Still paying too much? These simple money hacks can save you over $100 a month

The phrase “cost of living” is on everyone’s minds amid global trade chaos and broader economic uncertainty. So, how do you slash monthly expenses without sacrificing your quality of life?

Choose what matters to you and trim the excess, says Associate Professor Pearpilai Jutasompakorn of the Singapore Institute of Technology’s accountancy programme.

“This is about spending less where you can, yet not cutting so much that you feel miserable or deprived,” she says, adding that an aggressively spartan budget might work for a month or two, but will strain quality of life or lead to revenge spending further down the road.

Also, it is worth understanding the psychological tactics companies deploy to keep you paying more and trying to avoid the pitfalls.

These include bundling (combining multiple products to obscure individual costs), dynamic pricing (adjusting prices based on your online browser behaviour) and choice overload (overwhelming consumers with a variety of options, so you end up relying on default recommendations).

Here are some counter-strategies to keep your expenses down.

1. Update your phone plan

Since the mid-2010s, the price of each gigabyte (GB) of mobile data has plummeted from dollars to cents, with the rise of SIM-only plans such as Maxx’s $9.90 for 290GB or Simba’s $10 for 300GB offerings.

This shift stems from the increased affordability of smartphones, making the old contract model obsolete, and competition from new entrants such as Simba and Circles.Life. M1, Starhub and Singtel have also launched their own budget sub-brands – Maxx, Eight and Gomo respectively.

One way to cut costs is to audit your current plan against today’s market offerings. 

Many consumers who have not revisited their plans in a while or continue to use phone contracts may be paying premium prices for services now available at budget rates. This is partly because the bundling trap of attractive handset subsidies makes it tricky to evaluate the worth of each component of your plan.

Here is an example. Pharmaceuticals worker Sathya Prakash, 29, pays $80 a month for his phone contract – a discounted corporate rate – which comes with 110GB of monthly mobile data and a subsidised iPhone 15 Pro Max.

He traded the iPhone for around $1,600 at a mobile phone shop in 2024, close to the handset’s sticker price at the time, as he did not need it.

He calculated that he essentially paid around $14 a month over 24 months, after taking into account the trade-in value of the mobile phone, compared with going for an under-$10 monthly SIM-only plan with greater data allowance and the flexibility of buying a new phone if the desire arose.

2. Question every bundle

The bundled model extends beyond mobile phones to internet and pay-TV providers. Despite pay-TV subscriptions plummeting since the early 2010s due to the streaming revolution, many consumers continue to pay for unwatched TV channels bundled together with their internet plan.

One way to cut costs is to compare your current bundled internet and TV package with standalone internet options from newer entrants, such as MyRepublic’s $47.99 or Simba’s $29.99 a month for 10Gbps broadband.

Some budget-conscious consumers like Mr Jon Phua, 35, have even turned to the increased affordability of mobile data to replace broadband internet entirely.

Mr Phua, a communications strategist who lives alone, used to pay for broadband while living with his parents. He now pays an additional $9.90 a month for 290GB monthly mobile data subscription from Maxx on a separate device, which he says is enough to cover his streaming and home internet browsing activity.

3. Consider subscription-hopping

Traditional lock-in contracts are designed to maximise value extraction from consumers. While streaming platforms initially offered freedom from this model, they have increasingly imposed steep price hikes.

Streaming giant Netflix recently raised costs by $2 to $4 across tiers in April – the second price increase in two years – and Disney announced similar increases in 2024. The cheapest tier at Netflix and Disney+ now comes to $15.98 a month, up from $13.98 and $12.98 respectively.

Beyond downgrading to lower-cost and lower-fidelity subscription tiers, one can consider subscription-hopping. This means strategically rotating between various streaming services instead of signing on all year long.

According to The New York Times, subscription-hopping has become the new normal in the United States, where more than 29 million subscribers – about a quarter of domestic subscribers – cancelled three or more streaming services over the last two years leading up to 2024. About a third later resubscribed to the cancelled service within six months.

Simply pause or cancel your subscription until must-watch content returns, such as the next season of HBO’s House Of The Dragon (2022 to present) or Netflix’s Squid Game (2021 to present).

4. Leverage family plans

Not all bundles are bad. Some service providers still offer cost savings for those looking to get in on plans with their loved ones.

Apple One, which comes with 50GB of iCloud backup allowance, as well as access to Apple TV+ and Music, costs $23.95 a month. Its family plan, which can be shared with up to five people, offers the same access and 200GB of backup allowance for $29.95 a month.

