Journey to Financial Independence

Then you know you are on the right path to financial freedom.

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We are all taught to conform to the societal's standards and the society have it's own kind of biasness about certain things. We sometimes hear people calling those who are perceived as frugal Yao Gui (Stingy ghost).

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But the reality is that we have our own goals and we learnt to find joy in the simple things and it need not be the materialistic things.

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If I were you, I would not explain too much unless they ask. Show them how you can find joy in the lifestyle and when they were to be interested in your way of living, then take the chance to share with them!

I often get that when I tell my colleagues that I can't afford a car, and look at them with envy at their large houses, cars and holidays.

If I want to get my message across - I will invoke reverse psychology and give facts to shock the kiasu / kiasi hell out of them. But there's a limit though, some people are numb (actually it's more of denial that they are doing something wrong) , and by the time they realize something wrong, they are too far down to reverse course already...

It's weird sometimes when we get into conversations and you find out

• They have the money to go holidays and buy this / that but don't contribute to srs or invest.

• Sometimes you find out they don't exactly have a retirement plan, and are counting on FRS to pay out 3 to 5k per month (ers can aim for 2k inflation adjusted), and think everything should be fine / under control

• Whenever they have a lot of money in bank, their first thought is getting a bigger house or car. Especially when the OA got balance, just whack all on the property, in case government changed the position and you cannot take out.

Frankly I got a bit tired of explaining the cpf benefits already, because there is too much going on that it's quite common for people to want to spend it all on a bigger house, and then cry for help when they get retrenched...

Great that you can see a bigger picture about high cost of living in the long run.

If your “friends” misunderstood you for being stingy / cheap after you shared with them your thoughts on building wealth or that you have a financial goal in mind that you want to achieve , then probably you need to reevaluate the friendship .

Choose the right friends really matters a lot, because after all , You are the average of the five person you always hang out with.

(You can’t choose your family though lolol, so this would take some time to educate them)

Feel you..pple will imply i am calculative and saving on the small little things. But why pay more for you can have something as good yet cheaper? At the end the day, I am working towards my goals. Not everyone goes through the difficulty of not having enough money in the family to get by so I don't expect them to understand. But it's my right to work towards one for my own future. Cheers!