Actual SG Household Budgets

[10 yrs SG]

People talk a lot about pay here, but less about actual expenses.  I am posting my actual household budget for reference to others.  Feel free to post yours too.

My gf and I (both Canadians in our 30's) live together. 

Combined monthly income is S$30,000/mth.  Combined expenses are:

Rent: 3200 (2BR/2BA furnished in Holland Village)
Utilities: 300-400 (power, water, cable, internet, landline tel)
Groceries: 800-1000
Transport: 1200-1300 (mostly cabs, some bus and train)
Entertainment: 2500-4000 (restaurants, bars, events - this can vary a lot and is hard to control)
Misc: 1000

I think we did a good job with the rent negotiation (4000 was the original ask) but we do piss a lot away on bars and restaurants.  I would rate quality of life as pretty high.  We save/invest the rest and take occasional holidays.

[Mine]

Monthly income S$15,000

Rent: 0 (covered by company)
Utilities: 0 (covered)
Groceries: 1,000 to 1,200
Transport: 0 (covered)
Entertainment: 500 to 1,000 (a 2 yr old and a newborn so hardly out)
Misc: 1,000 to 2,000

[But, for reference...]

...what does the rent and transport cost?  That would help people trying to plan a budget.

[Mine]

Rent $6500
Transport about $3000
Utilities about $600

But these figures are like that because they are provided by the company, otherwise will not spend this kind of money on a house and car

[Another one...]

Rent: 2300 (2BR unfurnished apartment in Sommerset)
Utilities: 300-400 (power, water, cable, internet, landline tel)
Groceries: 1000-1200 (Order delivery for heavy items, i.e. washing powder, soft drinks, etc, once a month. Grocery shop at least once every week. Cook 2-3 times a week. Rest of the time, meals are just cheese, cereals, or food that require minimum cooking. Too tired to cook everyday.)
Transport: 1000 - 1500 (mostly cabs and occasional train)
Entertainment: 2000-4000 (Fine dining once a week. Ocassional bars, dinners at our place, events, etc)
Part time help: $240 ($48 each time she is here, so 4-5 times a month).
The above obviously exclude shoppings and buying of new gadgets every now and then.

We usually go for a vacation once a month, occasionally once in two months (if its a longer trip).

[$Pripps]

Rent: 3750 (3BR furnished, near Vivo City)
Utilities: 250-350
Groceries: 1k-1.5k (incl wine/beer)
Transport: 100-150 (mainly bus and the odd cab)
Entertainment: 500 (mainly eating out in weekends)
Part time help: 200 (comes once a week)

[PUB]

How do you all keep your PUB (electricity/water) bill so low?  Ours is hitting $500 to $600 every month at the moment.  We are a family (couple, one child, one maid) in a 3 bedroom condo.  It used to be less but recently has gone up although our usage hasn't.  How do you manage to keep yours low? 

[Check]

Worth checking that your water heaters are working correctly ... if it is a sudden spike without reason.  Our bills kept creeping higher and higher till we worked out we had a faulty water heater.

We also have water heater now on timers - previously they were heating all day and night.

[Breezy E]

Also, no aircon.  I haven't turned it on now for a month or 6 weeks maybe. 

[PUB]

Aircons are a big factor I think.  But didn't think of the water heaters.  We only turn ours on when we are taking showers so they aren't on very long but how do you check if they are working properly? 

[Mine]

Embarrassed to be in such exhulted company, but these are my stats:

Income: $9,000

Rent: $1500
Utilities/mobile/internet: $400
Groceries: $200-250
Work related lunch/taxi: $650
Entertainment:$400-500

Many once a year expenses: $2500-4000

Travel 3 to 6 times a year: $1,500-$6000

[SAE]

How do you all keep your PUB (electricity/water) bill so low?  Ours is hitting $500 to $600 every month at the moment.  We are a family (couple, one child, one maid) in a 3 bedroom condo.  It used to be less but recently has gone up although our usage hasn't.  How do you manage to keep yours low? 

Do you have tumble dryer or a dishwasher - these can add a huge amount to your bill.  I have a 2400 sq ft 4 bed place, family of 4 and our bill is approx $300 every month give or take $30.  We dont have the aircons on at night but sometimes during the day if its hot or if we are playing xbox or wii - it can get pretty sweaty jumping around without an air con on LOL! . Water heaters are only turned on about 20 minutes prior to use. 
My biggest bill is my food/ booz bill - we spend about $3000 a month - we only eat out once a week and I make packed lunches for my husband and the two kids (who eat more than my husband, I have to say!)
rent - $5700 - paid for by company
car - $1400 - paid for by company
petrol - $400 - paid for by company
wife /kids travel i.e. taxis and buses - $100
internet / phone / cell phones (x3), Starhub TV - $150

[working_mom]

We live in our own 3BR Apt and are a 2 income family.

PUB - 800 (3 adults including live-in help and 2 kids)
Condo maintenance - 400
Food - 1500 - 2000 (mostly organic)
Medical - 500 (we can claim but mostly we misplace the bills or forget the deadline)
Transport - 1000 (mostly cab)
shopping & entertainment - 2000 (includes monthly contributions for 2 vacations)
helper related expenses - 1500
Children's school/CCA- 1500 (Daughter goes to local primary school, learns music, swimming and hindi privately and son in a private playgroup)

[BartSimpson]

to PUB, our SP Utilities bill is in around $150/month. We never turn on aircon during day time in any room. At night aircon in master bedroom and kid's room are on. 26 degrees, just enough to keep the room dry at night without turning the rooms into freezers.
Another point I noticed - when last year we were without a maid for a couple of months, the bill went down drastically, both electricity but mostly water... Although I repeatedly asked the maid to switch off the light when leaving a room, close the doors from aircon rooms, recycle garbage and save water, that has been a consistent failure
Water in particular. not only our past maids are using water as if there's no tomorrow, but also we probably ask the maid to do a lot of things that are useless, just to keep her busy... no the bathroom and the toilet bowl do not need to be scrubbed and washed every day, same for mopping the floor daily...

[Try this]

If you have access to your meter, take readings every day at the same time for a week to get an average daily usage, then one at a time, eliminate an appliance/activity for 24 hours and measure the change (fridge/freezer is hard, but do-able). If you call SP Services they'll give you their charges per kilowatt hour electricity and water cubic meter, etc, then you can see for yourself, in dollars, how much each and every appliance/activity sucks up in a 24 hour period. It takes effort but is very surprising and you learn a lot.

The SP Services site also has tons of ideas for lowering your usage. Some things I found that help - 1) rein in the maid! Ours was using water like it fell from the sky! Limit laundry to 2 days a week, toilet washing to once a week, turn off the tap when washing dishes, etc. 2) have aircons serviced every 3 months without fail. 3) buy power strips for appliances like entertainment/computers and click them off at the wall every night s they don't sit in standby mode. 4) check your fridge freezer temp settings, most are too low.

We're a family of 4 with a maid, four bedroom flat with airconditioners, computers, TV etc, we cook every day and our monthly bill is between S$300-325 each month.