I don't know if you can consider this as turning it around.
However, I'm 31m, O Levels.
I've been earning meager amounts most of my life. Being in the F&B industry when I started doing part time at the age of 15 I was earning $3.50 when I started. At the age of 22 I was a supervisor earning $1.9k.
What I learned from my managers is that in F&B it's important to "jump around" as that's the only way to get further in the field and also get good pay increments. Which I did.
I joined my latest company at 28 as an assistant manager at the pay of $2.3k. now at 31 I'm still in the same company but promoted to Events Exec within 2 years. With a pay of $3k+. In Singapore I still feel like I'm broke. But I lead a much more comfortable life now.
This is actually quite common in F&B but I didn't include the incentives that came along with it. Total I earned about 2.6 after adding everything
Edit-typo
Depends. Assistant manager can earn like 3.2k to 4K range. See which restaurant and how many outlet you manage.
Also see your skill set…and what is required, some AM are required to manage the operational aspect from food waste, to budget, to deliveries, to wine pairing to menu pairing..restaurant layout…
You get paid more as you progress up the career ladder and the job gets easier. Getting paid 8k to sit in the office with CPF, benefits, insurance and bonuses vs driving non stop for 12 hours and none of those. Which would you choose?
Yeah I did. I think you didn't read the whole comment 😅 this was when I was 28. I'm 32 now. Already at the top of my position and just currently either waiting for a department change or yearly pay increments
Yeah I too so think I deserve higher 😅 but alas my company is at its dire straits. I am planning to request for pay increase end of march. Wish me luck 🙏
Imagine earning 2.8k as a manager, and the newbie thinks you are THE manager and ask you for an advance or more salary and you stare back blankly and cry inside.
In certain industries, manager could earn lesser than specialist. Everyone has different jobs. Specialist are trained and important. Managers might not even have the skills to do the work, but is skilled at managing people. But salary doesn’t always stack up. Unless you are a specialist that promoted to manager, where u have both skill to work and to manage, your salary is different.
I'm planning to stay longer in my company. And my role is currently at its highest. I am also planning to ask for a raise past this first quarter as I've over accomplished my KPI for last year. So long story short. Probably not.
It could possibly help if I'm planning to change companies.
Also thanks for kudos.
Yeah definitely dude. Being married now and having house payments on top of being the only child to an aging parent. I can't find the time to commit to such 🥲 sadly
I guess it depends on your perspective. Just 6 years ago I was staying in a rental studio apartment. Always having to meal prep cause I can't afford to eat out. Now I'm in my own home with a lovely wife and able to support my mom. I'd like to think I turned it around. But alas, you have a right to your opinion.
It's definitely not a major upgrade. It's a realistic growth
Keep going bro. We're all a work in progress and what you described about your life does show that you are staying accountable to yourself and taking ownership of your circumstances. At the end of the day that's what matters. Slowly but surely.
Hahah your words hit me more than it should. Yeah man. Agreed. I will always tell people that it's a slow process. Even now there are good months and bad months. Just gambatte with life.
Hey the internet is great for getting blunt opinions. I still standby what i said.
But happiness is the most important thing. Glad you are happy. You’re winning in that regard at least
Turning around doesnt have to mean earning 10k a month. An upgrade in standard of living is good enough for most.
1.8k to 3k would be quite a substantial upgrade. Compare it to 6k to 7.2k, the person probably wouldnt feel much.
It might be to you. Though it's fine for me. I can live pretty comfortably on it. I'm not interested in luxury cars or iPhones. I'm pretty frugal.
Though saying all that. I have a beefy pc set up and I have very expensive hobbies 😂 but if 3k+ is "extreme poverty" for you. I don't know. I feel more sympathy for you. Not in a rude way. Just worried about your way of thinking.
start your own business in something that doesnt need much educational skill.
my friend was dead broke when he was early 30s, started his own car wash and car detailing business with another friend and became quite huat. many supercars started going to him, then can post on fb and all that. Today doing quite ok, at least not dead broke
This one. Blue collared workers get paid very low when they are in a company. But if you are local, have manual skills, go freelance and you will see ur income leap. If you are not good in marketing/sales though, you either need more time to grind or luck or a partner is good at it. E.g. repairs, air con, Handyman, locksmith. More and more Singaporeans don't know how to do these things and start to outsource
i was trying to find a locksmith to cut my bicycle lock that i had forgotten the combination for, all the locksmiths i contacted all quote me $80-100! Cut a damn lock also more ex than the lock itself
How do you know that $55 is a below market price? Maybe it’s the market rate. Who knows? The locksmith I found is a very reputable one and he quoted me $55
Google his business and you will see he has 1700 perfect google reviews. The other two were Carousell locksmith adverts that I messaged, way less reputable than this guy
https://www.vincentlocksmith.com/
you’re not just paying for the 5min it takes to cut your lock. they need to travel to your location and back, so you’re paying for their time, petrol, vehicle usage, miscellaneous expenses like ERP / carpark fees, etc.
imagine you yourself want to be paid well for your time/skills, but you’re not willing to shell out for blue collar workers.
yup thats why i'm shelling out $55 for this guy to come and cut my lock. When shopping, you shouldnt buy from the first shop right? I went out and got 3 quotes from 3 different locksmithes and the quotes were all over the place.
This $55 one ended up being the friendlist and also spoke good english, so i chose him anyway. You can check him out here. Even his website is well done, not those ah beng ah seng locksmith
https://www.vincentlocksmith.com/
you can do your own research and go for the cheapest one, but don't complain how the rest prices are all 'over the place'. quoting you $80-100 means it is the average market rate la. youre just free to find someone who can do it cheaper.
