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It started in 2011, when Singaporean actor Nat Ho was 27.

He had written his first single, "Unleashed", and was going to produce the music video (MV) for it.

In a first person piece on Singsaver, Ho detailed how he pumped in an immense amount of financial resources for the project, which left him "broke and lost".

In nine years, however, the actor managed to turn his finances around and even started his own company as a freelancer.

The video, which has gathered about 297,000 views on YouTube since its release, also stars Xiaxue and Dawn Yeoh.

Mounting costs

Here's a rough breakdown of the costs that went into making the MV:

• S$7,000 for the the set, after which the contractor stood him up at the last minute
• Another S$11,000 for a second contractor to wrap up the job
• S$10,000 for dancers and choreography lessons
• About S$100,000 for production costs, such as equipment, crew members, transportation, rentals for shoot locations, and more

Ho said in the Singsaver essay that his hands were "trembling" when he wrote the S$11,000 cheque, as it was his first time forking out such a huge sum in one sitting.

He did not expect the overall cost to hit S$100,000, either.

S$16 left in bank account

It reached a point where Ho was left with S$16 in his bank account, and had to borrow money from fellow actress Yeoh, whom he calls a good friend.

From then on, Ho exercised discipline over his spending and cut out unnecessary expenses.

He stopped buying luxury goods and taking holidays, and would eat cai png (economy rice) for most of his meals.

He even moved back home to live with his parents in order to save on rent.

With this relatively austere lifestyle, Ho saved S$300 to S$500 a month.

But he knew that that wasn't enough.

The next step for Ho was to look for more sources of income to stabilise his finances.

This took about a year, the actor revealed on Singsaver.

Later on, Ho started his own company as a freelancer and paid himself a modest salary to ensure consistent cashflow, as well as looked into passive income.

In 2018, Ho released another MV, "Battleship".

You can read about his experience in greater detail on Singsaver, including financial tips that he has learnt along the way.

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Top image via Nat Ho's Instagram and YouTube, Dawn Yeoh's Instagram