Considering a move to Singapore

[JDLB]

My husband is looking to transfer to Singapore this year, with myself and our 2 very young children in tow.  Seems to be a great opportunity, one too good to miss.  I've heard that the lifestyle is great but am concerned about the cost of living versus my husband's potential salary (S$100-120k).  I take it Singapore is very expensive (rent, food, school), certainly more than I anticipated.  Can anyone give me advice on how much day to day living is, rough ball park figures really.  I just need to get my head around 1 person supporting us all.  I just want us to be able to live comfortably, be able to visit family once a year and be able to keep a house back in the UK.

[JDLB]

Since my first post I've been reading various threads to answer the questions I have.  Plenty deal with the costs of living but I'm still none the wiser, especially as these things seem to change frequently (well so I have read).  I'm feeling overwhelmed!  We will look to get a nice 3 bed condo, preferrably near to the school we manage to enrol my daughter in. I don't particulary want a maid. I can't say I'm a domestic goddess but I do like cooking for my family and am happy to shop in local supermarkets.  I suppose what costs interest me most relate to utilities.

[SAE]

I spend approx $300 a month on utilities but then I do not have a tumble dryer, dishwasher nor do I use the aircons at night.  Some people I know spend up to $1000 a month so it all depends on your usage.  I am a family of 4 BTW living in a 4 bed place.  Are your school fees included in your husbands package?  These can be very expensive but again vary according to schools - check out the schools websites as they provide info on their fees. 

[I would not come to SG]

A 3 bedroom place (Condo) is minimal around $4K, this will already eat-up half the salary, especially when utilities (~$500) are included. With that in mind, if I were you I would really consider to not come here, or agree to let the company take the burden of

Local primary schools for foreigners (none PR), are $250/month ($350 from 2012), with schoolbus $100/month extra. This would be the cheapest education option, so any international school/child care/day care will be more then that.

Although tax is low, you will still need to pay it, you can give it an exactly calculation but assume roughly a months pay/year (S$10K/year). You will need to transport yourself, not having a car is the cheapest option, using taxi's/bus/mrt, my local transport bill comes to $4K/year.

Ok. So already spent $70K and haven't eaten yet :-) (Assume $1.5K/Month)
What about saving for a rainy day..rule of thumb 20% of salary...

Anyway, living comfortable as a foreigner on 100K in Singapore -> No.
120K, maybe, if you don't do any fancy stuff.

For me the key thing would be to have the company pay for the housing (and not include it in the salary package), the rental market is so volatile that rents keep on going up/down whatever the flavor of the month is. You can't maintain budget in SG with this fluctuation.

[SoTrue]

Unless your company is paying the rent (lease in the company name too so that the company has to pay out the landlord for the full two years should they decide they no longer need you in SG), school fees, utilities and home leave expenses, you will not be able to save a cent while living here. No way will you be able to pay $4k rent. As it is, 4k will not pay for a nice apartment. Maybe one of those tiny glass-walled shoeboxes without enough room to swing the tiniest moggy. Rental contracts are renewed every two years and at that point, landlords here almost always attempt to raise the rent as they see their tenants as sitting ducks. No laws to protect consumers here.

Please also be careful about which currency you are paid in. Both the US dollar and sterling have plunged recently. Had you agreed to be paid in one of those, you would be losing a significant chunk of your income on the exchange rate alone.

[well]

although I don't agree 100% with a few of the points there is enough there to give you food for thought.

maybe indigestion.

Speak to the company again and see what they say about thing and costs.

They may help.

But if they know the score here and that is what they have offered then they are trying it on or ... I won't write the next sentence as it is slightly rude.

[Just shows]

What would be considered a good salary in the UK (50-60k GBP) is not enough had a "Great" life here even with minimal taxation.

"Locals" pay is generally not high here either.

[The Bottom Line]

If your husband's salary is S$10,000/mth for the four of you...the lifestyle will not be great.  You can survive, as long as you don't intend to send your kids, when they get to school age, to international schools.

Rent is going to be the problem.  4K for a 3BR is possible but won't be very nice or central.  My 2BR place is over 4K, and some 2BR places are into the 5 and 6K range.

My utilities are about 300/mth (cable, power, water, internet) but we hardly use the aircon.  Coming from the UK, the heat might bother you a lot and you may want to use the aircon a lot.

The "great lifestyle" here, like most places in the world, costs a lot.  I took my wife out for a nice Japanese dinner the other night and it was S$300 for the two of us.  You can live on the cheap here, but it won't be great.

[Myths]

There is no "great lifstyle", unless you are earning lots of money. Sorry OP, but that is the truth.

[intanglin]

Lifestyle is great in most places if you have money.  Rents have been talked about elsewhere.  If you want anything which is both nice and central (i.e., district 9 and 10) for a family of 5, then maybe $6,000 / month is the realistic rent.  You can find something relatively nice on West or East Coasts for about $4k (West is cheaper).  If you are going to stay long enough for all 3 kids to go to school, then you are looking at $60,000 per annum of school fees even at a cheaper international school like OFS.  Cars are also terribly expensive to run here.  Many go without cars but with 3 young kids it would be harder. 

Overall, if $10k / month is the full extent of the package, then "great" lifestyle is rather out of reach but you may still consider a two year assignment, just for the experience.  Young kids don't need to go to international school, which helps a lot with your budgeting.  Cars are not essential but nice to have.  You don't really need three bedrooms, although it would be more convenient...........  Come, but come with open eyes please.

[Good Advice Here]

As PP's have said - Don't do it!

Singapore is miserable if you don't have the money to live here or get out a few times a year.  $10k will be a horrible existence ...

Unless the company are paying rent and schools on top of this - don't even consider it!

[$Pripps]

OP, I wouldn't come if I were in your shoes, not without at least the company paying for rental. You will not have any money left at the end of the day. As a single with 120K yes, but not supporting a whole family.in addition to a mortgage?!. Bad idea.

[Visit]

My two cents: Take a two-week vacation here before you decide to relocate. Keep track of what you pay for everything. After two weeks you will probably have seen all the sights and experienced everything you will need for the rest of your lifetime. The lifestyle is great only if you have a generous expat package, and even then you will spend a lot of time planning vacations out of here.

[Hmmm, no.]

We're a family of 5 on a base of 300k. I struggle with our budget which amazes me as we're not from big-earning backgrounds and to me - logically - 300k should be plenty. Its not.

With schools (and not the top ones), bills, groceries (yes - western style but with allergies thats the way we have to shop) a trip home once a year so the kids can build some kind of connection with family and country, and the ever-greedy landlords, it just doesn't work well for us. We're not saving the money we would have hoped to. We don't have a package though - if you get extras then maybe it would work out better, if you don't plan to save anything.

[What The???]

We're a family of 5 on a base of 300k. I struggle with our budget which amazes me as we're not from big-earning backgrounds and to me - logically - 300k should be plenty. Its not.

With schools (and not the top ones), bills, groceries (yes - western style but with allergies thats the way we have to shop) a trip home once a year so the kids can build some kind of connection with family and country, and the ever-greedy landlords, it just doesn't work well for us. We're not saving the money we would have hoped to. We don't have a package though - if you get extras then maybe it would work out better, if you don't plan to save anything.

Struggle on 300k?  You must be joking...what an ignorant thing to say.