I just guesstimate some of the costs below as I think it should be pretty accurate based on my past experiences and I'm too lazy to do research.
- Meals:
- Breakfast: Say you buy a jar of jam and loaf of bread which last you for a week ($5 in total). So that's about $0.70 for a breakfast. Let's round it up to $1. With a cup of home-made or hawker coffee, it will be another $1 so total $2.
- Lunch: Economical rice at a hawker centre ($3).
- Dinner: Again, economical rice or equivalent (for god's sake).. $3.
- In a month, that's $8 times 30 days = $240 per month (and this is without buying any drinks!)
- Shelter (or parents' allowance):
- Rent a small room for $500 with utilities and WiFi included (but no air-con). I think it can even be cheaper if you stay in a remote location such as Woodlands or Jurong.
- -Or- Live with parents either for free or give them some allowance.
- Transport:
- $100 for ez-link per month (based on my expenditure before I bought a car).
- No private transport.
- Healthcare:
- Referring to the premium table here, the Medishield Life premium is only $6 monthly for a young adult in the lower-middle income group.
- I also assume here you get illnesses and ailments such as headaches, fever, and cold occasionally, so another $5 per month on average to buy pills (DIY cure).
- Dental checkup every 6 months: For a typical polyclinic visit, it costs $45 so that's ~$8 per month.
- $10 haircut in one of those express shops every 2 months, so that's $5 per month.
- Phone plan:
- I will just include this since in this modern age, almost everyone needs a smartphone in a developed country. How can you not own one when the workers and aunties own one each?
- Say $20 for a SIM-only plan with 3 GB data.
- Gadgets:
- Say you need a laptop and mobile phone and you can only use them for 4 years max.
- Assume $2000 per 4 years so that's about $42 per month.
- Clothes:
- Say you spend $120 a year on clothes on average so that's $10 per month amortised. You'd need at least some decent clothes in this judgmental and superficial world, especially in certain industries.
- Entertainment:
- Assume all the entertainment is derived from your mobile phone and laptop.
- Groceries and necessities:
- Assume $5 per month for shampoo, toothpaste, etc. (amortised)
So in total you'd need $941 per month for a really frugal and financially disciplined lifestyle! Wow! I thought it'd be even lower.
One can probably even reduce this further by cooking meals yourself, DIY haircut, etc.
Mine is 250-300% of this inclusive of owning a car.
Additional things to sweeten your life that were left out above:
- Vacations
- Better entertainment such as movies
- Occasional splurges on food and transport
How do YOU compare to this?
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