them in no time anyway!

We're trying to hold back on buying too many baby clothes because the mileage for them isn't great, but at the same time, we want to have some to dress baby up and take nice photos for memory sake as well! Do balance this out according to your budget and affordability.

Preparing for a baby sure isn't cheap, and we've yet to factor in the full costs of diapers which we intend to get after our son is born so that we can assess which is a better fit for his size. Considering most newborns use 8 - 10 diapers a day, this should set us back by about $50 - $60 each month.

(At least in the first few months, we do not intend to use cloth diapers because there'll also be water and electricity costs anyway, and we foresee that we won't have enough energy to wash them then.)

The NTUC Good Start Bundle

If you don't already know, there's another initiative that all new parents HAVE got to know about - the NTUC Good Start Bundle!

As long as your baby is born between 2016 - 2019, you're eligible to redeem your free bundle! This is specially curated by NTUC and its 8 social enterprises, and I've personally had my eye on this ever since my friends at Dollars & Sense told me about it.

Here's my bundle :D

What's in the bundle?
Over $300 worth of essentials and benefits to help you and your newborn cope with this major change in your life:

NTUC FairPrice "FairMily Kit" - contains $100 worth of groceries for your baby and family, such as infant formula milk powder, baby wet wipes, diapers, baby toiletries and more. The oats are also great milk boosters for mothers who will be breastfeeding your babies!
Free 1-year health insurance coverage for your newborn - this is a Medisave-approved Integrated Shield Plan administered by NTUC Income and worth up to $205 (excluding MediShield Life premiums). You can choose between the Standard or Enhanced Plan, which will help pay for hospitalisation costs incurred. There are also options to include additional riders for a daily hospital cash benefit or a child illness rider to protect your baby's well-being, if you'll like.

P.S. I know I've mentioned previously that hospitalisation insurance is the FIRST plan you need to get once your child is born, but instead of having 2 health insurance policies running at the same time, you might as well save on premiums during the first year through this initiative! However, if you've already kanchiong spider and bought one of NTUC IncomeShield Standard/Enhanced plans for your baby prior to signing up for this Good Start Bundle, don't worry, you'll still get to enjoy automatic waiver of your second-year premiums.
Free Plus! cards for non Plus! members - for parents to earn LinkPoints on your daily and baby essentials at over 1100 outlets.
Complimentary playtime entry to The Little Skool-House Early Literacy Centre - bond with your child on Thursdays for free at the centre and partake in the different activities catered for children from 0 - 3 years old. Worth $180, all you need to do is to make an appointment with ELC by calling 6585 5292 or email elc@littleskoolhouse.com in advance, and that's it! I intend to bring our son here to play very soon :)
Early Experiences Matter : Parent-Child Activity Book - by NTUC First Campus and worth $15, when you attend any of PA's Embracing PArenthood celebratory events held in all constituencies in Singapore (just pick the one nearest to you!)

I really like this activity book as it gave me some great ideas on how to cut costs further and DIY my own activities with my child in his early formative years - including wind streamers, sock puppets, DIY crib mobile, jigsaw puzzles, and more! Will post more on that when I get down to making them :P

With so much goodies inside, I bet you won't want to miss out on this one.

To redeem your own free bundle, head over here to register!

With love,
Budget Babe

Would you give up on your own retirement plan to fund your child's education? Apparently, 90% of Singaporean parents would.

I belong to the 10% who will NOT, but before you slam me for being selfish or a bad parent, hear me out first.

If I fail to plan for my own retirement - which includes living expenses and healthcare costs - this burden will eventually fall onto my child. And that's not being fair to him.

Being in a situation today where my husband and I are limited by the choices we can make precisely because our parents did not plan and take care of their own retirement, I'm well familiar with the stress and emotional burden that comes when we're stuck between our parents and our future. It is not something I would wish upon my child.

You see, my parents (and my in-laws) didn't adequately plan for their retirement, and as a result,

They didn't buy private hospitalisation or critical illness insurance
They did not save up cash for their retirement expenses (or at least buy an annuity plan)
They do not have sufficient CPF to rely upon for their retirement monies (my in-laws were mostly self-employed)

And due to old age and pre-existing conditions, it is far too late to get insurance coverage now.

We're very cognizant of the fact that we have 5 dependents relying on us for their retirement. And as a result of our parents' decisions, we've had to make some sacrifices in return - this year, we had to give up on our plan to buy our own house because there's no way we can afford to have two big-ticket items in a single year.

It was a choice between paying for mortgage, or paying to support a baby (our pregnancy expenses aren't cheap either).

Obviously, we went with the latter upon finding out I was pregnant.

And apparently, I'm not the only one. According to a recent news article here, 92% of Singaporean youths do not feel confident about supporting their parents financially as well. The infographic provides a few key points which I wanted to discuss as well:

It was surprising for me to learn that 90% of parents said they would give up their retirement savings for their children's needs. As loving as this gesture may seem, there is a hidden cost down the road that I feel many parents may not take into consideration when they're this self-sacrificial : they end up putting the burden of funding their retirement onto their children.

I say this because this is the situation my husband and I face today. He's an only child and his parents have no retirement cash savings, as they lovingly gave him the best and today, they live paycheck-to-paycheck. I'm the eldest child of two and my parents are in a similar situation, because they failed to plan for their retirement. Today, I face the stress of being my parents' retirement fund.

Are YOU your parents' retirement plan?

Are your kids YOUR future retirement plan?

It is time we changed that.

As parents, it is understandable that we would want to give our child the best, often at the expense of our own.

But as the saying goes, blood runs thicker than water.

If parents do not plan for their own retirement, the burden of retirement expenses will eventually fall back onto their children, thus limiting the choices they can make for their own life (due to limited monetary resources). Will CPF Life payouts be enough? I highly doubt so, for it is only meant as a basic safety net. With cost of living and healthcare going up, you'll be fine if you're healthy even in old age, but damned if you're not and have no spare cash to pay the bills.

Guess who will have to pay the hospital / healthcare bills and living expenses for retirement then?

That's right, your children.

This is the plight that our sandwiched generation face : having to split our resources between caring for our parents and our own children. And at the rate our wages are increasing (I'm being sarcastic), how can we keep up?

With love,
Budget Babe

If you've ever wondered about the cryptocurrency world, or how to teach the concept to a newbie, there's now a new game in the market to help you.

Developed by none other than the guys behind Capital Gains Studio (yes, the same folks behind Wongamania and Debtzilla), I was recently invited to play the game and LOVED it.

This is one game I'll use to teach my friends about cryptocurrencies and how they work in the real world. There's just so much information out there that it can be really confusing, and many get so intimidated that they don't know where to start. Not anymore!

This game introduces beginners to the basic concepts of mining, trading and market manipulation that is so often rampant in the cryptocurrency world. And, just like how the flow cryptocurrencies is completely transparent and traceable (unless you use privacy coins) on the blockchain, you'll also be able to see what coins the other players hold, and what strategy they're leveraging in order to try to win.

Want to go on the offense? Try sabotaging their coins. Or you can also take the defensive route and protect your own coins instead while you build up your assets in that particular cryptocurrency. Just be careful that someone else doesn't manipulate it such that it becomes a scam coin at the end of the game, which will make your wealth worthless!

During the game that I played with 3 other players, each of us picked vastly different strategies. It was interesting to see how even someone who had played the game before didn't really have much of an edge against the rest, because you can't really control the events that happen in the cryptocurrency (game) world and the game dynamics each time is always different.

Our game of 4 players saw:

1. A powerful miner

2. A bad luck miner 😂

3. A gambler / trader

4. Me!

One picked the mining strategy and assembled a team of technological experts to help her increase her odds of success. A successful mining exercise will reward you with cryptocurrencies and transaction fees, while a failed attempt gives you nothing. And just like in the real world of crypto, mining gets more difficult over time as more people choose to mine that coin.

Another took the trading route, where he manipulated the market to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. With every 4 units bought or sold, the price gets pushed up or down respectively. This mimics the real-world action of folks whom we call "whales", who manipulate the market prices as well due to the substantial volume they can take up (or let go). You can read more about whales and price manipulation in the crypto markets here.

Lastly, we also had the rumours, which all of us engaged in. As I've highlighted before, rumour mongering is extremely common in cryptocurrencies, and that's why there are so many people falling for scam coins aplenty (some of which I've exposed on this blog before). In the game, we had the chance to deploy one open or hidden rumour card on each crypto coin, and the race was on to make a particular coin become THE scam coin of the game so that the player who HODL (held on for dear life) onto the coin would lose money.

Here's my winning shot!

There's no winning strategy per se, because even my strategy was part luck and part skill. As mentioned, luck and events play a huge role in this game, so it is hard to have full control all the time! Adapting as the circumstances change would be key (and that's another crucial skill to have in the real-life crypto world as well).

I personally used a combination of mining (where I got quite lucky), traded somewhat, and also manipulated the market with the rumour cards that I put out. At one point, flush with cash, I also employed the whales strategy and moved the prices with my buying and selling.

If When I get to play this game again, I'd want to try out the other strategies as well and try winning on them!

Our table shot.

If you're looking for a fun and light-hearted way to learn about the new economy of cryptocurrencies, this board game would be perfect. My only gripe is that given the level of the concepts being taught, the makers seem to be aiming a little too high when they say this game was designed to be suitable from secondary school level and up, because I feel as though it'll be too hard for them to grasp.

All in all, I had great fun playing this game, and would recommend it to anyone who's curious to learn more about cryptocurrencies in general. I'll also be using this game to teach my kid once he's a little older, because I've also bought Bitcoin for him as part of his inheritance portfolio 😂

Support Cryptocurrency the board game on Kickstarter here!

The game has already been fully funded with minimal marketing, and even before I was done with this blog post, so I guess you'll soon be seeing it sold in retail stores at its full price of $39. This is your best chance to get it at a discount while they're still in Kickstarter stage! There's only 10 days left till the project ends.

I've already backed it at the highest tier and am excited to receive my copy (although it'll coincide with my expected labour date, LOL). What about you? :)

P.S. Not sponsored to write this review, but am doing so because I genuinely enjoyed the games created by Capital Gains Studio since 2015 when Wongamania was first launched! This game was no exception, and I'm happy to support them once more with my own money backing the project. All opinions expressed are of my own.

With love,

Budget Babe

Sometimes when you give your children your all (leaving barely anything for yourself), this act of love may end up becoming their biggest burden later on in life.

I absolutely loved this heartwarming ad by NTUC Income which recently went viral over the weekend. Not only could I relate to it, I also agreed fervently with the key message of the video that perhaps the best gift parents can give to their children is a good retirement plan for themselves (be it through savings, insurance, annuities, or any other means).

In the video, the groom laments about how his parents (seemed like) the "worst parents in the world" when they didn't send him for the piano lessons or overseas trips that his friends were going on.

He then goes on to acknowledge that had his parents given him everything he wanted back then, he wouldn't have everything he had now.

By juggling between spending money on him and saving up for their retirement, his parents' foresight and planning now allowed him and his bride to focus on the steps they wish to take in their new life together.

This ad really struck a chord with me because I've been feeling the burden of being my parents' retirement fund ever since I started working, as I've detailed here in my previous article.

The other thing I've realised while growing up is that what I used to want as a child...may not necessarily been what I really needed. Like the lead in the video, I longed for piano lessons (and ballet!) when I was younger, but my mom whisked me off to enrichment classes instead. I complained when my friends got to go on annual holidays whereas my family didn't (the furthest we'd been was to Malaysia!), but now looking back, I really didn't need them as much as I thought I did back then.

