Ka-ching: 8 S’poreans reveal the most unusual things they’ve done to save or earn money

For most Singaporeans, the topic of money is a pretty talked-about one.

From buying insurance and investing, to taking on side hustles to supplement our incomes, many of us have done something in our lives to save or earn just that little bit more.

But from hitching rides from strangers while overseas to entertaining a “sugar daddy”, just how far would you go in order to make or save a quick buck?

Read on to find out some of the most unusual things these eight Singaporeans have done for money.

T-werk It

As told to Mothership by “Zafo'r”

In 2019, my company held an end-of-year Christmas bash with lots of food and drinks.

Towards the end of the night, there was a lucky draw segment where the top prize was a S$5,000 travel voucher.

Thanks to my lucky stars, I ended up winning the top prize, but had to twerk in front of a dinner crowd of 200 people before I could redeem it.

Until now, I have no idea why I was made to do that, but I guess I’m just happy to have gotten my prize.

Sugar Baby

As told to Mothership by “Risa”

I used to be on dating apps and random men would always find me because my Instagram account was linked to these apps.

Sometime in mid-2020, an American guy DM-ed me on Instagram and started chatting with me.

And while we were chatting innocently, he suddenly asked for my PayPal number and sent me USD$100 randomly.

This carried on for a few months till 2021, where he would pay me between S$25 to S$200 if I sent him videos, photos of my face, or if I sounded very happy to hear from him.

He lives in Singapore and would occasionally invite me over to his place, but nothing ever came about.

There was also nothing sexual about our conversations, except I had to pretend that I liked him.

Till today, I think I’ve received around S$1,000 to S$2,000 from him.

Period Problems

As told to Mothership by “Cindy”

In 2015, a research company reached out to me when I was staying in hall to test out a new pad they were working on.

I had to use their pad for three days when I had my period and keep a diary about how I felt wearing their product.

After which, I had to keep the soiled pad in an airtight bag and send it back to them.

Overall a rather weird experience, but for S$300, I’d willingly do it again.

Forever 27

As told to Mothership by “James”

This may sound really cheapskate, but I’m 27 and I still use my student pass to get discounts.

Maybe it’s because I have a “young face”, but I’ll continue to do so until the day they question my age.

Food King

As told to Mothership by “Anthony”

When I was on an overseas exchange programme in Canada, I tried to save as much money as I could by not eating out and cooking at the hostel I was staying in.

So I would cook all my meals at the start of the week and portion it out every day to save money on food.

And for five months straight, I pretty much ate the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner (supper and snacks included).

Sounds rather drastic, but that’s the story.

Hitchhiker’s Guide

As told to Mothership by “Yvette”

Whenever I’m overseas for a holiday, I’ll try to hitch a ride from one place to another.

As I always stay in hostels when I travel, I’ll usually just see if anyone in the hostel is interested in going to the same places as me.

Once when I was on a train in Taiwan, I randomly asked a guy if he was also going to Hualien.

After he said yes, I told him that I didn’t know where my hostel was and asked him if he could bring me there, following which he got his father to drive me there.

To be honest, I only spoke to that guy because I thought he was cute, but I ended up saving money by hitching a ride too.

Konnichiwa

As told to Mothership by “Kate”

Back in 2012 when I was studying for my University degree in Oita, Japan, I had a part time job at the theme park Harmony Land.

For S$8 per hour, my job required me to photograph people after they got onto the theme park train.

I also had to say something like “When I say hello, you say kitty, alright, hello~” in a very animated way and then wait for their response.

Looking back now, it was really quite embarrassing because I’m rather serious in real life and had to act like a totally different person on the job.

Going the Distance

As told to Mothership by “Dennis”

After I ORD-ed from the army in 2016, I went on a trip to Japan with one of my friends.

When we were in Kyoto, we decided to save money by not taking public transportation at all and basically just walked to all the locations we wanted to go to.

This lasted three days and suffice to say, our feet hurt so badly by the end of each day.

While I don’t think a lot of money was saved, I might just do this again on my future travels because we really got to see a lot.

Save and earn money in a simpler way

We get it - money doesn’t grow on trees, but there is a way to save and earn some moolah without having to resort to the above antics (what’s more, in even less than two minutes).

From March 4 to 31, Traveloka will be running an MRT activation campaign - Rate it to Win it - where all participants will win a *S$15 hotel voucher.

All you have to do is:

1. Stand in front of their iView Machine at Orchard and Bugis MRT stations
2. Do an open arm gesture to rate three hotels
3. Scan the QR code at the end of the frame

Something like this:

For each participation, Traveloka will also donate S$1 to Club Rainbow (Singapore), a non-profit organisation that helps children with chronic illnesses and their families.

*Do note that the S$15 hotel voucher can only be used when combined with your SingapoRediscovers voucher.

This sponsored article by Traveloka made this writer want to take part in Rate it to Win it.

Top image via Solen Feyissa on Unsplash