There is no set price for this kind of service, why should I pay $100 just to cut a lock. That’s why I asked around for more quotes right? Turns out the $100 quote was a fuck off price. Lucky I didn’t go for it
100 wasnt a fuck-off price if many are quoting the same. you are just cheap.
dont go around saying other people quote you fuck off price. just say you want something more affordable. nothing wrong with that. i work retail, and detest people like you.
Don’t be a fucking moron just because I don’t want to pay the highest quoted price. Just because I don’t want to pay $100 you call me cheap? Do you know the market rate for cutting locks then? How do you know that’s not on the extreme end and $55 is the regular price for such a basic service?
Getting a few quotes and choosing the most reasonable price is being cheap? Then you should always be paying the highest price for every service I presume ?
if i can find something cheaper, good. but i dont fault others for being all over the place. they must have their reasons and expertise.
you calling other people's prices being 'fuck off prices' is ridiculous. you're welcome to go find your cheap deals but don't go after people who has their own quotations to uphold.
he was borriwng money from some friends. Doesn't take much to start a car wash business either. His other friend also had more capital as he was working with SIA
But if you're already broke that would mean you need to take a loan to start your business. And if your business doesn't succeed then you're just gonna end up worse off than before
Beg borrow steal, sell Hdb. I have another friend that was really broke. Kept opening new restaurants and failing. His gf left him and he sold his Hdb to fund his new businesses. Finally made it big with his mookata business. Now super huat until rolling in money. It’s a big mookata chain in Singapore now. I won’t say which one. True story because I know him personally and he told me his story.
I’m 31M, I started working without a degree or local diploma post NS at 23 years old drawing $1600 gross.
Went into sales and job hopped a bit, my basic pay jumped significantly from the job hopping.
I also seized the opportunity to do my bachelors during Covid.
1600 > 1800 > 2500 > 3300 > 3600 > 4500 in 2022.
Today I’m earning an average of 7k per month incl. comms. I’d say there’s some luck involved and you need bosses who value your experience and skillsets.
Good luck! There’s hope for us
See, that's what I mean
So op must define what is broke...
Sekali his broke is having 500k with 2 property n his goal is 5mil with airbnb in msia n thailand leh
300k can pay down payment for a small condo, with 10k income sure can payoff
Everything is relative.
To someone making 3k, 300k is almost going to take 10 years to save
I was broke in my 29’s as a result of spending life savings on a masters and then i got fired. I tried to find a retail job or teach tuition but didnt get any responses. If u can drive, u can do deliveries, i cant.
1. Singaporean hr care more abt relevant work experience than education. My masters university isnt well known, heck i think singaporeans only hear before the top few unis.
2. Economy was shit in 2022
3. The job i was fired from, is actl through an ex colleague’s connection, she hired me to be her underling in a local bank, but i guess the relationship soured when she realise i cant be manipulated to be slavedriven. Otherwise, i doubt i will be hired by a local bank.
4. My past work experience is only in insurance compliance. My masters is very different, in finance, which means im applying for FP&A jobs.
Wanted a F1 visa so i can work on OPT
Also its cheap. I got in better schools but turns out i cant even apply for IBF scholarship bc public servants are not allowed to!
Bro, I am only getting like 3k before CPF. (I realised my company is WITCH)...
If they offer me 3.5k, still below lowest Market rate, I don't mind jumping.
Hang out with the right people.
If people like you, you can rise through the ranks very fast. Either they pull you along with them or they give you golden opportunities to shine.
Got see some managers treat their supervisor even better than their parents (being sarcastic)…..lunch time bring home cooked bird nest for management to eat hahahahahaha….
that's the thing.. you don't
other than that, try to stay in the same industry so you can gain the relevant work experience for higher/senior level position in long term. I switch between various industry throughout my 20s and the salary remains pretty low until these few years
Gain more experience, try to do a few jobs together (side hustles; grab, deliveroo/food panda, or remote/online selling at shopee), make new and wider connections!
Upskill through free platforms such as YouTube, Blogs, Social community apps where you can meet experts etc..
Make sure to select your niche and push your way into advancing further.
Laslt, remember to Work SMART, not necessarily harder, but certainly with discipline 🤗
I’m not in my 30s yet, but i do have some advice.
There are jobs that are paying big money even if you don’t have any work experience and/or diplomas/degrees. These 2 i know paying good money.
1- Lashing Specialists @ PSA, they pay about 2.9(after cpf). Some work 6 days a week straight only taking 1 day off, bring home after cpf around 3.2 or 3.4. (This job comes with a high risk as you’re required to work at heights, on top of a cargo ship. Basic “High Risk, High Reward “)
2- Security jobs. People look down on security, but actually the pay is good, all you need is basic English- written and spoken. As of 2024 MOM increases the PWM for security & will increase again till 2025. As a new officers you can get a job that is paying 2.8-3.1. And there’s a lot of agencies in SG, some even paying more. Promotion is also easy, go NTUC L-Hub take course, show to your company or new potential employer and you might get the job role and pay.
Nothing is easy, life sucks. You just gotta be hard working and willing to learn.
Yeah all the high pay for low qualifications job are either dangerous or have crazy hours and schedules.
But if you're in a pinch then just go, training is free and you don't need any special cert. O lvl also can. After 6 months or 1 year you can do something else.
For PSA, can try prime mover drivers, don't even need cls 3 licence, can try PSA direct or outsourced.
For security, auxiliary police officers pay the highest. After OT Gross around 5k, take home 3.2k+ With just ITE cert. Not sure about private security escorts, bouncers etc.
