The only thing that we Singaporeans love more than spending money on stuff is getting our money’s worth of stuff. After all, how many times have you been part of a conversation where someone’s reply to your latest purchase is, “But I can get it cheaper than that!”?
We decided to hit the streets and get a rough idea what people are prepared to pay for some of our most basic wants.
And the Going Rate is…
To give you idea of whether our interviewees are big spenders or bugdet conscious, we list what you can expect to pay for these items in Singapore.
Mobile Phone: $600-1,500
Jeans: $100-400
Full-body Massage: $60-300
A Jug of Beer: $15-30
Sports Shoes: $50-500
A Filling Meal: $5-nearly 100
A Plane Ticket to Phuket: $200-500
A Watch: $50-5,000
Cologne/Perfume: $30-500
Plasma TV: $3,000-4,000
A Car: $35,000-well over a million
A Handbag: $50-1,000
Who: Jeremy Chua, 25, Designer
How Much:
Mobile phone: “I paid $8 with a plan.”
Jeans: $60
Full-body massage: $30
A jug of beer: $12
Sports shoes: $70
A filling meal: $30
A plane ticket to Phuket: “I’d rather ride [my motorcycle] up.”
A watch: $130
Cologne: $80
Plasma TV: $800
A car: “$0!”
A handbag for a lady: $400
Who: Rachel Chua, 26, Teacher
How Much:
Mobile phone: $200
Jeans: $150
Full-body massage: “$80. I’d pay the same for my boyfriend too, but the masseuse had better be a guy!”
A jug of beer: $20
Sports shoes: $150
A filling meal: $30
A flight to Phuket: $150
A watch: $200
DOUBLE STANDARD?? – If you were buying a watch for a guy, how much would you pay for it? $250-300, since guys prefer their watches more durable and long-lasting. Plus, I prefer to get reliable brands, so that’ll come at a price.
Perfume: $150
Plasma TV: $3,000
A Car: $70,000
A Handbag: “$200. But I’d never ask a guy to pay more than that for me too. I’d never even ask a guy to buy me one! I mean, if he wants to buy one and pay more than that, he’ll pay more.”
Who: Angie Liyuen, 25, Marine Biologist
How Much:
Mobile phone: $200-400
Jeans: $100-150
Full-body massage: $80
A jug of beer: $40
Sports shoes: $50-130
A filling meal: $5-50
A flight to Phuket: $200
A watch: $50-150
Perfume: $50-80
Plasma TV: “I don’t watch TV very much.”
A car: “I usually take dad’s car, so just for gas money!”
A handbag: $20-60
Who: Trevor Rosario, 25, Sales
How Much:
Mobile phone: $300
Jeans: $100
Full-body massage: $40
A jug of beer: $15
Sports shoes: $150
A filling meal: $20
DOUBLE STANDARD?? – If you were buying a filling meal for a woman, how much would you spend on her?
“$30. Plus dessert!”
A flight to Phuket: $100-200
A watch: “I don’t wear watches.”
Cologne: $100
Plasma TV: $1,500
A car: $100,000
A handbag for a lady: “$500. If she wants me to pay anything more, she’ll have to marry me!”
Who: Joey Setiawan, 27, “Full-time student; lifelong bum.”
How Much:
Mobile phone: $200
Jeans: $100
Full-body massage: $80
A jug of beer: $16
Sports shoes: “If I’m going to put down any amount, it’d be $130 and I’ll bloody well use the shoes as much as I can.”
A filling meal: $13
A flight to Phuket: $100-200
A watch: $300
Cologne: $70
Plasma TV: “No idea.”
A Car: $60,000
A handbag for a lady: “$500. But she’d have to be someone very close, like a long-time friend—or my mother. If she wants me to pay more, well, the product had better be of pretty damn good quality.”
Who: Charlene Yap, 26, Marketing Executive
How Much:
Mobile phone: $800
Jeans: $50
Full-body massage: $80
A jug of beer: $20
Sports shoes: “I don’t buy sports shoes.”
A filling meal: $30
A plane ticket to Phuket: $100
A watch: $200
Perfume: $100
Plasma TV: $3,000
A car: $50,000
A handbag: $2,000
Who: Lindsey Chew, 28, Marketer
How Much:
Mobile Phone: “Well over a grand. I’m a geek.”
Jeans: $80-100
Full-body massage: $50
A jug of beer: “$20 at a kopitiam.”
DOUBLE STANDARD?? – If you were buying a jug of beer for a woman, how much would you spend? “Well, in that case—$50.”
Sports Shoes: “$120—but I’m using SAF shoes.”
A filling meal: “$5. I’m a simple coffee shop guy.”
A flight to Phuket: “$300-500. I don’t fly budget airlines.”
A watch: $300-600
Cologne: $50-80
Plasma TV: $2,500
A car: “What’s the starting rate for an EZ-Link card? Alright, alright—$120,000.”
A handbag for a lady: “$120 and nothing a woman does can make me pay more. I’m a stingy bastard.”
Who: Cheryl Miles, 31, Fly Entertainment Artiste
How Much:
Mobile phones: $150
Jeans: $300-400
Full-body massage (no special!): $200-280
A jug of beer:“If I had to pay, I wouldn’t go out!”
Sports shoes: $280
A filling meal: $5-100
A flight to Phucket: $200
A watch: “Never bought one.”
Perfume: $180-200
Plasma TV: “I wouldn’t pay for it.”
A car: “$5… for a Matchbox!”
A handbag: $25-250
Who: Bjorn Fernandes, 28, Technician
How Much:
Mobile phone: $300
Jeans: $80
Full-body massage: $90
A jug of beer: $16
Sports shoes: $95
A filling meal: $25
A flight to Phuket: $200
A watch: $5,000
Cologne: $30
Plasma TV: $4,000
A car: $80,000
A handbag for a lady: “$300, but the real question is whether it’s how much I would pay—or how much she’d ask me to pay!”
Stretch your dollar. Check out the bargains we’ve found.
