Elizabeth Tai's Blog, page 5

Minimalism and the art of meaningful relationships

I wince a little when I read articles that suggest that we should apply minimalism principles to our relationships. Declutter your friends! Konmari friends or relatives who don’t add value!

I imagine myself looking at the list of connections I have on Facebook, closing my eyes and asking: “Does [name] spark joy?” And hitt...

How to track expenses … when you hate tracking expenses

Tracking expenses doesn’t come easily for me. This would be easier! Unsplash pic.

Last December, I started tracking my expenses, purely because I really needed to know what I was spending on each month so that I can adjust my budget if I need to.

It was a fruitful exer...

Email’s hottest trend: The Substack newsletter

I’m sure this is something you’ve personally experienced: Unless you’re an inbox zero guru, 80% of the emails cluttering up your inbox will be promotional emails from companies or personalities, demanding that you buy their product/course/service or how your life will be better if you bought their product/course/service. ...

Is your information diet affecting your mental health?

I wish I looked this together when doomscrolling, but no. Unsplash image by @petekasprzyk

I've always loved reading and finding out new novel bits of information, so the Internet has been a bit of a drug for me.

I was drinking in content without limits; I was soon consu...

Information diet: When your mental health suffers

I wish I looked this together when doomscrolling, but no. Unsplash image by @petekasprzyk

I've always loved reading and finding out new novel bits of information, so the Internet has been a bit of a drug for me.

I was drinking in content without limits; I was soon consu...

Monthly money diary and reflections: February 2021

In February, not only did we have Chinese New Year, the MCO was relaxed, allowing for dine ins again. I fully expected my expenses to go up since foodie me has been denied for too long.

On top of that, my rebel nature kicked in; I gave up tracking my expenses in the Money Lover app for a couple of weeks.

(If you are wonderi...

“You don’t have enough work because you’re walking too much” and other weird things I don’t miss about office life

Open offices. Not a big fan.

For most of my working life, I was a journalist. That meant I never really had a typical 9 to 5 job. Most of us schlepped into the office at 10am if we had no assignments in the morning. Those who had jobs don’t appear until afternoon. Thos...

Hotel review: KLoé Hotel Kuala Lumpur

Easily my favourite part of the hotel - the swimming pool and deck area.

For most of 2020, I didn’t go anywhere (for obvious pandemic reasons). The itch to park my tush into something fancy grew to almost maniacal proportions by the time December rolled by. (I was espe...

Money, privilege and contentment: An honest conversation with a friend

Privilege has been on my mind lately.

So much so that I’m publishing two posts this week, a rarity for slow-blogger me! (If you’ve not read my previous post - The role of privilege in personal finance - do read it, you’ll get some perspective on this post.)

Recently, I was moaning to a friend about the fact that I am worri...

Privilege in personal finance: A response to Dave Ramsey's stimulus check comments

It’s a privilege to have a supportive family that will help you financially and give you every opportunity to succeed.

Last week, Twitter is all-a-Twitter over a remark made by Dave Ramsey, a popular US personal finance guru. He said: “I don't believe in a stimulus che...