I used to think my parents were also "bad" parents, but now that I'm older (and a little wiser), I realise they brought me up pretty decently after all. Through their own ways of parenting (which admittedly wasn't as "lavish" or "pampered" as many of my classmates), they enabled me to learn about thrift, hard work, independence, grit, and many more.

But one thing that differs in the video from my situation? My parents didn't properly plan for their retirement. Neither did my in-laws. And as such, this is where our stress of having to divide our dual income among five dependents (or perhaps six, as we're hoping to have a second kid in a few years time).

If you fail to plan for your own retirement, you're putting the burden onto your children in the future, and that limits their life choices.

I quote from another reader who shared with me her story:

"I could have walked so many different paths in my early life if it was not because I worried about a stable income to support my parents."

As someone whose parents weren't financially savvy enough and didn't plan for their own retirement, I'm under tremendous stress today, and I most certainly don't want my child to have to go through the same in the future. That's why my husband and I are working towards financial independence, so we don't have to rely on our child(ren) as our retirement plan and support in the future. That way, they'll be free to pursue their own life choices.

Want to start your own business but ain't so sure if you'll succeed? Go ahead and try; don't worry about having to find a job that pays you a regular salary because we're fine and can fend for ourselves.

Want to go abroad to pursue bigger career opportunities? Go ahead, but just remember to Skype us regularly.

So please, get insured and make sure you save up for your own retirement.

Do it for your children, if not for yourself.

With love,
Budget Babe

This is a follow-up post to my previous article here on whether cord blood banking is necessary, and one that has been highly requested by many of you who can't decide whether to donate or store your baby's cord blood privately.

(Please don't ever discard it - it is a huge waste of resources that could have otherwise been used to save someone else's life or even just to do further clinical research on.)

Image credits

This is a pretty debatable issue and there's a wide range of opinions on this topic. While my gynae encouraged it, I've also heard from readers who believe that it'll be better to donate rather than to pay a fee to store one's baby cord blood privately.

Feeling lost, I turned to the ever-supportive community of mummies on Dayre (#dayremummies), and sought their advice on what they had chosen to do for their child(ren) when they were born. Some said they banked it privately (most mentioned they did it with Cordlife), but a significant number also told me that they chose to donate their baby's cord blood to the public bank, Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB).

There is basically no charge to donors for the collection and banking of cord blood with SCBB (so you don't have to foot a single cent for the processing and cryopreservation), but as a result, it will be publicly available and no longer the property of the parents or the child.

The reasons many mummies gave for preferring to donate (instead of storing it privately) were:

1. If your child develops a genetic disease, it is unlikely that you can use the cord blood cells anyway since those stem cells will also contain the same genetic defect.

This is somewhat true, but not all conditions that can be treated with hematopoietic stem cells are due to genetic reasons. For instance, while some diseases may indeed be inherited, not all cases are due to genetic disorders either even for the same type of disease (such as leukemia and lupus, etc). Here's some cases locally in Singapore where the child's own cord stem cells, stored at birth, came into usefulness for treatment later despite him being born with cerebral palsy. Internationally, there are more of such cases, including here (acquired brain injury from a fall), here (autism) and here (neuroblastoma).

Source: Cordlife website

2. If your sample is not used by anyone else, it will be stored without you having to pay anything and you'll be put on the priority list to use it later if your need arises.

Although this is true, the problem is that there is no guarantee your cord blood stem cells will still be there when you need it, as no one knows what the future holds. The public bank is open to patients not just in Singapore, but those all around the world who are searching for a match as well. There is therefore no assurance that your cord blood unit will still be there for your family when you need it.

But take a look at this:

"SCBB manages both donors and non-donors in the same manner. If a donor's cord blood unit is still in storage at that time, it will be available for the patient who benefits most from it; this could be the donor or someone else."

"Public cord blood banks, such as the SCBB, do not reserve any cord blood units for the specific family's usage."

And because SCBB doesn't tell you whether your sample was viable for donation and storage, many parents might just be living under the false impression that their baby's cord blood is still in the public blood, only to find out much later that it was discarded years ago. I asked some of the mummies who told me they had donated their baby's cord blood to help me check if their sample was successfully accepted and still there, and these were the results:

As you can see, it seems like majority weren't successful, therefore reaffirming my belief that it might be better to store privately instead of having it go to naught like this.

3. If your sample is not viable for storage, you can also opt for SCBB's conversion program for family banking and store it privately.

This is a fairly new initiative launched by SCBB (in Feb 2018), so it wasn't available to parents who donated their newborn's cord blood previously.

Basically, SCBB has relatively high requirements - for a viable donor sample to be accepted, it needs to contain at least 1.3 billion hematopoietic stem cells. However, if the cell count falls short and your baby's cord blood gets rejected, you can also opt for their conversion program where you store it in their family bank. The minimum for this private storage will then be 400 million stem cells.

Costs wise, we spoke with SCBB and were told that it'll cost us $1,900 for the first 5 years, and $1,000 for every 5-year block thereafter. In other words, it'll cost $4,900 if we wish to store with SCBB for 20 years, which works out to be pretty much the same as what it'll cost us to bank with one of the private banks right from the start.

(I'm also in the midst of doing up a comparison table between all the three local private banks - Cordlife, Stemcord and Cryoviva - and will share that shortly once I'm done.)

Costs verified again with SCBB by another reader, shortly after I spoke with them.

Another question that I had was : is it still feasible for me to do delayed cord clamping if I donate the cord blood?

When I asked the SCBB representative as to whether delayed cord clamping could still be done in tandem with cord blood collection, she said no, as it reduces the blood volume and therefore the number of stem cells left is unlikely to be viable for donation (1.3 billion cells) and/or storage. However, the private banks told me differently, as their requirements are much lower in terms of the cell count (200 million minimum).

At the end of the day, whether one makes the decision to donate to a public cord blood bank or to store for one's private usage in the future is very much a personal choice. Aside from the reasons listed above, I see two other very compelling factors for private banking instead:

Minority groups (or those who are ethnically-mixed) have a much lower chance of finding a suitable match through public cord blood banks.
Private cord blood banking isn't that expensive vs. the cost of procuring a suitable sample from the public / worldwide database (up to $65,000!!!)

Therefore, if the price tag isn't too hefty for me to store it privately, I'd rather be guaranteed of an option for my child and my family instead of relying on the odds in the public bank, where the odds of a match is much lower. I'm currently finishing up my comparison table between the three private banks, and will share that in a subsequent post once I'm done verifying the data and facts.

At just $5,000 to store my baby's cord blood till they reach age 21 (or just under $20 a month), I honestly think that's a small price to pay for a form of insurance that not only protects, but can potentially even treat or cure the condition.

Name me any other insurance policy that does that!

With love,
Budget Babe

What should you do if you're sandwiched between your parents, your children, and your own retirement?

I've been getting this question a lot lately, thanks to the viral video that NTUC Income launched two weeks ago, and will follow up soon with what I think are some steps readers can take. However, before that, I recently came across a sharing from a reader who managed to turn things around by being proactive and getting her finances in order. She has agreed to share her story and I hope this encourages all of you to show that not all is lost:

Image credits

Background
I am an only child, with two surviving parents and a toddler daughter. I may still want to give her a sibling later on. I worry about them as well as my husband and my in-laws (my husband has siblings, but they're not financially well-off to be able to definitely foot the bills with us should anything happen).

My mother (early 60s):

Has insurance, but simply not enough savings for retirement. Most of her savings went into helping my dad stem his scary spending. Even till today, my dad still dips into my mom's savings from time to time.
She doesn't have any CPF, including in her Medisave.

My dad (mid 60s):

My dad paid for my university education in full from his CPF account, and gave me a $400 allowance every month back then.
Has no insurance.
Zero savings, except for his CPF retirement account which has a healthy $100k inside.
He also has a almost fully-paid private property which he collects a monthly rental of $2000 on.

I was my parents retirement plan.

To turn things around, I needed to make sure I have insurance for all my dependents, and then come up with a plan to fund my parents retirement through passive rental income on their properties. This was what I did.

Step 1: Bought a resale flat with my mom.
Back in the late 2000s, in order to unlock the asset value of my dad's property, I needed to get another place. The HDB rules hadn't kicked in then, and as my dad's property was entirely under his own name, my mom and I partnered to buy our own resale flat. My mother wasn't able to take a loan, so I paid for the flat entirely.

Step 2: Applied for my own 5-room BTO flat with my husband and got our keys recently.
In the early 2010s, I started thinking about how I could make sure both my parents could retire and still have their own passive income to cover their living expenses, if not more. So my husband and I rushed to get our HDB BTO flat. This way, I could give my mom the resale flat for her to earn rental from, whereas my dad can continue to earn rental from his private apartment.

We received the keys to our new BTO flat recently and moved my parents in with us. This enabled them to help care for my daughter, and be able to fully rent out both their respective properties to maximise rental income.

Step 3: My parents stopped working and now enjoy a combined income of over $4000 a month from rental.
This was only possible with prior planning and careful execution every step of the way. Now that I had sorted out a steady income stream for my parents', I still have to think about the "what ifs" and plan ahead.

Image credits

Step 4: Getting insurance for my dependents.
It is important to me that whoever can be insured, is. This was the aftermath once I had revamped my family's insurance portfolio with our agents.

My mom has:

Life insurance + savings plan (which she bought many years ago from her sister)
Personal accident insurance
Private hospitalisation plan

My dad has:

no private insurance, as he is a heart patient and was rejected from various insurers
Medishield Life is what we can only rely on

My daughter has:

Private hospitalisation plan
Personal accident insurance

My husband has:

Life insurance
Personal accident insurance
Private hospitalisation plan

I got for myself:

$50k life insurance
Investment-linked plan
2 endowment plans (15 and 25 years respectively)
Personal accident plan
Private hospitalisation plan
A pure investment plan (as I am not good and have no time to invest)
Increased my coverage by adding a $100k term plan after our daughter was born

Step 5: Getting myself insured.
As my family's only stable breadwinner (my husband's job is erratic and there are times when he does not have income, due to fluctuating demand), it was crucial for me to make sure that I don't have to worry about my parents or my daughter if I should suddenly pass on.

In total, we spend about 10% of our annual income on insurance for protection, and another 10% for my investments. Some say this is excessive, but if I could and knew how to invest well, my investments portion could be further reduced, but at this stage of my life and given circumstances, I have opted to outsource it to a trusted financial advisor (yes, I'm aware I'm paying a fee which I could eliminate if I do direct). This is my choice and preference right now.

TLDR Takeaways

Take care of your downside by outsourcing as many big-ticket financial risks as you can to the insurers, within your affordability. Get a trusted agent to do the planning for you, if needed.
If possible, come up with a plan to generate passive income for your parents' retirement. This will really help offset your burden if you constantly have an inflow of cash throughout their golden years.
Protect or boost your earned income. Work on your career progression. Get a stable job, build up side income, or generate your own passive income through investments.

I was very heartened to read of this reader's story and glad that she was willing to share it here, to show that not all is necessarily lost even if we feel like we're terribly sandwiched between generations. And even if your parents had failed to plan in the past, that doesn't mean we still cannot take steps today to try and prevent our greatest financial fears from coming true.

As long as we plan well and ahead, there might still be a way out. Hopefully this inspires you as much as it inspired me!

With love,
Budget Babe

How much should a couple have before having a baby?

While expenses differ between families (and your preferences), it is always a good idea to start saving up early while you're trying for a baby, or the moment you find out you're expecting, so that money will be the least of your worries after your baby is born because you'll have so much more to worry about when that time comes!

