Posts
When I learned from a member of the audience on Monday evening that OCBC 360 is going to reduce their bonus interest by half for online payments and credit card spending, I was saddened. I have to say that it wasn't as if it was unexpected but, I guess, I didn't expect it to happen quite so soon.
Well, it has been a good one year. Yes, it has been one year since I started my OCBC 360 account. Time does fly, doesn't it?
It is also because of the OCBC 360 account that I have an OCBC credit card again after many years of not having one. Well, got to have one to get some bonus interest, right?
Only last night, oddly, I found out that OCBC's ibanking has a bar chart which shows how I have been using my credit card and since I have diverted all my credit card spending to my OCBC Frank card with the exception of petrol purchases for my car, this gives a good snapshot of my monthly spending.
Dining. I guess I don't visit restaurants very often. I think this was clocked from a couple of visits to Curry Times by Old Chang Kee.
Groceries. I go to NTUC Fairprice supermarkets once or twice a week.
Medical and personal care. I think this must have been from a visit to NTUC Unity (Pharmacy).
Other financial services and charges. I did auto top ups to my OCBC Frank Card's NETS Flashpay function (for parking and ERP charges) six times in March to help hit the $500 monthly spending required to get the higher cash rebate for card spending. I didn't use all the $300 stored in the card for parking and ERP charges which usually add up to not more than $30 a month.
I use the money stored in the card to pay telco and utility bills. I also use the money stored in the card to pay for groceries by using the NETS Flashpay function. So, actually, my monthly groceries bill should be higher and not just $148 which makes sense as I like my ice cream and chocolates.
Government services. This was for passport renewal. Won't happen again for another 5 years.
Of course, this is just a regular month's snapshot. It shows roughly how I spend my money on a monthly basis using my OCBC Frank Card. There are big ticket items like insurance premiums and car servicing which are not reflected here.
I don't keep a record of my monthly expenses but I think I am pretty careful with how I spend money. Yes, I know. This is just an excuse. AK is lazy.
As our income gets upgraded, make sure our expenses are not upgraded and we will naturally have more savings over time, all else remaining equal. Unless severely disadvantaged, anyone can do this.
Related posts:
1. Get paid more while waiting for opportunities.
2. An easy way to improve cash flow: My Frank Card.
3. How to have a comfortable retirement?
Bloggy Award
7 comments:
Scare me leh. Still 3.05% la
Let me do some simple math. 0.05%+1%+0.5%+0.5%=2.05%.
Where did I miss?
Hi EWS,
That is my understanding too. :)
Well, OCBC say that they will come up with 2 more conditions for savers to get another 0.5% + 0.5%. Let us wait for more details. ;)
Looks like all in, you spend $1000 max $2000 a month? Wow that is very low even for a single. You don't go for movies or dates or hang out with friends? What do you do for social leisure?
I have 4 kids and wife, just groceries and home supplies alone is $2000 a month.....
Hi Der Shing,
I do have a little car which I figured costs more than $1,000 a month to keep (including depreciation). It is a luxury item which I have grown used to having.
As I grow older, I realise that I socialise less and spend more time at home with myself. I picked up gardening again recently. ;)
I do enjoy quality time spent with family and close friends, of course but I have less social activities as I age. :)
Both credit cards and the payment of 3 bills using the OCBC 360 account now provides 0.5% instead of 1%. Credit card purchases also need to be at a minimum of $500, instead of $400.
Interestingly, given the competitive landscape of credit cards and bank offerings, OCBC still reduced the interest could it mean they are confident that the latest changes will not affect the decisions of their customers to continue using OCBC payment mechanism and credit card?
From 1 October 2015, FRANK Credit Card benefits will be revised.
(1) Get 6% rebates on online purchases, up to 5% on coffee and entertainment and 3% on NETS-ATU when you spend min. S$400 offline monthly (excl. online & ATU spend).
(2) All other spends enjoy 0.3% rebates.
(3) Total monthly rebates are capped at S$60.
(4) The annual card fee is revised to S$80.
For full T&Cs of the FRANK Cash Rebates Rewards Programme, visit
www.FRANKbyOCBC.com/CreditCard.
Post a Comment