Hi everyone, we have created a new section for anything that do with our Wedding, ROM and our new home at Punggol! Wanjing have made alot of effort on all the research and like to share with you if u are interested to know.

Thank you many many!

Wee~ we started  on our wedding plans by looking at bridal studios and hotels viewing. This is just the beginning, but i realized is REALLY ALOT more work than i expected. Discussion of what we want, venues, dates, to-do-list by traditions, legal documents & most of all - Budgeting which is e most headache !! Dear’s busy with his upcoming events at work plus he hated maths & figures, so i help in most of the research and planning for now.  Once he’s free, he will help out in other ways.

We are quite lost cos we dunno where to begin, but i know i will enjoy the whole process since is a once-a-lifetime event. Surprisingly, talking to her mum about the wedding stuff was much more easier than I thought. Before tt, i had the fear of moving into his hse, wad thy expect etc since he’s the oni son & eldest grandson. Heng, both his parents r very understanding & they din give us stress so long we hold a proper dinner. I can sense she’s excited abt the whole thing, telling me she wanna lose more weight and look great for the day hahaa

CHECKLIST FOR ROM

• Booking of ROM date : 1 Oct 2010 (4th anniversary)
• prepare doc for actual day ( IC of Groom/bride/Fathers/wedding Cert)
• look for JP, to contact and confirm if he’s available
• book chalet
• prepare guest sign-in book and table
• decide on a wedding theme
  
• design ECard
• confirm guest list
• food caterer ( bbq food optional)
• wedding cake ( optional )
• gown ( in Bridal package)
• makeup and hair stylist ( in bridal package)
• wedding shoes
• manicure, pedicure
• accessories - necklace, earrings ( in bridal package)
• hand bouquet flower
• ring pillow , bears and pens
• ‘Just married’ wordings
• plan and prepare wedding decoration -tables/chairs/walls/balloons/dinning area/main doors/room door/candles holder /candles
• photography and video services (optional)

  
  

NSRCC Bunglow Chalet

2 Bedrooms on 2nd level

Moving out and having my own little nest has always been my dream.. to do my own design where  i can do ANYTHINGwithout seeking parent approval. Things Like walk in wardrobe, bathtub, an open kitchen concept wif bar counter, convert 1 bedrm to entertainment room etc BUWAAHHAA ok,  i know im dreaming, time to wake up - reality check.

Buying a property is a BIG ticket and probably the biggest purchase i will make in my entire life. So, i spent weeks reading the HDB & CPF website and learn some interesting info which i like to share:
1. 3 rooms : total household income capped at 2K, 4/5 rooms : total household income capped at 8K
2. You can only own 1 HDB at any point of time (u can own many Condos n bunglows)
3. You can only buy a HDB under a single name at the age of 35 if you are not married
4. The maximum loan from HDB is 30years. Once u decide on how many years, you cannot lengthen but you can shorten your repayment period. Eg: i take 30yrs loan, 2yrs later, i can shorted it to 15yrs. If i take 15yrs loan, i cannt revert back to 30yrs.
5. There is no penalty charge for shortening loan period unlike private banks. Probably just some admin charges..
6. HDB loan offer the lowest loan rate and u are only entitled to 2 times ( if u buy hse for 2nd time, u can apply for HDB loan again. 3rd time no, loan from bank)
7. To entitle for 2nd HDB loan, u mus upgrade ur hse. downgrade will not be eligible. ( 4rm to 5 rm)
8. There are 2 types of Grants available
First timer  - 30K , only apply to resale flat
Near parents with 2Km - 10K , only apply to resale flat
Additonal House Grant (AHG) - 5K - 40K depending on ur total income. The lower income the higher grant of cos. Only eligible for couple whose average combined income does not exceed 5K and one of u must be working continously for 1year. This apply to both resale and new flat.
9. CPF contributions is capped @ $4.5k., any income beyond $4.5k will not be  ‘cpf-ed’ (details as below)
10. After age of 55, there mus be a mini sum in OA (ordinary account) before u can use the money to pay for ur house loan (details as below)
11. Our CPF monthly contribution into OA reduce as we aged (details as below)
12. CPF OA account will be WIPE out upon collection of house keys (details as below)

9. CPF contributions is capped @ $4.5k
As mentioned, CPF contributions is capped @ $4.5k., any income beyond $4.5k will not be  ‘cpf-ed’
Hence, that work out our OA maximum/ mth to about $995 and will not increase as your pay increase

For example
if you earn $4.5k, your CPF contribution is 20% and your employer contribution is 13%
thus your total CPF contribution will be $1485, 67% goes to OA ($994.95).
Example your mthly salary increase to $5k, your cpf contribution would remain at 20% of 4.5k, employer contribution is 13% of 4.5k
thus, your total CPF contribution will still be $1485. However, you will have additional of $500 take home pay.

