I am trying to save money and at the same time, spend money to hang out with friends and go out occasionally. Any tips on how to save money while having fun and having enough to invest?

Go to an affordable place to hang out. Usually I do buffet haha. The cost-time ratio is worth.

E.A.S.Y

Eat: Bring your own food for work. Watch the food expenditure by having a budget every month. This will allow you to monitor your spending such as bubble tea, snacks.

Activities: Participate in low cost activities like going to the beach. Cycling.

Salary per hour: Know how much you are getting per hour. For example, you are earning $15/ hour. 1 new iPhone 12 will cost $1200. That will require 80 hours of work . it is equivalent to about 10 days of work.

Yourself: You need to enjoy this process of being minimlaist and be prudent.

Life is short and is time sensitive, no point aiming for F.I.R.E but missing out in life.

Hi there! I'm a 20 y/o NSF so I can understand this conflict that you're having. Personally, I set a budget when I go out with my friends to eat and have fun. Usually <$10 per meal. If drinks are involved, I'll cap it at $20. Do note I drink maybe once/twice a month.

Some tips to stretch the dollar:
1) Visit Hawker Centres
2) Book restaurants using Eatigo (up to 50% discount)
3) Pay using Favepay + Grab credits
4) Share a meal if you're not particular hungry
5) Plain water instead of bbt/sweet drinks
6) Use credit card to accumulate points/rebates (Pay on time!)
7) Do you really need that upsize?
8) Take advantage of coupons/combo meals

I believe other answers touch on the activities you can do for free so I don't want to touch on that.

Ultimately, it comes down to self-discipline to say no when your friends invite you to hang out every now and then. Fret not, it will bear fruit in the future!

You can consider using apps like eatigo.