Family plans or password sharing also exist for Spotify, YouTube Premium, Google One and Amazon Prime, and most VPN services.

5. Scrutinise cashback services

Those looking to cut costs might look to cashback services such as Shopback or Fave to shave a few dollars off their purchases. However, their impact can be more complex than advertised.

Mr Ian, a 28-year-old civil servant who declined to share his last name, has accumulated $4,579.13 in lifetime earnings on Shopback since 2017, primarily from booking travel expenses through the platform.

“It’s very lucrative for accommodation and tour bookings, as the bonus cashback can sometimes be over 10 per cent,” he says, adding that cashback can be close to 100 per cent for other items such as VPN services.

However, he also notes that finding good deals can be tough. Dynamic pricing means that at times, he observes a higher starting rate on offer when booking a trip through Shopback (as opposed to using a booking platform without it), negating the cashback earned. As such, the amount he has earned from the platform may be less positive than it sounds.

When using cashback services, be wary of hidden traps like dynamic pricing and price anchoring, as well as the artificial progress of watching your cashback grow as an incentive to keep using the platform, even though better deals may exist elsewhere.

6. Eliminate insurance redundancies

According to the 2023 household expenditure survey by the Department of Statistics, households spent an average of $590 on insurance and financial services – the largest expense after transportation, food and housing.

Ms Helen Shen, insurance firm Singlife’s group head of products, recommends reassessing coverage if monthly premiums exceed 15 per cent of take-home pay.

“Schedule insurance policy reviews every one to two years, or whenever you experience a major life change, such as marriage, family or a career change,” says Ms Shen, who adds that potential adjustments can include dropping coverage that is no longer needed.

She notes that while a general guideline is to have insurance protection that is nine times your annual income for death and total and permanent disability, and four times for critical illness, these are just starting points that should take into account one’s unique circumstances and budget.

7. Revisit house brands

Another area for cost savings comes from grocery shopping. In Singapore, supermarket house brands are increasingly a staple in consumers’ grocery baskets.

Close to $1 billion – or 20 per cent – of FairPrice Group’s sales in 2024 came from its portfolio of Own Brands, up from $500 million in 2022, reported The Straits Times in February. These brands include FairPrice’s eponymous house brand, as well as labels such as Pasar, Golden Chef and Delicato, which are typically 10 to 15 per cent cheaper than branded alternatives.

Part of the popularity of these brands stems from how e-commerce and cost of living are altering consumer expectations.

For instance, communications worker Eleanor Tan says that comparison shopping with e-commerce platforms is an essential part of her grocery shopping experience. Instead of going for Nespresso coffee pods, which cost 80 cents to over $1 a pod, she purchases generic brand alternatives from Lazada which sell for 50 cents a pod.

Consider challenging brand loyalty by doing your own blind taste tests of supermarket house brands versus lower-cost alternatives. Also, question the middle tier: When faced with “good, better, best” options, evaluate whether the entry-level product truly lacks any essential features.

8. Stretch your dollar when you travel

Some Singaporeans cross the border to Johor Bahru for cheaper fuel or groceries, and sometimes tag on other services at the same time.

On a trip to the Malaysian city in 2021, Ms Khosshala Balu, a 28-year-old nurse, got her braces done. At the time, the full procedure cost RM5,000 (S$1,500) in JB, compared with between $3,000 and $4,000 in Singapore.

If you are planning to travel, consider adding personal care services such as hairstyling or manicures during the trip that may reap some savings.

9. Choose energy-efficient appliances

Eligible Singaporean HDB and private residential households can claim a total of $400 worth of Climate Vouchers, which can be used to offset the purchase of 10 types of energy- and water-efficient appliances and fittings. These vouchers are valid until December 2027.

The potential cost savings from energy efficiency can be significant.

According to the National Environmental Agency (NEA), a two-tick air-conditioning unit model will cost about $300 more in electricity bills a year (based on electricity cost of 29.9 cents per kWh of electricity, assuming a multi-split 7.5kW cooling capacity air-conditioner that is used eight hours daily) as compared with using an air-conditioner with five ticks.

As air-conditioning accounts for about 24 per cent of an average household’s electricity consumption according to a 2017 NEA survey, consider other ways to get cooling bills down.

Mr Ali Osman, a 30-year-old who works in agricultural sales, says his family switches the unit from air-conditioning to dehumidifier mode after flushing out the warm and humid air in their home. He has since seen a quarter reduction in energy use on air-conditioning, as well as a lower energy bill.

This article was originally published in The Straits Times.