Curbing air-conditioner use is at the top of the list. She controls the use of the family's four air-conditioners by switching them on only when it's exceptionally hot.
'Since I keep the remote control to myself, the children cannot use it when they wish,' she says.
Nothing is left on standby mode. A fine is imposed when the children don't switch the lights, fans and water heater off when the appliances are not in use.
The real savings kicked in after she encouraged her four children, aged between 13 and 20, to finish their homework in their air-conditioned school and polytechnic libraries before heading home.
PHONE BILLS
All her four children have a mobile phone each. The older two must each save a dollar a day from their $5 pocket money to pay their own mobile phone bills. If the bill exceeds $30, the line will be terminated. So far, this has not happened yet.
TRANSPORT
Two years ago, Madam Noor traded her seven-seater Honda Stream in for a Nissan sedan because the children were all old enough to take public transport and did not have to be ferried around. Her car loan has shrunk from around $1,000 a month to $600.
She usually goes to work in the afternoon, thus beating the rising electronic road pricing (ERP) charges. For the days when she keeps regular hours, she has worked out a carpool system with colleagues who live nearby.
When meeting clients in the CBD, she often drives to the nearest MRT station, then takes the train the rest of the way to avoid the ERP charges and exorbitant parking fees.
GROOMING EXPENSES
No splashing out big bucks at hair salons for her. Her smart bob is cut and styled for only $5 by a trained hairdresser who runs a home business from a Tampines flat.
When her children were young, her husband would cut their hair. Now the boys go for $7 cuts at a small barber shop in their Pasir Ris neighbourhood, while the girls wear their hair long.
CLOTHES
Her family is not brand-conscious. They shop at makeshift stalls at bus interchanges and near wet markets. The Tampines interchange, for instance, has stalls selling T-shirts for under $10 and jeans for $15.
They also shop at casualwear chains such as Bossini and Giordano during the sale season. Every year, during the December school holidays, they head to Bangkok and Malaysia to stock up.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on July 5, 2008.
