Like many young Millennials and Gen Z who want to achieve FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), Mia McGrath is doing the best she can to achieve it by 40—and somehow she decided to do it by starting her day with her “humble eggs” breakfast, which costs just 50 pence (S$0.85).

The London-based 25-year-old model, influencer, and now brand founder, who shares finance tips with her over 500,000 TikTok followers, also said she saves up to 70% of her income to reach her goal.

While she didn’t grow up financially literate, she said she became obsessed with becoming rich—in time, choice, and autonomy—and began learning what she could from YouTube and books on how to achieve financial freedom.

Before quitting her 9-to-5 job in the fashion industry in October last year, she told Fortune last April, that unlike other white-collar workers who spend money on daily sandwiches or salads, she cuts back on daily coffees and sticks to leftovers.

Ms McGrath, who aims for a FIRE number—the amount of savings and investments that allows someone to stop working while covering living expenses—of £1.25 million, said she already saved £70,000 at that time.

Commenters, however, questioned her lifestyle, with one saying, “Would she be alive by 40 if she keeps eating like that?” Another asked, “Does that make her happy and satisfied?” Others also said they practised similar habits of saving but had reached their 40s and 50s without retirement in sight.

Pushback against those pursuing the FIRE movement is not new. In fact, a man in Singapore who was after the same financial freedom was called “calculative” by his friends when he started cutting back on spending when they went out together. Others earning below S$10,000, however, questioned whether it was even possible. Meanwhile, some who have achieved it were prompted to question what to do next. /TISG

Read also: Young worker quits Singapore job at 27, leaves ‘predictable and unreachable’ life behind for Penang

This article (Gen Z spends 85 cents on daily breakfast, saves up to 70% of income to reach FIRE by 40) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

SINGAPORE: Would you quit if you had no job lined up? A 27-year-old man was considering doing so after working for just two weeks, as he found his job “very dry.” He also said he dreaded going to work every day and felt “very unmotivated,” adding that he plans to switch to a career in project management, which he had experience in, having had two internships managing projects.

Netizens commenting on The Independent Singapore’s Facebook page, however, advised him against doing so, with one saying, “Better to hang on till you find another job – not easy to get jobs these days.”

Another called pushing through quitting without backup as “foolish.” While a third advised, “You should always secure a job first before quitting, especially when the current job market is much tougher.”

Before starting his current role, the man said he had been eyeing a job with a hybrid arrangement but faced multiple rejections and eventually settled for his current role, which pays less than S$4,000 a month. He noted then that after applying for two weeks, he received little to no callbacks.

While you’re often told never to jump without a safety net, there are five situations where it may make sense to do so, career change coach Caroline Ceniza-Levine wrote on Forbes.

1. When your health is compromised by burnout because the work environment is too toxic.

2. When the opportunity cost of staying in your job is too high and means missing out on what matters most to you.

3. When you have the savings to handle the financial impact of a career gap, or clear ideas on what to do next.

4. When you’re sure your next move would be more lucrative, more fulfilling or more suitable to you.

5. When you’re at peace with quitting and ready for a change.

Meanwhile, in the little red dot, the job market just recorded the largest decline in job postings since March 2021, according to online job portal Indeed. Although it is worth considering that, at the same time, Singapore workers have been found to be more resilient but disengaged, with some quiet cracking from pressure, job uncertainty, and stalled professional growth. /TISG

Read also: ‘I’m job hugging even harder’: Some Singaporeans share how they’re navigating rising costs amid the Middle East war

This article (‘Better to hang on ’til you find another job’: Netizens advise man who wants to quit his first job after just 2 weeks) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

SINGAPORE: “Clean Singapore? No more,” an uncle in his late 40s living in Geylang shared photos of rubbish dumping in his neighbourhood, saying he has grown tired of repeatedly reporting the issue, which he felt had worsened in recent years, especially after Covid.

“Every week, I need to report to the National Environment Agency (NEA) via the LifeSG app. I have reported so much that I am getting tired,” he lamented on r/SingaporeRaw.

He also pointed out that there are only two cleaners covering the neighbourhood, calling the workload too taxing as they have other areas to clean as well. He added that there are a few CCTVs there, which he assumed were mainly for traffic matters, and said he had tried reaching out to the authorities for help in identifying the culprits, but it did not lead to much.

In the comments, when asked whether his concern was linked to property prices dropping, he replied, “Uncle here more concerned with dengue and rats.”

Saying he is not so good with social media, he hoped others could help share his post, adding, “We need a clean home and not a rubbish dump.”

One commenter noted the same issue is happening “almost everywhere,” while another said, “The cleaners can’t keep up with the litterers.” A third added, “Singapore isn’t clean, it’s cleaned. And at the rate we take our cleaners for granted, we’d be drowning in our own trash and filth.”

Just last month, the same littering concern was raised by Housing and Development Board (HDB) block residents, after food scraps and diapers with excrement were thrown from high-rise buildings.

Still, another commenter shared that residents in their HDB block had been recycling more, but said the recycling bins were too small to fit a week’s worth of recycling, causing overflow.

Illegal dumping of waste is a serious offence. Residents who witness rubbish dumping can contact the NEA Call Centre at 1800-2255-632 to make a report by providing the date, time and location of dumping, vehicle registration number, and their name and contact information. /TISG

Read also: HDB resale prices dip after 7 years, netizens divided over what it means

This article (‘Clean Singapore no more’: Uncle shares concern of irresponsible rubbish dumping in Geylang not because of property prices dropping but of dengue and rats) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.