My husband and I wanted to make sure we were adequately prepared, so we embarked on a journey and planned out what we wanted to get ready for before our baby arrives. Here's what we did, and what I would recommend for new parents looking to to get their finances in order before your baby arrives:

1. Review your insurance policies

The first thing my husband and I did when we found out I was pregnant, was to get our family's insurance policies in order. With higher expenses ahead, we made sure we were well covered for any unexpected incidents in life through our term and hospitalisation policies, as well as that of our parents.

Also consider if you need or wish to get maternity insurance. You can check out my comparison table here, where I studied 8 different policies while evaluating for my own pregnancy. Aviva is among the cheapest with one of the most extensive coverage - covering 10 pregnancy complications and 23 congenital conditions - and is the first insurer to offer developmental delay and stem cell transplant surgery on their maternity plan. I also like that there is no health check-up required for your baby if you purchase a whole life insurance plan for them within 90 days of their birth.

Review who your dependents are and make sure you look at their insurance coverage as well, and speak to a trusted financial advisor if you need guidance. Seek a second opinion if you need to. Make sure you do NOT end up overpaying for insurance at this point, but you gotta make sure all your basic safety nets are well covered!

2. Anticipate and save up for pregnancy + delivery costs

During your pregnancy, you'll need to pay for gynae consultations, nutritional supplements, scans and various blood tests, so be prepared! On average, depending on the gynae you pick, you can expect to pay between $150 - $380 per visit. Some gynaes also offer packages in your fourth month onwards to help offset the consultation fees, so ask if that's an option.

Delivery costs will largely depend on whether you go to a public or private hospital, as well as the method of birth. I'd say to prepare for emergency situations during labour, and to save up for a C-section operation even if you're opting to go natural, because you'll never know what could happen!

Cord blood banking is another potential cost you'd want to consider, which range from $5000 - $8000 for private storage.

In some cases, babies are born premature or might have to stay for an extended period of time in the NICU for jaundice or other treatments. Make sure you get a rough estimation of those costs, and save up accordingly.

My husband and I projected $20,000 for the pregnancy and delivery, so that's how much we made sure to set aside.

3. Plan for post-delivery costs

Will you be hiring a confinement lady? If so, add another $3000 to your budget, and perhaps another $800 more for groceries. If not, will you be catering confinement food? That can cost another $1000. What about post-natal massages and herb baths? Prepare another $2000.

4. Plan for newborn hospitalisation and personal accident insurance

Get this settled within your baby's first 30 - 60 days of birth especially if you're already on a maternity insurance plan. The last thing you'll want to deal with is a newborn who needs medical treatment but you're left stark naked without any coverage. Other plans for your baby could include any of these top 5, which are commonly recommended and I've explained what they each cover here.

We are also intending to get a personal accident plan for our child as it is generally super affordable, and for less than $1 a day, the policy will cover stuff like insect bites, food poisoning, HFMD, dengue fever, Zika, measles and other infectious diseases.

5. Come up with your newborn essentials list and budget for it.

A baby crib, clothes, wash cloths, swaddle blankets, mittens, socks, plenty of diapers (newborns go through 8 a day), breastmilk bags, breast pads, nursing bras, breast pumps, formula milk, a car seat, etc... Have you gotten all of those prepared? To find the best deals and discounts, I like going to baby fairs and shopping online on sites like Qoo10 for group buys. Carousell is another great place to find new stuff that other mummies have stocked up extra on and no longer need. I've also consolidated a list of my favourite Taobao baby essentials here!

6. Plan for childcare

Who will take care of your baby while you're out, or when you return to work after your maternity leave is over? Will you be hiring a domestic helper, or will the grandparents be able to help?

7. Choose a paediatrician and check that it is within your insurance coverage

Your newborn's first visit will probably come sooner than you expect, so make sure you've already shortlisted a paediatrician in advance to save yourself the trouble and headache when the time comes. Also check with your insurance agent on how paediatrician fees will fall under your insurance network, and what can or cannot be covered.

8. Start tracking your expenses now (if you haven't already done so)

Use a tracking app like Seedly, or pick from any of the free mobile apps that you like! It is crucial that you start tracking your expenses now so you can see where your money is going to and how much you're spending, pre-baby. That way, when you continue this habit after baby has been born, it'll be easier for you to compare and figure out how much to set aside regularly now that you have an additional life to care for.

Another helpful list which I took from Aviva's website here

9. Build up your emergency fund!

As you can see, all of the above costs money, so you should probably start saving for it as soon as you can / find out you're expecting!

My husband and I projected about $20k for pregnancy and delivery, and another $20k in the first year after baby is born. As such, we put aside a buffer fund of $50k to ensure we won't be caught off-guard if anything happens.

Of course, that doesn't mean that you need to save $50k before you have a baby! Every couple and family has different needs, so do go through the above 9 steps to determine what you need and how much it'll cost you. Divide the total sum by 12 and start putting that amount aside every month. As a rough gauge, while there are many ways for you to cut down on expenses (just don't forget the insurance!), I would say $30k for a couple going the private gynae and delivery route would be a safe amount to budget. That works out to be $2500 a month to save up, or about $1000+ per person (you and your spouse).

So start early, and you'll be glad you did!

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It is no secret that I prefer cashback over miles credit cards - after all, I've also written extensively on the topic in numerous articles before, including why I'm on team cashback, the best cashback cards to get for 2018, authored the Ultimate Guidebook to the Best Cashback Tools in Singapore, went on to develop (with a reader) the SGBB Cashback App to help folks like myself manage the different cashback credit cards in our wallets.

Some people prefer miles because they see it as a way to get their holidays and flights (or even First-Class Suites, wow!) for free without spending, and there's nothing wrong with that! However, in my view, the merits of cashback over miles are quite clear:

I get cold, hard cash which I get to decide whether to save / spend / invest.
My cash can be parked in my high-yield savings account for higher interest as well, therefore literally using my money to grow more money.
Cash opens up a bigger world of opportunities for me to choose what I want to do with the money, in contrast to the limited options I get with miles redemptions (and I personally don't care much for luxurious travel experiences anyway).
My cash doesn't "expire", unlike many miles (Citi miles don't expire, though)

What I've also observed for some miles-chasers is that some are motivated to keep spending money just to reach their holiday goals of clocking up enough miles to redeem their free flights. This is a big no to me, because that's exactly what the banks and credit cards want you to do!

Any freebie should be an incentive and not something you should have to work for.

How much cashback do I earn in a year?

I don't really spend much, but as it is, I already get paid $200 - $300 in cashback every year alone since I hopped onto the cashback credit card hacking game, which I find as pretty decent bonus money!

Some cashback credit cards require minimum spending every month, which isn't too much of an issue to me either, because one trick I use is to always offer to pay the bill first and then let my friends pay me back after in cash. Most of the time, my friends are only happy to let me do that (I guess cos no one likes to take on the task of chasing for repayments haha).

Generally, my spending habits are mostly on transport, groceries, dining and entertainment. As such, I carry more than one cashback credit card to help me chalk up rebates on these purchases. If you're in a similar situation as me, here's the cards I would recommend:

Citi SMRT Platinum Visa Card
If you want a card that rewards you for travelling on public transport, this is a pretty decent card that gives you 2% for all your ez-link top-ups whereas most other cards exclude such transactions. It also gives 5% on dining (fast food and coffee) and movie entertainment purchases.

For groceries, it gives 5% for your purchases at Fairprice, Sheng Siong and Giant (but this falls to 3% if your transaction is less than $50). The minimum spend on this card is also fairly low compared to most of its peers, at just $300 a month.

Another close contender would be that of Maybank Family & Friends, which gives an even better 8% on bus, train, taxis and groceries! The caveat is that it requires a minimum spend of $500 a month but it is really only good for maximising cashback in the transport, groceries and Watsons/Guardian/Unity categories, as the cashback rate of 0.3% for dining and entertainment is nothing much to rave about. Thus, since there's no way I can hit $500 every month on just those limited categories alone, I personally eliminated this card from my choices as it doesn't fit into my lifestyle.

OCBC 365 Card
I still have my OCBC 360 savings account from when I first opened it years ago, so this card plays a dual role of giving me cashback and concurrently fulfilling the requirement for me to get bonus interest on my savings.

At 6% for dining and 3% for Grab rides, this card has been my faithful companion across both categories and for my OTC medical spend for many years.

However, their recent change has seen a revision of the monthly minimum spend go up from $600 to $800 a month, otherwise your cashback rate falls to a paltry 0.3%. I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to consistently hit that high a spend and am still trying to see if I can shift some of my family's recurring bill payments over, so I'll be monitoring the situation before deciding whether to keep or terminate this card. You should probably do the same.

Citi Cashback Visa Card
Provided you can constantly spend $888 every month.

At 8% for dining, groceries and Grab rides, this offers the best cashback across all three categories. It is overshadowed only by CIMB Visa Signature for 10% dining, and BOC Family Card for 10% dining and entertainment.

If your spouse drives, you can also offer to pay first for his/her petrol, particularly at Caltex or Shell stations where you get 20.88% cashback. This should help you meet the minimum monthly spend at the same time easily :)

Here's how the cards stack up:

More nitty gritty details that you should probably take note of:

Also don't forget to claim your exclusive gifts of Grab codes or NTUC vouchers worth $200 if you're signing up for any Citi cards via SingSaver.

How much cashback can I get?

In deciding which cashback credit card to go for, it is imperative that you must find a card that fits into your lifestyle (instead of trying hard to fit your lifestyle around the card just to qualify for the rebates!).

Judging from my past few months of expenses, I came up with the following to track which card would be the most suitable for me:

Since the minimum spend does not hit the (new) requirements for the first two cards, we'll look only at the last 2 cards, where Maybank Family & Friends comes in superior. However, you'll notice that most of the cashback is clocked up only on transport and groceries, and the $200 that you spend on dining is pretty much wasted as it could have yielded a higher cashback return elsewhere.

To avoid this, one hack would be to charge the $200 dining spend to the AMEX True Cashback Cardand STILL be able to hit your minimum spending for Citi SMRT or Maybank Family & Friends Card. Plus, AMEX is giving away upsized cashback of 3% (instead of the usual 1.5%) for the first 6 months so this helps to earn you even more cashback!

Thus, now the combination of Maybank Family & Friends + AMEX True Cashback Card proves superior, netting me $50 cashback per month in total for my existing spend. Combined with the $150 cash promotion right now, I'm effectively getting $450 cashback in total for the next 6 months alone!

Too confusing?

Alternatively, if you find it too much of a hassle to manage your different cashback cards and category spending, a great alternative I personally love would be in the SCB Unlimited Cashback Card or the AMEX True Cashback Card, which requires zero minimal spend and offers a flat 1.5% cashback across all categories. It is as fuss-free as it gets! I've also reviewed both cards previously in this post. You can also get an additional $150 in cash if you're applying for the SCB Unlimited Cashback Card during this period!

The only card better than both of them would be the Maybank FC Barcelona Visa Signature Card, which offers a marginal 0.1% more cashback for the same (lack of) requirements. My only concern is whether the latter is a promotional rate or will be here to stay for the long-term, in contrast to the former two which have been around for much longer and will probably not be slashed anytime.

So what's the best cashback card right now?

The simple answer is, it depends on YOU!

I usually compare against all the credit card promotions on SingSaver and apply for them there. In case you didn't know, the salespeople you see at roadshows trying to get you to sign a new credit card actually get a monetary commission for each successful sign-up, none of which goes to you (except for the bank's welcome gifts which they use to lure you into signing up).

