What happened to $384 in 2015?

Almost 9 years ago, I blogged about how I saved $384 on solar powered lights for my planter.

Then, quite unexpectedly, someone asked me on YouTube how were those lights doing?

Well, they are still working!

I took a photo of them last night and here it is:

I used to blog about saving money very frequently back in those days.

These days, I am taking it easy.

I am less tight fisted with money now.

However, this does not mean that I am frivolous with money.

I would still wonder if something is worth buying, if it is value for money?

Hard to unlearn some things.

However, if it isn't an amount that would break the piggy bank, like a few dollars, I would just close an eye.

Anyway, if you are new to my blog, this was the blog post back in 2015:
Saving $384 on solar powered lights is $384 earned!

I remember reading an article about Jim Rogers persuading his wife not to buy a new sofa in his younger days and to invest the money instead.

They later bought a new sofa with money made from the money they didn't spend on a new sofa earlier.

Interesting!

If AK can do it, so can you!

"This is getting embarrassing."

Some readers might find this shirt which I have just washed and put out to dry familiar:

If you are one of those readers, you must have been following my blog since 2011! (See related post at the end of this blog.)

Back then, I blogged about the t-shirt and how it was at least 26 years old.

By now, it is 33 years old.






I wore the shirt out recently when I bumped into someone I had not seen in years.

We chatted a bit and I could tell that he kept looking at my shirt.

Finally, he said something which surprised me:

"I really cannot hold it back anymore but that shirt is so old and it looks old too."

He said something else.






He was pretty diplomatic but it was obvious that he thought it was embarrassing.

To be fair, he was not the first person to say something like that about the shirt.

The shirt has turned yellowish in places and its collar is out of shape.






OK, actually, if I were to be totally impartial (or brutally honest), the shirt looks like a sack that has seen better days.

I think it is time I give the shirt away to the rag and bone man.

Some might say I should have done it years ago but the shirt is so comfortable.






This reminds me of why Warren Buffett got a new car.

He got a new car because his daughter told him:

"This is getting embarrassing — time for a new car!"






Some of us are not very good with things like that and we should listen to people who are better at these things.

Live and learn, I guess.

Related posts:
1. Evolution: "lobster taller than small girl , ak's t shirt older than evo!"
2. Ak says good bye to another old friend.

Cannot do this in Singapore because...

Most of us are amateurs when it comes to anything that has nothing to do with our full time job. It stands to reason.

However, even if we spend hours each day doing something, we might not be very professional about it. So, we could remain amateurs. This stands to reason too.

AK is an amateur this and an amateur that in retirement. 

I do the things I enjoy but I am not necessarily good at them. 

It is about having fun and not making a living. 

So, I am not going to set professional targets or high standards. Just thinking about doing this is stressful. 

Naturally, this is how I treat gardening as a past time too. For an amateur gardener, I think I have done OK.

To be honest, it is probably because I have mostly chosen plants which are easier to grow. 

Yes, AK is a lazy fellow and always likes options which have lesser resistance.




A friend told me that it is too difficult to grow Lavender in Singapore because the weather is too warm.

Then, a friend told me that it is impossible for Lavender to flower in Singapore because it is too warm.

I would need to have a cool environment like in the Flower Dome in Gardens by the Bay for Lavender to bloom.


I told him I didn't know that and, by the way, I think my Lavender plant might just be flowering:

(Photos taken on 1 Sep 17.)

Some people tell me that they can never achieve financial freedom in Singapore. It is impossible because it is just too warm hard.

(Photos taken on 12 Sep 17.)

This final photo was taken moments ago this morning:

OK, maybe, AK is just lucky.

Related posts:
1. Gardening and investing.
2. Financial freedom for Singaporeans.

"The big money (Pandan) is not in the buying and selling."

As I work on probably the two most anticipated blog posts of the year in ASSI, I am reminded of an important virtue of any successful investor.


In July this year, I shared a few photos and some thoughts on my Facebook wall. I did that a lot for a while as I didn't feel like blogging. (Aiyah, lazy say lazy lah.)

If you have a mature Pandan plant at home and it has babies, you can do this too. Just make sure not to hurt the mother plant in the process as you might have to snip the baby from the mother at the roots.

In a jar of water, the baby Pandan will take a couple of weeks to grow proper roots. Once that happens, transplant into a small pot of soil.

In September, mine looked like this a month after transplanting:

The older leaves died and a new bunch of leaves emerged.

Today, I decided to move the plant to a bigger pot:

The wish I made in July came true. I got a Pandan plant for free. 

Wait a minute. 

Is it really free?

If we want wealth, for most of us, realistically, we have to work for it.

If we want our wealth to grow, for most of us, realistically, it will need time to do so.

