30-year-old man earning $17K/month struggles to spend less than $5K monthly; wants salary raise of 25% more

A 30-year-old man who said that he felt he was “earning too little” despite a $17,000 monthly salary, took to social media asking netizens for their opinions.

In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the man wrote: “Hi, I’m sometimes a bit lost for direction and need a bit of help and opinion”. He added that he was a 30-year-old male who had been working for a few years. He was earning about $17,000 a month.

In his post, the man wrote that he felt he should ask for a raise of 25 per cent more, “and work isn’t easy as well to begin with”. He also added that he struggled to spend within $5,000 a month. 

“Alot of times I genuinely feel that I’m struggling and not being able to save and invest enough. Trying to target a savings rate of 50% proves to be quite difficult and I feel that I’m order to retire earlier, I’m trying to save and invest at least 10 k. And even so I feel that it’s not far enough”, the man wrote.

He said that when he spoke to friends or family, they would not understand and often think he was an entitled person. However, he wrote that he did not come from a wealthy background.

“How would you guys allocate your money? Do u think I’m saving too much? Maybe I should spend more? How much do y’all save that is hitting your retirement goal? Am I earning too little? Like honestly, I don’t smoke, drink or have a car”, he added, asking netizens for advice.

His post drew almost 150 comments, most of which were sarcastic or from irate netizens. A few people did give him genuine advice, while most thought he was bragging.

Here’s what they said:

Earlier this week, a 38-year-old woman took to social media asking for financial advice as she is “unable to save up anything” because of her monthly expenditure and credit card bills.

In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the woman said that her 40-year-old husband was also earning money.

“I take home around $4500 , whilst my husband around $5800, both after cpf deductions. Staying in a 5 room hdb resale flat. We have 2 kids, one 3 years old and one 10 months old. My husband takes care of the childcare fees , enrichment classes, utilities bills and kids insurance”, she wrote.

She added that every month, she spent $2,400 of her salary on stocks and savings, money she gave her parents, insurance, and internet and phone bills.

However, she added: “My credit card bills racks (sic) up to between $1500-$2000 or over per month, making me unable to save up anything or even eat into my savings. The bills include transport fees, eating out, groceries, buying toys, clothes for the whole family”.

The woman noted that she and her husband did not have a joint account and kept their finances separate. She wrote that while she had $100,000 in assets and savings, only $15,000 was available as immediate emergency funds.

She wrote: “I know I am very blessed already with a job and a roof over my head. Cutting down on the allowance for my parents is a big no as they are both not working and I’m the main pillar of their source of income. But I would like to know by the age of 40, what is a healthy amount of savings one should have? Any advice on how do one increase their savings, especially being the sandwich generation”. /TISG

Out of her $4,500 salary, woman with 2 kids spends $2,400 and then racks up credit card bills of $2K, claims she is “unable to save up anything”