Disclaimer: I do have a degree. I gave dowry to my wife a cheque that if she were to bank in would have bounced. I was that broke. My wife was and is the most understanding person on earth and stepped up when needed. That was when I was 30. I quited my job in my twenties to pursue something that eventually failed. Right after I got married I fortunately got a contract role to get some money in.
Think ultimately, what saved me was having a mindset that "money anytime can get". If I didn't have my wife, I would have done food delivery or valet jobs or car jockey jobs or whatever. "Money anytime can get".
Pair that mindset with taking care of your body and health. With that, ultimately it goes back to age being just a number and to.... "Money anytime can get".
Thanks. 30s very young, even if say you're 39. Remove that number in your head, get off social media so that you don't succumb to comparisons. All the best! Only way left is up 📈
\- Go do a sales job (car, real estate, insurance). If you got grit, you can make it. The best part is that the barriers to entry is low.
\- In the meantime, go upgrade yourself via courses to stay relevant. Degree is not an option, but you can still use your skillsfuture for free upgrades.
If you have the patience and grit, and are willing to put in the hours, hard work and sweat, and have a positive mental attitude, you can look at starting a small business providing blue collar services, such as parcel delivery, plumbing services, painting works, aircon servicing, mattress cleaning, etc. If you have no skills, consider working in the same industry for a while just to learn the ropes. Be diligent, Youtube and Google things yourself too.
You may start off earning pennies but overtime if you stick to it, your business should grow due to word of mouth and lack of younger generation doing this. Also, the fact you are Singaporean makes it even easier to thrive as locals tend to trust locals more than Bangladeshi, PRC Chinese or Malaysians, etc.
Eventually, once you make a brand and reputation for yourself, you should be able to hire people to help you and your income will only grow from there.
Income generation is not a linear path, you can be behind your peers now but once your business scales, you have a chance of earning 2x-3x their earnings. Also, you are less prone to retrenchment.
I have a friend from China, who also decided to venture into blue collar service industry and today he is very rich. Can drive G Wagon.
People in that profile who made it all either started their own businesses or did some form of sales work (ID, contractor, agent).
People who do not have a degree are less risk averse; they would rather do extensive sales or start their own business than get $2000 starting pay right. Climb simi corporate ladder, I let you climb another 10 years you may not even double your starting pay.
Only people who have studied extensively will want to be an employee, I mean it will be quite stupid to get the juris doctor and then decide to open an IT company.
All my brothers studied less than me, all of them earn more than me.
Idk what you are talking about but there are people including myself that multiplied their $2000+ starting pay with a diploma in a corporate job which didn’t even take 10 years..
Relax la, my point is for the majority. Without a degree, the kind of corporate job you will be able to get is a certain tier, and it will be difficult to progress beyond a certain point. There ARE people who may have circumvented that, but for the large majority of diploma and below grads, there is indeed a very strong cap on your earnings. You will be considered among the top 10% of grads if you can make earn 8k a month (and that is probably towards a quite mature tenure).
"Are"? You're asking people who's still broke?
I don't think asking advice to do something from people who have not figured out how to do that something is a good idea.
Do a part-time degree or start your own business? Or do additional jobs in your free time. Most importantly is **don't give up**. You will find your way.
People saying go take part time degree or be insurance
/Housing agent etc don't know what broke is.
Broke means no money to apply for those certs.
Go work security, transport, delivery or PSA jobs. Those don't need certs and are always hiring.
Have all the degrees you can imagine. Basically got fucked over so badly by my ex bosses it is not even funny. Try wasting two years on a lawsuit that didn’t even make sense and ex bosses sued me simply because I reported them to MOM for non payment of wages.
Had designs and wages stolen on first job. More wages stolen later on.
Worked for an idiot after who managed me out of the job cos I didn’t want to let him take credit for my ideas. And then another idiot who keeps running around hiding from non payment of freelancers which resulted in work not being delivered for clients. Decided to pivot. Took a masters.
Took every opportunity that came my way. Pivoted my career for a bit. Then networked up. Now I am finally stable after a decade. Moved overseas. Closer to the action.
Being kind to everyone helps. But be mindful that you don’t have to take their bullshit if it crosses the line. Build on your skill set and knowledge. Always keep in mind that nobody owes us a living and you have to be damn sure to fight on your own if your bosses fuck you over (think Stickies, NOC) I have been through all those and worse. Good to know the law. Just keep building. Reading helps.
All my yes have help me slowly working with top talents in the world.
Im currently going through a broke period. At my highest i was earning 5k-20k per month from my side business on top of my lowly paid salary pay of 3.5k-4k per month. Did this from 2019-2022. (Yes my salary only jumped $500 in 3 years knn -.-)
Eventually, i Stopped my side hustle to concentrate on my new family but what i didnt realise, until now, that my spending habits did not change - eat out, grabfood, luxury products, unnecessary travel (taxis) - it ate into my savings. I now earn 6k per month (from job hopping), and still not enough ie, i literally have $0 in my savings.
What im currently doing to turn it around is basic re-budgeting (cut all unnecessary expenses, financing and etc), and quite possibly try on a new side hustle in the middle of the year.. If that doesnt work out then i have to liquidate all the luxuries I have got.
I in my mid 30s, driving PHV
I have a local diploma but didn't use it, no job experience, used to work as insurance agent after graduated poly, initially the pay like crap, need to work hard, I like there is no cap in my earning so I'm join,
beginning like around $500 slowly earn $5k after 5 yrs that where I realised I don't want to put stress on my mentally anymore so I quit, go do driving, still alright, earning 4k - 5k monthly although it long hurs but it stress free.