To those who have sent me emails and messages on when I might be sharing my full year results, remember, patience is a virtue. ;)

"The big money is not in the buying and selling … but in the waiting." - Charlie Munger
Have the right conditions and patience.
A money tree for you and me? 
常将有日思无日，莫将无时想有时.  

A step towards achieving ZEN as an investor.

We are probably familiar with a similarity between fishing as a hobby and investing in stocks which is  that both require patience. 

What about gardening? 

I believe it requires plenty of patience too especially if we decide to grow plants from seeds.

I decided to grow Sunflowers from seeds recently and here are some photos taken over the last one week with the last one being the most recent:

Gardening not only requires patience but also understanding and accepting that some seeds are bad and will never germinate. 

No matter how good a gardener we are, this is something we have to accept.

As long as we have more good seeds than bad ones, we should be happy.

How does this tie in with investing in stocks?

Hint:

"In this business, if you're good, you're right six times out of ten. 

"You're never going to be right nine times out of ten." - Peter Lynch





Related posts:
1. Investing or gardening...?
2. Know our goals...
3. How to have peace of mind as investors?

AK shares 5 reasons to buy a diesel car.

By now, many readers have found out that AK bought an "inexpensive expensive" car.  Why the peculiar phrase?

Well, the car might be from an "atas" brand but it is rather inexpensive to run and it is also less costly to the environment. Yup, the car runs on diesel.


I love my new car and if you are wondering what is so good about a car that runs on diesel, here are 5 reasons to consider one:

1. Diesel cars are less expensive to buy than their equivalent petrol versions with the CEVS. What is CEVS? Carbon Emission-Based Vehicle Scheme. Cars that produce less CO2 will enjoy subsidies and it could be a big $XX,XXX deal!

2. Amazing fuel economy! I could get as much as 20km per litre with relatively smooth traffic on the expressways. What about driving about town? If not caught in a traffic jam, I could get as much as 15km per litre.

3. Diesel is much cheaper to buy compared to petrol. When the time comes to refuel, remember that 95 Octane petrol costs about 80% more than diesel here in Singapore! After all the discounts at the pump, I pay about 82 cents a litre for diesel only. Yes, I know, only.

4. Diesel cars are cleaner these days. Hey, Euro 5 standard, ok? Don't refuel with cheaper diesel from across the Causeway. Those have higher sulphur content. They are still stuck at a lower standard. Later, your diesel car "poon orh yen" (i.e. spew black smoke) like those J.B. trucks, don't say diesel cars no good hor.

5. More torque! I really love this! You must experience this for yourself. My car flies and I thought my old car was good! I am still learning to be very gentle on the accelerator.

Although I have already granted ROFR (i.e. right of first refusal) for this car to a friend who bought my last car, I might just drive this one for the full 10 years. 

I am in love.

Related posts:
1. My new car's fuel consumption.
2. My passive income all gone...
In the comments section, a reader shared with me that diesel cars give off other types of pollutants. Cham. How like that?
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/05/the-truth-about-londons-air-pollution

Know our goals, have the right conditions and patience.

Regular readers know that gardening is one area I am spending more time in and I am enjoying my little planter in the sky.

Gardening suits my temperament. 

Plant the seeds, give them good conditions for growth and wait. If everything has been done right, the plants will grow. Sounds familiar?

Here are photos of my Basil plant which seem to be in the initial stage of flowering!

See?

For those with failing eyesight like mine.

When I shared this development with my sister who also grows Basil at home, she was amazed. However, she shouldn't want her Basil plants to flower because it means that they are moving from growth to reproduction which means less yummy leaves for her cooking.

Depending on what a person is after, it is either a good thing that a Basil plant is flowering or not. When we draw parallels, a parallel might be where we ask what do we want out of our investments? Are we investing for growth or for income, for example?

We can all enjoy positive results as long as we do it right and have the patience to wait. However, whether the results are desirable would depend partly on what are our goals.

Gardening and investing aren't so different, are they?
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Updated: 24 July 2016

Sunflower.
Grew this from a seed.
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Updated: 14 November 2016

"Gardening? I don't have the patience!"

I took a cutting from my Rosemary plant in May:

I transplanted it in September in a bigger pot (on the right):

And again today:

Having a bit of patience can be quite rewarding.

Moral of the story? Maybe, there is more than one.

(Oops. You saw more Rosemary cuttings growing in the background? Repeating a successful process? Believe it!)


Related post:
Investing or gardening, be ready to go to war!

Investing or gardening, be ready to go to war!

Several years ago, I tried to grow cherry tomatoes on my balcony. 

I had three pots and they were all growing well. 

They flowered and eventually I had some fresh cherry tomatoes. 




Unfortunately, the good times didn't last very long because the plants were infested by white flies and eventually died. 

White flies are nasty insects and usually cling to the undersides of leaves in large numbers. 

Once infested by white flies, the fruits from the plants are not safe to eat either. 

