My Own Nanny in Singapore

This is one of my biggest challenge this year, after obtaining Pass for my kiddo's then who looks after them when we are out digging the ground. We see several options, Child Care is a no because of high fee for infant care and sorry I am not comfortable with the idea. Flying relatives over every two months is also a no. Getting a local Nanny, one possible option. Finally, we decide why not bring our very own Nanny to stay here with us then, brilliant right, but how to get a work pass for her, and so the challenge begun....

My son was used to nanny since I had been working even then, so having a nanny is not new to us, but as much as possible we make sure we know them personally (you know the kidnapping thing) if possible relatives.

 Nanny/House Helper/Maid falls on the Work Pass (Foreign Domestic Worker) and Singapore government was strict when issuing this pass both for employee and employer as to protect both parties most specially the Maid since they are vulnerable to abuse. You can read the full facts regarding applying for FDW here at the MOM website http://www.mom.gov.sg/foreign-manpower/passes-visas/work-permit-fdw/before-you-apply/Pages/default.aspx

I personally do all the paper works and it save me up some hundred dollars compare on going through employment agency, and to share how I obtain Work Pass for my Nanny here is my step by step guide....
(August 2013)

New Application (never been employed in SG, Female, 23~50 year old, from approve country, with minimum 8 years formal education)

1.  SINGPASS - this is necessary to access websites for Work Pass Application as well as CPF website for levy.


2. EMPLOYERS ORIENTATION PROGRAM (EOP) - (S$40) - I took Online, the course can be finished in 3 hours, but you have the option to cut session according to your available time. Upon completion print your certificate since it will only be available online for 2 weeks after completing the course.


3. WORK PASS APPLICATION - you need your maids details specially passport and if she is married you need her husbands details. You also need to indicate your maids salary. Also, remember points to consider.


• Your Maid a Female
• Your Maid is not in Singapore
• Your Maid age is between 23~50 at the time of application
• Your Maid is note related to you or your husband (better check middle and maiden surnames)
4. Upon Approval buy 5K bond and health insurance, I bought mine in NTUC (S$307+)


5. Wait for the bond and health insurance to be transmitted to MOM for 2 to 7 days, you will know if reached MOM once you check WP Online there are already details of bond at health insurance. After that you can print out the IPA.


6. Schedule for her SIP - better have her scheduled the next day after arrival since it was strictly quoted that FWD need it "within the first three working days of their arrival in Singapore (excluding the day of arrival)" (S$75)


7. Schedule for her Medical Exam - I scheduled this one the next day after her SIP , it will take 4 to 5 days for the result.(S$50~S$60)


8. Apply GIRO arrangement for monthly Levy.


9. Email/mail the copy of IPA, Bond/Insurance and Health insurance to your maid.


10. Fly her to SG (choose your options if she will go out PH as OFW or tourist). NOTE: She need to show sa SG Immigration Officer a copy of IPA, Bond and Health insurance and will only be given 14 days visit pass.


11. Have her attend the SIP and do the Med exam.


12. When you had the result of Med Exam have her scheduled for MOM appearance for card application.


13. Wait for the card delivery.

She was given a 2 year pass validity under my employment (my name & address was stated on her work pass card) and just need to do the routine med examination every 6 months.

It is very important to note that having a maid here in SG is a way different from having a maid in PH, here she can only work for you and your family members for domestics works only, she cannot work in your store/business (in case you have one here) even sweep the office/store floor your violating the rules.

You have to give your maid a decent accommodation, toiletries, enough rest and food. Having a helper here will surely chunk a portion of your $$$ so be ready for it, but at least you have your very own nanny, but sometimes it's frustrating that my kids seem to think she was their mummy! sigh! but that is another story.

Bussiness Ideas, Anyone?

Putting up a retail business is one of our early options right now, we think it's perfect for a starter since we plan to   fly four to six times a year we may as well make use of it as a business opportunity, bringing goods and clothes from here and there depend on the demands of our future client, but to make it clear these are legal goods only.