I opt to bypass that by going through SingSaver, where they split these commissions that the banks pay with us consumers together with various other bank welcome gifts and incentives. My previous experiences with them have been pretty good as I've received my vouchers from them, which is why I continue to urge my friends and readers to get through them as you get more benefits!

Still too confusing? If you're like me, with multiple credit cards in your wallet which you can't remember which to swipe for the highest cashback in the respective category when you're out and about...try the SGBB Cashback App, which I developed with a reader to help overcome this problem for myself, and you guys too! :) You can download it on iTunes here and for Android here.

Remember, the BEST cashback credit card is one which fits into your lifestyle and spending habits (instead of the other way round), and also the one that you pay off every month on time ;)

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links if you'll like to get your card through SingSaver as well. All opinions are that of my own. For this post, I've personally selected the best cashback cards I feel are currently in the market for myself, and linked their respective affiliate links for you to make your own decision, especially if you have similar spending patterns as me.

With love,
Budget Babe

I think it goes without saying that the current framework and service standards in Singapore's insurance industry is SORELY lacking when it comes to addressing consumer needs. That's why many of us struggle and still don't have adequate, nor the best plans, for our needs.

In fact, when MAS conducted their mystery shopping on the insurance industry in 2011 (you can read their results announcement here, and the breakdown of the methodology here), they came to a similar conclusion too. The results were frankly quite shocking, especially when you consider that:

Most representatives obtained information on the shoppers' personal particulars and employment, but less on other factors such as investment experience / financial objective / risk preferences / financial situation

BB: Sounds to me like they just wanted to find out how much the consumer earns so they know how much they can sell -.-

Most disclosed basic information about products recommended i.e. whether it is meant for protection, savings or investments, BUT disclosures on risk / amount and frequency of fees and charges / warnings / exclusions and other caveats were omitted!

BB: Yup. No wonder this post of mine continues to do well and receive reader emails up till today. I also get regular emails from many readers asking me for help on how to read their BIs because their agents didn't bother explaining it to them. This shouldn't be happening - why are folks trusting a complete stranger (me) to ask about insurance instead of their agent?

The top three categories of products recommended were endowments, unit trusts and investment-linked life policies, which the industry panel assessed to be unsuitable.

BB: I don't like either of the three either, for reasons I've explained on this blog before. They're suitable only for a VERY select group of people, but have been grossly mis-sold to the masses in my opinion.

This needs to be changed. And although some improvements have been made since (for instance, there's a more comprehensive needs assessment survey that consumers need to filled up before purchasing any insurance policy now, but I still feel most agents I've seen do it in a very slipshod manner today just to "tick the boxes"), but if you ask me, they're still not enough.

The reason why we still don't have the best insurance plans for ourselves? I think this is due to the following 4 issues:

Current Problems in the Industry

1. Poor advice continues to be dispensed that are ill-suited to the consumer's life and financial circumstances.

2. Products with the highest agent-commissions continue to be pushed.

3. There are still glaring protection gaps left unresolved.

4. Many consumers continue to overpay for their insurance policies.

Unfortunately, I think we have a very real ticking bomb on hand, and if something is not done to address these issues soon, they will only escalate into something bigger and more painful. We consumers will pay the price.

Despite this, I'm not idealistic or naive enough to believe that everyone can and should now DIY their own insurance. If you're financially-savvy and make an effort to read up, and you're self-aware of your own needs and limitation, then there really is little need for you to go through an insurance agent (unless you just want the convenience of calling up someone for your claims when something happens).

But the sad truth is, most people aren't equipped or confident enough on these two fronts. And while I fully advocate financial literacy and self-improvement (especially so you can smell the crap that your insurance salesperson is telling you), for many people, it may be too late to wait until you're financially-savvy before you purchase insurance. This is largely due to something called exclusion clauses and pure bad luck.

You don't want crap to hit the fan only to find out you're uninsured and have to bear the financial costs yourself, do you? I was recently hospitalised for a bad fall during my third trimester of pregnancy, but thankfully because I've gotten for myself hospitalisation + personal accident + maternity insurance, I had all my grounds covered and didn't have to worry too much about my hospital bill. Otherwise, the 2 days I stayed in hospital would have easily wiped out more than a month of my salary!

But the problem is, how do you know what you DON'T know?

You trust that your agent is working in your interest, when in reality he/she might be thinking of and prioritising their livelihood instead. That's why problem #2 exists, and I've shed some light on how much commissions agents earn here previously so you understand why some products are pushed more than others.

My Experience as a DIY Consumer for Maternity Insurance - Meh!

When I was shopping around for maternity insurance previously, I realised that there was very little information when it came to quotes and benefits cover among the different insurers. As a result, I had to meet individually with agents from every single company, which took up A LOT of my time. How many consumers will go to the extent of doing the same?

(Psst, you can benefit from my hours of sweat and research though, and see the results of my efforts in this comparison table of Singapore's maternity plans here (2018 edition).

Guess what I encountered during these sessions?

Lots of hard-selling to upgraded plans, each agent claiming their product was THE best (only 2 were objective enough to admit theirs wasn't the best for what I needed) even when it wasn't, too much time wasted telling me about their expertise / credentials / MDRT status -.- and too little time properly going through the policy details and caveats, etc. I hated the experience.

Some didn't even understand how their plans compared against the other options available by their competitors! I grew frustrated when I said no to one particular tied agent, only to have him shoot me back about how I'm missing out because his plan is THE best. To shut him up, I had to justify and educate him on why his plan was NOT better than another using facts and direct comparison of features. Hello!? Who's the agent and consumer here ah?! I don't disclaim that his plan may be the best for someone else in a particular situation, but to claim that it is THE BEST among all? Oh please!

Another even had the balls to tell me I was WRONG in not wanting a tied-ILP because he generates over 30% of returns annually and consistently for his clients. Wow! Even better than Warren Buffett sia! Just take my money already!

They met a terrible consumer in me because I clearly KNEW what I needed and wanted. So I didn't fall for any of their sales pitches. But how many consumers have / would have?

The information asymmetry in the insurance space makes it hard for us consumers to really be fully educated on what our options are.

And when we don't fully know or understand our options, it is hard for us to make an informed choice.

So we rely on our financial advisor(s) for this. But how many of us have then found out that we misplaced our trust? I've trusted one too many advisors to make the right and suitable recommendations for me on many occasions, but most have only left me disappointed.

But hey, what else can we really expect from an industry that does its recruitment by saying things like:

YOU HAVE UNCAPPED INCOME POTENTIAL.
THERE'S NO LIMIT TO HOW MUCH YOU CAN EARN!
PASSIVE INCOME! EARN FOR YEARS EVEN AFTER YOU'VE SOLD!
MILLION DOLLAR ROUNDTABLE (MDRT) YO!

SEE? I've also attended insurance recruitment talks myself when I was a fresh graduate and
this is how many sell you the "dream".

Let's get one thing clear:

There is NO such thing as the BEST insurance.

Instead of looking for THE BEST, you should really be looking for "the best for you".Even among all the different Integrated Shield Plans available, there are pros and cons tagged to each. Which "pro" do you value, and which "con" do you really not want? Everyone has different needs and that's why all the different policies co-exist.

And that's why I feel financial advisors will still always be needed. While robo-advisors may help to plug the gap through a preliminary needs analysis, they still won't be able to do the human job of discerning between the qualitative factors that make one insurance policy more suitable for a client over another. Insurance is, after all, a human business.

Can I DIY My Insurance?

Sure you can! There are currently two avenues for you to do so:

CompareFIRST : founded by MAS, CASE, LIA and MoneySense in 2015, which allows you to compare quotes across different insurers for the purely-DIY customer who's savvy enough to bypass insurance agents. However, you'll have to go direct to each insurer to purchase, which can be quite a chore (and lots of paperwork!)
DIYInsurance : founded in 2014 to address the gaps in the MAS industry report. You can buy directly through them as their staff (agents) will help you through the process and paperwork. Also provides financial advice if you need additional clarifications or support, or simply want to hear a second opinion.

I've reviewed both before a few years ago on this blog as well, but have recommended DIYInsurance over CompareFIRST to many of my friends and readers because not everyone may be savvy enough to go without financial advice. And while DIYInsurance has done pretty well on several fronts, there are also areas where I think they can still improve on today.

The good:

1. You can compare among different plans and purchase directly.

Rather than having to meet with an insurance salesperson and subject myself to their hard-selling tactics, I can simply go online and check DIYInsurance's portal to estimate how much it'll cost me if I were to purchase this for myself. Once I've made my decision, I can engage one of their staff to help me through the paperwork and application process without worrying that they are going to upsell me something else.

CompareFIRST also offers this same benefit, but where CompareFirst falls short is that it couldn't offer me up to 99 years cover (I could only get quotes for up to 65 and 75 years old), I cannot buy directly through the platform, and it doesn't help to guide the clueless consumer on what to buy. I've also detailed these shortcomings here in a previous article.

2. No conflict of interest as their advisors are salary-based and not commissions-based.

And that's why they don't upsell, nor see the need to upsell. When one's livelihood is no longer pegged to the policies they sell, it allows for greater objectivity and focus on truly meeting the consumer's needs.

I can attest to this, as I mystery-shopped on their website before. Here's a previous email I exchanged with one of their advisors, which I greatly appreciated.

See the highlighted section in red? I went to them for a 99-term quote, but their advisor went above and beyond to show me for 65-years to consider as well, while at the same time informing me that I could get more bang for my buck for a higher term cover for lesser premiums as well if I wanted to. I really appreciated that.

3. They advocate what I feel are the "right" ethics.

Prior to DIY Insurance, the only folks who were publicly advocating term insurance over whole life insurance were the financial bloggers and some consumers. You'll realise that no other insurer really openly and vocally stands up for this. In fact, since 2003 when Providend started publicly advocating the merits of term insurance in local media like BT and The Straits Times (here, here and here), they were attacked by many advisors who insisted whole life was better (ha!). I've also previously shared about their e-book highlighting the difference between term and life insurance here.

I won't deny that whole life insurance still has a place for certain profiles of consumers, but I will also readily tell you that term insurance is so much better when you BTIR (buy term invest the rest) as an alternative to whole life. It is not only much cheaper (sometimes up to 10x cheaper!) but also yields better results compounded over time.

DIY Insurance sells both, but is open and transparent about your options and alternatives so you can decide for yourself (vs many agents I meet who keep pushing whole life only -.-).

But of course, there are areas where I think they need still improvement on:

1. Quotes are not exactly specific.

The parameters can still be quite limited - for instance, I could only choose up options of $200k or $300k for a death + CI quote. But as you know, many insurers offer "accelerators" or "boosters" for you to get a higher coverage during a specific term. The current platform is still far from addressing all these nitty gritty differences between policies as it is not always a straightforward comparison. This is why I still go the long route sometimes through IFAs to obtain more accurate quotes for myself to compare.

Also, many of the platform's quotes are also estimates, so the current offering doesn't fully address the issue of information asymmetry. If you want an exact quote, you'll have to reach out to their advisor to generate one for you, like I did.

2. Only insurance products (and also limited offerings).

You can purchase whole life insurance, term insurance, critical illness plans, disability income and endowment plans (for retirement and your children's education) from DIY Insurance right now, but there are still other products that I feel they can afford to add, especially when their parent company Providend offers so much more to their clients. Some examples include maternity insurance and lifelong annuity plans, just to name a few.

