Maybe you are just not the kind to have excess money sitting in your bank account. Well, what can you do when you earn barely enough to cover your monthly expenses? If that’s you, you might want to think about setting up a budget and saving for emergency purposes. But for now, you are short of cash and payday is 1 week away, what can you do?
- Cancel all social engagements
If you have scheduled a number of social engagements such as dinner and drinks with friends or had planned to catch a movie, its time to cancel them. Going for social gatherings often include spending money and in a more extravagant manner as well, so if you are already short on case, you should avoid them as much as possible. Anyway it could work if your friend doesn’t mind paying for you first.
- Plan your meals ahead
You can cut out on the extravagant stuff in life, but you can’t survive without food. If you know that you are going to be short on cash the next week, it’s time to set about planning your meals. Eating at a hawker centre or relying on some home-cooked meals can greatly help you save on food costs. If not, you can also rely on instant noodles, although they can be pretty unhealthy. Cut out the extra stuff like buying soft-drinks or coffee outside to save some extra dollars.
- Stay with your parents for the week
If you are no longer staying with your parents, you might consider going back there for the week. Parents are likely to cook at home and you get to enjoy some free meals as well as spend quality time with them!
- Take public transport or walk
Taking buses and MRT is extremely affordable in Singapore. If you are used to take a cab when you are tired after work, it’s time to cut that down and take an MRT instead. If you can, try to walk as much as possible to reduce your transport expenses further; it’s a healthy habit too!
- Look for stuff you can sell
Have a bursting wardrobe feel of clothes that you no long wear? How about the old video games that you’ve chucked into a corner of your room? Make use of platforms like Carousell to help you sell some of the items you no longer need/use and be pleasantly surprised by the amount of money you can make!
- Find a side hustle
There are more and more ways to find part-time or side jobs in today’s economy where people are even following a full-time work schedule with freelance jobs. Consider some of your skills and resources and come up with a plan to work some extra hours on your free time. Have a car? Why not consider becoming a private-hire driver? Can teach- try giving some home tuition which usually pays a higher hourly rate compared to other jobs. While the payment may not be immediate, you can try asking for an advance or keep up with it to ensure you can save up some extra money in the long term.
- Pretend you forgot your wallet
Need some cash for lunch? Perhaps you could get away with feigning that you forgot your wallet once or twice in the week so that your kind colleagues and friends would pay for you first. Do not use this trick too often or others may just see through it. Do remember to return them the money on your payday though!
