How much are you earning per annum?

It was in the 1990s that the car prices went very high because of COE. Yes in 1993/94, the Corolla car price hit $130k, maybe some paid $140k as you said. 1980s no COE yet.

I old timer. Our current 2 cars are our 8th and 9th respectively.

You are right that it is hard to give up the car once you have one. But many forummers here "promised" to stop having cars once they retire. Some more, some of them want to retire young, so there should fewer cars on the road soon.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I doubt those days would ever come back, in the 80's my parents 2nd hand Toyota corolla cost almost 140K, in comparison to the salaries increases and now if we do the same factoring for cars it would be 200+ K for a Toyota corolla. in the 90's you hardly hear of students driving cars now it not uncommon for people in their 20's to be driving to uni.

Once you get used to driving most people would seldom want to give up the luxury of having a car (even if is a cheaper car), my relatives who retired just switch from bigger car to smaller car or red plate car.

Government also want people to spend anyway, otherwise no one will pay to use their expensive roads / tunnels / ERP etc.

They will find some way to fill up the roads.

That depends on how many nieces and nephews you have. When you have 10 or in my case, 26, you will let your good sense take over. Imagine giving $1000 per niece/nephew, for 26 of them, you will have to borrow money from their parents afterwards. Lagi worse.

Tell you how I solve this little "problem" - I host them to dinner very CNY at my condo. Cost - $1500. Ang POWs - $20 each. Everyone happy. They looked forward to next gathering every year!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Give lah 500 or 1000. Are you still giving 50 - 100 ? Very embarrassing when children open before you and show their parent and say 'Look! Look!Uncle give only 50 dollar angpow!'. Feel very shy and no where to hide your face.

I'm a married guy earning 120k+/- at 37 yo. is this ok by this forum's standard?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm a married guy earning 120k+/- at 37 yo. is this ok by this forum's standard?

Not only depend on salary but also where you stay and your net worth.

Where do you stay (hdb? Condo? Landed?) and what is your personal net worth and combined (you & wife) net worth?

I'm a married guy earning 120k+/- at 37 yo. wife's younger and her annual around $90k++. we stay in hdb with around $200k loan left. one young kid. cash+stocks around $200k combined.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm a married guy earning 120k+/- at 37 yo. wife's younger and her annual around $90k++. we stay in hdb with around $200k loan left. one young kid. cash+stocks around $200k combined.

Assuming your flat is worth $500k, the equity in your flat is $300k, plus your cash, stocks ($200k), plus your CPF funds (say $300k in total), then your combined net worth is $800k. This is ok for your age, mine was $1m at your age. You should aim to save more. Get rid of the expensive car, you can save a lot. Just use the bus.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

That depends on how many nieces and nephews you have. When you have 10 or in my case, 26, you will let your good sense take over. Imagine giving $1000 per niece/nephew, for 26 of them, you will have to borrow money from their parents afterwards. Lagi worse.

Tell you how I solve this little "problem" - I host them to dinner very CNY at my condo. Cost - $1500. Ang POWs - $20 each. Everyone happy. They looked forward to next gathering every year!

OMG you are having so many nieces and nephews! How many brothers and sisters you/your wife has?

Different ways of solving CNY problem :-

1. Go oversea for holidays, come back after chap goh mey. You will save all angpows.

2. Relative staying in HDB, each child under 12 give 20, up to JC 50, college and university 100.

3. Relative staying in PC, each child under 12 give 50, up to JC 200, college and university 500.

4. Relative staying in terrace/bungalow, each child under 12 give 200, up to JC 500, college and university 1000.

5. You won't lose much if you have children. Perhaps you can make some from those relative that stay in HDB.

Over the next 2 years, there will be a lot of car scrapping and not many will buy new cars because of the opening of the Downtown Line 2 in 2016. Many staying along the DTL2 may switch to taking the MRT to work in CBD. So with the high supply of COE and low demand, COE price will crash. Let's hope for Cat A COE to drop to $20k and Cat B to drop to $25k.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It was in the 1990s that the car prices went very high because of COE. Yes in 1993/94, the Corolla car price hit $130k, maybe some paid $140k as you said. 1980s no COE yet.

I old timer. Our current 2 cars are our 8th and 9th respectively.

You are right that it is hard to give up the car once you have one. But many forummers here "promised" to stop having cars once they retire. Some more, some of them want to retire young, so there should fewer cars on the road soon.

Can't understand your logic of differentiating the ang pow amount by housing type. If anything, I would give those from HDB flats more in their ang pows.

Running away during CNY? That's the worst and most shameful solution. Totally CMI. CNY is not just about giving ang pows but a time for all in the extended family tree to gather. An important Chinese event, and you chose to cop out? Shameless.

I have family ties both sides of the causeway and hosting them is a privilege.

I assume you are a young punk. To people like you, it is all about money.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

OMG you are having so many nieces and nephews! How many brothers and sisters you/your wife has?

Different ways of solving CNY problem :-

1. Go oversea for holidays, come back after chap goh mey. You will save all angpows.

2. Relative staying in HDB, each child under 12 give 20, up to JC 50, college and university 100.

3. Relative staying in PC, each child under 12 give 50, up to JC 200, college and university 500.

4. Relative staying in terrace/bungalow, each child under 12 give 200, up to JC 500, college and university 1000.

5. You won't lose much if you have children. Perhaps you can make some from those relative that stay in HDB.

Can't wait for the roads to clear up.

But if COE price drop, then people will rush in to buy. Then back to square one. Hope the gahmen will cut COE quota further. Instead of increasing the car population by 0.5 % per year, they should just aim to maintain the same number! ie not to let the car popular grow anymore.

If you have tried taking the MRT during peak hour, you will want to drive.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Over the next 2 years, there will be a lot of car scrapping and not many will buy new cars because of the opening of the Downtown Line 2 in 2016. Many staying along the DTL2 may switch to taking the MRT to work in CBD. So with the high supply of COE and low demand, COE price will crash. Let's hope for Cat A COE to drop to $20k and Cat B to drop to $25k.