How Long Can You Survive Without A Wallet?

- Jasmine Teo

TUESDAY

AN EASY RIDE

I kick things off by booking a Grab car to head to my appointment. I’m not-so-secretly thrilled that this challenge coincides with a $5 off per ride promo on the app. Instead of having lunch out, I head back to the office in my second Grab ride for the day (I survived almost entirely on private car hire apps for this experiment) and order a Japanese bento set via Deliveroo (www.deliveroo.com.sg). The $3.50 delivery fee alone is probably what a thrifty person with a tiny appetite spends on lunch, but I’m a regular user of food delivery services, so I’ve accepted delivery fees as a necessary evil. At work, I set up the i-banking app on my phone — I’m going for a hotpot dinner and was planning to get a friend to pay first, then transfer the money to her with the app. It turns out to be a treat from one of my friends to celebrate a new job. It pays to have good pals — literally.

Used wallet: 0 times

WEDNESDAY

ROOKIE MISTAKE

I wake up with a brill plan (or so I thought). I’d split my journey to work into two trips to capitalise on the Grab $5 off promo, and tapow lunch on the way there. So a ride that usually costs $14 ($9 with the discount) is $8 and $10 respectively (I paid a total of $8 for the entire journey with the discount). I save, er, $1 and $3.50 on my lunch delivery fee (assuming I ordered from Uber Eats or Deliveroo)!