Well, the important thing is that I had a lesson in gardening which I remember. 




So, when I decided to renew my efforts at gardening in the last one year, I decided not to grow cherry tomatoes despite suggestions by some people to do so. 

Instead, I decided to grow plants that would ward off all sorts of nasty insects. 

I have a pot of Basil, a pot of Rosemary, a pot of Lemon Balm and two troughs of Catnip. 

These ward off mosquitoes, house flies and other nasties. 

Rosemary.

Basil.

Lemon Balm.

Catnip.

I am also trying to grow Rosemary from seeds. 


Here is a photo taken today:

The one on the right is ahead in the race.

I am also pleased to share that my Alliums have flowered today:

Waiting for them to bloom fully.

Alliums (the onion family) repel many insects, apparently.

I also recently tried to grow some Nasturtiums which are originally from South America. 

The whole plant including the flowers are edible, apparently. 

Peppery in taste or so I read. 

Got the seeds from NTUC Fairprice Xtra.

The main reason for planting Nasturtiums is not for eating although I could try. 

What I really want is their ability to ward off those cherry tomato plant murderers, those white flies!

Today, I see the first Nasturtium seedling emerging from the soil:

Hope the rest of the seedlings follow soon.




Once the Nasturtiums are fully grown, if I should try my hand at growing some cherry tomatoes again, I wouldn't have to fear those nasty white flies!

Whether investors or gardeners, our chances of success would be higher if we are ready for war!

Related posts:
1. Be prepared for war!
2. Life is about many things.

Life is about many things and my time is in short supply (Some of the things I do in retirement).

I have been spending less time blogging and it will probably stay like this for a while more.

The primary reason is that I have become more introspective lately. I have been spending more time meditating, gardening and going back to doing some yoga. I have also been eating differently, following a diet which is very different from what I was used to.

Gardening is a good and inexpensive hobby. Growing plants also means that I am doing my bit for the environment. I fancy myself to be a bit of an environmentalist and recycle whatever I can. 

As with all new hobbies, learning about gardening takes up quite a bit of my time. I am learning new things all the time about plants.
I enjoy spending time in my little outdoor space with my plants. 

In the evening, it is rather calming, especially this time of the year. There is always a cool breeze and with soft lighting, it is a perfect spot for meditation. Before I knew it, I had lost an hour just sitting there. 

Rosemary seedlings.

My planter must be enchanted.

Catnip grows really well from seeds.
Seen here with a solar powered LED light from IKEA.
See: Saving $384 on solar powered LED lights.

As for my new diet, it demands much more attention from me. It is not as convenient as what I was used to. 

So, I end up having to spend more time preparing my own meals, more than before. The selection process is really a learning experience. 

It is hard to have no carbohydrate and no sugar in my diet. The best I can do is to try to have as little carbohydrate and as little sugar as possible. It is about being more careful. 

The results have been encouraging so far and I will probably blog about the initial success of my diet a bit more in a separate blog post.

Tuna, eggs and lettuce.

Oh, I should mention that I have been spending more time visiting doctors, doing check ups and stuff. It is only prudent since I am past 40. 

Frankly, there are certain health issues which probably should have been addressed years ago but I had swept them under the carpet as they were not life threatening (and I didn't want to spend the money, ahem).

For exercise, I continue to take long walks which I do usually in the evenings. I like taking in the sights on such walks. 

Today, I decided to go for a morning walk instead and there were reminders everywhere that Christmas is just round the corner.

As we count our blessings, let us not forget to bring some cheer to the less fortunate. 

Be charitable and remember that true charity does not discriminate amongst the needy.

Related posts:
1. Consider making a donation.
2. Grow a money tree.
3. Something I want to lose.

SP Services say total amount payable is $0.00! (AK uses his air con more but keeps the bill in check.)

(Update 4 Jan 17): 
AK has denied SP Services some revenue! Happiness is a utility bill that looks like this.

All thanks to the really cool weather recently (and not the miserable reduction in electricity tariff).
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Since having my own place once more, I have had discussions with friends on more domestic topics like the household utility bill. In all these discussions, I discovered that my utility bill is relatively low.

My consumption is below the national average for my house type, apparently.

What about my bill in dollar terms?

It has remained more or less the same compared to my utility bill a few years ago when I had my old place and stayed there for 4 years or so, $100 a month, give or take a few dollars. I think this is quite remarkable.

I absolutely cannot live without the air con being on at home. If I am home, the air con and air purifiers are on. Since I am home for many more hours now each day compared to a few years ago, the air con is on for many more hours per day too.

I also watch more TV now as I have more free time. I like watching the Travel Channel, HGTV, Discovery Channel, National Geographic and the History Channel. 

I have a 40" Full HD LED TV now compared to the 26" LCD TV I had in my old place before I replaced it with a 32" LED a year before I sold the place. I think my many TV watching hours now should consume more electricity.

