SINGAPORE: One Singaporean got quite the surprise after tracking her food expenses for a month and realising she was spending far more than she thought.
In a post on Reddit’s r/askSingapore forum, she shared that whenever people asked how much she spent on food each month, her answer was always roughly the same.
“I spend about S$10 to S$15 a day on food. Hawker here, cai png there, maybe grab a Luckin when I have the voucher,” she wrote.
But last month, she decided to stop guessing and start keeping track of every food-related purchase she made.
After 30 days, the total bill for everything she ate came up to S$726, which works out to about S$24 a day. That was around S$9 to S$14 more per day than what she had always assumed she was spending.
“I genuinely had no idea my real number was that far from my mental estimate. They added up to almost S$300 extra over the month compared to what I thought I was spending,” she said.
The hawker meals, she noted, were not the problem. Most of them still cost between S$4.50 and S$6.
The real culprit turned out to be all the little purchases that barely registered at the time.
She pointed to things like grabbing a kopi and kaya toast set from Toast Box because the kopitiam downstairs was too crowded, ordering GrabFood after working late, splurging on a S$14 lunch with colleagues to try a trendy new spot, and the occasional fast-food meal that now costs around S$8.
Individually, none of these felt particularly extravagant. In her mind, each choice was only a few dollars more than the cheaper alternative.
But over time, those seemingly harmless extras quietly piled up.
Looking back, she felt the exercise was a much-needed reality check and admitted she probably needs to be more mindful of her spending habits going forward. That said, she joked that it does not mean she will be surviving on “S$3.50 economy rice for every meal.
Wrapping up her post, she threw the question back to fellow Singaporeans.
“I’m curious what your actual number looks like. Not the number you tell people, but the one that shows up when you actually add everything. How much are you ACTUALLY spending on food per day now?” she asked.
“S$726 over 30 days is not high, honestly”
The post drew more than 494 upvotes and 178 responses.
In the comments, many Singaporeans said their monthly food spending was not too far off from hers.
One wrote, “I budget S$600 a month for food+drinks. Although when I treat people I record it under a different category, I mean like if you go out with relatives and eat at a restaurant and treat, one meal already [costs] S$300++.”
Another said, “I typically spend between S$700 and S$1,300, which includes weekday breakfast and lunch for myself, as well as dinner for three people and weekend meals. This excludes occasional home cooking. On average, it is usually around S$900.”
A third shared, “My budget is about S$800 per month for food. I spend about S$10 per meal when I’m working in the office. About S$5-6 a meal when I’m working from home. When I have special occasions, I take that out of my ‘self-care’ budget instead of my food budget, and just lessen on personal spending for the month.”
A fourth assured her, “S$726 over 30 days is not high, honestly.”
That said, a number of commenters suggested that if she wanted to trim her spending, cooking at home could make a noticeable difference.
One told her, “Cooking your own food will reduce your food expenditure drastically. Like even something as simple as kopi and kaya. Make your own! A bottle of Kaya and good butter will yield multiple toasts instead of paying the exorbitant prices at the toast box.”
In other news, a fresh graduate admitted on social media that they have been struggling to come to terms with being rejected for a role they desperately wanted after making it all the way to the final interview stage.
Posting on the r/singaporejobs forum, the graduate, who studied at one of Singapore’s Big 3 universities, said they had barely been able to “eat or sleep” since receiving the rejection.
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