I am so ashamed of myself.
After writing an article about saving electricity, I was dismayed to find out that my electricity bills for this month was a record HIGH for the past 6 months.
The bill added up to slightly over a $110. That is for my little family of three living in small flat of around 900sqft.
Perhaps it was due to the higher tariffs on electricity this month....but still no excuses...
I think one of the main reasons for the sharp rise in my electricity bills is due to the fact that I have been switching on the air conditioner too often while working on my blogs. The weather does get a bit hot and stuffy at times in Singapore. Yes, even during the nights!
It also does not help that the little one has been switching on every switch in the house that he can get his little finger on. (we discovered that the iron was switched ON for an ENTIRE day when we returned home one weekend)
The next month will be a challenging one as I try to lower my electricity consumption for the entire household.
That means less of the aircon and switching off all unused lights. I will update on my progress next month.
Read Related Articles:
1. Top 10 Money Saving Tips
2. Save Electricity, Save Money
3. Retire Young, Retire Rich
4. 3 Key Lessons from Rich Dad Poor Dad
5. 3 Sources of Passive Income
Think and Grow Rich
Today, I was reminded on the importance of thoughts and how it can affect our actions. You see, I was reading through the book written by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich.
Napoleon Hill's book is indeed a classic. I once speed read through it a long time ago and realised that I have forgotten most of what I have read.
(I do not know why but sometimes I get a sense of guilt reading this kind of books. You know the feeling like I don't want to be caught by anyone reading this books which are "frown upon" by some. I do not know why I get these kind of thoughts but I guess that people are just very against these kind of Get Rich books that are out in the market and are totally skeptical of its contents.) - Its the same kind of guilt feeling when I am afraid that others find out I am not holding a normal 8 to 5 job
Anyway, upon reading it again, I discovered new gems within this book.
Firstly, it taught me that I ought to share with others what I learn through reading the book. In this way, it will help to reinforce whatever I have learnt.
Secondly, it said that I ought to read and chew on the book slowly instead of devouring it in one entire sitting.
The lesson that I gleaned from the book today was about DESIRE. Do we really DESIRE the things that we pursue. DESIRE is such a strong word that when it totally consumes us, it translates to ACTION.
Do I truly DESIRE to earn $10 per day using Adsense?
Do I DESIRE to travel the world and be a full time blogger?
Do I DESIRE to earn a passive income that surpasses my monthly expenditure?
What am I willing to give in return for these DESIRES?
Just some food for thought.
Napoleon Hill's book is indeed a classic. I once speed read through it a long time ago and realised that I have forgotten most of what I have read.
(I do not know why but sometimes I get a sense of guilt reading this kind of books. You know the feeling like I don't want to be caught by anyone reading this books which are "frown upon" by some. I do not know why I get these kind of thoughts but I guess that people are just very against these kind of Get Rich books that are out in the market and are totally skeptical of its contents.) - Its the same kind of guilt feeling when I am afraid that others find out I am not holding a normal 8 to 5 job
Anyway, upon reading it again, I discovered new gems within this book.
Firstly, it taught me that I ought to share with others what I learn through reading the book. In this way, it will help to reinforce whatever I have learnt.
Secondly, it said that I ought to read and chew on the book slowly instead of devouring it in one entire sitting.
The lesson that I gleaned from the book today was about DESIRE. Do we really DESIRE the things that we pursue. DESIRE is such a strong word that when it totally consumes us, it translates to ACTION.
Do I truly DESIRE to earn $10 per day using Adsense?
Do I DESIRE to travel the world and be a full time blogger?
Do I DESIRE to earn a passive income that surpasses my monthly expenditure?
What am I willing to give in return for these DESIRES?
Just some food for thought.
I Have Joined Twitter
After hearing about Twitter so often, I have decided to sign up for an account to just check out what the fuss is all about.
Afterall, I heard that President Obama is on Twitter. I wonder whether any of our local Minsters are on Twitter too.
Anyway, since I am twitter, you guys can follow me too:
http://twitter.com/sgfinancialfree
Afterall, I heard that President Obama is on Twitter. I wonder whether any of our local Minsters are on Twitter too.
Anyway, since I am twitter, you guys can follow me too:
http://twitter.com/sgfinancialfree
Earn $10 A Day Using Adsense
I looked back at this posting that I made in Aug 2008. You can view it here.
I am very pleased to announce to all that I have managed to accomplish this goal of earning $1 a day from online income sources.
It did take me a much longer time than I had originally expected. I thought I could easily hit my $1 a day target within a few months.
Little did I expect to take over a year to hit my target.
Anyway, I am happy that I have managed to achieve a goal that I had set out earlier. It shows that I am travelling in the correct direction. Each little step that I take is just part of a journey that I have mapped out for myself.
Yes...sometimes I do not attain success as quickly as I would have liked. What is important is that I achieve it at the end of the day.
My next Adsense earning target will be to hit $10 a day. How long will I take to achieve this?
I really do not know. I am hoping that I can do it within a few months...but I will not be surprised if it takes another year.
To hit $10 a day in earnings, I will need roughly 3000 page views per day or 1500 unique visitors a day (with each visitor having an average of 2 page views).
I estimate that I currently have around 200 loyal readers who visit this site around once in 2 days.
This means that I need to grow my readership by 7 times.
I am very pleased to announce to all that I have managed to accomplish this goal of earning $1 a day from online income sources.
It did take me a much longer time than I had originally expected. I thought I could easily hit my $1 a day target within a few months.
Little did I expect to take over a year to hit my target.
Anyway, I am happy that I have managed to achieve a goal that I had set out earlier. It shows that I am travelling in the correct direction. Each little step that I take is just part of a journey that I have mapped out for myself.