Hence, for a working couple, the maximum OA contribution  is $994.95 x 2 =  $1989.90. FYI, u can only use OA to pay for ur hse. SA is reserved for retirement, MA is for medical.
This means if your monthly loan to repay exceed $1989,  u haf to pay cash to top up the difference.

10. Minimum sum in OA after 55 yr old
There is a minimum amount u have to keep inside OA after 55 before u can use it to pay for ur hse. The mini amount is currently at $106,000 and will increase yearly due to inflation. Please note our retirement age is always changing by the CPF board so the age limit may from time to time.

Having said that, imagine how much do u left inside our OA when we have monthly loan to pay for for 20-30years. In another words, we have to pay off ur HDB loan before 55 cos we are unlikely to have that mini amt in OA. If not, you will have to use cash to repay ur loan after 55yrs old.

11. CPF monthly contribution into OA reduce as we aged
Our monthly CPF contribution is 20%, employer 13% ( employer contribution decreases as we grow older too)
Out of this total amt, 66.6% of it goes to OA.
35- 45yrs old, the percentage drops to 60.8%
45 - 50yrs old - 55%
50 -55yrs old-  50%

Our salary will increase each year but rem there is a cap of 4.5K that will be “CPF-ed” . Hence, with the percentage decreasing, and income increasing ( with assumption), our monthly OA contribution may likely to remain or increase by insignificant amount.

12. CPF OA account will be WIPE out upon collection of house keys
That’s why there are ppl who fear of losing their jobs cos thy haf to use cash $$ if there is no monthly contribution. To counter this problem, i make sure both of us transfered some CPF $$  to do investment b4 buying house. We bought singapore linked management fund which is low risk n low return. My intention is nt to earn, is a backup plan. Should any of us or even BOTH lose our jobs, sell off the investment and transfer back the $$ into OA. This will help us to tide over a few months of loan while looking for new job. No need use cash =) For those who r interested to do the same, fyi- starting from 2008, there is a rule of mini sum 20K u must leave in ur OA before u do any investment..

Finally, i work out how much we have in our OA, what’s our total CPF contribution and the maxi loan we are eligible. I had a talk with him and we both agreed to get a new flat even though is far from city area. But no choice, we dont have to be slave to our debt. Good things is no need use cash to pay COV (cash over valuation) and agent fees, is cheaper by 100K compared to resale, location is directly opp Waterway so value of hse will go up in future. Buying it at low price oso means we can be debt free in a short time frame =)

BTO Project: Damai Grove
Location: Punggol 21, directly opposite Punggol Waterway which is coming up in 2011
Unit : 12th floor corner unit 
Price: $226,900
Legal stamp fees: $4,100

Our block 613A is up! Weee!

Today is dear’s actual birthday, so we went to Tampinese Mall and eat our budget Tapanyaki haha.

After our dinner, we head down to Kallang Leisure Park to Ice Skate hahaha we both never Ice Skate b4, so both of us quite scare to fall down.. but it was great fun and cooling.

Our Durian gloves lol.

Didn’t had chance to get dear a proper birthday cake, so I went to Starbucks to get dear a Log cake with erm paper imaginary candle haha, we then watch 2010 Movie, the movie is freaking awesome!

Woot, today treat dear to a Dim Sum buffet at the Fullerton Hotel for her advanced birthday celebration cos it was fully booked on her actual day. Haha never eat at such place b4, not even step b4 into Fullerton Hotel…. makes us feel rich for a moment haha. My advice to those going to eat here, do order as much as possible in one single order, because they take quite sometime to cook and serve to you, guess also to delay the time till they hit the last order timing.

First up was our fav  “Deep-Fried Prawn Coated With Wasabi Mayonnaise”, it’s freaking nice! we order like 3 LONG of this man and still can’t get enough of it.

Haha this is also one of the dish on why I want to eat here… the “Steamed Abalone Siew Mai” damn seiok haha.

Next up is everyone favourite XLB haha, it tasted as good as Dim Tai Feng and Crystal Jade, but the soup base is much more sweeter.

“Steamed Shark’s Fin and Scallop Dumpling” !

We also ordered soup which they only allow one soup per customer, so I ordered the “Braised Spinach With Crabmeat and Roe in Chicken Consomme” while dear ordered the “Double-Boiled Winter Melon with Bamboo Mushroom” man I tell you, the soup is freaking nice… no wonder they only allow one soup per customer.

Other than this, we also ordered many others which we find nothing special to mention here haha.

Last but not least, our desert “Mango Pudding with Strawberry”. But we have to pay 8 bucks for this because Desert is not part of the Dim Sum buffet price.

What a wonderful dinner for just 28bucks per person exclusive of GST and Service Charge.

After our dinner, we head down to our Bridal Shop “Cang Ai” at Tanjong Pagar to discuss on our itinerary during our photo shoot at Taiwan.