SINGAPORE TIPS: 14 MONEY SAVING TIPS FOR BUDGET TRAVELERS
To repeat myself from last week’s Singapore tips: Costs of Visiting Singapore on a Budget:
Although Singapore is my favorite city in the world, I have to admit to its one downside: it’s expensive. Even worse, every time I return the prices have increased, especially for hotel and hostel fees. In addition, in recent years the $ Sing continues getting stronger, making exchange rates worse for western visitors. This all adds up to increasingly expensive visits to one of my favorite destinations. Boo. :(
So… since I love Singapore so much, I’ve become an expert at visiting on a very low budget so that I can stay as long as possible. If I can keep costs down, I’ll happily stay for 1-2 months, exploring new places, cycling and hiking, admiring gorgeous architecture, and re-visiting my favorite places. This is how I do it:
1. Organize free accommodation
If there ever was a place in SE Asia to seek free accommodation, Singapore is the place! With dorm bed prices astoundingly at the same price as in USA , UK, and Europe, and the cheapest ‘budget’ hotel rooms starting at $S65 / $52 US, accommodation is any visitor’s biggest expense in Singapore. By finding free accommodation, you can cut the cost of your visit in half or more. If you’re a budget traveler, doing this alone will suddenly make Singapore quite affordable, since food and local transportation are relatively inexpensive, plus there are many great free activities in the city.
How to find free accommodation?
1. Couch Surfing and Tripping are both great organizations with local hosts who are eager to put up travelers free in their homes. In Singapore there are well over 1000 Couch Surfing hosts and currently few Tripping hosts. It takes a bit of advanced planning. You’ll have to join the organizations, research hosts, and send a few back n forth emails, but it’s worth it.
2. Alternately, if you have any friends in Singapore, perhaps you could stay with them?
3. Finally, a third option is camping! East Coast Beach offers free camping if you have your own tent. You’ll have to apply first, but that’s it. East Coast Park is beautiful and fairly close to downtown Singapore, which you can access by public transport.
2. Always eat at food courts
Singapore is jam-packed with food courts, large and small, all over the city. Meals typically cost $3-4 Sing. And drinks about $1. That still works out to 2 1/2 times more costly than meals in neighboring countries. But the food is local, authentic, varied, and delicious. Anyhow, that’s the best you can do in Singapore. You have to eat! If you’ve found free accommodation, then you’ll have enough cash to eat.
You can even do better than $S3-4. Indian roti and dosai meals cost $S1-1.50 in Little India, and are very tasty and filling with tea tarik. Great for breakfast.
3. Drink tap water
Most Singaporeans drink tap water. You can too. You’ll save heaps of money by not buying bottled water and you can get it everywhere.
4. Stay in Little India
If you can’t find free housing, then stay at one of the many hostels in Little India. Besides being the least expensive hostels in town, you’ll also have Singapore’s cheapest foods on hand- Indian roti and dosai meals with tea tarik, plus several food courts. Little India is a very interesting area and is within walking distance to all downtown points of interest. On all counts, Little India is the best spot to stay in Singapore if you don’t find free accommodation.
5. Enjoy heaps of exciting free activities
Some of Singapore’s attractions are quite pricey. But the city also offers loads and loads of free things to do including museums, self-guided city tours, hiking, camping, outdoor rock concerts, festivals, events, art, and free drinking for ladies, among other things. Singapore’s plethora of free activities could easily keep you busy for 2 weeks or more. There’s really no reason to spend any money entertaining yourself in Singapore, especially if you’re on a tight budget.
Check out my 2 posts detailing free things to do:
6. Avoid buying personal items in Singapore
Singapore is one place in SE Asia that you don’t want to stock up on personal items like toiletries or clothes. In fact, avoid it completely by making sure you’ve got everything you need before you go and that you won’t run out. Stock up in neighboring countries, where prices are infinitely cheaper
7. Buy chocolate and chewing gum outside Singapore
Chocolate is a highly taxed ‘luxury’ item in Singapore, right up there with alcohol, cigarettes, perfumes and other luxury items. A simple American candy bar, like snickers or M&Ms will set you back $S2-3! Chocolate is actually more expensive than in USA or Europe, in fact. So if you’re a choco-holic, bring it with you from outside.
Chewing gum is not sold in Singapore. Period. It’s legal to chew it, but you will not be able to buy any in the country. If you love chewing gum, bring it with you. Just be sure you don’t spit it out on the streets or you could be heavily fined. Hey, after all, it’s good habit to dispose of gum properly wherever you are. :)
8. Skip buying a Singaporean sim card for your mobile phone
Although I generally recommend buying a new sim card each time you enter a new Asian country, Singapore is one exception. It’s not cheap, especially if you’re only staying 1-2 weeks. Sim cards in most SE Asian countries cost $2-5 US, with a little credit thrown in. In Singapore, sim cards cost $S15-18 / $12-15 US. That’s a huge difference! If you’ll be staying a month or more, it could be worthwhile, but for just one week, that’s essentially a minimum phone bill of $48 US / month. If you’re a budget traveler, that’s pretty steep.