3. More integration of technology please.

I quite like DIY Insurance's SelfCheck tool which they launched in end 2016. You basically fill up some fields and let the tool assess your insurance shortfalls.

While this is helpful, it'll also be great if more parameters were considered like the ones I've mentioned above. And although I keyed in dependents to provide tertiary education for, I was surprised to see that no education endowment fund was suggested to me.

We already have robo-advisors for our investments. What about doing more for our insurance?

Since I know Christopher personally (CEO of Providend and DIY Insurance), I highlighted my feedback to him over lunch last week and he mentioned that they're also aware that they're not perfect. What's promising is that they've been working on a solution to address these gaps, and shared with me that at the end of the month, they'll be rebranding and doing a new launch.

I certainly hope I won't be disappointed, and you can be certain I'll review it when it comes out. I'll give credit where improvements are made, but if it's no good, I won't hesitate to criticise it either.

Let's wait and see!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by DIYInsurance, but all content and all opinions are that of my own, as you can clearly see from all my remarks scattered across the different points, ha!

With love,
Budget Babe

Hello! This is a much requested post from many of you, who contacted me in private requesting for my comparison table, so I've decided to share my findings publicly here. All data are consolidated from my individual meetings with the sales representatives across all three companies(so if there's any data that is wrong / outdated, please let me know so I can change it, but I will not be held liable for any misinformation in this table as I'm merely replicating what their sales reps told me!).

I've also previously written on whether I feel cord blood banking is necessary, and why I'm not entirely for the idea of donating it to the Singapore Cord Blood Bank (SCBB) vs. storing it privately here. I've also reviewed about how SCBB's Family Banking Initiative costs stack up against the private banks - essentially it works out to be almost pretty much the same, except that you don't get any freebies (such as $300+ UV sterilizers for baby bottles and hygiene and/or insurance, so it actually pales in comparison from a value perspective).

	Cordlife	Stemcord	Cryoviva
Accredited by MOH, AABB and FACT	✔	✗ MOH & FACT	✗ MOH-licensed only
Owns their own storage facility	A'Posh Bizhub at Yishun	100 Pasir Panjang and Tradehub 21	Jalan Pemimpin (Bishan), Mapex Building
Units stored so far	315,000	41,000	120,000 in Singapore, Thailand and India
Stores in 2 separate bags	✗	✔	✗
Quality of processing	SEPAX 2 and Smart-Max (since 2008)	SEPAX 2 (since 2012)	Unknown as their labs are extremely new (set up last year).
Years of history	17 years (since 2001)	16 years (since 2002)	4 (since 2014)
Successful transplants with its stored samples	41 cases	15 cases	None
Public company with transparent financial records for public access	✔	✗	✗
Can store cord blood, cord tissue (i.e. Wharton’s jelly) and cord lining	✔ $6,400 for cord blood + tissue (HSC and MSC cells) $9,998 for cord blood + cord lining (HSC, MSC and EpSC cells)	✗ $8,800 for cord blood + tissue (HSC and MSC cells) Not able to store cord lining.	✗ $6,850 for cord blood + tissue (HSC and MSC cells) Not able to store cord lining.
Price (cord blood storage)	$5,200	$5,500	$4,950

Our decision then essentially came down to choosing between:

Want the cheapest? Cryoviva.
Want the most flexible pricing plans with low commitment? Stemcord.
Want the one with the best track record / technology / reviews / want to store all 3 types of stem cells? Cordlife.

Each of the private cord blood banks had their pros and cons, and it was truly a hard choice to make. As parents-to-be, what we wanted was:

A trustworthy blood bank where there's no risk of contamination or losing of our samples
One with very low risk of liquidation (we don't want to have paid for 21 years of storage for nothing!)
One with the most advanced technology for processing and storing the cord components

We first eliminated Cryoviva because although it certainly was the cheapest - we were offered $4,950 after GST with a free Hanil UV steriliser - we eventually figured that we would rather pay more for a company with either FACT and/or AABB accreditation for a greater peace of mind. As Cryoviva's labs are the newest, it lacks the accreditation that the other two banks and SCBB have - they only have MOH license and ISO certification thus far, but so do the rest. (Previously, Cryoviva was renting and sharing the space with SCBB for cord blood storage.) Theirs was also the only contract which did not contain a legal clause stating that the cord blood unit will be transferred to another private bank or its equivalent if Cryoviva ever shut down, and I had to request for this legal clause to be added in instead (and it wasn't).

Stemcord was next to go. While we liked the flexibility of their price plans and the idea that they were set up by medical doctors (they're the only bank that allowed for a no-commitment package consisting of $1,450 enrolment fee and $275 per year for storage) and their transplant insurance (they offered a complimentary $50k payout to cover transplant costs if your autologous cord blood is used in the future, upon approval from their medical doctor), we were already sure that we wanted to go for a 21-year plan with upfront payment so we don't have to worry about it for the next few decades. Moreover, they were also the most expensive, but we didn't feel like they were necessarily the best out of all the three banks. While their sales rep emphasized on the fact that they're the only private bank to store the cord blood in two separate units, I'm not entirely convinced since most transplant cases up to date have involved using all the blood for maximum effectiveness. Ultimately, how much to use will be determined by your doctor anyway.

In addition, my research online later led to this realisation that Stemcord's co-founder, Dr. Ang, was fined by the Singapore Medical Council in 2016 and later suspended for 8 months over charges of professional misconduct.

A forum post also then showed that Stemcord seemed to have lost one of their client's cord blood before and the client was accused of not making payment about 4 years after she first started storing her children's cord blood with them, when she wanted to retrieve one. I'm not sure what the latest status of this case is, but I only know this sort of emotional rollercoaster ride is not something I want to ever have to experience as a mother, and so my husband and I decided that we would rule Stemcord out for these reasons and more.

We were then left with Cordlife, and the Facebook reviews seemed promising:

They also had the best (and most number of) credentials:

Image credits: Cordlife

The processing

In terms of processing quality, Cordlife is also the first private cord blood bank in Singapore to offer the Sepax^®2 automated processing technology, which can recover as high as 99.88%¹ of total nucleated cells from cord blood. It is also a functionally closed processing system which ensures the sterility of the cord blood by eliminating exposure to air contaminants. Stemcord, on the other hand, was previously using a manual closed system (triple bag) which has only 82% recovery, but I was heartened to find out from their sales rep that they've since switched over to Sepax-2 since 2012.

The preservation

After maximising the recovery of total nucleated cells from cord blood, the next important step is to carefully prepare the stem cells for cyropreservation, so that the cells can be stored indefinitely while retaining its viability for use in treatments. This is crucial, because you don't know how many years later you might be needing it, so long-term viability and storage is extremely important. Cordlife is also the first family cord blood bank in Singapore to adopt this fully automated cyroprotectant infuser, mixer and cooling device, Smart-Max, which mixes the cyroprotectant with the stem cells in a uniform manner, thus eliminating the need for human intervention (and thus any chances of human error).

Because cord blood storage is for the long term, the track record of the company is more important to me than simply going for the cheapest option. After all, surely you wouldn't want to have paid all that money only to find out years down the road that the company has filed for insolvency!

Therefore in the end, we decided to go with Cordlife because:

1. They have the longest track record with the most number of successful transplants.

Yes, I understand that being the newest player (Cryoviva) doesn't necessarily mean they're the weakest competitor, but given that the price difference is a mere $350 for 21 years (or $1.40 a month), I'd rather pay slightly more for that peace of mind and quality reassurance (due to accreditations).

2. They're the only private bank in Singapore to offer cord blood, cord tissue and cord lining storage.

Since we're talking about the future here, I don't have to have any regrets about not having stored my baby's cord lining just because the company I chose didn't offer it, especially when there's one which does. Cordlife is also among the only 6 banks in the world who offer this storage option and technology. Their patented technology, CellOptima, is exclusively offered at Cordlife only and can isolate both the epithelial and mesenchymal stem cells in our baby's umbilical cord. On the other hand, Stemcord and Cryoviva can only process cord blood and cord tissue from the Wharton Jelly, and are therefore not able to process or store epithelial stem cells.

The yield of stem cells from the Wharton Jelly is also much lower at 54,000 cells vs. 20 million cells from the cord lining. Cordlife is the only authorised company in Singapore with CellOptima, which is a patented technology to harvest and multiply stem cells from the cord lining.

In other words, if you wish to also store EpSC stem cells, Cordlife is the only company in Singapore who can do it for you.

3. They're dual-accredited.

Yes, it is indeed heartening to know that all three private banks are MOH-certified, but I'd want to go for the one with more accreditations for a greater peace of mind. Cordlife is the only one with AABB accreditation, which is the international standard for cord blood banks.

4. They were the first to invest and use SEPAX 2 for automated processing.

Stemcord only caught onto this in 2012, whereas I'm still unable to find out from Cryoviva's website whether they've adopted SEPAX 2 for their labs by now.

This gives me the belief that Cordlife will continue investing in newest and latest technologies to ensure the viability of their processing and stored samples.

5. I got to visit the Cordlife laboratory and see their processes for myself.

Even though I was not yet a customer at that point, Cordlife allowed us to view their laboratory where someone from their sales team explained and showed me the different stages of processing (purification, SEPAX-2 machines, ISBT 128 Standard for Cellular Therapy Coding and Labelling, storage facility, backup generators, etc). Unlike some of the other labs who only allow existing members to view, I really appreciated the fact that Cordlife was willing to open their labs up to a mere prospect (aka yours truly) who hadn't yet decided which company to bank with.

Cordlife also stores the cord blood units in a 20-80 bag, so if we reallllllly wanted to just use a little bit and conserve the rest for future treatments, they technically can do that for us as well. This was a concern I raised initially as I read from online reviews that some parents who chose to go with Stemcord decided based on the fact that they don't have to use up all the cord blood in one sitting. However, all of this ultimately rests on the decision of the medical doctor overseeing the case and depending on the case severity as well anyway, but it is good to know that we also have this option.

6. Their salespeople were much more responsive.

I reached out to all the three private banks and met with them individually to understand more about what they could offer, and how they differentiate themselves from the rest of the competition. On this regard, Cordlife and Cryoviva were very prompt in getting back to me (within 1 - 3 business days), whereas Stemcord took 2 weeks to get back to me from when I first called them to enquire. In fact, it was only after I got impatient and followed up 2 weeks later on why no one ever called me back (using my email for this blog vs. the other two where I enquired via a personal address that was harder to trace back to my blogger status!), that they finally got back to me.

This then made me wonder if their service for existing members who are already storing with them are as prompt, or as slow. Although it might be two different teams handling sales and processing, nonetheless, it made me think twice about banking with Stemcord, and so I narrowed my choices down to Cordlife and Cryoviva.

7. Cordlife's business is well-run and sustainable.

In fact, the demand for their cord blood banking services is so high that Cordlife has expanded to 8 other countries - the most among all its competitors here in Singapore.

8. They're a publicly-listed company on SGX where I can review their financials.

This is to ensure that they're always held accountable and that I can review their financials regularly to make sure they're doing well and not at risk of liquidation. Moreover, I've also recently bought their stock so I can have access to their AGMs where I'll be able to follow their updates and question their senior management if there's a need to!

As such, after weeks of arduous research and speaking with a sales representative from each of the companies (including calling SCBB, to understand about donating vs. private banking), my husband and I have decided to go with Cordlife for storing of our baby's cord blood, tissue and lining. Call us kiasu, but we'll rather be safe than sorry.

I was initially only for the idea of storing the cord blood because of the cost, but as my husband says, "We only have to give up on one Europe family vacation just to afford it. This is worth it, let's not have any regrets."

