Offer Received, Need advice ASAP

[daveco23]

Hi there,
Have just been offered a position with an MNC in Singapore.
Background -
Family of 4, kids are 6 and 4, wife will not be working.
Want to enjoy a good standard of living, eat out once a week, cook at home/hawkers market the rest of the week, transport will be taxi/MRT, maybe hire a car to drive into Malaysia once every 3 or 4 weeks.
Accomodation within walking distance to school/Kindergarten (Lorong Chauan)
Would like to save a bit also
I have done some research and put together the below table of outgoings based on monthly salary.
Would appreciate some comments on the below to let me know if I am way off the mark

Thanks

Net Salary 15000 pm
Condo Rent 5000
International School Fees 2500
Kindergarten 1000
Utilities - power/ac/tv/broadband 1000
Food 2000
Transport 500
Entertainment 1500
Savings 1500

[ecureilx]

Hi there,
Have just been offered a position with an MNC in Singapore.
Background -
Family of 4, kids are 6 and 4, wife will not be working.
Want to enjoy a good standard of living, eat out once a week, cook at home/hawkers market the rest of the week, transport will be taxi/MRT, maybe hire a car to drive into Malaysia once every 3 or 4 weeks.
Accomodation within walking distance to school/Kindergarten (Lorong Chauan)
Would like to save a bit also
I have done some research and put together the below table of outgoings based on monthly salary.
Would appreciate some comments on the below to let me know if I am way off the mark

Thanks

Net Salary 15000 pm
Condo Rent 5000
International School Fees 2500
Kindergarten 1000
Utilities - power/ac/tv/broadband 1000
Food 2000
Transport 500
Entertainment 1500
Savings 1500

You meant Lorong Chuan ? well, it is a bit away from the city, so the rental should be lesser, unless you insist on staying near the city ..

And are those numbers in US or SGD ?

[daveco23]

SGD

[ecureilx]

SGD

Do some look up on costs

My take ?


Net Salary 15000 pm
[doable] condo Rent 5000
[unable to comment - no kids] International School Fees 2500
[unable to comment - no kids] Kindergarten 1000
[should be able at 500 $ or so] Utilities - power/ac/tv/broadband 1000
[If you cook, you can do with less] Food 2000
[if you stay near your work place, can be halved, or lowered, for yourself - don't forget your kid's schools] Transport 500
[well, you can bust that on one night or stretch it for a couple of months]Entertainment 1500
[I wouldn't put savings in my list - rather put aside what is left]Savings 1500

[sundaymorningstaple]

Actually he SHOULD put savings in there. At least the minimum he wants to save monthly. And that should be transferred to another account before anything else each payday. Never base savings on what's left over.

[daveco23]

Ecurelix - Thanks for the info.
Sundaymorning staple - Totally agree!!
WRT costs - this is based on the research I have done to date. Main concern is education for my kids. We intend moving on to Australia after a couple of years, so want to put my 6 year old into the Australian International School to minimise disruption. I also have a 4 year old, but I cannot justify paying AIS 25k per year for Preschool! Planning to place her in a local/international kindergarten environment for minimal cost - would appreciate any recommendations for good kinder/preschool in the AIS area.
Thanks for your help.

[ecureilx]

sms: well, I meant put savings at last, since OP hasn't been here, and haven't got a hang of things and the expenses ..

It would take a couple of months before knowing the 'saving' component, in my experience ..

remember the lady who complained that she was struggling with a monthly spend of 25,000 S$ ?

daveco23: well, as I said now, it would be better for you to find the places for the kindergarten, once you are here, as well as look up the website

http://www.nearby.sg/index

Key in Lorong Chuan and you can see a list of places nearby ..

[nutnut]

Which International School are you looking at? That's fairly cheap, you'll probably find it's around $3.5K+ a month for fees alone.

[ecureilx]

Which International School are you looking at? That's fairly cheap, you'll probably find it's around $3.5K+ a month for fees alone.

AIS said the OP ..

[sanjivvohra]

Dave, my two bits would be to go with the break up indicated in your 'budget' for the first 3 to 6 months. There are a lot of unforeseen expenses in Singapore. The line item expenses may need to be changed based on your need to have a comfortable expat experience. The earlier you settle down, the better.
On the whole, your benchmark rates look fine.
Best of luck!

[biomarker]

I did not see any provisions for health insurance, medical/dental bills and travel expenses. I had done some same calculations based on same parameters in this discussion and would like to share the same.

HOUSING 5000
GAS,WATER,ELECTRICITY,
INTERNET, PHONE,CABLE TV 800
GROCERY 1000
ENTERTAINMENT 750
TRANSPORT 500
MISCELLANEOUS 500
TRAVEL/LEISURE 500
PART TIME HELP 300
MEDICAL 200
15% TAX FOR EXPAT 1950
SAVING 1500

Not sure of the following
- tax rate 15% is correct
- health insurance cost for my spouse not factored
- saving potential is vey less
- we like food and gourmet food; is grocery cost ok?