Yes...sometimes I do not attain success as quickly as I would have liked. What is important is that I achieve it at the end of the day.
My next Adsense earning target will be to hit $10 a day. How long will I take to achieve this?
I really do not know. I am hoping that I can do it within a few months...but I will not be surprised if it takes another year.
To hit $10 a day in earnings, I will need roughly 3000 page views per day or 1500 unique visitors a day (with each visitor having an average of 2 page views).
I estimate that I currently have around 200 loyal readers who visit this site around once in 2 days.This means that I need to grow my readership by 7 times.
Buy a Property or Invest in REITs?
I have always wondered whether it is better for a person without much money or capital to invest in a property or to invest in real estate investment trusts. (Please read here if you have no idea what a real estate investment trust is)
Let's assume that a person has $100,000 in spare cash and is earning a decent salary.
With $100,000 he could pay a 20% downpayment on a $500,000 condo. He could easily rent out this condo for $2500 to $3000 per month. Excluding the estimated $1500 mortgage loan he will have to pay every month, he can potentially receive up to $1500 in rental income if he chooses to buy a property.
He will be getting a decent 18% rental yield based on his intial $100,000 investment. In addition, the rental income is paid monthly compared to a REIT's quarterly or semi-annual distributions. However, to invest in a property, a large amount of capital is needed for the downpayment. You also need to worry about obtaining a bank loan especially if the property is your 2nd property.
With a REIT, he will only be able to manage around 6% to 10% yield. He however needs a much smaller capital. With the REIT, he does not need to worry about tenants, collecting rents and stuff.
He can also diversify his money across various REIT sectors like serviced apartments, retail, industrial, malls and office space. Thus, his returns should be much more stable. He will have less to worry about in a certain sense.
I still believe that investing in property is much more profitable than investing in a REIT. However, REITs provide diversification oppurtunities, are more liquid, and much less cumbersome to manage.
Just my 2 cents
Read Related Articles:
1. Investing in REITs
2. Investing in Rental Property
Let's assume that a person has $100,000 in spare cash and is earning a decent salary.
With $100,000 he could pay a 20% downpayment on a $500,000 condo. He could easily rent out this condo for $2500 to $3000 per month. Excluding the estimated $1500 mortgage loan he will have to pay every month, he can potentially receive up to $1500 in rental income if he chooses to buy a property.
He will be getting a decent 18% rental yield based on his intial $100,000 investment. In addition, the rental income is paid monthly compared to a REIT's quarterly or semi-annual distributions. However, to invest in a property, a large amount of capital is needed for the downpayment. You also need to worry about obtaining a bank loan especially if the property is your 2nd property.
With a REIT, he will only be able to manage around 6% to 10% yield. He however needs a much smaller capital. With the REIT, he does not need to worry about tenants, collecting rents and stuff.
He can also diversify his money across various REIT sectors like serviced apartments, retail, industrial, malls and office space. Thus, his returns should be much more stable. He will have less to worry about in a certain sense.
I still believe that investing in property is much more profitable than investing in a REIT. However, REITs provide diversification oppurtunities, are more liquid, and much less cumbersome to manage.
Just my 2 cents
Read Related Articles:
1. Investing in REITs
2. Investing in Rental Property
Quit My Job, Blog and Travel the World
Quitting my job was one of the toughest decisions I made in my life. Nevertheless, I am glad that I made the decision.
My end goal is to be able to just blog and earn money while travelling the entire world.
This however is not achievable currently as I am still not drawing enough income from online sources. When my online income sources reaches $100 per day, then it could seriously be something worth considering.
On top of my online income source, I could rent out my apartment and get a decent amount of money too.
Travelling the world will most probably begin with a road trip to Malaysia through to Thailand and perhaps even driving all the way to China if that is possible. I will just drive all the way to Europe if I can.
Am I dreaming? Is this dream too far fetched?
Will I be able to realise this dream in the next 10 years, 20 years or never?
What must I do to increase my online income? Can I hit $10 per day by year end?
WE SHALL SEE..........................TO BE CONTINUED
My end goal is to be able to just blog and earn money while travelling the entire world.
This however is not achievable currently as I am still not drawing enough income from online sources. When my online income sources reaches $100 per day, then it could seriously be something worth considering.
On top of my online income source, I could rent out my apartment and get a decent amount of money too.
Travelling the world will most probably begin with a road trip to Malaysia through to Thailand and perhaps even driving all the way to China if that is possible. I will just drive all the way to Europe if I can.
Am I dreaming? Is this dream too far fetched?
Will I be able to realise this dream in the next 10 years, 20 years or never?
What must I do to increase my online income? Can I hit $10 per day by year end?
WE SHALL SEE..........................TO BE CONTINUED
How To Speak Like A Fund Manager
It is said that words maketh a person. Okay, I came up with that phrase =)
But the matter of fact is this: Words do shape our behaviours and thoughts.
The words that fund managers use also shape our perception of the funds they are managing.
You will never hear a fund manager that says things like: "We Buy China because we think it will go up."
Instead, they will most probably phrase it as "We are bullish on China because of its growth potential"
These two phrases actually mean exactly the same thing and there is no way to prove how true the statement actually correlates to real life. The way it is phrased however makes it sound more credible and professional.
But the matter of fact is this: Words do shape our behaviours and thoughts.
The words that fund managers use also shape our perception of the funds they are managing.
You will never hear a fund manager that says things like: "We Buy China because we think it will go up."
Instead, they will most probably phrase it as "We are bullish on China because of its growth potential"
These two phrases actually mean exactly the same thing and there is no way to prove how true the statement actually correlates to real life. The way it is phrased however makes it sound more credible and professional.
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