Can $500 CDC vouchers last beyond 2 weeks? I tracked my family’s spending

CDC vouchers have become a fan favourite among Singaporean families — but how long does $500 actually last for a family of four?

I decided to find out by tracking my family’s CDC voucher spending for a week, to find out whether the scheme really helped ease day-to-day expenses.

‘Bandaid on a very real problem’: Netizens raise concerns

The ninth tranche of the voucher scheme, first launched in 2021 to help Singaporean households manage daily living expenses, was brought forward from January 2027 to June 2026. This allowed over 1.38 million Singaporean households to receive $500 in vouchers on June 11.

One couple even made headlines after striking up a conversation with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong while enjoying a meal paid for with CDC vouchers.

However, other Singaporeans said they had exhausted the full amount within just over two weeks of its launch, such as one Facebook contributor who posted a screenshot of an empty CDC voucher wallet on June 26, drawing mixed reactions online.

In AsiaOne’s Instagram clip of Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong’s speech during the June 11 launch, one netizen asked: “Do they think the $500 CDC vouchers can last you from June to December?”, while another suggested dolling out vouchers to individuals instead of allocating a single amount per household.

One commenter described it as a “bandaid on a very real problem, increasing costs”, pointing out that inflation would deplete the value of the vouchers over time.

$500 CDC vouchers vs. family of four

As the week began, I quickly realised that the office was surrounded by places that accepted CDC vouchers, with almost every lunch I bought near the office paid with the voucher scheme.

Each meal ranged from about $5 to $9 — making hardly a dent in the $500 fund.

My mother joined in on the deal, using $5 at a coffee shop in our neighbourhood and another $30 on groceries. Then there’s the $10 shampoo we had belatedly realised we were down to the last drop.

My family is evidently thrifty, so the vouchers encouraged us to spring for little luxuries we wouldn’t usually go for.

We decided to visit Bras Basah Complex over the weekend — an old, nostalgic building housing dusty corridors lined with quaint bookstores and specialty gift shops — and I settled on spending $55 on art materials I’d been meaning to try.

My sister also spent $15 of the vouchers at a neighbourhood health food store, an expense she would have had to reconsider on a regular day.

This brought our total week’s CDC voucher expenses to $176.

At this rate, $500 would last us just under three weeks. For households that consistently use the vouchers for eligible purchases, the amount would likely be used up even faster.

Redeeming vouchers not a habit for some

Sitting my family down at the end of the week, I realised they had more reservations about using the vouchers than I had expected.

Places that accepted CDC vouchers “weren’t just everywhere”, my sister pointed out. She spent most of her time at her workplace situated in Lavender, a distance away from heartland coffee shops that accepted the vouchers.

For others, like my parents, redeeming the vouchers had simply never become a habit — it was easier to pay with the tap of a bank card.

To them, using the vouchers was a multiple-step process, often requiring extra effort on the cashier to redeem the voucher, accept the additional balance, and provide change.

“It’s inconvenient to constantly have to top up (the full amount) with cash or PayNow,” my mother added — referencing the $2, $5 and $10 denominations that the vouchers come in —noting that she would sometimes forgo using the vouchers if there was a long queue behind her.

“Not everyone has this concern, but I don’t like the idea that you hold everyone up because you want to use CDC vouchers.”

‘If there are no CDC vouchers, customers won’t come’

An interaction I had with a bakery owner the week before offered a different perspective.

I had ordered a $1.50 waffle and added an egg tart, which I later gave to my supervisor in a small attempt to soften the stream of corrections I expected throughout the day — another unexpected benefit of the vouchers.

When it came time to pay, I watched as the bakery owner scanned the QR code, did the mental calculations out loud and fished out change from a rickety cash register.

As we waited for my order, I asked if she felt redeeming the vouchers for each customer was a hassle.

“It’s not inconvenient at all,” she said in Mandarin with a chuckle. “We’re grateful to get the support. If there are no CDC vouchers, customers won’t even come.”

I felt a pang of guilt — it was my first time stepping inside the bakery, despite passing by almost every day.

Encouraging support for heartland businesses

I began the week wanting to answer a simple question — how far could my family stretch $500 in CDC vouchers?

For us, it would last a little less than three weeks, and for larger families that spend more on necessities, it wouldn’t be surprising for the amount to deplete much sooner.

While the scheme may not solve all cost-of-living pressures Singaporeans face, perhaps it is also a much-needed source of support for heartland businesses navigating an increasingly challenging economic environment.

As one netizen remarked in response to the Facebook user who exhausted the vouchers: “Well done, that’s the whole idea.”

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