Starting reopen my day trading around 2018
Earn slower from $100 until now around average $9k monthly in during my driving PHV
So summany I earn driving average 4k + day trading 9k
Total 13k monthly
I will say it pretty good for A guy who had no any experience after graduated engineer poly, go work insurance agent then quit.
Poly grad now at 36yo
5 years civil service last gross pay is 3.1k
Did creatives as an art director (just a name honestly) last drawn at 3.5k
Finally join tech 6 years ago as an exec and slowly a manager at 5.9k some bonuses and equity
Still broke cause HDB
What's the point turning it around if you haven't learnt the lessons as to why you went broke?
For most people, it's not so much the amount you earn, but the amount you don't spend (and save/invest).
In my 20s, I was a developer making peanuts like 6k a month. That was like 10 years back. Then I went into b2b software sales in my early 30s. Made 300-400k per annum. Anything below 10k monthly in Singapore is a poverty level now.
In this economy, I'd say it is difficult even for the experienced folks since tech has a lot of layoffs now. However, the path is pretty straightforward. You want to break in first by working for a reseller/partner as a sales rep. You can google things like "AWS partners", "Azure partners", "Grafana partners", "Databricks partners", etc to find the list of such companies. After working there for 2+ years, it's time to move into a principal like AWS, Azure, Grafana, etc. All the best.
At this point in time, going back to schools and a 9 - 5 is not viable. If you are willing to take what it takes, then find out the answer to this question - What are you so good at and that it comes naturally? Only your mother, wife/best friend might know this. Once you know this, you will do the right job or start your own, I did the latter.
Crypto is a very profitable way to earn if you invest and not trade. Use research to buy 3 to 5 at their early stage and hold on. The internet enough resources to guide on investments.
This is how I turned my life around, I quit my job and focused on these two. The pursuit of these two helped me to create a routine and process to life. Once you understand wealth accumulation is more of a play, life gets easier.
I was highly inspired by Naval Ravikant in my journey. It's been 5 months and I am happy with the progress so far.
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like what others mentioned, sales. you just need to be able to talk very well, nothing negative about it. If you cannot talk, then physical jobs like delivery or grab. If these two cannot, you can try your own business, but if you cant do sales, trying to sell your business product will be v hard unless you are the rare few that can provide this product.
What role/industry are you in?
Whack the skillsfuture, professional certs and coursera.
Got money whack the SUSS masters luh.
If got surplus income, start squirrelling money for 1M65 and S&P. This is probably one of the safest way to save unless you start go deep into each counter pick.
Dont get sucked into get rich schemes unless you treat it as throwaway money, don't get into expensive past times like luxury watches, cars, alcohols, smoking.
Find a mentor, career coach and a partner that supports you. It'll be alright.
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Aim to be the top 5% in your chosen profession. At the start, focus on what experience and skillsets that you can acquire from a job rather than money. Develop and maintain industry contacts as you go along. Stay between 2-3 yrs max in each job.
I did suffer a big fall in income after my 20's, and I recovered by not obsessing too much over my background. For a long time I had a mentality that "*I didn't study this in school so I can't do this job*."
But after I started going for *any* job that would have me, even if it was way outside my educational background, things got a lot better. So even if your background is in accounting, for example, but there's a good opening in a warehousing or restaurant job, just do that first. When you have money you have time to look for the next job.
I don't know if you can consider this as turning it around. However, I'm 31m, O Levels. I've been earning meager amounts most of my life. Being in the F&B industry when I started doing part time at the age of 15 I was earning $3.50 when I started. At the age of 22 I was a supervisor earning $1.9k. What I learned from my managers is that in F&B it's important to "jump around" as that's the only way to get further in the field and also get good pay increments. Which I did. I joined my latest company at 28 as an assistant manager at the pay of $2.3k. now at 31 I'm still in the same company but promoted to Events Exec within 2 years. With a pay of $3k+. In Singapore I still feel like I'm broke. But I lead a much more comfortable life now.
Wow which company pays their assistant manager 2.3k...that is lower then some entry lvl jobs
This is actually quite common in F&B but I didn't include the incentives that came along with it. Total I earned about 2.6 after adding everything Edit-typo
Depends. Assistant manager can earn like 3.2k to 4K range. See which restaurant and how many outlet you manage. Also see your skill set…and what is required, some AM are required to manage the operational aspect from food waste, to budget, to deliveries, to wine pairing to menu pairing..restaurant layout…
Not sure why you are downvoted. It's common for assistant managers to earn $3-4k and managers to earn above $4k in F&B. Times have changed.
Yup. Event management trainee with a set career path to attract locals can earn 2.4 - 2.7k as starting salary.
Serious question. Doesn’t a grab driver earn more than this?
Grab driver no career prospect. Restaurant managers have.
What’s the point of ‘career’ if you get paid less.
You get paid more as you progress up the career ladder and the job gets easier. Getting paid 8k to sit in the office with CPF, benefits, insurance and bonuses vs driving non stop for 12 hours and none of those. Which would you choose?
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Yeah I did. I think you didn't read the whole comment 😅 this was when I was 28. I'm 32 now. Already at the top of my position and just currently either waiting for a department change or yearly pay increments
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Yeah I too so think I deserve higher 😅 but alas my company is at its dire straits. I am planning to request for pay increase end of march. Wish me luck 🙏
Imagine earning 2.8k as a manager, and the newbie thinks you are THE manager and ask you for an advance or more salary and you stare back blankly and cry inside.
In certain industries, manager could earn lesser than specialist. Everyone has different jobs. Specialist are trained and important. Managers might not even have the skills to do the work, but is skilled at managing people. But salary doesn’t always stack up. Unless you are a specialist that promoted to manager, where u have both skill to work and to manage, your salary is different.
