Embracing a better financial future

Being the eldest child in her family of 8, Nicole wanted to learn about budgeting to help her family save on their biggest expense – groceries. With so many mouths to feed, her family spends as much as $200 on groceries each time.

She joined a Matched Savings Programme from her RC that’s supported by POSB PAssion Kids Fund and now every month, Nicole and her two other siblings (ages 9 and 10) will pass a portion of their pocket money to their mother, Sabrina, to help deposit into their respective POSB bank accounts.

They then get rewarded with vouchers which incentivises them to maintain their saving habit. These vouchers are particularly useful now during inflation as Nicole uses them to buy things like stationery and snacks for her younger siblings, which helps lessen their family’s hefty grocery bill.

After attending the POSB Save with Smiley financial literacy workshop, Nicole also learned to differentiate between spending on ‘wants’ and ‘needs’ – a useful lesson especially given the rising cost of living in today’s economy.

Thanks to the savviness of Nicole and her siblings, her family’s grocery bill is now a little lighter, and her parents can breathe a little easier.

While most family heirlooms might consist of watches or jewellery, Noraini’s plans for her son’s inheritance include a treasured item from her lifelong collection – a yellow toy house from POSB.

Noraini started out collecting POSB stamps in primary school under the National School Savings Campaign, where every completed stamp card meant a deposit of money into her personal account.

This consistent routine cultivated not only her savings habit, but her penchant for spotting good deals that can also add to her growing collection of merchandise.

So when she chanced upon the unique-looking yellow toy house at her POSB branch years ago and learnt she could redeem it by participating in the Save-As-You-Earn savings programme, Noraini needed no further persuasion.

Her savings habit over the years has paid off today amidst the rising cost of living as Noraini has built up a sizeable amount of savings and only spends on what’s necessary. At the same time, her skill as a savvy collector has her knowing when to make use of promotions during this period to get a better deal.

Over the years, the yellow house has grown to symbolise the dreams and financial goals that Noraini and her family are striving towards. She plans on passing the yellow house down to her son along with something just as important – the value of saving and investing.

When 48-year-old Salim first came to work in Singapore, he had one objective: to provide the best future for his family.

For over 25 years, Salim would send money home religiously. But that used to require tedious trips to Mustafa Centre during his precious days off. Salim would spend the better part of his day off queuing and waiting to remit money home, which would often take days or even weeks to reach his family in Bangladesh.

In 2011, Salim started working at the Kaki Bukit Recreation Centre (RC) from Monday to Saturday as a maintenance worker – making sure facilities in the RC were working and running smoothly.

The RC was especially popular with Salim and his fellow Bangladeshi friends due to its free-to-use facilities like badminton, basketball, and volleyball courts and convenient amenities such as a minimart, food court, handphone shop and a POSB bank branch.

It was there at the POSB bank branch that he met Loke Yeow, a POSB employee.

They started chatting, and when Loke Yeow heard about the struggles Salim faced in remitting money home, he introduced him to the POSB digibank app. He showed Salim just how easy it was to remit money straight from the app, even using his own money to demonstrate the process.

The best thing was when Salim saw how seamless the transaction process was – there was no hassle, or transfer fees either. Remitting money became so convenient. He could send money whenever he wanted, wherever he was. All with a few simple taps on the app.

It was a relief for Salim, knowing there was an easier way to provide for his family and having the confidence that his money would reach them quickly.

Salim was so excited. He couldn’t wait to share this with his friends. He immediately told them to download the digibank app and showed them how to remit money from it, exactly as Loke Yeow taught him.

Now, Salim is free to make the most of his days off doing what he enjoys. He started exercising and playing badminton with his friends on Sundays at the RC, determined to lead a healthier lifestyle as a father to four kids.

And that’s not the only helpful advice Salim got at POSB.

Upon recognising Salim’s knack for picking up new skills quickly, Loke Yeow encouraged Salim to learn other skills that would improve himself and his job prospects.

Salim took this advice to heart, and with the support of his boss, he started learning how to use a computer. With his newfound computer skills and natural talent for talking to people, Salim quickly rose the ranks at work to become a supervisor.

Still, Salim continues to attend courses and exercise regularly during his days off to keep both his mind and body in tip-top shape, with sending money home being one thing he doesn’t need to worry about.

Back in the late 90s when Spring was in primary school, there was nothing quite as exciting as when the occasional book fairs were set up in the tuck shop. She remembers the hordes of students crowding around the table, fervently buying the latest storybooks and comics.

She recounts squeezing through the crowd and the wave of excitement she felt as she saw a beautiful mountainous landscape of storybooks with colourful illustrations on the covers. And she wanted to read every single one of them. During recess, she saw her friends happily engrossed in reading their newly purchased storybooks, and she felt envious.

That same day, Spring immediately went up to her mother after school. She asked her mother for extra pocket money so she could buy a storybook too.

But Mum paused before gently saying, “No.”

Spring was crestfallen. She persisted in asking Mum for extra pocket money, but always to no avail.

One day, Spring and her mother were out walking and passed by their neighbourhood POSB bank branch at Bukit Batok Central. Mum led Spring into the branch and opened a joint POSB savings account for her. Mum then told Spring that if she wanted to buy anything in life, she would need to save up until she could afford to pay for it herself.

Determined, Spring immediately set out to save as much of her pocket money as she could and as quickly as she could. In the days following, she refused to buy anything from the tuck shop at school and brought sandwiches from home to eat instead. She didn’t spend any of her pocket money. She saved all of it. At the end of the month, Spring passed all the money she saved to her mum to deposit into their savings account, feeling proud of her accomplishment.

When the book fair finally returned to the tuck shop, Spring got the money she saved from her Mum. At last, she was ready to buy her very first storybook.

Spring was ecstatic. She felt a surge of pride as she flipped through the pages of the storybook she bought. This was something she saved up for. This was hers.

Now as an adult, Spring looks back fondly and gratefully on this important lesson from Mum. In keeping the habit of saving since then, Spring has found fulfilment in watching her wealth grow over the years. It has given her the freedom to spend on the things she wants while remaining confident in her finances to withstand uncertain times and rising costs of living.

All from the love of books.