If you love K-drama and J-drama the Viu app lets you stream dramas on your phone or tablet, complete with English or Chinese subtitles. There’s a mix of free and premium content, including classic K-Dramas. You can download or stream free content and view it any time without subscription, but you need a subscription to access premium content.

TLDR version: this article compares costs of streaming services in Singapore so you can find the cheapest that suits you. 

We all know you can get free beauty samples when you buy online at Sephora. But you can also get free samples for hair products, skincare, snacks, baby products and makeup by signing up to SampleStore.

You can buy products from this site, but the trick is to also review the products. Because every time you post a review, you get awarded points – which you can use to redeem other items on the site. Many items are delivered free to you, via SingPost.

To reduce spam, set up an email address for review purposes, then check the website regularly. 

You can also visit AMORE Store x Lazada at Funan mall, which is a “beauty showroom” where you can see, smell and touch cosmetics by leading K-beauty brands, including Sulwhasoo, Laneige, IOPE skincare and new RYO haircare.

The idea is to let you test beauty products before buying them online at Lazada. 

To get your free samples, just visit the store and scan the QR code beside each product on display. The samples may be a special little travel sized pot, or several sachets, a free mask – it depends. 

Gym memberships cost around $200 per month in Singapore, but you can find great fitness classes for free on Youtube – and do them at home. There’s everything from low-impact yoga to tai chi and strength-training to intensive 30-minute HIIT workouts.

There’s even workouts you can do at home with your kids, no special equipment needed. Simply search the type of workout you want, and take a look at the top videos.

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Supplement online classes by letting your kids watch clever Mandarin cartoons so the language comes alive for them. Check out this list of Youtube cartoon channels with Mandarin-language cartoons worth watching. Some are from China and Japan, while others are favourites translated from English, such as Peppa Pig  – who is now a huge star in China.

You need office software to get your side hustle business up and running – but you do not have to pay hundreds of dollars for Microsoft Office software. Download Adobe Open Office instead.

This open source software does everything Microsoft does — for free! And if you have a free Gmail account, you can also get free Google Drive and Docs, which include the most commonly used programmes to produce and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

You usually cannot earn air miles or cashback points on your credit card when you pay regular big-ticket bills like rent, payroll, business invoices, tuition fees, insurance, condominium fees, and income tax. Such big ticket items are often “exclusions” on credit cards.

But since you have to pay those big bills anyway, you may as well get cashback for them, right?

You can with a service called CardUp. You connect your Visa, Mastercard or American Express card to the app, and the service makes bank transfer payments on your behalf to pay your bills. Then it charges that amount to your credit card – so you earn a whopping amount of cashback or air miles on that bill.  Because the service uses bank charges your recipient doesn’t need to sign up with CardUp, or even know about it.

One thing to note: CardUp charges you a 1.9 per cent processing fee, so you need to check your credit card rewards outweigh this processing fee.

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If you shop on international websites like Taobao or Amazon US or Etsy, you pay more than locals, because of conversion fees charged to change Singapore money into foreign currency, or vice versa.. 

 YouTrip multi-currency mobile wallet cuts out annoying extra fees. YouTrip uses an app and a contactless Mastercard prepaid card, issued by EZ-Link. You use this like a debit card when you shop online, or overseas. It’s free to sign up, free to top up, no card fees – and no currency conversion fees. 

Plus, when you can travel overseas again, you can withdraw cash at cheaper wholesale rates at Mastercard, Maestro or Cirrus ATMS. There is a withdrawal fee, but it’s often cheaper than foreign money changers.   

It’s not a freebie – but did you know switching electricity providers can save you money? There are now 12 electricity retailers in Singapore, with different price plans.  You just type your monthly usage into an online OEM comparison tool to see how much you can save. I discovered I could save around $20 a month on electricity for my two-bed-apartment. 

BTW: There is no disruption to your electricity supply when you change providers. Because Singapore Power still uses the national grid to deliver the power. 

This is a tip to bookmark for the future, when we can all travel again: airline lounges have free Wi-Fi, endless food, drinks, showers and even beds you can use. 

If you don’t have frequent flyer points to access a lounge you can buy a third party lounge pass to gain entry to thousands of lounges worldwide, at a discount. Dragon Pass grants access to over 1,100 lounges globally, with most in Asia and Europe, plus you get discounts on restaurants and limos to and from the airport.

Prices start at US$99 per year – but you get an extra 50 per cent discount if you pay with a Visa credit card issued in Asia Pacific, which obviously includes Singapore.

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