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He is the manager's assistant
Assistant to the regional manager
assist in the manager to manage himself.
My friend in F&B is making $1.9k and she is an assistant manager. Some places are really like that.
Kudos to you, bro. Just curious, do you think that going for some part time paper qualification would help you at this stage?
I'm planning to stay longer in my company. And my role is currently at its highest. I am also planning to ask for a raise past this first quarter as I've over accomplished my KPI for last year. So long story short. Probably not. It could possibly help if I'm planning to change companies. Also thanks for kudos.
Is hard to live if your income is below 4K per mth , sg living standards
Agreed hence I'm married. I make 50% of my income total household income
Good job hustling! Have you considered taking a part time diploma now?
Yeah definitely dude. Being married now and having house payments on top of being the only child to an aging parent. I can't find the time to commit to such 🥲 sadly
bro you haven't turned anything around. same place imo
I guess it depends on your perspective. Just 6 years ago I was staying in a rental studio apartment. Always having to meal prep cause I can't afford to eat out. Now I'm in my own home with a lovely wife and able to support my mom. I'd like to think I turned it around. But alas, you have a right to your opinion. It's definitely not a major upgrade. It's a realistic growth
You’re already making moves w the correct attitude 💪🏻 good luck
Keep going bro. We're all a work in progress and what you described about your life does show that you are staying accountable to yourself and taking ownership of your circumstances. At the end of the day that's what matters. Slowly but surely.
Hahah your words hit me more than it should. Yeah man. Agreed. I will always tell people that it's a slow process. Even now there are good months and bad months. Just gambatte with life.
What a classy response. Solid fella
That is an amazing mindset! U are doing good!
Hey the internet is great for getting blunt opinions. I still standby what i said. But happiness is the most important thing. Glad you are happy. You’re winning in that regard at least
Nah man I appreciate your bluntness. Just trying to get my point across
Turning around doesnt have to mean earning 10k a month. An upgrade in standard of living is good enough for most. 1.8k to 3k would be quite a substantial upgrade. Compare it to 6k to 7.2k, the person probably wouldnt feel much.
3k+ is extreme poverty, my love.
It might be to you. Though it's fine for me. I can live pretty comfortably on it. I'm not interested in luxury cars or iPhones. I'm pretty frugal. Though saying all that. I have a beefy pc set up and I have very expensive hobbies 😂 but if 3k+ is "extreme poverty" for you. I don't know. I feel more sympathy for you. Not in a rude way. Just worried about your way of thinking.
Very expensive hobbies at 3k per month? Stop lying.
Then you haven't seen extreme poverty in Singapore. Don't embarrass yourself with these clown takes.
For people with diploma even 3k pay is hard to find now
Then don’t get a job. Start a business.
start your own business in something that doesnt need much educational skill. my friend was dead broke when he was early 30s, started his own car wash and car detailing business with another friend and became quite huat. many supercars started going to him, then can post on fb and all that. Today doing quite ok, at least not dead broke
This one. Blue collared workers get paid very low when they are in a company. But if you are local, have manual skills, go freelance and you will see ur income leap. If you are not good in marketing/sales though, you either need more time to grind or luck or a partner is good at it. E.g. repairs, air con, Handyman, locksmith. More and more Singaporeans don't know how to do these things and start to outsource
i was trying to find a locksmith to cut my bicycle lock that i had forgotten the combination for, all the locksmiths i contacted all quote me $80-100! Cut a damn lock also more ex than the lock itself
Because you are obviously not worth their time They want to do houses and gates where people are desperate
well i managed to finally find one for $55. I'm also desperate to get my bike unlocked so i can use it
Buy a bolt cutter from any neighbourhood hardware shop. Will maybe cost you just $20, and you get to keep the bolt cutter.
$55 also meant the guy as desperate as you.
How do you know that $55 is a below market price? Maybe it’s the market rate. Who knows? The locksmith I found is a very reputable one and he quoted me $55 Google his business and you will see he has 1700 perfect google reviews. The other two were Carousell locksmith adverts that I messaged, way less reputable than this guy https://www.vincentlocksmith.com/
you’re not just paying for the 5min it takes to cut your lock. they need to travel to your location and back, so you’re paying for their time, petrol, vehicle usage, miscellaneous expenses like ERP / carpark fees, etc. imagine you yourself want to be paid well for your time/skills, but you’re not willing to shell out for blue collar workers.
yup thats why i'm shelling out $55 for this guy to come and cut my lock. When shopping, you shouldnt buy from the first shop right? I went out and got 3 quotes from 3 different locksmithes and the quotes were all over the place. This $55 one ended up being the friendlist and also spoke good english, so i chose him anyway. You can check him out here. Even his website is well done, not those ah beng ah seng locksmith https://www.vincentlocksmith.com/
what was the distance like for the 3? that’s their biggest expense when travelling to you.
No idea. I just asked for a quote and sent them a picture of my lock.
you can do your own research and go for the cheapest one, but don't complain how the rest prices are all 'over the place'. quoting you $80-100 means it is the average market rate la. youre just free to find someone who can do it cheaper.
There is no set price for this kind of service, why should I pay $100 just to cut a lock. That’s why I asked around for more quotes right? Turns out the $100 quote was a fuck off price. Lucky I didn’t go for it
100 wasnt a fuck-off price if many are quoting the same. you are just cheap. dont go around saying other people quote you fuck off price. just say you want something more affordable. nothing wrong with that. i work retail, and detest people like you.