Sounds similar to what another mummy shared online!

Anyway, I hope my homework will bless future parents-to-be and aid you in making your own informed decision as well! While I've chosen Cordlife for my own, ultimately please review the pros and cons of each provider and decide for yourself which is the best for you and your baby.

Disclaimer: Information in this post is accurate to the best of my knowledge as of 2018. I have reached out and personally spoken with each of the companies' sales representatives in order to consolidate the table of comparisons here to try and ensure I've gotten my data right. If any mistakes are spotted, please feel free to reach out to me with the correct data and I'll recheck to ensure accuracy of information is properly reflected.

With love,
Budget Babe

(A letter to all the insurance agents I've ever encountered and what I wish I could tell them.)

Dear insurance agent(s),

Please stop hounding us at MRT stations and bus interchanges. We really are not interested, especially when we're rushing to get to our next destination or to our next appointment. It really isn't nice to stop us in our tracks when we're rushing, and no, following us around doesn't make you look any better.

Image source: Hardwarezone

Please stop trying to entice us with "freebies" or hiring pretty "xiao mei meis" to ask us to do a "survey". We're not stupid, we know there's no free lunch in the world and you're just trying to get us to sit down for a consultation. We understand you're having a long and hard day doing your roadshows, but we're not the right leads you're looking for either. And a short-term freebie in exchange for a long-term (more expensive) plan isn't a good deal for me, no matter how you market it.

Please don't call me out on the pretext of "catching up" with an old friend if you're simply trying to suss me out and sell me insurance. We're all adults now, so let's not waste each other's time. If you genuinely value our friendship and wish to catch up, I'll be honored(and it'll be great if you could help me with my insurance gaps too), but there's nothing wrong with telling me that you'll like to share with me more about your new job in insurance too so I can decide whether I want to meet up with you. No one likes feeling cheated, particularly by an "old friend".

Image credits

Please stop calling yourself an "expert", because every single agent out there claims the same for themselves. Just get to the point, or you could focus on how many clients you've served, how many years you've been in the business, or tell me about difficult claims that you've successfully been able to get for your clients recently. Let me be the judge of whether you're truly an "expert" or not and whether I want you to serve me on my policies, and not the other way round.

Please stop making me sit through your MDRT / customer testimonials at the start of your every pitch. No one likes being forced to listen to someone else boast. Yes, your MDRT status might be difficult to achieve, but all I see is million dollar round table = you earned a lot of commissions from selling products to many clients. Will you really have my interests at heart, or if you really have that many clients, will you then have the time to properly serve me on my claims when I need you?

Please stop trying to sell us high-commission plans. We know you're just trying to make a living and feed your family, but to do so at the expense of our trust and money isn't the right way to earn your keep. Just like yours, our money is hard-earned too, you know.

Please don't ask me to switch my policies just because you've just changed companies, unless you really think it is better than that last policy you sold me. And if that's really the case, then my next question is, why did you sell me that policy instead of this one back then?

Please be a real adviser, and not one in disguise as a salesperson. There's a world of difference between a salesperson, a product-pusher, and a real financial adviser. The reason why we consumers come to you is because we either don't know how or have no time to look at all the different market offerings by ourselves. We look to you for advice, so please don't break that trust.

Please identify my protection gaps, instead of identifying sales gaps for you to take advantage of. Yes, I may not have any investment-linked or endowment plans, but that doesn't mean it is an opportunity for YOU to sell me one. Because, you know, maybe the reason why I don't have them is because I'm doing my own investments and savings and don't see a need to pay you / your insurer for you to manage it for me.

Please stop making wild claims and putting me down. If I say I don't want an investment-linked plan (especially when I do my own insurance and am satisfied with my own performance thus far), that doesn't mean you should come in and make wild claims like how you can earn 30% per annum for your clients. I'm not stupid, and neither are you Warren Buffett.

Please stop claiming your company's policy is THE best, especially when you're so ill-informed of the other choices out there. It is your job to educate us, and not the other way around. Plus, do you know how ignorant you appear when you simply reiterate that yours is the best without concrete evidence or comparative factors to back up your claims?

Please really get to know your T&Cs. It looks bad on you when we spot something that you didn't tell us about. (I spotted a $30k claim limit on an insurance policy that an agent sold me for $90k only after the free-look period...and I wasn't informed about it at all, or I wouldn't have bothered adding the multiplier).

Please don't join the profession if you're only in it for the money. Insurance is a noble job, but it is also one of the most challenging in today's retail markets. And if you're only in it for the money, you're more likely to give up and switch jobs once a better opportunity comes along. What happens to all the customers you leave hanging behind, then?

Please do think more highly of yourself and your profession. Insurance and protection are like firefighters - we (consumers) all need them, but we also tend to think we can put out the fire ourselves (until it gets too big for us to handle).

Please don't be afraid of the robo-advisers or AI; there's no way they can ever replace your role. A robot cannot identify and relate to my emotional needs, but you can. As a child and parent yourself, you'll be able to understand why I need and want to prioritise certain financial goals ahead of others. You'll be able to tell me otherwise when I think I know better about what I need and want, when in reality I'm not doing what's best for me at all (because I'm not trained like you!). No robot or AI will ever be able to do that.

Please put my needs above yours. That's what your job is ultimately about - helping me identify and fill my gaps in my personal finance journey, and not mainly about filling your own pockets. And when you do my policies right, I'll not only stick with you for a longer time, but also recommend my friends and family members to you. That's the hallmark of a good agent.

Last but not least, please don't give up. I know that day in and day out you're faced with multiple rejections and that surely cannot be easy for anyone. Sometimes you get rude and unkind customers too. But remember why you joined in the first place - to save and protect people from becoming financially ruined. That, will take you through the toughest days.

And I promise, when you do your job (of advising us) well, we really do appreciate it.

Sidenote: I shared these sentiments with DIYInsurance recently as well, and they told me that they're planning something to address this feedback and consumer wishes. While there's been more talk about robo-advisers and artificial intelligence coming in to disrupt the insurance space, and possibly taking over the role of insurance agents and financial advisers, I remain skeptical. DIYInsurance has therefore told me that they're in the midst of launching something that will offer the best of both worlds - to make use of technology to do what humans cannot do as well, while allowing human advisers to continue doing what humans do best (and what robots cannot). I don't know exactly what they have up their sleeves yet, but it does sound like something big, so I guess we will know by next month?

I'm excited, and am looking forward to see if what DIYInsurance will be unveiling will truly be a gamechanger in this space! Let's wait and see.

With love,

Budget Babe

So your parents didn't plan their finances or save for their retirement. They were so caught up in giving you the best of what they could (bless their hearts) that they forgot to think about themselves, and now you find yourself caught in the middle as you worry if you have enough money to take care of your parents while also providing for your children.

What should you do?

In the aftermath of the viral "Worst Parents in the World" ad, I've been receiving a number of readers' questions on what I think would be good action steps for those who were not savvy enough to be like the parents in the video when it comes to planning their retirement.

Is it too late now?

It doesn't have to be. While nothing will beat a plan that was set up decades ago and has been running since (time in investments is a powerful thing), I believe a plan set in place now will still outdo not having any plan at all.

I've recently shared a heartwarming reader's story here about how her parents failed to plan as well, so when she grew up and got married, she decided to take things into her own hands and managed to turn things around. Today, she's adequately prepared for what the future might hold for her family. You can read what she did here, but of course, not everyone may be able to execute her methods, given our differing life circumstances.

I know I can't, but that doesn't mean it is still a dead end for folks like us. So here are some options:

Disclaimer: For the purpose of simplicity in this article, I'm only looking at general solutions and the products offered by NTUC Income - the folks behind the viral ad itself.

1. Outsource your biggest financial risks to an insurer

Hospitalisation Insurance
If your parents are still young enough (i.e. under 75 years of age) and in good health, get a hospitalisation plan for them so that you can offset the risk of (and emotional burden of having to handle) large hospital bills to an insurer.

This was one of the key things I did for my in-laws since my husband is their only child, and they had zero insurance coverage for themselves before I stepped in.

You can find out more on how integrated shield plans (IPs) work in a previous article I've written here, and then compare against all the current IPs in the market to find which is the most suitable for your parents (or for you, if you'll be paying for it). IncomeShield remains a favourite among many Singaporeans for their affordability, and you can review their premiums here.

Critical Illness / Disability / Income Replacement Insurance
Depending on your income and affordability, you may also wish to consider whether to add on insurance coverage for critical illnesses and/or disability. These policies work such that in the event that you become physically ill, you can get either a lump-sum or monthly/yearly cash payouts to help you defer against outpatient healthcare costs and/or loss of income.

Personally, we've gotten critical illness coverage upon learning that we'll soon be parents. We've not opted for disability insurance at this moment due to liquidity issues, but will consider adding it on later when our finances permit the extra expenditure.

2. Build up your cash savings

You can do this either by

(i) diligently accumulating your own savings and parking it either in a high-yield bank savings account, fixed deposits or investments, and then drawing down from this sum later on throughout your retirement years or
(ii) parking your savings with an insurer, especially if you've no faith to manage your own money well to last you throughout

For instance, if you find it hard to be disciplined in doing your own savings, then perhaps turning to an insurer might work better for you instead. For instance, Income's Limited Pay RevoSave was designed for such a group of people, who are looking to save up money by paying premiums for a limited duration, and then receiving the cash payout after 2 policy years till the end of the selected policy term. Contrast this to traditional endowment plans, where your money tends to be locked in for a much longer duration.

If you and/or your parents have financial liquidity right now and would like to buffer against the future while taking self-discipline out of the picture, then such plans where the premiums will be invested in the underlying PAR funds to give both guaranteed and non-guaranteed returns could be options to consider.

Getting retirement cash payouts

For Singaporeans/PRs, don't forget that CPF Life payouts can also be a good tool to rely upon if you're looking for monthly retirement monies. But the question is, will it be enough to cope with rising costs of living?

If you don't require the cash liquidity of Income's Limited Pay RevoSave so early, another product would be RevoRetire, which offers monthly cash payouts only from your selected retirement age onwards (so there's more time to accumulate cash value before starting your payouts). It also comes with a disability care benefit by giving you an additional one month of cash benefit on top of each monthly payout in the event that you're diagnosed with a disability and need extra cash to pay for treatment or caretakers.

If your parents are 60 years or younger with at least $10,000 in cash savings, but neither you nor them are inclined to invest it on your own and take on the risk, SAIL might just be suitable as you get to:

Pay in one single premium today
Choose your desired retirement age from the choices available
Get regular retirement income over 20 years

Thus, if your parents have some cash lying around without any idea of what to do with it (and you don't wish to take on any investing risks), you can choose to use this (or your SRS monies) to pay the lump sum premium which is then used by Income to invest in their participating funds to generate returns, which are then returned to you for your retirement later. Even if they lose money, you have a guaranteed buffer of getting at least your capital back (vs. when you invest on your own, you stomach your own capital losses), provided you at least hold until the stipulated period.

And when you reach your specified retirement age, you can either convert your plan into a stream of regular retirement income over 20 years then, or receive a lump-sum cash payout. Additionally, you'll also be covered for total and permanent disability before age 70 and death.

3. Leave behind cash for your children and/or loved ones

Choose between Whole Life Insurance or BTIR.

Whole Life Insurance
The debate against term and whole life insurance continues to wage on, but I'm of the stand that when it comes to which is better, this really depends on what you want and prioritise. Term life has lower premiums (but you'll have to pay all the way until the policy matures, and for some term policies, the accumulated total premiums paid over the policy lifetime can actually be HIGHER than a limited-pay whole life plan) and also typically has no cash value when the policy terminates.