How is it that my utility bill has not gone up much?

I think it is fair to say that the air con probably consumes more electricity than other electrical appliances at home. So, the first thing to do is to make sure to insist on having the energy saving Invertor technology. 

4 ticks, nothing less.

Then, I will usually set the air con temperature to 24 degrees centigrade. On a very warm day, maybe, 23 degrees centigrade.  

The lower the temperature we set, the higher the energy consumption. So, 23 degrees centigrade is usually the lowest I would go.

I have a friend who sets the temperature to 18 degrees centigrade at home as the norm. That is freezing and sends the energy bill through the roof!

Well, since moving to my new place, I got acquainted with my new Invertor air con which has a neat dehumidifier function. This function removes moisture from the air.

Often, we feel warm because of the high humidity level in our climate. The human body is not able to cool itself as well in a humid environment. If we are able to lower the humidity level in a room, our body will feel cooler naturally.

If we set the air con to dehumidifier mode, it lowers the humidity level in the room to about 60%. This is much lower than the usual humidity level in Singapore.

What does the symbol look like? 

A couple of  water drops. Unfortunately, you won't find this mode in older air cons.

If you have Invertor air cons at home and if they are quite new, they should have the dehumidifier mode. If you cannot live without the air con on at home, try this mode. It should lower energy consumption and you should see some savings.

When I go to bed, I would switch the air con back to the regular mode, the one with the snow flake symbol. 

This lowers the humidity level as well as the temperature in the room. 24 degrees centigrade, of course.

It keeps the room cool enough and I don't even need to use a blanket. Just need to wear socks to bed. 

I hope I have not put anyone to sleep with this blog post. Zzzzzz.
Related posts:
1. Photos of AK's home.
2. What can we do to survive the haze?

What can we do to survive the haze?

The haze is back and asthmatic people like AK are suffering again. My body is on a histamine overdrive. Runny nose. 

It could have been worse if not for the fact that I have an air purifier at home.

If you are very sensitive to air pollution like I am, then, better get an air purifier, turn it on and stay indoors as much as possible. 






If you have an air purifier and if the filter has not been replaced in many years, you should replace it because it is probably quite unhygienic by now.

If you must go out, please wear a N95 mask, not the type that AK wears when he makes public appearances hor.

If you are asthmatic, please always have your Salbutamol (Ventolin) puff with you:

If you are at home and feel generally irritable with a persistent runny nose, you might want to take a Piriton tablet and go take a nap. Don't have to see a doctor to get this. Just go to a pharmacy and ask for this:

The name is hard to pronounce and I always tell the pharmacist I want "generic Piriton". $2.00 for 50 pills.

This is an anti-histamine and what doctors would give us for runny nose anyway.

Of course, please go see a doctor if you feel seriously unwell.

OK, I just took a Piriton pill and I am going to take a nap now.
Related posts:
1. Get a new HEPA filter (air purifier).
2. 6 steps wearing the N95 mask.

Saving $384 on solar powered LED lights is $384 earned.

Ever since moving to my new place a few months ago, I have been thinking of buying a couple of solar powered LED lights for the outdoor space which doesn't have any lighting point in the ceiling. 

However, they are so expensive:
Two of these would have cost me at least S$438.00!

I thought of getting the components and assembling them but AK is no engineer. Then, I saw an advertisement by IKEA. 

They sell solar powered LEDs and, so, I made a visit.

I stuffed the LEDs into a transparent lunch box at first. It worked but it looked ugly. So, I bought lanterns from IKEA and stuffed the LEDs into these instead:

Absorbs light energy in the day.

The LEDs turn on automatically at night.

They look like so many fireflies in the lanterns!

They work well and they cost less than $27.00 per unit, lantern and all.

Nice and bright. I am so happy with these.

I saved quite a bit of money with this "bright" idea and that makes me happy too.

-----------
Almost one year later and still going strong.

New photos added on 23 June 2016:

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I added another LED lantern in my planter recently as the pink color lantern was on sale at IKEA! So, I guess I saved a bit more than $192 this time. ;p

Photos added on 27 November 2016:

My planter is getting crowded. -.-"
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Some older posts you might want to read:
1. Saving time, money and backside.
2. Why buy an atas mattress and a cheapo TV?
3. How I earned $9,216 with a mug?

For anyone who might be interested, the last two blog posts on my recent trip on the Super Star Gemini have been published. Total of 5 blog posts.
My travel blog: Travel Photos and Videos.

"Both CFL light bulbs (low energy light bulbs) and LED light bulbs offer substantial energy savings. LED bulbs offer the greater saving overall using less energy and lasting longer at 60,000 hours, however a greater initial investment is required. In addition alternative fittings may be required and at present they only provide directional lighting."
Source: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/lightbulbs.html