Relocating to Singapore

[MSMRA]

My husband is working in Sing earning around 1.5K Sing $ & i am planning to relocate soon from Mumbai.

I have no idea how much does it cost for living in Sing.

I have a son (10months old) and currently working in mumbai earning around 38 K INR.

1. Cost of renting a house or apartment(1-2 bedrooms) in convenient location
2. Cost for Maids for house hold works
3. Cost for keeping my kid in crush (if i have to work).
4. How much would be a daily expense for travelling(assuming i get a job)
5. Food expenses
6. Medical expenses
7. Extras

How are taxes paid?

How easy it is to find a job out there - I am an MCA & Have nearly 10 years of experience in Software industry. (Not in Finance).

I heard from some of my friends that you have to be a singaporean or a PR to get a job? My husband has not yet got PR, what would you suggest me to go for? Should i apply for a PR first & then find a job?

I have no idea about what is reasonable or not. Any information with some numbers will be helpful. Pls. adive me properly - what would be best in my case.

Thanks in advance.

MS

[KY]

Hi,

Just reconfirming, u did say 1.5k right, a month?? That's not all too great if you are coming here with a child. An Indian myself and man its been a pain looking for a job out here. A minimum earning of 3k between the 2 of you should be fine.

1. If you are going in for an HDB apartment, it would cost you about 600-800 S$, as for a convenient location, depends where you would be working. If you are thinking of a condo, those are slightly pricey since they have facilities like pool, gym, etc and could be between 1300 - 8000, depends on ur budget.

2. My friends gets the maid over every weekend to do general housework, and it costs her about 20 bucks for 2 hours work. If you want someone coming in everyday, I think it would be between 400 - 700 dollars, though that is negotiable.

3. I am not too sure about a creche service out here, hopefully someone replies to u on that, though u can do a google, am pretty sure you would get info abt that.

4. Cost of travelling should be abt 60 - 80 dollars. Buses and the mrt are cheap. Now if you taking a cab to work, that could be expensive.

5. If you are planning on cooking at home, ur monthly budget would be about 100 dollars max, am counting in non veg products too. If you are eating out, lunch time at work, food courts are quite cheap and a dish usually costs about 3 - 5 dollars.

6. Medical expenses, hmm, those can turn out to be quite high out here. Does your husband's company provide some sort of medical coverage for the family?

7. For us, extras are, doing up the house, and eating out, for which we keep aside about 300 dollars.

Paying taxes is easier here than back home....everything is online, its a breeze.

As for finding a job, no matter what your kind of experience, I think it all depends on luck out here. Sad thing is, most companies don't look at u unless you are a PR, not trying to discourage u or anything but thats the way it is. Also, for some reason HR guys out here don't know what a LOC is, basically a letter of consent, which does allow us wives to work out here but they don't seem to know abt it. Better if you manage to secure your job back home. Its not like having a PR guarantees u a job but definitely makes life easier.

For ideas about what's reasonable with regards to salary, check out Kellys site, placement agency.

Hope that helps.
KY

[Harsha]

This message has been deleted by the user.

[k1w1]

A maid will cost you about 250-400 a month (her wages only) then the governmnent charges a levy of $300, I think. So it's going to cost about 550-700 for that. Then you have to feed her and you are responsible for her medical bills.

A trip to the doctor will cost you anything between 12-50 dollars for a normal visit. The moment you have anything extra (your child needs cough syrup, immunisations or anything else) and it will be more. My daughter just had her final immunisations and I just about fell over when they said "that's $72". Whoa. (Medical bills are free for kids at home so this was a big shock for me.) That was at a local doctor too, not an expat one.

Anyway, medical insurance is really, really important. You can get cheaper plans but they will not cover a trip to the doctor. We found when we first got here we were constantly at the doctor as our kids got used to a new environment, new food and new everything!!

If you want to use a day care centre, it will cost (for full time care) anything from $600 a month to $1200 a month, depending on where you send your child. Most day care centres only enrol children aged 18 months and over.

[JayV]

If you want to use a day care centre, it will cost (for full time care) anything from $600 a month to $1200 a month, depending on where you send your child. Most day care centres only enrol children aged 18 months and over.

Day care/pre-school full day you can easily find at $400 a month or less, depending where you send your child.

[k1w1]

The cheapest place I ever stepped foot into cost $500 a month for full time, well I won't say, "care". It was just appalling. If I had a rabid, vicious dog, I would not have left it there.

I think sometimes it is worth a bit more money for your child to be in a decent environment.

Out of interest, which places are you referring to?

[JayV]

The cheapest place I ever stepped foot into cost $500 a month for full time, well I won't say, "care". It was just appalling. If I had a rabid, vicious dog, I would not have left it there.

I think sometimes it is worth a bit more money for your child to be in a decent environment.

Out of interest, which places are you referring to?

Kinsland Childcare Centre (formerly Sherwood Town for Kids) charge $400 for full day N2. It is a decent environment, and I must say much better than one of those pricier centres we tried and regretted for 6 months.

[k1w1]

The cheapest place I ever stepped foot into cost $500 a month for full time, well I won't say, "care". It was just appalling. If I had a rabid, vicious dog, I would not have left it there.

I think sometimes it is worth a bit more money for your child to be in a decent environment.

Out of interest, which places are you referring to?

Kinsland Childcare Centre (formerly Sherwood Town for Kids) charge $400 for full day N2. It is a decent environment, and I must say much better than one of those pricier centres we tried and regretted for 6 months.

Oh, I think I know the place you're talking about! A neighbour of ours has her child there and is very happy. That's very competitve pricing - I had never heard of places charging so low before. There you have it: pays to shop around.