Have you heard about the concept of a 10-minute life?
Let’s explore if this quirky concept has some truths to help improve your life in expensive Singapore.
This article was written by a Financial Horse Contributor.
The big idea
Financial freedom isn’t only about higher returns, it’s about eliminating frictions that force bad money choices.
In Singapore’s transit-dense city, the highest-ROI lifestyle shift is to compress your daily radius to 10-minutes.
This means that that home, office (or co-working), groceries, gym, childcare, and your go-to eateries sit within a 10-minute walk of the same MRT (or along one line with no transfers).
Why it compounds (time, money, energy)
Time
Cutting a round-trip commute from ~120 to ~40 minutes saves ~80 minutes/day ≈ ~320 hours/year (5 days × 48 working weeks).
That’s eight 40-hour workweeks reclaimed.
Money
Shorter days mean fewer “paid shortcuts” (rides, delivery, late dining).
Many households can go car-free or one-car—a five-figure annual swing—while ride-hails drop to rare exceptions.
Energy
Lower cognitive load → you actually cook twice a week and keep an engaging side hustle alive.
Behaviour sticks because the environment makes the right choice the easy choice.
What it looks like in practice
Leave work on time, pick up dinner nearby, reach home at a very reasonable hour.
No surge fares, no ERP, no car-park roulette.
The extra time in the evening can be used to work on yourself, your side hustle, your investments.
Do this 150+ evenings a year and your “extra income × extra investing time” quietly pulls your freedom date forward.
Hours saved
80 minutes/day × 5 days × 48 weeks ≈ 320 hours/year.
Food/rides leakage
Cutting two S$12 rides/day across 240 days ≈ ~S$5.8k/year avoided (before surges/deliveries).
Side-income unlock
2 evenings/week × 2 hours × 45 weeks = 180 hours; at S$60/hr retainer work ≈ S$10.8k/year pre-tax.
How to design your 10-Minute Life
- Pick a hub: Choose the MRT station you’ll optimise around for 3–5 years (near work/school or a central interchange).
- Map your nodes: Home, office/co-working, gym, grocer/market, childcare, parents—get each to ≤10 minutes from the hub or along the same line.
- Re-home or re-route:
- Renting? Shortlist units within a 10-minute walk.
- Staying put? Shift office days, gym, and childcare to your line.
- Transport policy: Trial car-free for a month (or drop to one car). Rule: no ride-hails for <2 stops unless raining or carrying loads.
- Food system: Two default weeknight dinners at home (same two recipes, bulk shop near the hub).
- Time dividend → cash engine: Ring-fence Tue/Thu 7:30–9:30pm for retainer-style work (advisory, editing, coaching, analytics).
- Guardrails: Purchases >S$200 get a 7-day cooling-off. Batch errands Saturday morning within the grid.
| Lifestyle setup | Commute time | Transport cost profile | Spend drift (food/rides) | Side-income capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Far-flung, multi-transfer | High | High (car/ride-hails) | High | Low (fatigue) |
| 10-Minute Life | Low | Low–Medium | Low | High |
Pitfalls to avoid
Chasing rent savings that erase time savings
A cheaper unit that adds 60 minutes/day is a false economy.
Side hustles that don’t scale
If you exchange time directly with money, you will never scale.
Push retainers and packages; avoid bespoke one-offs that drain energy.
BTW – we share commentary on Singapore Investments every week, so do join our Telegram Channel (or Telegram Group), Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date!
Financial Horse also share great tips on Twitter.
Don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly newsletter too!
If you can’t move (yet)
“Line-lock” your routine: shift gym, childcare, and grocer to the same line as home/work.
Negotiate one or two fixed WFH days.
Use a foldable bike to turn 20-minute walks into 6-minute hops.
Batch errands and healthy living within your grid.
Alternatives
Equity-first
Keep your current location, push harder on investing. Higher upside but you forfeit the daily time dividend.
Property-centric
Live farther for space, may suit families but requires strict car/ride discipline and bigger buffers.
Ultra-local WFH
Negotiate permanent WFH near home—great if feasible, still apply the 10-minute grid for errands.
Conluding thoughts
The 10-Minute Life—living, working, and running errands within ~10 minutes of one MRT hub—is one of the most underappreciated freedom hacks in Singapore.
It returns ~320 hours/year, cuts stealth spending, and frees reliable bandwidth to build income streams, accelerating your path to financial independence without relying on market luck.
Time and decision fatigue—not just low returns—derail compounding.
By compressing your radius, you remove frictions that cause costly shortcuts and lost evenings.
The regained hours and energy convert into recurring savings and earnings, which compound faster than marginal investment tweaks.
The bottom line?
In Singapore, proximity compounds. Engineer a 10-minute life and you’ll buy back time, cut leakage, and turn the surplus into steady cashflow—the quiet engine behind financial freedom.