If you can do without mobile phone connections for a few days, your Singapore visit is a good time to do so. You can always use skype or email if your hostel or couch surfing host has internet connection available for you.
In last week’s travel tips, Costs to Visit Singapore on a Budget, I detail costs and procedures for getting buses and trains between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore. In a nutshell, buying your bus or train tickets in Malaysia rather than in Singapore will cost you less than half price of the same tickets bought in Singapore. If you’re in Malaysia before visiting Singapore, this is an easy way to save a chunk of money. Check my travel tips for exact details.
10. Skip drinking in Singapore
Hands down, Singapore is the most expensive place to drink in SE Asia. Huge government taxes on all alcohol, high drink prices, and blatant watering down of spirits mean that you need a lot of money to go drinking in Singapore. If you ever thought about having a dry stint, this would be the place to do so.
Typical cocktails prices are $S15-18 / $12-14 US. Yes, that’s for one cocktail. After you take your first sip, you’ll quickly notice that it doesn’t have much kick to it either, despite the phenomenal price. As a concrete example, my normal cocktail limit is 2-3 drinks, on which I’ll get nicely ‘sauced’. In Singapore I’ve had 5-8 cocktails in a row, yet barely felt a buzz. Once I even slugged back 10 shots before I felt the mildest tingle! Luckily, I didn’t pay for any of those drinks. (a great perk to having djs and club manager friends) Somehow, the clubs and bars seriously water down alcohol in this country!
If you really must drink, then either: bring a bottle with you from outside the country or drink bottled beer, which is also expensive, but at least isn’t watered down.
11. Drink for free on Wednesday nights- ladies only
That having been said, you can beat the system on Wednesday nights. Sorry guys, this doesn’t apply to you. But for all of us female travelers, take advantage of Wed. Ladies’ Night at clubs all over the city if you want to drink in Singapore. Clark Quay on the Singapore River has an especially dense cluster of clubs offering free drinks and entry to female guests. You could easily go ‘bar hopping’ at Clark Quay for hours without paying a dime. If you really want a buzz, though, remember you’ll have to toss back many glasses of their watered-down concoctions. Grab as many as you can.
12. Enjoy free night time entertainment
While drinking is very expensive in Singapore, lots of night time entertainment is entirely free.
* Free rock concerts are held every Fri, Sat and Sundays nights at the Esplanade’s outdoor theater, right on the harbor.
* Free art exhibits and other performances like circus, comedy, and multi-media acts are also often performed free at Esplanade.
* Marina Bays Sands puts on an astounding, original water and light show nightly at 8 and 9:30 pm
* Several times during the year a larger light show is put on at the harbor stadium.
* And special annual events and festivals take place regularly, including Chinese New Year, Hindu Festivals, Singapore Arts Festival, and others.
Visit Singapore Visitor’s Centre on Orchard Road when you first arrive in the city to find out what’s happening during your stay so you don’t miss anything.
13. Minimize Transportation
Singapore has an excellent public transportation system, with a plethora of buses and subway trains running to all points around the city and the entire island. Prices are not very high either, running about $S1-3 between destinations. Still, if you’re really exploring the city and visiting many places, transportation costs add up quickly if you’re using buses and trains all the time.
Instead, walk! Keep up your fitness, enjoy Singapore’s daily street life and amazing architecture, and save money all at the same time by walking. You’ll notice a lot more about the city and its inhabitants by walking rather than sitting on a bus or underground train. Besides, Singapore is a pretty compact city, so you can easily walk between most of Singapore’s interesting neighborhoods and attractions: Orchard Road- Little India- Kampong Glam – Singapore River – China Town – Marina Bay and harbor.
All the free tips I recommend in my 2 posts on free activities in Singapore, involve places and activities within central Singapore city. URA and Marina Bay Gallery both offer free maps and brochures of self-guided walking tours around Singapore, focusing on different topics and districts. All Singapore maps clearly identify museums, attractions, temples and shopping areas, so you can also find your own way around. Whether you’re interested in amazing architecture, museums and culture, harbor and river views, gardens and parks, or temples, you can reach them all on foot.
Alternately, cycle the city if you have your own bike. Singapore is a fantastic city for cycling. You’ll always be pedaling under shady trees along roads and walkways. You can cycle on roads or sidewalks. There are many beautiful rivers, canals, coastlines and harbors to pedal along. Distances are not far: from the border with Malaysia down to the CBD it’s only about 25 km. You can also pedal for hours along the East Coast Park, Changi, Pungol, and other natural spots. There are no bicycle laws in Singapore, so you can ride wherever/however you want. Cycling is my prefered way to get around the city.
As an added bonus, you’ll get a great night’s sleep after tramping or pedaling around the city all day.
14. Stay a short time
If you can’t find free accommodation or you don’t like the idea of staying with strangers, your costs are going to add up very quickly. In that case, you could plan to just make a short visit: a few days to one week. It won’t dent your pocket too badly, and you can enjoy a lot of Singapore’s sights and activities within those few days.
Have you been to Singapore on a budget? How expensive did you find it?
Do you have any other money saving tips for Singapore?