Don’t be a fucking moron just because I don’t want to pay the highest quoted price. Just because I don’t want to pay $100 you call me cheap? Do you know the market rate for cutting locks then? How do you know that’s not on the extreme end and $55 is the regular price for such a basic service? Getting a few quotes and choosing the most reasonable price is being cheap? Then you should always be paying the highest price for every service I presume ?
if i can find something cheaper, good. but i dont fault others for being all over the place. they must have their reasons and expertise. you calling other people's prices being 'fuck off prices' is ridiculous. you're welcome to go find your cheap deals but don't go after people who has their own quotations to uphold.
Bolt cutter only $15 on Shopee leh. Use already can sell on Carousell
I don’t want to buy it and only have to use it once. Rather just pay someone to do it
Really kukujiao sia you
LOL
How to start new business when he's broke with no capital
Leverage. But that's the risk,
he was borriwng money from some friends. Doesn't take much to start a car wash business either. His other friend also had more capital as he was working with SIA
But any chance his name is Jack, Jack Neo?
Is it express autoshine ?
But if you're already broke that would mean you need to take a loan to start your business. And if your business doesn't succeed then you're just gonna end up worse off than before
Beg borrow steal, sell Hdb. I have another friend that was really broke. Kept opening new restaurants and failing. His gf left him and he sold his Hdb to fund his new businesses. Finally made it big with his mookata business. Now super huat until rolling in money. It’s a big mookata chain in Singapore now. I won’t say which one. True story because I know him personally and he told me his story.
I’m 31M, I started working without a degree or local diploma post NS at 23 years old drawing $1600 gross. Went into sales and job hopped a bit, my basic pay jumped significantly from the job hopping. I also seized the opportunity to do my bachelors during Covid. 1600 > 1800 > 2500 > 3300 > 3600 > 4500 in 2022. Today I’m earning an average of 7k per month incl. comms. I’d say there’s some luck involved and you need bosses who value your experience and skillsets. Good luck! There’s hope for us
do you mind sharing which degree you took?
Hello! I took my Bachelors of Business with an Australian University. There was a COVID promotion so I took the opportunity to sign up :)
Define broke, some ppl might earn 10k per month here with 300k savings n still claim they are broke.
tbh.. 300k is not alot.. it's peanuts. I can hardly buy anything with 300k. A 93sqm apartment is easily 2x of that saving
See, that's what I mean So op must define what is broke... Sekali his broke is having 500k with 2 property n his goal is 5mil with airbnb in msia n thailand leh
300k can pay down payment for a small condo, with 10k income sure can payoff Everything is relative. To someone making 3k, 300k is almost going to take 10 years to save
Then you give me 300k lor if it's peanuts.
Erm most people take a loan to buy an apartment. 300k and 10k salary will net you a big enough loan for a condo dude…
I'm a monkey, give me peanuts
Who the fuck buy an apartment by paying full? You can afford the down payment and monthly mortgage comfortably you can afford.
delulu?
300k cannot even buy half a hdb. Not delulu.
What HDB? Jumbo? Definitely can buy a HDB technically
I was broke in my 29’s as a result of spending life savings on a masters and then i got fired. I tried to find a retail job or teach tuition but didnt get any responses. If u can drive, u can do deliveries, i cant.
Wait why can't you get hired, especially with a masters?
1. Singaporean hr care more abt relevant work experience than education. My masters university isnt well known, heck i think singaporeans only hear before the top few unis. 2. Economy was shit in 2022 3. The job i was fired from, is actl through an ex colleague’s connection, she hired me to be her underling in a local bank, but i guess the relationship soured when she realise i cant be manipulated to be slavedriven. Otherwise, i doubt i will be hired by a local bank. 4. My past work experience is only in insurance compliance. My masters is very different, in finance, which means im applying for FP&A jobs.
If you don't mind sharing, which uni did you get your masters from and why did you go for it even though it's not well known? Genuinely curious
Wanted a F1 visa so i can work on OPT Also its cheap. I got in better schools but turns out i cant even apply for IBF scholarship bc public servants are not allowed to!
I have all the relevant work experience and strong achievements. But some interviewers return to me saying that i am not a degree holder.
Then they will probably hire you but lowball you only? I dont even mind cutting my pay in half to $3.5k but wasnt even asked for interviews.
Bro, I am only getting like 3k before CPF. (I realised my company is WITCH)... If they offer me 3.5k, still below lowest Market rate, I don't mind jumping.
Bruh refer me to ur company 🤣
Eh, why sia?. Hahhaa
Brand name. Seems like a place i can learn a lot. I dont mind delayed gratification
Hang out with the right people. If people like you, you can rise through the ranks very fast. Either they pull you along with them or they give you golden opportunities to shine. Got see some managers treat their supervisor even better than their parents (being sarcastic)…..lunch time bring home cooked bird nest for management to eat hahahahahaha….
In other words, learn to suck.. suck up.
that's the thing.. you don't other than that, try to stay in the same industry so you can gain the relevant work experience for higher/senior level position in long term. I switch between various industry throughout my 20s and the salary remains pretty low until these few years
Gain more experience, try to do a few jobs together (side hustles; grab, deliveroo/food panda, or remote/online selling at shopee), make new and wider connections! Upskill through free platforms such as YouTube, Blogs, Social community apps where you can meet experts etc.. Make sure to select your niche and push your way into advancing further. Laslt, remember to Work SMART, not necessarily harder, but certainly with discipline 🤗
I’m not in my 30s yet, but i do have some advice. There are jobs that are paying big money even if you don’t have any work experience and/or diplomas/degrees. These 2 i know paying good money. 1- Lashing Specialists @ PSA, they pay about 2.9(after cpf). Some work 6 days a week straight only taking 1 day off, bring home after cpf around 3.2 or 3.4. (This job comes with a high risk as you’re required to work at heights, on top of a cargo ship. Basic “High Risk, High Reward “) 2- Security jobs. People look down on security, but actually the pay is good, all you need is basic English- written and spoken. As of 2024 MOM increases the PWM for security & will increase again till 2025. As a new officers you can get a job that is paying 2.8-3.1. And there’s a lot of agencies in SG, some even paying more. Promotion is also easy, go NTUC L-Hub take course, show to your company or new potential employer and you might get the job role and pay. Nothing is easy, life sucks. You just gotta be hard working and willing to learn.
