Cost of Living

[Mac]

Hi, I am looking to relocate to Singapore with my Wife 2 children and baby not born yet and am trying to work out money.
Below I have guestimated certain monthly costs and wonder if they are realistic and if I have missed anything. What is a good amount of free play money, a friend who lived in Sing said that having S$1000 was like having a £1000, is this true, can it be based like this?

House Rent s$8000
Full time maid s$400
Taxi to work s$400
Utility bills (air con etc..) s$500
Car Rental s$1666
Food at home s$600
School fees for 2children per month s$3410
Total outgoings s$14976

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

[My Two cents]

Hey Mac,

Your budget is not way off, it's pretty much on target. Here's what I'd change:

The maid will cost you about $1000/month in CPF ($420 per month), salary, added food etc... Still well worth the price.

Bump the car up to $2000 or even $2,500 to include petrol, pretty pricey here.

I think utilities in a 2,500 sq. ft. apt will run about $500, a house will be more. We are not air/con junkies and the utilities at our last house ran over $1,000 each month.

Rents are on their way up and landlords are starting to play hardball again. $8K is OK, $10K is better.

I buy food for a family of 5 plus the maid and its more like $600/week.

Hope this helps you and good luck.

[teacher mum]

You could pay half that in rent and live in a great condo. As for utilities (we live in a condo) and pay 250-300.

Depending on where you send your kids to school, it will cost between 12,000 a year to 25,000 a year (depends on their ages also)

For a maid, it will cost you about 800 inlcuding her wages 350-400 and the govt tax levy of 300 a month. Obviously her living costs will need to be factored, but one moe person in a family food budget should not make much difference. $600 a week in food is insane. We spend that in a month - use the wet markets and shop at fairprice.

Unless you have a phenomonal package, you will not need to spend that kind of money.

[bigeyeroll]

Here we go again...