My parents want $400 a month and are trying to use my CPF money to buy a flat, but my take-home pay is only $2300 — Netizen

A netizen who was tight on funds and facing financial pressures from his parents asked others for advice on how he could increase his income or possibly convince his parents that he was stretched.

In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the netizen wrote that they were currently working and taking home about S$2300 a month. From this, they were giving their parents S$200 a month and after deducting other expenses such as school fees, food, transport and savings, the netizen said that they would be left with S$800 or less.

“Recently, my father is requesting me to give them more on top of the 200 that i am currently giving”, the netizen wrote adding that their father was in the line of work where he would not receive pay if there was no work for him to do. Despite the netizen trying to convince his father to get a job with a monthly salary, his father cites reasons such as a lack of freedom or age to not do so. The netizen’s mother was a housewife and younger brother serving National Service (NS).

“Recently my father is even thinking about trying to use me and my bro name & cpf to try purchase a flat in our old neighbourhood which may have negative consequences for me & my bro in the future( lost of first time buyer status)”, the netizen wrote. The netizen explained that just because they would buy games and model kits, their parents “think that I am spending alot (sic) but in actual fact I have already cut down alot (sic) by selectively buying ones that I am really interested in as compared to my younger days where [I] would purchase everything in a series”.

Explaining that they worked in industrial automation, the netizen wrote that they were not able to take on part-time jobs such as food delivery “as I need ample rest in my line of work (industrial automation) where a single mistake and lost of concentration can cost lost of limb or fatal injury”.

The netizen asked others for advice on how to earn money and increase income.

Here’s what they said: