How much are young adults in Singapore spending?

Survey shows an average monthly spend of about $1,500, with full-timers spending more

- Sue-Ann Tan and Timothy Goh

As someone who typically spends $2,000 a month, a $40,000 home renovation would be a "splurge", even if those around her tell her it is not.

Ms Rennes Lee, 30, who saw through the completion of the renovation of her four-room Build-To-Order (BTO) flat in July, said the money was spent on interior design services and renovation, as well as on buying electrical appliances and furniture for her flat.

This amount is considered relatively low for home renovation, the full-time senior brand manager said. But to her, anything over $10,000 for it is a splurge.

"Although my renovation was considered to be affordable by many, it is still something that my husband and I consider a splurge because there are ways to get individual contractors to do the renovation at a lower cost," she said.

"However, between balancing work and renovation, we realised that the renovation required a lot of operational availability (being present on site and following up with various vendors), so it did not make sense for us to handle that on our own."

Apart from her home renovation costs, Ms Lee's typical expenditure is not an unusual amount for full-time employees, according to a survey of around 1,000 young people aged 18 to 30 commissioned by The Straits Times and carried out by market research firm Kantar.

On average, young adults spend about $1,486 per month, but full-time employees tend to have higher spending, at $1,736. Part-timers spend about $782 a month, while students spend $772.

Mr Lee Ci En, 28, an advertising strategist, spends between $1,000 and $1,200 a month, including bills and transport. He considers this amount to be less than, or just about equal to, that of his peers who also work full time.

This lower spending might be a trend because of the uncertain macroeconomic environment, with global volatility around US President Donald Trump's tariffs and geopolitical tensions.