Yen Kai's Idea Cast

This comes about 2 years later than promised, but better late than never. The “spreadsheet” for calculating car depreciation is finally ready. Check it out! If you have any feedback, leave a comment in this posting, thanks!

Time for a report card after 2 months of driving the Jazz. The mileage did not improve very much, sad to say, averaging 13.5 km/l, and this is with rather careful driving and deliberate effort not to rev up the engine too much. I still think this will improve over time, hopefully hitting 14 km/l within the next few months.

When signing up a car loan, typically you are subjected to a redemption penalty if you choose to redeem the loan before maturity. The redemption penalty is calculated based on the method of Rule of 78.

If you are interested in just getting a quick feel of how much redemption penalty you will have to pay on your car loan, skip to paragraph 5. Read on if you are interested in more background information.

When is a good time to change your car (in the Singapore context)? That is a question that begs understanding for all cost conscious car owners. The short answer is: when the depreciation rate of your car starts to plateau, and the next car does not impose a high depreciation rate.