On the other hand, a number of whole life plans offer you an option to pay for a limited period and then enjoying the coverage for the rest of your life (vs continuing to pay even when you're retired or jobless). If you decide to terminate a whole life plan later on (after the breakeven point, please), you'll also get a lump-sum cash payout, in contrast to term plans where you may get absolutely nothing.

Some people also see whole life insurance as a legacy i.e. they leave a sum of money behind for their loved ones in the event that they pass away.

Buy Term Invest the Rest
The reason why I still favour term is because I prefer to pay cheaper premiums right now and invest the rest, since I'm already actively investing and spend a significant amount of time analysing investment opportunities as you can see from past articles like here, here and here. However, I recognise that not everyone might be able or want to do the same. As a DIY investor, you'll need a few things:

effort (opening a brokerage account, setting up your investments, studying and monitoring your investments, etc)
emotional competency (to stomach the wild market rides of fluctuating stock prices)
time in the market (for compound interest to set in and work to your benefit. Generally, the older you are, the lesser risks you can take as well)
recognise that any capital losses is on YOU

As I've always maintained, choose between either BTIR (Buy Term and Invest the Rest by yourself) or get whole life insurance and outsource this part of your finances to someone else, for a fee. The first option requires two steps while the second requires only one.

BUT!
The problem I've observed is that some people who read about this debate online then decide to terminate their whole life policies and switch to term insurance simply because its premiums are lower, but they fail to invest the difference in premiums (which is the entire concept of why BTIR is superior)! In this case, these folks might have been better off simply holding on to their whole life insurance in the first place. Sorry but that's the hard truth.

If you fall into this category, then VivoCash Prime is one possible whole life plan to consider. Its key benefits include:

You could technically even use this policy to plan for 3 generations:

Yourself : get TPD coverage in the form of a premium waiver benefit i.e. you continue to receive cash payouts even without paying premiums for your later years in the event that you're diagnosed with TPD
Your child : insure your newborn and accumulate the yearly cash payouts for your child's education, or for use later as you/they wish once you transfer the ownership over
Your grandchildren : the centennial maturity benefit paid when your child reaches 100 years of age, or death benefit if he passes on later, can be handed on to your grandchildren

TLDR?

Here's a quick summary again of the solutions I feel can be used to address the conundrums featured in the ad:

Conundrum	Solution
Used up and have little money left for future needs, especially if physical illness strikes	Outsource your biggest financial risks by getting a: - Hospitalisation plan(to protect against large hospital bills) - Disability / income replacement plan(to replace your loss of income when you can no longer work) - Critical illness plan(for cash payouts to help with healthcare treatments, care and living expenses)
Insufficient cash for living expenses during retirement	Build up your cash savings by: - diligently accumulating and investing - take up a savings plan with an insurer to be reclaimed later
Leave behind cash for your children and/or loved ones	- Buy term invest the rest(and ensure that the investment monies can be easily withdrawn by your loved ones in the event that you pass away before you can do the transfer) or - Whole life insurance plan

If your parents didn't plan their finances well and are relying on you as their retirement plan, what's YOUR plan from here?

Disclaimer: This article is written in collaboration with Income. All opinions are that of my own. You should NEVER purchase any insurance plan first based purely on information found online. For more information in assessing whether the mentioned products will be suitable for you, please speak directly with a financial advisor for more details.

During my pregnancy, I wasn't sure if I ought to consume maternity formula milk as I received varying opinions about it.

My gynae was for it.
A nutritionist I spoke to at a Cordlife conference recommended it after I shared that I only had the habit of eating 2 meals a day.
My mother-in-law was against it as she believed drinking it will make one fat.
A few mummies on Dayre were also against it, claiming that the high sugar content could cause gestational diabetes later (not so sure if this is scientifically true though!)

I also have a bad habit - I can be quite the workaholic at times, and there have been many occasions (even during my pregnancy) where I've been so tied up at work that I've simply...forgotten to eat my meals.

Having heard from different folks and after consulting my gynae, I eventually decided to drink maternity milk throughout my pregnancy to ensure that I would be getting enough nutrients to feed my growing baby. This decision came about because I examined my own diet (two meals a day) and realised I really wasn't getting enough nutrients from my food and lack of meals. Moreover, my gynae was supportive of me drinking maternity milk as my baby was underweight during our scans.

For those who already are consuming enough nutrients from your regular meals, perhaps it'll be better to speak with your gynae to see if they would recommend it in your situation.

However, while the instructions on the cans typically call for 1 - 2 glasses a day, I modified it and only stuck to 1 glass a day, which I usually consume together with my granola as a snack in the afternoon.

The great thing about maternity milk in Singapore is that you can first sign up for free samples so that you can try out the different brands before committing to one:

Goodie bag from Nestle's Baby Club...I loved this!

Dumex sample + changing mat + a really useful pregnancy guidebook.

Photo of the Abbott Similac sample and goodies, taken from a fellow mummy friend because I
didn't get to take a photo of my parcel before my mother-in-law kept it.

Goodie bag from Cryoviva when their sales rep came to pitch their cord banking plans to me.
I ended up not storing with them though, for reasons detailed here.

Since my decision to drink the maternity milk was largely due to its nutritional content, I set out to compare across all the different milk brands in order to discern which would be the best (green denotes the best in that nutrient):

*Note: The above comparison is only done across the normal / vanilla flavours. The chocolate ones (offered by Anmum and Enfamama) and strawberry (Similac) were not included as it wouldn't then be an apple-to-apple comparison with the other brands given the additional flavouring.

Abbott Similac Mum came out superior in this regard for nutritional level and low fat.

Aside from nutritional content, the taste of the milk and whether it dissolved easily were other key factors that I considered. Here's how they fared for me:

If you're looking for the best-tasting one, I felt Enfamama A+ Chocolate was the nicest tasting. For the vanilla ones, I often ended up adding 1 spoon of Milo powder so it'll be more palatable to me (disclaimer: that's because I'm generally not a fan of cow/goat milk and only drink soy or flavoured milk). However, adding Milo would also add to the calorie and sugar intake of your drink, in contrast to simply drinking Enfamama A+ chocolate directly.

In terms of price, I paid nothing because I managed to get sufficient free samples to last me throughout my pregnancy (I only started consuming the milk from the 4th month onwards) by signing up directly with the various brands. Just as I was about to run out, a fellow expecting mum (who didn't need her maternity milk as her baby was of good weight) gave me her samples as well. Thanks Isabel! :)

So in the end, I didn't have to fork out a single cent to purchase any of the milk that I was consuming as a result of all the free samples. I was really lucky in that sense!

Where to get free samples of maternity milk in Singapore:

On average, the samples from these online sites took 4 - 8 weeks to arrive, so I would suggest to sign up early if you can.

Another great place to get samples would be when you attend pregnancy conferences (Thomson Medical holds quite a number of good, educational seminars every year to help expecting parents, and the entry tickets usually cost under $10 per person!), which usually give out a goodie bag to all attendees and where you'll find some sample sachets of maternity milk as well. Baby fairs and your gynae's office might have some samples as well (mine did, for Dumex, Anmum and Enfamama).

I would HIGHLY recommend that you attend some of the pregnancy conferences as they are not only affordable, but also extremely educational. I attended a few and learnt about breastfeeding tips, labour techniques, cord blood banking, and more.

When to start drinking maternity milk?

Anytime! In my case, I couldn't really stomach anything in the first trimester because I suffered from really bad nausea, and the smell of milk itself was enough to send me running to the sink. It was only in my fourth month (second trimester) onwards that I started drinking it for its nutritional content and ensure that both my baby and I were consuming enough nutrients.

I hope this post will help those of you who are considering whether to drink maternity milk, and which brand to get! With so many samples available, you can also try them out for yourself before making a decision, but if you don't have the time or energy to compare them individually, I hope this post helps you to make a decision for yourself :)

With love,

Budget Babe

I wasn't going to write about the latest Temasek bonds offering, but have been receiving so many PMs from friends and readers alike about it so I thought I'll just pop in here to share my thoughts really quickly on this.

You can read the full details of the offering here yourself - I shall skip on breaking it down this time because simply put, I'm just not interested in this product offering. The last bond I bought into was the Astrea-IV bonds, which offered me a much higher yield of above 4%; while the last few equities I bought into gave me more than 7% yield, so these Temasek bonds simply can't match up.

Key Details:
- The bond is launched by Temasek Financial (IV) Private Limited
- 2.70% interest, paid bi-annually
- A 5-year bond (T2023-S$ Temasek Bond) which matures in 2023
- S$200 million worth of retail bonds available for public subscription
- "AAA" credit rating
- Applications close at 12 noon on 23 October 2018

Why this bond doesn't appeal to me

When considering what to invest in, I always look at other options available to me as well as that of opportunity costs.

At this moment, 2.7% of bond coupon interest rates is hardly attractive at all, considering other options available such as:

5% to 9% yield on REITs like Soilbuild, Sabana or OUE (these are NOT stock recommendations!)
4.35% on the Astrea IV bonds that I bought pretty recently (review here)
2.02% with a shorter lock-in period of 2 - 3 years via short-term insurance endowment plans (like this one by FWD, and others by Great Eastern, Prudential, NTUC Income, etc)
2.2% to 3% on high-yield bank saving accounts like the DBS Multiplier, Bank of China SmartSaver, UOB One, Citi MaxiGain, OCBC 360, etc.
2.22% on the Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs)
2.3% on the Singapore Government Securities (SGS)

Given the other options which have higher liquidity and comparable yields, a 2.7% payment with a 5-year lockup just doesn't quite cut it for me.

You could argue that these bonds are much safer and can be sold anytime as well, but try selling bonds in the Singapore market and you'll know how hard it can be because the bond market just isn't thriving with active trades as much...yet. Even for the Astrea IV bonds, the sellers-to-buyers ratio generally stands at 8:1 (8 sellers for every 1 buyer) when I was monitoring it last week.

What investors ought to know before buying these Temasek bonds

1. Will you be needing the money anytime soon?

If you have excess cash and none of the above alternative options I mentioned appeal to you, then perhaps this might not be too bad an instrument to park your money in for the next 5 years. After all, I'm pretty sure Temasek is going to redeem these bonds in 2023 so you're then very likely to walk away with your capital intact and a 2.7% interest that was already paid to you over the 5 years of holding their bonds. If this was issued by another corporate firm (see how I wasn't a fan of other bonds before) I'll be more wary, but hey, this is Temasek we're talking about.

2. Are you prepared to take the risk of selling at a lower bond price and making a capital loss?

If you don't think you can hold until the full 5 years, then this bond may not be for you because its price could fluctuate in the open bond market after listing, which means you could suffer a slight loss in capital if you end up selling at lower than its issued bond price.

But then again, it could also work the other way - if we suddenly sink into an economic recession, bonds generally tend to perform better as investors flock to it for safety, so the price could go up and you could then sell for a profit.

Whether the price will move up or down is anyone's guess. I don't have a crystal ball to look into the future, as much as I'd love to.

3. Have you already considered all other options?

Seriously, I'd much rather pick one of the above options that I've mentioned over these bonds, but that's just me because I have limited cash and too many investment opportunities calling out.

Given my young(er) age, I also tend to take a little bit more risks with my money. I've mentioned before that my bond portfolio is minimal and consists of my CPF and the Astrea-IV bonds at this stage. If I were to add a third bond, I'd much rather go for the Nikko AM Corporate Bond ETF (3+% yield) instead of this Temasek one.

