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Anonymous

23 Jul 2021

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Monthly expenses of full time students (Poly, JC, ITE, undergrad) and advice for saving

Hi,
To all current or past full time students, how was your monthly expense breakdown like during your studies?

Also, are there any lesser known or advance saving tips that can help a regular saver save more?

Discussion (21)

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Hi! Recently graduated from poly,

i would say my spending was around 500 a month? (just a guess as I only started tracking in my last year of poly)

some hacks would be

-set a fixed budget for spending(food,shopping leisure, transport)

-stop buying drinks/snacks all the time as they really add up

-prevent impulse shopping by waiting 1-2 weeks to see if you still want the item

but personally, I feel like the most important is to go get a part-time job as it will increase your income way more than you can save(let's be honest ah you save a few dollars here and there compared to earning hundreds-thousands), and like others have mentioned here, pay yourself first by saving/ investing a large chunk of your income

ATB!

Save before you spend. i pump the savings to another account that i do not touch and limit myself to my expense account.

Hi Anon

In my JC days I lived off allowance solely. I was given $40/week & always paid myself $5 first, spent the rest on food & notes. Rarely spent on any discretionary items as I saved an average of $25/month.

Currently an undergrad awaiting lessons to start, but project my expenses to be ~$340/month? Food is the largest expense ($250), the remaining account for bills & travel costs. This is excludes any discretionary spending I might incuur.

As for saving tips, you could try not buying drinks, at all. I'm not just talking about bubble tea/Starbucks, I'm talking about the $1-2 Kopi/Teh at coffee shops/hawker centres. Let's say you drink a $2 Kopi every weekday, that amounts to ~$40/month saved. Carry a bottle of water around instead. You don't just save more money, you'll save some of your waistline too.

Cheers

When I was in university 10 yrs ago

1) Gave tuition 2x/wk = 440$/mth

2) Part time during holidays 2mths/yr = 2800$/yr

3) Food 200$/mth ( I try to eat at home whenever I can)

4) Transport 52$/mth (student concession)

5) Hp Bill 30$/mth

6) Entertainment/ extra purchases $100/mth

Overall I save about 3.5k/yr

300 to 500 per month, am aiming to cut down to 250 due to wfh and hbl!...

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