'Walk home from Plaza Sing to Hougang after work': People in S’pore share unusual ways to save money

Smart or extreme? A financial expert weighs in.

| Zi Shan Kow | Sponsored | October 13, 2022, 11:00 AM

When you’re an adult, you quickly learn that managing your finances is a skill, one that doesn’t always come easily to everyone.

The harsh reality is that saving money is the fundamental first step to paying for the things you want, be it a BTO flat, a new phone, or the occasional cup of bubble tea as a treat to yourself.

You’ve probably looked up the best ways to save money as quickly and easily as possible – but if they haven’t worked for you, maybe it is time to start thinking out of the box.

To find out the most unique ways of saving some moolah, we asked our readers on Instagram to share the most unusual thing they’ve done to save money.

Sure enough, we gathered several wild money saving hacks from our readers – some smart, others extreme.

To tell them apart, we got an expert from MoneySense, Singapore’s national financial education programme, to weigh in.

Empty wallet, empty stomach

To save money on food, most of the “hacks” were exceedingly simple: Just don’t eat.

“Starve for a week”

“Skip meals every other day”

“I ate maggi mee every day for 10 days”

One reader even proposed an unique approach to dieting with the aim of cutting spending:

“Splitting one meal into three”

Tan Swee Chiew, a financial expert from the Institute for Financial Literacy, doesn’t encourage this habit.

“There is no need to be overly stringent about spending at the expense of living life. Life is meant to be lived with joy and fulfilment,” says Tan.

If you’re finding it hard to balance between spending and saving, you can try setting a budget and prioritising your expenditure.

To start, Tan recommends following the 50/30/20 rule: Spend 50 per cent of your income/allowance on necessary, must-pay expenses, 30 per cent on your wants, and save 20 per cent.

“A good mobile budgeting app is your saviour. One that helps you track your daily expenditure on the go, so that you know how much you are saving.”

One step at a time

The next common expense people saved on was for getting around – specifically, public transport. Because why take the train or bus when walking is free?

One shared that s/he would even walk two hours from Plaza Singapura to Hougang to get home from work.

Another said:

“Walk 40 minutes home every night to save 95 cents on train fare”

Though this might sound insignificant, Tan thinks there’s some credit to this habit.

“At 95 cents you would save S$200 a year. It may look small, but if you invested the money regularly (using a regular savings plan into a STI index fund or top-up your CPF Special Account), the compounded sum over 25 to 30 years would amaze you. Using that S$200 to top up your CPF every year would give you S$8,700 in 25 years, all from walking home every night.”

As you can see, growing your savings happens quite a bit faster than you might think because of how compound interest works.

Calculating compound interest is easier than it seems. Here’s a tip from Tan, known as the “Rule of 72”:

“In the CPF example, divide 72 by the interest rate (in this case, CPF SA pays four per cent) and it shows that your investment doubles in 18 years.”

There’s also the additional perk that walking is a healthy habit, one that is much more recommended than not eating.

“Some health consultants have suggested the 10,000 steps a day routine to stay healthy. If you can save on the train fare and, on a balmy evening, walk 40 minutes, it could be a good idea,” says Tan.

Saving money by spending time

However, cheaper ways of travelling usually take a longer time, something the following reader probably knows a lot about:

“Transfer buses three times instead of taking the MRT straight home because I only had bus concession”

What does Tan think about this?

While the determination to save on expenses is admirable, this habit comes with an opportunity cost, says Tan.

The amount of time spent waiting for the bus and the journey could outweigh the cost differential over just taking the MRT.

“Think of the time that you missed out on chatting with your friends or watching your favourite live-stream movie at home,” says Tan.

Perhaps there is a way to spend the commuting time more wisely?

While waiting for your connecting bus, you can take advantage of money-saving deals and rewards to scrounge a free meal or free transport, as some readers suggested:

“Collect Healthy 365 points (QR codes) from friends, redeem into transitlink points”

“Being rewarded for adopting a healthier lifestyle such as clocking more steps and eating more healthily sounds like a great deal to me!” says Tan.

“It’s a win-win for both your health and your wallet as you enjoy more savings with the eVouchers redeemed with the Healthpoints.”

Out of sight, out of mind

The more unusual money saving habits suggested by readers involved hiding money – not from others, but from oneself.

“Take money out of my bank account and put it in an envelope so bank balance is lower”

“Save all my one-dollar coins, which pays for a short getaway every couple of years.”

Tan personally likes the idea of saving S$1 coins because setting aside coins is something easy to do and does not require a lot of self-control.

For those sneering at blowing the savings on a luxury expense like a holiday, Tan says occasional luxuries are important to keep yourself motivated.

That being said, you should set a saving and action plan for such goals, instead of incurring debt to pay for them, he adds.

These two ways work because “a saving strategy must be sustainable without too much mental pressure to conform. Once the habit sets in it would not be noticeable,” says Tan.

According to Tan, this unusual optical trick is more powerful than it seems ludicrous.

“In personal finance we call it ‘pre-commitment’, a strategy of self-control to restrict the number of choices open to you.”

There is, though, a better way to do this – by automating the savings amount.

You can create a standing Instruction with your bank to transfer a set amount to a dedicated account for saving for emergencies.

Tan adds: “Saving money is half the equation.”

You should also “make sure your money works hard for you… by investing appropriately according to your risk appetite and life goals”.

If you are over 18 and new to investing, he suggests subscribing to the Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs), which is safe, liquid, and provides you with steady returns over 10 years.

You can redeem your SSBs anytime and get back your principal investment without penalty, he explains.

Learn more about your finances with MoneySense

If you want to learn more about how to become more financially prepared for your future, MoneySense is here to help.

Their website has financial tools such as mortgage and budget calculators as well as numerous starter packs to understand topics like investment, loans and property.

If you’re not sure where to start, you can find personalised recommendations on how to improve your financial health with MoneySense’s five-minute Financial Health Check.

For something more in depth, you can try out financial planning digital service MyMoneySense to get a comprehensive view of your financial data from government and financial institutions in a single dashboard.

You can also learn how to make your savings work for you by attending MoneySense's My Money seminars.

Featuring industry experts, the sharing sessions on investing will take place on Oct. 20 and 29.

Check out the exciting line-up of speakers and sign up here.

This sponsored article by MoneySense taught this writer that the answer to life is actually 72.

All images by Unsplash.