5 Simple Ways to Reduce Your Monthly Expenses


Imagine that you are staying at Ang Mo Kio and you are spending more than your limit. Finding your way to spend less money and cut back can be a challenge. The simplest and most effective way to start would be through cutting down your monthly expenses.

In time to come, you will realize that even though these steps may seem small and insignificant, there will certainly be an impact on your personal expenses in the long run. Below are the 5 ways in which you can reduce your monthly expenses, without having to give up on your perfect lifestyle.

  1. Consider SIM Only Mobile Plans

By this time, you would most likely have heard of the term SIM only plans. Compared to the usual 2 year mobile contracts which average about $50 monthly, the unique selling point of these SIM only plans is that it offers users with better flexibility, affordable price and most significantly, more data.

Meaning that, we are paying less for more data. It is starting from $20 per month, under a 12 month contract, you will be getting 5GB worth of data and if that is not enough, you have the flexibility of you choice to add more to suit your data needs. You may find out more about the various SIM only plans at Singtel, Starhub, M1 and Circles Life.

  1. Bring Your Own Meals To Work

This may seem like a huge routine at first glance. It requires time and effort to think of 5 meals to prepare in a week. For beginners, you might choose to prepare your meals about 1 to 2 times a week.

To start off, it might be wise to prepare your meals every Sunday night and leave them in the fridge so you do not have to fuss over the kitchen after a long day at work. A tip is to prepare larger portion after which you can divide the meals into smaller portions and either freeze them or leave them in the fridge, depending on when you intend to consume them.

  1. Use The Eatigo App When Dining Out

Singaporeans care and love their food. If the previous option does not meet your wish, how does getting 50% off your meal at a decent café or restaurant sound? Eatigo is an application that allows you to dine in restaurants with discounts ranging from 10% up to 50% off your total bill.

It is a win win situation for both restaurants and users stand to gain as restaurants can still gain traction during their off-peak hours and users can get their meals at discounted prices. This is an user friendly application and it is easy to navigate.

All you have to do is to select the restaurants you wish to dine at from their list of restaurants, choose your preferred timing and discount and wait for their confirmation email and SMS. Just three simple steps and you can save more but at the same time enjoying food you love.

  1. Keep Track on Your Spending

When you actually take control of your spending and see how much you are spending each week, you will then be able to avoid unnecessary spending and have more control over your spending. For starters, you can download a budgeting app on your phone such as the Mint budgeting app which offers many features to help you to keep tracking on your spending.

You can also link your credit or debit card to the app where they will be able to automatically categorize your transactions at the same time mapping this according to your set budget. With this application readily available on our phones, it makes budgeting much easier and more convenient.

  1. Share Monthly Subscriptions with Family or Friends 

Your monthly subscriptions to streaming sites like Netflix and Spotify are things you cannot avoid. However, spending $9.99 a month on Spotify and $10.98 a month on Netflix can put quite a strain on our wallets.

Think $252 a year solely spent on your Spotify and Netflix subscriptions, not inclusive of other ongoing subscriptions which you might have. The way is that you may choose the Spotify family package and share your Netflix subscription with a group of about 2 to 3 family members or friends.

Spotify offers a family package at $14.98 per month and you can share this package with maximum of five people. The best part is that each of you get your separate own account so you do not have to worry about not being able to listen to your favourite music when someone else is listening simultaneously. Conversely, Netflix does not have the sharing package option.

However, if a family member or friend has an ongoing subscription, all you need to do is ask for their login IDs and you will be clicks away from your favourite television shows and movies. Of course, it would be advisable to split this cost with your friend or family member. Now, you will only be spending $92 a year on your Netflix and Spotify subscriptions instead of $252 previously.

As they say, a small step goes a long way. The methods mentioned above might not seem very significant but as long as you stick to them and watch your spending, rest assured, you are on the right track.

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