How to Start - Saving

The most important thing you need if you want to start investing is: MONEY. To begin with, i recommend you have at least $3000 - $5000 to start with. (Why $3000? I will explain why later on)

How to have money?

First, you need to save. If you are an NSF especially, it will be a challenge if you have had difficulties with the following; 1st. No bank account; 2nd. Have a bank account but below $1000; 3rd. Have a girlfriend or like being a gentlemen all the time (for guys); 4th. Big spender; 5th. No Job; 6th. NSF Recruit/Private/Corporal with or w/o combat pay

So to make things easier, lets address the worst case scenario. Imagine you are an NSF Recruit with no savings, have a girlfriend and a big spender,tough huh? Your first 3 months in BMT yields you a salary of up to $450 w/o combat pay. On a side note, the only way to spend your money is on weekends &/or public holiday. So now follow these RULES should you want to start investing within two years.

Rule #1- PAY YOURSELF FIRST: Set aside $200 every month and leave it in one bank account, that is your SAVINGS. Set up another account for spending purpose. In this case i will set aside $50 for my phone bills and have $200 to spend for the rest of the month.

Rule #2- CUTDOWN: As an NSF, you can never be blamed if you have the urge to hit the nightspots every weekends to feel normal again. Entrance fee to these nightspots can range from $20-$32 and some do not even provide complementary drinks. So cut down. Do it twice a month if you will and NEVER EVER Open bottles without pooling the money with your friends. Your average expenditure should be around $100 per month on these places. So now you're left with another $100 my friend. If you're smoking, Cut down on smoking, one pack per week is going to cost you $40 per month. Best alternative will be pooling your money with your smoking buddy and buy 1 packet together. That should reduce your burden by half!

Rule #3 - THE GIRLFRIEND: Let's be honest here, you love your girlfriend and wants to make her happy and compensate for the time lost in the prison. However, a trip to the movie theatre cost u $9.50 per person. That is $19 plus a dinner that will probably cost you $29 in total, taking into account you're eating at some normal food courts and you're footing the bills. If you do it every weekend you will need to reimburse your $100 from your savings account. So what you can do is request to go on dutch (might be quite hard if you're just into the r/s) or best, download movies and eat your mother's home cooked meal for at least twice a month. Be wary as the girlfriend might be unhappy with your frugal way of spending on her. So if things gets abit out of hand and when she's not understanding. I would suggest you weigh out the options of investing and girlfriend. Forfeit either one.

Rule #4 - NO CREDIT CARDS: No matter what you do, no matter how convenient it is, no matter how good the prospect it seems to be for holding one and no matter who offers you one. SAY NO to credit cards. Use CASH! Remember this phrase "CASH IS KING" I'm going to repeat this word a few times in the future. Or If you need a lighter wallet, get a DEBIT CARD Instead.

Rule #5 - NO RESTAURANT: I can't agree more, the food in camp is kinda sucky and sometimes you would just skip that meal altogether. Nonetheless that doesn't mean you shouldn't eat out and eat well during Weekends. The kopitiam in Singapore is a good place to eat out at and most have better foods or as good as they have in Restaurants! Resturants are just too expensive. Do not go there when you're paying by yourself!

Rule #6 - NO SHOPPING: Do it before you enlist. Trust me you ain't gonna wear the stuff you bought as often as you think. Wear the clothes you already have! The rest of the months you should be wearing green, you know that.

By following these rules, having an additional $200 every month in your saving account shouldn't be a landmark goal. Even so, by following minimally, you will be able to save up to $2000 a year! that is very close to where you want to be next. However, remember that you need at least $3000 to start with if you are to buy Blue chips stocks. In this case, you just have another half a year to go before u reach that amount. So start saving!