How spending 5 minutes differently each day can make you a little richer!

DollarsAndSense shares three ways you can be richer by just spending 5 minutes of your time differently today.

Open a savings account that gives you the best returns

Go ahead and run some researches on the various savings account provided by the different banks in Singapore. Find the one that will benefit you the most and do not hesitate to get your queries answered at the bank when you go to open an account.

Having researched several savings accounts provided by some financial institutions, we personally recommend that you spend your 5 minutes sitting down with a personal banker at any OCBC branch to open an OCBC 360 Account.

We believe that the OCBC 360 Account provides one of the best interest rates at 3.05% per annum on your monies. All you have to do is to 1) credit your monthly salary into the account; 2) pay three bills with it; and 3) spend at least S$400 on your OCBC credit card every month.

Board the train 5 minutes earlier to work today

The difference between exiting the station at Raffles Place MRT at 8.05am and 8am is roughly 50 cents worth. Saving that 50 cents a day, for 5 working days a week, one will find himself S$10 richer by the end of the month. That’s basically S$120 extra to spend every year. If working hour starts only at 9am for you, we suggest taking breakfast to your workplace to eat, or try hitting your gym in the morning instead of after work if it is nearby.

There are currently 16 designated MRT stations where this incentive is available, and exiting these stations before 7.45am will mean that you travel for free that morning. Think of all the money you can save in a year! Could just add up to a free holiday.

5 minutes on the news

Instead of the spending your time on watching Korean dramas or playing mindless games on your phone on your train ride to work, try spending the first 5 minutes scrolling through the news. Mobile applications such as Newsloop are highly recommended for their convenient browsing interface and providing worldwide news content.

If you have a few stocks which you are interested to invest in, spending 5 minutes on the Singapore Exchange may allow you to spot an underpriced stock to your advantage. Or reading about an interesting development might trigger you to decide investing you money in stocks in that sector. Even if you are more interested to read about specific news stories like fitness or fashion, you would be able to save on hiring personal trainers or be privy to the best deals in town to shop. Further, you could be in a job interview, and your knowledge of the world may give you an edge over another candidate and land you the job. We can’t think of reasons not to spend at least 5 minutes reading the news!

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