All of us know this; we will never have enough money. In this coming year too, the government has also warned about the impending downturn that will be hitting Singapore. Corporates and SMEs alike in Singapore, most are tightening their belt this year, and some are even actively retrenching employees to save cost.
So if you, are looking for ways to make more money, here are some tips for you this year:
1. Take a part time job with sharing economy related companies
One noticeable trend in Singapore over the past 2 years is the rise of sharing economy, and they rely on part timers for their operations. While it is only for part timers, the good news is that they pay pretty well.
Some popular sharing economy companies are like Uber or GrabCar, which lets you earn more money driving people around in Singapore. Drivers report earning S$800 and more if they do it part time, after the various deductions. This is perfect for those of you who owns a car and has a full time job, and has the time at night to spare.
If you do not have a driving license, you can also be a shopper with concierge shopping site HonestBee, which pays you for shopping for someone else. How much can you earn? HonestBee is reported to pay up to S$14 per hour to concierge shoppers, many of whom are working part-time. If you are doing 20 hours per week, that amounts to S$1120 per month.
If you have an empty room in your private property, you can also consider renting it out via Airbnb where you can earn additional income. Unfortunately, Housing and Development Boards (HDB) rules are very clear about disallowing subletting subsidised government HDB units. You can find out more about the rules from this Quora thread.
2. Offer freelance service if you have a strong skill set
If you have a particular skillset such as designing, writing, building a website or even mixing cocktails, you can also offer these service to friends who might need it on an ad hoc basis.
There are several platforms where you can list your service, such as on Freelancer.com, or you can simple start a website or Facebook page and list down your service so that it’s easier for people to discover you on the Internet.
Skills such as designing and writing can command hourly rates of S$20 and even hundreds of dollars if you are good.
3. Pick up a new skill set
If you do not have any skill sets, perhaps it is time to think of ways to acquire new skill sets which you can benefit from for the rest of your life. There are various courses for lifelong learning, so don’t let “no time” be an excuse for you this year.
Starting this year, you can enjoy S$500 in free SkillFuture credits on over 10,000 SkillFuture courses. These approved courses, which can be found on the official website, includes interesting lessons from accounting, finance, basic programming to workplace safety courses et cetera. The earnings that you can get from this would be invaluable.
Additionally, if you are an union member, there is also a UTAP (Union Training Assistance Programme) which further funds your course fee up to S$250 per year.
4. Cut down expenses
Most of us might not be aware that we are spending unnecessary expenses every month, which could come in the form of our phone bills, or missed out promotions because we are not disciplined enough.
If you are a SingTel customer, you can enjoy reduced monthly payment fees if there are multiple registered line under the same billing address.
For personal banking, a popular savings plan is the OCBC 360, which gives you up to 3% annual interest rate if you credit your salary into the account every month and pay up to 3 bills using the account. If you have S$50,000 in savings, that’s an additional S$1500 for you per year. The additional interest rate can be used to cut down any other banking expenses that you might have.
The same goes for DBS’s multiplier account, if your regular banking with DBS adds up to S$7,500 per month, you’re eligible to earn higher interest.
Any other money saving tips you want to share with us? Do share with us in the comments below!