Tips to Stretch Your Dollar Today!
Tags: Saving Money, Credit Cards, Singapore, Savings Tips

Do you still remember the good old days when $1 can actually buy you a bowl of fishball noodles? While we cannot turn back the clock, we can still try and stretch our dollar as best as we can with the many deals out there today. Savee is going to be writing about the different saving hacks you can have to help you do that in the coming weeks.

Today we will share the first hack that we have in mind with you.

Tip #1: Sign up for a Credit Card

A credit card can be a huge money saver when used responsibly. The key notion of “Never Spend Money You do not Have” holds true here. If you do not already know how a credit card works, let us explain to you how it works. A credit card issued by the bank essentially “loans” you money on the purchases that you have made. At the end of every billing month, you will have to pay back the “loan” that you have made from the bank. If you pay your “loans” on time, you would not have to pay the interest that the bank would charge you on the “loan” you have made. But if you do not manage to pay back on time, that is when the debt problem starts to occur in a downward spiral, and the bank would then happily add this interest to their own earnings.

So, to ensure this does not happen, always treat your credit card like a debit card. Ensure you always set aside money for every purchase that you have made via the credit card, and at the end of each month, pay your bills off on time. A simple tip like this would ensure that you never fall into a downward credit card debt spiral, and more importantly, be able to tap on the attractive benefits that these cards bring.

But with so many credit cards out there to choose from, which would be the ideal one for you? Savee has done some digging and this week, we bring to you the top 3 cashback cards we feel you should always have in your wallet to stretch every dollar you spend.

Card 1: American Express True Cashback Card

American Express True Cashback Card is a straightforward credit card with unlimited cash rebates, no minimum spend, and a flat 1.5% cashback rate on purchases across all online shopping and lifestyle categories with no minimum spending. They are also giving a promotion now of 3% off all your purchases for the first 6 months if you sign up now! This card was selected as the number one card for us to as it has a lower annual principle fee than the rest.

Key Features:

Cash Back on All Spend:1.5%

Cash Back Cap: Unlimited

Min. Spend per month: Unlimited. For more benefits, please visit American Express True Cashback Card.

Annual Principal Fee: S$171.20 (Waived for the first year)

Supplementary Annual Fee: 85.60 (First 2 Supplementary Cards fee permanently waived.)

Fee Waiver: Available

Interest Free Period: 22 days

Annual Interest Rate: 26.90%

Late Payment Fees: S$90

Minimum Monthly Repayment: 3% or S$50, whichever is higher

Foreign Currency Transaction Fee: 2.95%

Foreign Check Fee: N/A

Cash Advance Transaction Fee 5%

Overlimit Fee N/A

The downside of this card is that AMEX is not a provider that can be accepted at every single outlet in Singapore. Most of the time, it is only the larger merchants in Singapore like NTUC, Giant and Din Tai Feng. However, despite this, with 3% Cold Hard Cash for nearly all your purchases (for the first 6 months), we feel this is still a very good card scheme to go for!

Card 2: Citi Cash Back+ Mastercard®

Citibank Cash Back Plus Card is a straightforward credit card with unlimited cash rebates, no minimum spend, and a flat 1.6% cashback rate on purchases across all online shopping and lifestyle categories. Cashback earned will show up on your bank statement, so you can easily keep track and redeem them to offset your card balance via SMS.

Key Features:

Cash Back on All Spend:1.6%

Cash Back Cap: Unlimited

Min. Spend per month: $0. For more benefits, please visit Citi Cash Back+Mastercard®

Annual Principal Fee: S$192.60

Supplementary Annual Fee: S$96.30

Fee Waiver: First year annual fee waived

Interest Free Period: 25 days

Annual Interest Rate: 26.90%

Late Payment Fees: S$100

Minimum Monthly Repayment 1% of the current balance plus 1% of any outstanding unbilled instalment amounts plus interest charges plus late payment charge or S$50, whichever is greater

Foreign Currency Transaction Fee: 3.25%

Foreign Check Fee: N/A

The downside of this card is that only eligible retail purchases made will be entitled to the cashback and not everyone will bother to find out if the purchase made is entitled to the cash rebate. However, given Citi’s network in Singapore, we believe it is still worth signing up for.

Card 3: POSB Everyday Card

POSB Everyday Card is an all-rounded cashback credit card with no minimum spend, annual fee waiver, EZ-Link and ATM card functions, and flat cash rebate rates with Sheng Siong, Watsons, SP Group, and StarHub. Benefits also include food delivery promotions and additional cashback with Amazon.sg, Lazada, and more.

Key Features:

Cash rebates on food delivery(Food Panda & Deliveroo): 8%

Cash rebates on Sheng Siong, Amazon, Lazada: 5%

Cash rebate on electricity and StarHub bills: 1%. For more benefits, please visit POSB Everyday Card.

Annual Principal Fee: S$192.60

Supplementary Annual Fee: S$96.30

Fee Waiver: First year waived

Interest Free Period 25 days

Annual Interest Rate 26.80%

Late Payment Fees S$100

Minimum Monthly Repayment 3.00% or S$50, whichever is higher

Foreign Currency Transaction Fee 3.25%

Foreign Check Fee N/A

Cash Advance Transaction Fee 8% or S$15, whichever is higher

Overlimit Fee S$40

The downside for the POSB Everyday Card is that it is only eligible for groceries and dining purchases and only online dinning with Food Panda and Deliveroo will entitled you with the 8% cashback.

Such credit cards are able to provide you with a lot of savings, but the problem we all face is: which credit card should I use to make my purchase to get the highest savings? That is always a decision we crack our heads over as we try and calculate which one is best. What if there was something out there that helps you stack your cashback and give you up to 5% cashback to save even more?

Credit Card + Savee

The $avee App is what we like to term the True Cashback App. It basically gives you up to 5% cashback for all your purchases made, anytime and anywhere. You do not even need a credit card to use it. Simply sign up, take a picture of your purchase receipts (both online and offline) in the shortest possible time and get cashback for it.

You can now use Savee App to stack and save even more than ever before on your online and offline purchases to stretch every dollar you spend.

Key Features:

No Minimum Spending

Minimum Cashback: 1%

Bonus Cashback: Get 5% on every 5th purchase you submit within 30 mins from the time of purchase to the $avee App

Referral Program: Refer 2 family members and get up to 2.88% cashback on all your purchases when you submit within 30 mins from the time of purchase

No Subscription Fee

Categories Accepted: ALL Groceries, Food & Beverage, Retail & Services Merchants (both Online & Offline)

Unfortunately, Savee does not accept recurring bills like Utilities and Insurance on a monthly basis.

Refer to our cashback timing for more details

This will be our sharing for this week, if we have inspired you, and you like our article, you may share it with your friends! Stay tuned!