While it is true $38K pa is rather low in today's context, you didnt say whether yours is a young family just starting out or a mature family, with or without children, and aged parents to take care of. The two situations are very different in terms of needs and potential.

With the internet, now it is very easy to find out where to get help. Just type in "welfare organisations Singapore" and you will get the whole list of organisations helping the poor in all manner of needs.

As to where to get cheap foods and groceries, I think NTUC, Sheng Siong and wet markets do offer affordable staples. My family eats out once a week only (on Sundays), and we have all our other meals at home - home cooked. This has been a "tradition" in my family since we got married 30 yrs ago when our young combined household income was just $30k pa. Although now we are more financially able, we still stick to this tradition of eating at home even on days when I end my work at 9pm. Same for my grown up children, they will take their dinner at home even if their CCA end late.

Another good saving habit I like to share is having holidays in our neighbouring countries (M'sia and Indonesia) instead of the US, Europe, Australia, NZ or Japan. For the longest time, that's where we spent our holidays where each time we spent no more than 2K RM.

These habits have enabled us to save consistently. It was only recently when our investments started giving us passive income over $50K pa that we ventured further afield for our holidays. We started first with Thailand in 2007, and then to US, Europe, NZ and Australia on our subsequent holidays all funded by the passive incomes.

So if yours is a young family just starting out, know that your income will grow and remember to save consistently to reap your rewards later. If your family is a mature family, there are many welfare organisations out there that can be tapped on for help