British YouTuber tries exploring 'expensive' Singapore on a budget, locals drop money-saving tips

It's common knowledge that Singapore is one of the most expensive places to live in. 

Curious to see just how expensive Singapore was, Joel Friend, a 22-year-old British YouTuber, and his girlfriend, Emilia Beattie, 21, paid a visit to our little red dot and attempted to live a day here on a budget. 

Joel documented the pair's experience in a vlog on his YouTube channel on June 5, which has since garnered over 53,000 views and attracted handy tips and tricks from helpful Singaporeans. 

Staying at a 'luxury' hostel

Hotels in Singapore aren't the cheapest — Joel shared that they would have had to fork out "so much money" to stay at one. 

Therefore, they decided to opt for a luxury boutique hostel called The Pod instead, where they stayed in the most expensive pod available, the Queen Pod Suite, which is a private room. 

According to the hotel's website, the room costs around $93 a night before GST and service fees. 

Joel's quick tour around the room revealed basic amenities including a queen-sized bed and a desk. 

He also sang praises about the "amazing location" and the convenient access to food and transport. 

Turning to hawker centres and casual eateries for cheap food 

For sustenance, the couple indulged in plenty of local food and were surprised to find that there were actually many pocket-friendly options. 

One of their favourite finds was pandan waffles from a coffee shop that cost $2.20. 

"They taste so good, we've had them quite a few times," Joel raved before he took a large bite. 

Of course, they had to try one of our national dishes — Hainanese chicken rice. 

This set them back by $4, which Joel described as "really cheap". 

They also shared that they liked the dish so much that they ate it two days in a row. 

For a caffeine boost, Joel also grabbed a kopi C (black coffee with sugar and evaporated milk) from an eatery in Suntec City. 

This cost $2.70, which he found reasonable as the standard coffee "from a machine" would cost at least $6, he explained. 

For dinner, they headed over to Chinatown to fill their bellies with food from a hawker stall that was apparently recommended in the 2017 Michelin guide. 

They each had a set of chicken cutlet and noodles which cost $5 per pax and the pair were impressed by how much food there was despite the price. 

"Amazing value," Joel commented. 

Choosing public transport over cars

Joel reveals that apart from walking, the couple's go-to mode of transport in Singapore is the MRT as it is the "cheapest way to get around". 

"If you take a Grab here, which is like Uber in Southeast Asia, then it is so much more expensive than say where we were in the Philippines or Indonesia," he compared. 

"There are so many stations in Singapore and it was so fast, best way to get around," he praised. 

But there were some exceptions

While their budgeting did seem to be on track, the pair admitted that they did give in to temptation once in a while. 

One instance was a berry smoothie from juice specialist Boost that cost them $6. 

"I wanted some fruit and it was more than I expected," Emilia shared. 

They also expressed their shock over the prices of fruit in Singapore. 

"The fruit here is actually so expensive. We just saw a pallet of strawberries and it's like nine or 12 strawberries for $15," shared Joel. 

Apart from that, they visited Cloud Forest and Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay and felt the pinch when they had to fork out $28 per pax. 

"Obviously, it's not super cheap, but, you know, you've got to spend some money to see stuff," Joel rationalised. 

"Yeah, the budgeting here is not going too well is it. Oh well, we are in Singapore," he added. 

Locals drop some tips and tricks 

Hoping to help the couple with their budgeting were some helpful Singaporeans, who dropped some useful tips in the comment section of the video. As of the time of writing, the video has amassed over 1,200 likes and 160 comments.  

Some recommended getting cheaper attraction tickets on travel platforms like Klook. 

Others suggested visiting hawker centres in neighbourhood areas for affordable food options. 

There were also a few who told Joel that there are cheap fruit in Singapore if you know where to go. 

And one commenter even suggested drinking tap water to save money. 

If you're planning to explore Singapore on the cheap, now you know! 

melissateo@asiaone.com