SINGAPORE: A 32-year-old Singaporean took to social media on Wednesday (Oct 9)  to share that he feels truly discouraged for not having any significant savings.

In a post on r/SingaporeFI, a Reddit forum, he explained that life hasn’t been easy for him, though he graduated from one of Singapore’s top three universities and entered the workforce five years ago.

In fact, things only got tougher because he had to repay his student loan, POSB loan, and credit card debt, all of which amounted to S$44,000.

In addition to repaying his debts every month, he also has to cover life insurance, food, and transportation costs, while still giving his parents a S$400 monthly allowance. 

“I had almost 0 savings for years until literally last month. I’ve gotten to a point where I’m just sick and tired of not having anything in my bank account,” he lamented.

Currently, the Singaporean works as a freelancer on weekdays and a delivery rider on weekends. His work as a delivery rider brings in about S$2,000 a month.

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“I ride a bicycle but it’s not easy work. 20 hours of work, covering lunch and dinner peak on both saturday and sunday,” he said.

On the other hand, his freelance work, while inconsistent at first, has recently started to pick up, and he now earns around S$6,000 a month. 

However, the irregular nature of freelancing means that there are months where he earns significantly less, which makes it difficult to plan ahead or feel financially secure.

“My body is feeling the strain of this work schedule. I’m planning on quitting food delivery for good in December,” he said.

“I also haven’t had a proper week off on vacation since the start of this year, so I’m thinking of going to Vietnam for a short, cheap vacation after I quit food delivery in December.”

He then asked others in the community, “Can I get advice on what I should get my money to do first? Should I save an emergency fund or try to wipe out my debts first? And where should I park my savings if I’m to keep it?”

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“Perhaps pay off the CC debts first and then your student loans.”

In the comments section, many Singaporean Redditors advised the man to focus on clearing his debts first. They pointed out that knocking out those high-interest loans, especially the credit card debt, should be his top priority before worrying about anything else.

One Redditor said, “Perhaps pay off the CC debts first and then your student loans. If you wanna travel, perhaps its not the right time now unless u clear your loans. perhaps consider JB for staycay or whats not. Hope you clear the debts ASAP. good luck.”

Another suggested, “Pay CC debt. Close it up and change to debit card if you’re not good at managing money. Start keeping track of all expenses on DAILY basis.

Keep something as urgent fund on monthly basis. And another amount for saving if possible. Constantly clear student loan on monthly basis.”

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Some also recommended setting up a savings plan alongside debt repayment, suggesting he start by putting away about 20% of his monthly income.

One Redditor commented, “Save 12 months of expenses (usually is 6-9mths, since you work freelance so income might be unstable), put the amount in SSB (whatever interest rate given, dont wait for “good” rates).”

Another added, “Nothing much to say apart from the basic earn more, save more, spend less. Put your savings in a high interest account and grow it steadily while paying off your debts consistently.”

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Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)