With the state of the market now, I have other stocks and investments that I'm eyeing instead, so this bond with its (relatively) low yield and long lockup period simply doesn't appeal to me. But I guess if you're super risk adverse or flush with surplus cash like Tony Stark, then this could be a decent investment tool to consider.

With love,

Budget Babe

Getting pregnant, delivering a child and raising them sure isn't cheap in Singapore. To help encourage more couples to have babies, our government has given various incentives including a Baby Bonus cash gift ($8k each for your first two kids, and $10k for the third onwards), a $3000 Child Development Account (CDA) First Step Grant, and dollar-to-dollar matching if you contribute and save up in your child's CDA.

Please pay attention to the last column of "Total Baby Bonus Benefits", which tells you the maximum amount you'll be able to get from the government. But beyond that, I'm also here to share with you how I intend to boost this even further than what's stated on the MSF Baby Bonus Booklet Brochure here!

What do I need to do to get my money?

1. Register at MSF's website here with your SingPass. You can do this either up to 2 months before your expected delivery date, or after your child has been born.

2. Wait for the government to deposit the Baby Bonus cash gift into your bank account (either yours or your spouse) according to this schedule:

3. Open a Child Development Account for your newborn (after he/she is born) in order to get the cash grant of $3,000.

4. Deposit money into your child's CDA to enjoy the dollar-to-dollar matching benefits.

Image credits: MSF

What can CDA funds be used for?

You can use it to pay for your child's healthcare expenses, insurance, pharmaceutical purchases (Watson's and Guardian) and even education or childcare centre fees. For a list of approved institutions, you may refer to MSF's website here.

Can I withdraw CDA funds?

Unfortunately, CDA funds are restricted to certain approved usage only. When your child turns 12, the CDA is closed and any unused balance funds will be transferred to their Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA), which can be used to pay for their school fees and other educational activities.

How much will I get?

If you don't do anything other than registering for the Baby Bonus Scheme and opening a CDA for your newborn, you'll get:

$11,000 for your first and second child each
$13,000 for your third child onwards

How can I get MORE?

However, to really maximise what you get, here's what I intend to do:

Top up to the maximum cap of $3,000 in CDA to get the full dollar-to-dollar matching right from the start ($9k for your third and fourth child, and $15k for your fifth).
This will allow the magic of compound interest to set in early!

Since I'm delivering my firstborn next month, I intend to do this during my confinement period (in December) so that we'll start off with the full $9,000 in our son's CDA right away. At 2% interest p.a., this will give us about $11,400 by the time he turns 12 (assuming no withdrawals are made).

Contrast this to if we take our own sweet time and only put in $500 every year from the second year onwards, until we hit the maximum cap in the 8th year.

As you can see, to get the maximum possible interest on the CDA, it'll be worth making that cash top-up right from the start rather than later on, over the years (provided you have the cashflow and liquidity). Parents having their third, fourth or fifth child onwards can benefit from even more interest by topping up CDA earlier rather than later, since the dollar-to-dollar matching cap is even higher at $9k and $15k each!

Of course, if you have other higher-yielding bank accounts to park your funds in (eg. DBS Multiplier, UOB One, OCBC 360, etc) that give you more than 2% p.a. interest, then those might be a better option to consider as well. However, my husband and I will be separating our son's funds from that of our own, so we'll be putting the full $3,000 in his CDA in December.

Should I put in even more?

No, I wouldn't personally put in beyond the maximum cap to enjoy the government's dollar-for-dollar matching grant, because at the end of the day, the CDA funds are more restrictive and less liquid i.e. you can't simply withdraw them easily for cash, nor are you entitled to spend them as you wish (except at approved institutions mentioned above).

Which is the best CDA account to open?

We can only choose from DBS, OCBC and UOB - these are the only approved banks to offer CDA at this moment. Here's how they stack up:

	UOB CDA	OCBC CDA	POSB Smiley CDA
Interest Rate	2% (no limit)	2% on first $36,000 and 0.05% after	2% (no limit)
Merchant Tie-Ups	No	Yes	Yes
Medical Spend Rebate	No	No	3% rebate with Passion POSB Debit Card for services at hospital, medical and dental clinics
Junior Savings Account	No	Up to 0.8% p.a. on Mighty Savers Account	0.05% on POSBKids Account
Current Promo (as of 2018)	None	Receive $108 with purchase of Maternity Insurance and/or $100 for Endowment Plan (min. premiums >$3k)	Free SIA Infant ticket on economy class (till Jan 2019)

After reviewing the respective offerings by the three local banks, we've decided to open with POSB Smiley CDA because:

1. The rebate for medical, dental and hospital expenses is a key draw.

OCBC used to offer this, but has unfortunately since removed this privilege as of October 2018.

2. OCBC Mighty Savers is a common reason why some parents open a OCBC CDA, but both accounts can be mutually exclusive.

Up to 0.8% p.a. on your child's own saving account is indeed a compelling draw, but I found out that there's no need for it to be tied to a OCBC CDA in order for your child to enjoy the same benefit. In the meantime, I'll also be waiting for the other banks to see if they'll up their game and offer more enticing child saving accounts. It won't be too late for me to open one later on.

3. POSB's CDA merchant tie-ups and promotions are more useful.

I reviewed the different merchant tie-ups between OCBC and POSB, and felt that POSB's partners are more relevant because I get to utilize RedMart's offers, and get child essentials through GAIA, BabyNatureCo, VitaKids and even Pororo Park entry, etc. You might want to review the different merchant tie-ups for yourself and decide which ones would be more useful to you as well.

4. The current promotion by OCBC is quite redundant vs. POSB's.

The $108 is useless to me since I didn't purchase their maternity insurance (nor did I think it was superior, you can see my maternity comparison article here where I reviewed all the current market offerings a few months ago). Neither will the $100 for endowment come in handy, since I feel a $3000+ in annual premiums endowment plan is unnecessary, not to mention excessive, in our case.

On the other hand, the free SIA infant flight ticket will come in handy as we're already planning a family trip abroad next year to attend my best friend's wedding (yes, we'll be bringing baby!). Instead of having to pay a percentage of adult flight tickets + taxes + surcharges, we can get one free on economy class for our son under the current POSB CDA promo instead.

Which CDA account will you be opening for your newborn, and why? Let me know in the comments below if you chose anything other than POSB!

Note: This is NOT a sponsored post.

With love,
Budget Babe

It was hilarious how my husband bugged me to find him a class that would teach him about childbirth and how to handle a newborn, because at 33 weeks pregnant, he suddenly realised that he was ill-prepared to become a father and didn't know ANYTHING (lol, slow).

I, on the other hand, had been attending a number of pregnancy conferences by myself during my second trimester and knew a little bit of everything, on top of the books I had been reading.

With only a few more weeks to delivery, most of the childbirth courses offered in the market were no longer suitable for our schedule, because we didn't have the luxury of time to commit to a few weeks of lessons - what we needed then was a one-day intensive workshop!

I found out that Thomson Medical Centre offered such courses (link here) with the option to choose between a 1-day intensive workshop, or 4-weeks worth, so we signed up (after our hospital tour) for it.

The website said that it was advised to book around the 20th week of pregnancy, but we did it in my third trimester because it was only then that my husband started preparing himself, lol.

Unfortunately that meant that we could only attend when I was 36 weeks along. Please don't be so last-minute like us, because now we can't make it in time for the complimentary doctor's talk (our slot is for end November, but I would have already delivered and be in confinement by then).

You can view the schedule and course fees here.

Course Fee

Deliver at:

Weekdays

Saturday

Thomson Medical

$260.00

$330.00

Other Hospitals

$281.00

$351.00

TMC FBI/SBI Members

$247.00

$313.50

If you're delivering at TMC, I would highly recommend that you sign up for their FBI/SBI membership program like we did because the discounts off their maternity rooms, diagnostic tests, gynae and PD consultation fees, etc easily exceed the membership enrolment price in a jiffy! It will also enable discounted prices across their various offerings like this course.

Us at the course!

What we learnt

We woke up bright and early to attend this class at Thomson Parentcraft Centre, which is located right across the road from Thomson Medical Centre!

Having attended a number of pregnancy conferences so far, I felt that this course was extremely worth it because it covers the most important stuff and goes pretty in-depth! I learnt a lot more (and within one day, too) and in-depth knowledge about how to prepare myself for labour and a newborn.

In summary, we learnt about:

antenatal exercises to do during pregnancy
pain relief techniques during labour
pain relief options available in hospitals
signs of labour to watch out for and when to go to the hospital
the actual birth process (covered all 4 types of deliveries, including water birth. This was my first time seeing crowning!)
breastfeeding techniques
overview of the different breast pumps (Medela vs. Spectra vs. Hegen)
breastfeeding massage techniques for dealing with engorgement
how to hold and position baby for breastfeeding
supplements to boost breastmilk

Practising the antenatal exercises taught by Mdm Chong

Each participant was also given a lifelike doll to practise on as well.

The practical hands-on included:

how to burp baby
how to bathe baby
how to change baby's diapers
how to DIY your own diaper (if you suddenly run out of disposable ones at home)
how to handle baby if baby chokes (!!!!)
baby massage techniques
home treatment for (mild) jaundice

Our trainer for the day was Mdm Chong, who has years of experience as a maternity nurse at both KKH and TMC prior to conducting these courses. She shared with us plenty of real-life experiences that she witnessed among her patients, and the stories were really useful!

Mdm Chong illustrating what it means for baby to be "engaged"

All in all, it was a really informative course and both my husband and I enjoyed it! Mdm Chong was a very engaging and hilarious trainer so we were quite awake throughout the whole session (save for the breastfeeding portion where my husband dozed off because he claims it is "not his part" -.-)

Do note though that the one-day workshop IS PRETTY INTENSIVE. I've been for quite a few pregnancy conferences so far and nothing compares to the amount and depth of knowledge we were taught within the 6+ hours at this workshop.

I would recommend that first-time parents who are keen on learning the same to sign up in your third trimester so that you remember the information better, instead of doing it too early on where you might just forget the techniques taught (especially if you don't practise). Do come prepared and AWAKE!

The goodie bag

No workshop would be complete without a goodie bag, right? :P

Here's what we got from our workshop!

I really appreciated this goodie bag because it contained tons of useful and practical items including:

a waterproof Cordlife foldable tote bag
TMC wet wipes
Huggies diaper wipes
Huggies diaper samples (3 pcs)
stroller organiser bags
a milestone card set
a bathing essentials set - muslin cloth + security towel wipe
3 books on childbirth, breastfeeding and childcare by Dr. Wong Boh Boi (aka the baby whisperer in TMC!)

We don't have to prepare anything else for our baby's bath because the rest will be given when we're discharged from TMC after delivery - baby bathtub, shampoo, soap, diaper cream, etc. Very practical indeed!

(I've also already finished reading the childbirth book at time of this post, lol)

I'd initially shared my (rather informal) review of the workshop on my Dayre while blogging about it in real-time, but thought I'll also put it here on the blog lest anyone thinking of signing up is looking for a review. Both my husband and I really enjoyed our time and have no regrets that we did this. In fact, he claims he's fully-prepared to welcome baby Nate anytime now that he has equipped himself with the relevant skills!

(LOL we'll see if he's still this confident after I've delivered k :P)

If you're going for this, don't forget to use the tips I shared to offset the cost of the workshop / the 4-week course! I believe the sign-up link is here, which also contains the schedule dates and respective costs.

Have fun!

With love,

Budget Babe

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For cheaper food options

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Course Fee