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Travelling 200km a week sounds tedious. Especially when you’re not even leaving Singapore.<\/p>\n
But that’s apparently how much a 40-year-old private tutor in Singapore clocks every week, travelling around our little red dot to get to his students’ homes.<\/p>\n
And after years of relying on public transport and the occasional private-hire ride, he’s starting to wonder if it’s finally time to buy a car.<\/p>\n
According to a Reddit post, he visits three to four students’ homes a day, mostly by public transport, taking private-hire rides around four times a week when his schedule gets too tight.<\/p>\n
All that travelling adds up to roughly 200km a week, excluding Sundays, which he keeps as his day off.<\/p>\n
His monthly transport bill is around S$400, including EZ-Link top-ups and private-hire car fares.<\/p>\n
“In the past I had no issues running around but now I’m 40 years old, I get super tired rushing here and there every day,” he wrote.<\/p>\n
Having never owned a car, the tutor wondered whether he should consider a used COE or PARF car with two to three years remaining.<\/p>\n
Netizens had plenty of opinions.<\/p>\n
One fellow tutor shared that they had 20 students a week last year and spent around S$1,100 monthly on Grab rides between lessons, almost\u00a0three times what the OP currently spends.<\/p>\n
But according to the commenter, it was worth it because the rides gave them time to rest between appointments.<\/p>\n
“If you drive [yourself] you’re gonna expend more energy,” they pointed out, adding that taking Grab could also free up enough time to squeeze in another student.<\/p>\n
As the discussion continued, the OP revealed something that made his dilemma considerably more personal.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, one of his good friends died at just 38 and the loss changed how he thought about money and life.<\/p>\n
“In the past I never had car because I only know how to earn and save. Now I had this idea of car partly because of what happened,” he shared.<\/p>\n
“His passing makes me think about what worth is wealth when there’s no health.”<\/p>\n
Still, the tutor knows that buying a car might not be the smartest financial decision.<\/p>\n
“But at the same time I recognise on spreadsheet this is poor financial sense,” he admitted.<\/p>\n
Others were also not convinced that owning a car would solve his biggest problem.<\/p>\n
“You mentioned you get super tired. Having a car doesn’t mean you get less tired. Instead of being driven around, you’d have to drive,” one commenter pointed out.<\/p>\n
And that’s before factoring in traffic jams and the hassle of finding parking between lessons.<\/p>\n
Another suggested that he charge different rates depending on whether students travelled to his home or required him to visit theirs.<\/p>\n
Others felt that convenience could be worth paying for.<\/p>\n
“You have to weigh not just the financial difference (public transport\/Grab vs owning a car), but the time saved and mental bandwidth that having a car buys you,” wrote one netizen.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the tutor’s dilemma isn’t just about whether he can afford a car, but whether having one would genuinely make his life easier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n