We plan to start in three months since we will have mid-year flight plan, as early as last month we had been scouting a lot on malls or wherever there is a sale to grab items. Just last week we went to a baby fair in city area and bought branded items in low price like feeding bottles, baby clothes and accessories surely some mommy friends of mine will go crazy knowing I had these items in almost 30% off the price.


I am wondering where we can I get those trade show flooring since one of our aunties is asking me if I can find a dealer for them, another potential goods to market.
BuB
We are also planning of setting up a store since my mom is a person who handles marketing very lightly might as well give her a little retail store with logo canopy and logo mats surely she will love the idea.

Taking care of your health without slashing your pocket

This is a compensated post written by me on behalf of Walgreens. All opinions are 100% mine.
Prevention is better than cure, but there are times that we can never run away from illness like common colds, allergies and body aches. As a mother my top priority is my family's well-being, I always make sure we eat healthy food. Our medicine cabinet is also one that I check regularly to make sure that it always holds enough for our needs to combat common colds, flu, allergies, and aches, and as always it should be equipped with first aid kit. We also make it a habit to have a five day a week dose of vitamins and minerals to boost our immune system.

I had ranted enough and surely now you can almost calculate how much budget I allot on our refrigerator and medicine cabinet. Being healthy is not really that expensive the key work is practicality, you don't need to buy imported fruits to eat healthy, find some local fruits on your market like banana, watermelon, guava, avocado and add some veggies like spinach, broccoli and carrots. Same thing with your health and wellness products, there are expensive and fancy one in the market, but being a smart buyer you should know which one is reasonable to get. Generic brands that mostly contain the same active ingredients as other well-known brands are being promoted this past years since health product cost shoots up. Walgreens Brand Health & Wellness Products is one of the trusted brands and it is pretty a lot of savings buying it instead.

I have tried some of their products before courtesy of our generous Aunts and as of the moment we still have some bottles of Walgreens Gold Seal Vitamin C 500 mg Dietary Supplement Tablets. Comparing its cost to our local Vitamin C tablet it still cost lesser and the quality it gives to boost our immune system is still very much the same with 100% satisfaction guarantee. Auntie even mentioned that she keeps on buying the said product because she wanted to contribute on Walgreens Way to Well Fund™ where they give preventive wellness services to local communities.

It was not easy to find the right brand for your health and it even takes more finding a trusted and inexpensive one, it will be helpful to do some readings and you can start on the mentioned link above.

Trading , Stocks How it Works?

I had been hearing a lot about investment options lately, my colleagues, every time we have a chance of meeting had been exchanging their thoughts and their winnings stories on investing their money on stocks and trading. They had been encouraging me for a sometimes now to take a dip on this stock markets instead of letting our hard-earned money on the bank with a very little per annual interest. They give some 101 basic things about it and the idea of letting your money do the work for you is pretty tempting. They provide some tips and options trading system as they use to call it to study the market growth.

Stock Market as they say is a system and there are techniques and strategies to win the system, there are big risk of course so you should be aware of everything, more importantly the maximum win you can have on each trade as well it is also in greater importance that you are well-aware of how much you can lose on each trade. You should have the clearest picture of what it awaits you on both ends specially if you are investing large chunk of your savings.

Finally I am Verified!

Yes guys finally after months I finally got my Paypal account status Verified yes! and that is with help of Union Bank EON Account. Now I can widraw my paypal monies!

But widrawal is not only the benefit you got by being verified, you also lift your sending limit using Paypal and its a plus factor that you have a verified account in dealing bussiness using your paypal account as what Paypal say "PayPal encourages members to become Verified to increase trust and safety in our community. Because financial institutions screen their account holders, PayPal's Verification process increases security when you pay parties you do not know." -( Paypal Verification FAQ)
Ohw! maybe your wondering how I register for a Paypal account you can sign up too, it is very useful especially for bloggers like us since we need to accept payments from advertisers, collect payments for an online job or even receive cash prize from contests.

Want to Sign up with Paypal, go hit this link >>> Paypal signup