Planning my move to Singapore

[Roadtosingapore]

.....
Currently we are with a Honda Shuttle, installment ~770, Rd Tax ~700, insurance ~800, petrol prices rocketed recently and right now we pay something like 200-300 (daily commuting Hillview area <-> Orchard), parking ~200 . That's roughly it I believe.

Main reasons for having a car: bringing the kid to school, avoiding long travel time with public transport and annoying taxi/grab that are not really reliable and available (at times).

Thank you. These are all monthly? I can make sense of all of them except the insurance?

I don't disagree on the reasons. Again, everyone has to decide on the cost-benefits. For me, the peak convenience time was kids very young or primary school age. Also depends on where going to primary school and how close it is.

All monthly except the insurance and the rd. tax (both annually).

Thanks. From cost perspective, a second hand car is looking more viable option. Car is not included in my initial planning, but definitely something I would look to explore and avail (if budget allows), after few months living there.

[Roadtosingapore]

Thanks to all lovely members for taking time to respond, I am learning new things and becoming more familiar with the life in Singapore with each response.

With the current inflation, below is the cost I gathered from my research and responses from the group members -

School - $4k per month for Tier 1 International Schools / $3k per month for Tier 2 International Schools.

Accommodation (Condo - 1200 sqft in not so central area) - $5-6k per month + $500 for utility bills

Second hand car - Required approximately $1200 monthly for instalment + Petrol + Parking + monthly insurance and road tax (excluding initial payment required).

$2k (estimated) for monthly grocery etc.

$500 for monthly commute and taxi etc.

Rest all entertainment and travel.

[malcontent]

Got your point. Will assess the situation in first few months then will decide. Affordability and utilisation will play role. Are Grab and other taxi services too expensive?

Most people I know here who don’t have a car (myself included) eventually settle into taking BMW (bus, MRT, walk) almost exclusively. Inevitably, you will face the rain. Over the years I have learned to keep an extra pair of socks in my desk drawer at work, that is usually what gets drenched the most, and having a dry pair to change into is a godsend.

And trust me when I say, it’s not because of the cost — the bus/train is more reliably predicable. Taking a taxi can be a hassle and frustrating at times, especially when it’s raining or during rush hour — you can wait 15-25 minutes on hold just to make a booking, or worse case, you just won’t get one! Trying to flag one from the street is never a sure thing.

BMW From your response, I can imagine the struggle without a car. I will have to see how much I am left with each month after all necessary expenses, and then decide wether a car can be fit into my budget or not.

I took BMW to work for over 20 years here. In the early years I could get a seat, but later years it was mostly standing (or even squeezing) room only. Since Covid, I haven’t taken it much. But it is true that you get more exercise and what I found is that I could use the time in the train to catch up on all the podcasts that I enjoy listening to, which I somewhat prefer over fighting with traffic on the road — it’s not exactly a pleasure to drive here, traffic can be intense and other drivers are not exactly courteous.

[smoulder]

If you work, especially in the CBD area, even if you have a car, it is usually a good idea to avoid driving because of the parking charges, unless you are lucky enough to be given a cheaper parking lot at work.

So there's still a good chance that you will either take public transport to work or you will figure out some "middle ground". For instance someone I knew used to live in the west and worked in Changi business park in the east. His wife worked at the CBD which is half way. So they would drive to Kallang which is relatively close to the CBD, where they had found out about some cheaper parking and then each of them would take trains to their offices from there.

Another "trick" is that depending on where your workplace and home is, there may be premium buses in the morning and evening. It saves you a lot of hassle of changing trains and buses and for the most part, you can get a seat.

[x9200]

@Roadtosingapore, one more option of smooth commuting, is riding a motorcycle, so if you have some valid DL, you may consider it too.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Hey, x9200, you still riding that big scooter you used to have? 300 or larger cc?

[x9200]

Hey, x9200, you still riding that big scooter you used to have? 300 or larger cc?

Nope. Scrapped a few years ago already. It started slowly to fall apart and there was no more new spare parts in Singapore.
I switched to a regular motorcycle to properly handle my middle age crisis and now proudly riding Honda NC750X.

[Roadtosingapore]

@Roadtosingapore, one more option of smooth commuting, is riding a motorcycle, so if you have some valid DL, you may consider it too.

I have a UK driving license. What is the cost of maintaining a bike in Singapore? Parking etc.

[Lisafuller]

Got your point. Will assess the situation in first few months then will decide. Affordability and utilisation will play role. Are Grab and other taxi services too expensive?