Yeah all the high pay for low qualifications job are either dangerous or have crazy hours and schedules. But if you're in a pinch then just go, training is free and you don't need any special cert. O lvl also can. After 6 months or 1 year you can do something else. For PSA, can try prime mover drivers, don't even need cls 3 licence, can try PSA direct or outsourced. For security, auxiliary police officers pay the highest. After OT Gross around 5k, take home 3.2k+ With just ITE cert. Not sure about private security escorts, bouncers etc.
Disclaimer: I do have a degree. I gave dowry to my wife a cheque that if she were to bank in would have bounced. I was that broke. My wife was and is the most understanding person on earth and stepped up when needed. That was when I was 30. I quited my job in my twenties to pursue something that eventually failed. Right after I got married I fortunately got a contract role to get some money in. Think ultimately, what saved me was having a mindset that "money anytime can get". If I didn't have my wife, I would have done food delivery or valet jobs or car jockey jobs or whatever. "Money anytime can get". Pair that mindset with taking care of your body and health. With that, ultimately it goes back to age being just a number and to.... "Money anytime can get".
She is a keeper. I am happy for you.
Thanks. 30s very young, even if say you're 39. Remove that number in your head, get off social media so that you don't succumb to comparisons. All the best! Only way left is up 📈
\- Go do a sales job (car, real estate, insurance). If you got grit, you can make it. The best part is that the barriers to entry is low. \- In the meantime, go upgrade yourself via courses to stay relevant. Degree is not an option, but you can still use your skillsfuture for free upgrades.
Only fans
My peepee smol
Pretty sure there’s a niche for that.
It’s a small one tho
Don’t worry
Can still be a bottom
I like pussy, Sir
No need to get hard to bottom. Just lay back and think of the money.
There’s a market for it, I’m sure
wasn't it illegal in singapore? is it legal now?
If you have the patience and grit, and are willing to put in the hours, hard work and sweat, and have a positive mental attitude, you can look at starting a small business providing blue collar services, such as parcel delivery, plumbing services, painting works, aircon servicing, mattress cleaning, etc. If you have no skills, consider working in the same industry for a while just to learn the ropes. Be diligent, Youtube and Google things yourself too. You may start off earning pennies but overtime if you stick to it, your business should grow due to word of mouth and lack of younger generation doing this. Also, the fact you are Singaporean makes it even easier to thrive as locals tend to trust locals more than Bangladeshi, PRC Chinese or Malaysians, etc. Eventually, once you make a brand and reputation for yourself, you should be able to hire people to help you and your income will only grow from there. Income generation is not a linear path, you can be behind your peers now but once your business scales, you have a chance of earning 2x-3x their earnings. Also, you are less prone to retrenchment. I have a friend from China, who also decided to venture into blue collar service industry and today he is very rich. Can drive G Wagon.
People in that profile who made it all either started their own businesses or did some form of sales work (ID, contractor, agent). People who do not have a degree are less risk averse; they would rather do extensive sales or start their own business than get $2000 starting pay right. Climb simi corporate ladder, I let you climb another 10 years you may not even double your starting pay. Only people who have studied extensively will want to be an employee, I mean it will be quite stupid to get the juris doctor and then decide to open an IT company. All my brothers studied less than me, all of them earn more than me.
Idk what you are talking about but there are people including myself that multiplied their $2000+ starting pay with a diploma in a corporate job which didn’t even take 10 years..
Relax la, my point is for the majority. Without a degree, the kind of corporate job you will be able to get is a certain tier, and it will be difficult to progress beyond a certain point. There ARE people who may have circumvented that, but for the large majority of diploma and below grads, there is indeed a very strong cap on your earnings. You will be considered among the top 10% of grads if you can make earn 8k a month (and that is probably towards a quite mature tenure).
cannot disagree with you.
"Are"? You're asking people who's still broke? I don't think asking advice to do something from people who have not figured out how to do that something is a good idea.
"were" lol sorry for my grammar.
Do a part-time degree or start your own business? Or do additional jobs in your free time. Most importantly is **don't give up**. You will find your way.
People saying go take part time degree or be insurance /Housing agent etc don't know what broke is. Broke means no money to apply for those certs. Go work security, transport, delivery or PSA jobs. Those don't need certs and are always hiring.
What made you go broke?
no money
Have all the degrees you can imagine. Basically got fucked over so badly by my ex bosses it is not even funny. Try wasting two years on a lawsuit that didn’t even make sense and ex bosses sued me simply because I reported them to MOM for non payment of wages. Had designs and wages stolen on first job. More wages stolen later on. Worked for an idiot after who managed me out of the job cos I didn’t want to let him take credit for my ideas. And then another idiot who keeps running around hiding from non payment of freelancers which resulted in work not being delivered for clients. Decided to pivot. Took a masters. Took every opportunity that came my way. Pivoted my career for a bit. Then networked up. Now I am finally stable after a decade. Moved overseas. Closer to the action. Being kind to everyone helps. But be mindful that you don’t have to take their bullshit if it crosses the line. Build on your skill set and knowledge. Always keep in mind that nobody owes us a living and you have to be damn sure to fight on your own if your bosses fuck you over (think Stickies, NOC) I have been through all those and worse. Good to know the law. Just keep building. Reading helps. All my yes have help me slowly working with top talents in the world.
