Money Muse: She took on 9 tuition jobs to finance her overseas exchange programme
PUBLISHED ONJanuary 24, 2020 3:59 PMBySimeon Ang
Money Muse is AsiaOne's maiden series of profile interviews with financial and investment bloggers where we learn more about what they do, how they started writing, their motivations as well as lessons gleaned through their writing journey.
We recently caught up with Dawn Cher from SG Budget Babe, which focuses on personal finance issues close to Singaporeans such as savings, clearing debts, insurance, investments, mortgages and housing.
Dawn is perhaps best remembered as the 24-year-old who saved $20,000 in a year upon starting her first full-time job with a take-home salary of $2,000.
She believes that her $20,000 achievement has since inspired working adults to strive for the same and get their finances in order.
Dawn's blog has received over 4 million visitors since she started writing and has been ranked as one of the world's top 60 budget blogs.
We caught up with Dawn to pick her brain about her unexpected journey into the world of financial blogging.
HOW DID YOU START OUT WRITING ABOUT FINANCE AND MONEY MANAGEMENT?
Dawn (D): I didn't actually start out to be a financial blogger. Back then, I didn't even know there was such a term! I was just bored one day and told my then-boyfriend (now husband) that I wanted to do something outside of my job.
He encouraged me to start a blog if it would make me happy, since writing has always been my passion since young (plus I studied journalism in school).
So I decided to write about saving money since that has always been something close to my heart — given my family background and financial circumstances — and everything just took off from there.
PERSONAL FINANCE CAN BE A BROAD TOPIC. WHO DO YOU THINK READS YOUR CONTENT?
[[nid:471851]]
D: I never had a target audience nor did I write to get recognised. In the beginning, it really was just a blog I started for fun and shared on my personal Facebook for my friends to read. Kind of like the old days of WordPress and LiveJournal, you know?
But then my friends started sharing my posts, and then their friends shared it, and it just escalated almost overnight from there.
I think the people who read my pieces are the people who go through the same struggles that I do — especially when it comes to personal finance, reducing one's expenses, maximising our CPF, what insurance to buy and what to avoid, how and what to invest in, etc.
WRITING CAN TAKE A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT. WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO CONTINUE?
D: Seeing a published piece is my motivation. Since young, I've always dreamt of seeing my own name on a byline and having my pieces read by other people.
My childhood dream had always been to be an author (just ask any of my secondary school friends!) so I'm just really lucky that we're living in this era of self-publishing, thanks to the internet. I probably am the biggest fan of my own works — I read my pieces over and over again!
CAN YOU SHARE A PARTICULAR ARTICLE THAT GREATLY INCREASED YOUR MOTIVATION TO CONTINUE WRITING?
D: There are several stories, and more. I get really encouraged when readers come up to me and say that they're inspired by my story, and have managed to increase their savings or started investing because of my blog.
Having my pieces read by others is already a reward in itself. Being able to have a positive impact on their life spurs me to keep on writing even more.
HAS THERE BEEN ANY FINANCIAL ISSUE YOU FACED BEFORE? HOW DID YOU OVERCOME IT?
D: I had to fund my own university tuition fees, as well as my overseas exchange programme in the United States. My parents didn't have money to send me to university and couldn't take out a loan for me, so I nearly had to go out and work right after A-level because of it.
I begged relatives and even parents of my friends to be a guarantor for me just so I could get a bank loan and go to university... but no one was willing.
Those were really dark days. I decided to study really hard and do my best to land a scholarship which would then solve my financial woes for university, and was lucky enough to land one. The next hurdle was then to finance the overseas exchange programme that I yearned to go for.
To do that, I took up nine tuition assignments and travelled all around the island for a whole year to teach and save up the money for my trip. I eventually accumulated $10,000. The remaining $10,000 was loaned from my aunt, whom I have since repaid.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST LESSON YOU LEARNT FROM THAT EXPERIENCE?
D: I was really bitter about my situation back then because my friends around me mostly had their exchange studies funded by their parents and didn't have to worry about money.
For me, it was a very real problem and I had to learn how to budget... or risk running out of money while being alone in a foreign land. I rode a rusty bicycle to school every morning to save on public transport fares, packed my own meals or ate cheap fast food and shopped mostly at yard sales or discount stores.
So that experience taught me how to manage my money and the habit has followed me all the way into adulthood. On hindsight, I'm thankful for it because it made me who I am today.
CAN YOU NAME A PERSON IN THE FINANCIAL SPACE WHO YOU ADMIRE THE MOST?
D: Jack Ma. His rags-to-riches story taught me that I too can achieve the same even though I wasn't born in a rich family. He never once gave up, despite the numerous rejections he faced early on in his education and career.
But that's not all. Jack Ma saw opportunity in the e-commerce space when that market was literally non-existent in China and dared not only to dream big, but also to act on it. He truly deserves every bit of success (and wealth) he has today. I would love to meet him in person if there ever were a chance!
IF THERE IS ONE THING YOU CAN TELL YOUR AUDIENCE, WHAT WILL IT BE?
D: If you don't care about your own finances, then no one else will. No one knows your situation better than you and no one cares more about your interests (and money) than you.
SG Budget Babe will be part of a growing stable of bloggers whose writings we will feature in our money column. Look out for their stories!
simeonang@asiaone.com