Grab has become incredibly expensive since it first became a thing. If ridesharing is what you’re looking for, you’ll have better luck with RYDE. Each ride is typically 30% cheaper than Grab. You can also try to Gojek. Depending on demand you can expect a trip to cost anywhere from $10-$30.

[Lisafuller]

@Roadtosingapore, one more option of smooth commuting, is riding a motorcycle, so if you have some valid DL, you may consider it too.

I have a UK driving license. What is the cost of maintaining a bike in Singapore? Parking etc.

I don’t wanna bike, but I do drive. Parking with a bike is far cheaper than with a car, plenty of places even offer free parking for bikes. Fuel costs much less as well, as you might expect. But it’s hardly a viable option to transport children.

[Lisafuller]

Thank you all for taking time to respond to my query. Your suggestions are very helpful. I got a pretty good idea - School and accommodation are the key expenses....Have been working on finalising school at the moment, once finalised will begin on the accommodation in the area close to the school.

This forum is a great help! Thanks.

Cost of schooling can vary greatly, but I personally recommend SAS if you can afford it.

I think they are looking for the UK curriculum. But if willing to deal with something else I think most would agree (I guess).

Oh, I missed that. If they are looking for UK curriculum, I’d go with Tanglin trust. But if they want to try something else then I definitely recommend SAS over any other school.

[Lisafuller]

Don't know about the US tax laws regarding tip income off the top of my head today but when I was in the business back in the 1970's if you were waitstaff in a proper restaurant and didn't report a minimum of 15 % of your income as tip income IRS would automatically correct your return by adding that much. You were welcome to dispute it, but you would get penalties & interest charges if you did as most restaurants that are not fast food oriented are already tested out by IRS agents and know what the average tips for that city/style of restaurant is. In some upper class restaurants it could go as high as 25% average tips for excellent staff and most were excellent and those that were not, did have a job very long. In fact, in NYC and probably LA but I don't really know there, there were waiting lists to get jobs at those places. It was nothing for a good waiter/waitress to make 100G/yr even back then. It is a well known fact that a huge number of movie and Broadway stars survived back in the day by waiting tables in NYC waiting on that big break.

Yep, this is my impression as well. The tip economy is huge in the US, and tipping 15% would make you seem pretty stingy. Wish it didn’t have to be this way, because it does add up quickly.

If the actual statistics are accurate, 15% is average… so the idea that it is stingy is just popular myth. I don’t buy it. Anything in the teens is normal, above that is generous and below that can be stingy (depends on the service).

Then I think we’re on slightly different pages here. The times I’ve tipped 15% in the company of others I’ve always been met with weird looks, so now I always keep it to at least 20.

[Lisafuller]

Using grab or taxi. Be careful though because sometimes you have to wait quite a bit before you get a driver and even then there's a chance he might cancel on you. Additionally, if your kids don't meet the minimum height requirement, you'll have to restrict yourself only to taxis because a normal grab is not permitted to have smaller kids without a child seat. And then of course, you have to consider if it is really safe enough for your kids to be in a car with no child's seat.

Oh my gosh, I hadn’t even thought about that! Grab and other ride sharing services didn’t exist back when my daughter was little, so we mostly took taxis if we didn’t have the car. I guess that’s why they have Grab for tots, pets, and the handicapped as well, but obviously rides are scarce and you would have to pay a premium for that.

[Lisafuller]

Got your point. Will assess the situation in first few months then will decide. Affordability and utilisation will play role. Are Grab and other taxi services too expensive?

Most people I know here who don’t have a car (myself included) eventually settle into taking BMW (bus, MRT, walk) almost exclusively. Inevitably, you will face the rain. Over the years I have learned to keep an extra pair of socks in my desk drawer at work, that is usually what gets drenched the most, and having a dry pair to change into is a godsend.

And trust me when I say, it’s not because of the cost — the bus/train is more reliably predicable. Taking a taxi can be a hassle and frustrating at times, especially when it’s raining or during rush hour — you can wait 15-25 minutes on hold just to make a booking, or worse case, you just won’t get one! Trying to flag one from the street is never a sure thing.

LOL BMW! And you’re exactly right. Trying to take a Grab or hail a taxi in the rain is impossible, it takes ages to get a ride and when you do you often have to pay surcharge because there are so many riders like you so demand is high. Plus, chances are your driver will cancel on you if they find someone else who will pay a higher fare. It’s the worst when you’re already in a rush.

[Lisafuller]

I bought a second car 4 years ago and it works out to 5k a year (running costs excluded). But given the rise in COE prices, the same thing would be 8-9k now.

New or used?