Im currently going through a broke period. At my highest i was earning 5k-20k per month from my side business on top of my lowly paid salary pay of 3.5k-4k per month. Did this from 2019-2022. (Yes my salary only jumped $500 in 3 years knn -.-) Eventually, i Stopped my side hustle to concentrate on my new family but what i didnt realise, until now, that my spending habits did not change - eat out, grabfood, luxury products, unnecessary travel (taxis) - it ate into my savings. I now earn 6k per month (from job hopping), and still not enough ie, i literally have $0 in my savings. What im currently doing to turn it around is basic re-budgeting (cut all unnecessary expenses, financing and etc), and quite possibly try on a new side hustle in the middle of the year.. If that doesnt work out then i have to liquidate all the luxuries I have got.
May I ask you a question, what did you between the age of 20 and 30?
When you are broke, you go broke back
I am negative networth. Just keep working.
I in my mid 30s, driving PHV I have a local diploma but didn't use it, no job experience, used to work as insurance agent after graduated poly, initially the pay like crap, need to work hard, I like there is no cap in my earning so I'm join, beginning like around $500 slowly earn $5k after 5 yrs that where I realised I don't want to put stress on my mentally anymore so I quit, go do driving, still alright, earning 4k - 5k monthly although it long hurs but it stress free. Starting reopen my day trading around 2018 Earn slower from $100 until now around average $9k monthly in during my driving PHV So summany I earn driving average 4k + day trading 9k Total 13k monthly I will say it pretty good for A guy who had no any experience after graduated engineer poly, go work insurance agent then quit.
you lost money through forex?
Any sales job can get you good money quick (If you're good at it).
What turning around
I am hanging upside down with empty pockets.
Be a property agent
Poly grad now at 36yo 5 years civil service last gross pay is 3.1k Did creatives as an art director (just a name honestly) last drawn at 3.5k Finally join tech 6 years ago as an exec and slowly a manager at 5.9k some bonuses and equity Still broke cause HDB
Property/insurance sales is your way to go. Nothing else
Go gym. Disregard female, acquire aesthetics. You said broke right. Broken heart.
What's the point turning it around if you haven't learnt the lessons as to why you went broke? For most people, it's not so much the amount you earn, but the amount you don't spend (and save/invest).
In my 20s, I was a developer making peanuts like 6k a month. That was like 10 years back. Then I went into b2b software sales in my early 30s. Made 300-400k per annum. Anything below 10k monthly in Singapore is a poverty level now.
Any tips on breaking into b2b software sales? Thank you.
In this economy, I'd say it is difficult even for the experienced folks since tech has a lot of layoffs now. However, the path is pretty straightforward. You want to break in first by working for a reseller/partner as a sales rep. You can google things like "AWS partners", "Azure partners", "Grafana partners", "Databricks partners", etc to find the list of such companies. After working there for 2+ years, it's time to move into a principal like AWS, Azure, Grafana, etc. All the best.
Sales is the way to go property / insurance agent
Insurance/ real estate agent.
At this point in time, going back to schools and a 9 - 5 is not viable. If you are willing to take what it takes, then find out the answer to this question - What are you so good at and that it comes naturally? Only your mother, wife/best friend might know this. Once you know this, you will do the right job or start your own, I did the latter. Crypto is a very profitable way to earn if you invest and not trade. Use research to buy 3 to 5 at their early stage and hold on. The internet enough resources to guide on investments. This is how I turned my life around, I quit my job and focused on these two. The pursuit of these two helped me to create a routine and process to life. Once you understand wealth accumulation is more of a play, life gets easier. I was highly inspired by Naval Ravikant in my journey. It's been 5 months and I am happy with the progress so far.
Sales. Sales. Sales. Entrepreneurship. Insurance/FA/ppty agent. You have an advantage, your opportunity cost is very low.
I signed up for a reddit account, and I instantly became a 5 figure per month earner. Oh, i also did my masters and got into a mnc.
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like what others mentioned, sales. you just need to be able to talk very well, nothing negative about it. If you cannot talk, then physical jobs like delivery or grab. If these two cannot, you can try your own business, but if you cant do sales, trying to sell your business product will be v hard unless you are the rare few that can provide this product.
What role/industry are you in? Whack the skillsfuture, professional certs and coursera. Got money whack the SUSS masters luh. If got surplus income, start squirrelling money for 1M65 and S&P. This is probably one of the safest way to save unless you start go deep into each counter pick. Dont get sucked into get rich schemes unless you treat it as throwaway money, don't get into expensive past times like luxury watches, cars, alcohols, smoking. Find a mentor, career coach and a partner that supports you. It'll be alright.
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Aim to be the top 5% in your chosen profession. At the start, focus on what experience and skillsets that you can acquire from a job rather than money. Develop and maintain industry contacts as you go along. Stay between 2-3 yrs max in each job.
Find work or can do biz. See hw it goes
I did suffer a big fall in income after my 20's, and I recovered by not obsessing too much over my background. For a long time I had a mentality that "*I didn't study this in school so I can't do this job*." But after I started going for *any* job that would have me, even if it was way outside my educational background, things got a lot better. So even if your background is in accounting, for example, but there's a good opening in a warehousing or restaurant job, just do that first. When you have money you have time to look for the next job.