Advice on cost of living

[jimjam]

My husband has recently been offered a job in Singapore on local terms. We were wondering if a package of $130k could sustain a family of 4 (our children are primary school age).

Secondly, I have nearly completed my bachelor of primary education. Would it be difficult for me to find a teaching position there? Are school fees for teachers' children usually included in the salary package?

Thanks for your comments!

[Mary Hatch Bailey]

Well, it's all relative isn't it? The salary seems like a generous amount, but I'd say you need to consider how local you're willing to go. Are you willing to put your kids into local schools? Give up having a car? Pay for your own home leave?

You can carve out a nice life here on $130K for sure, but I think it's best to understand it will be a different lifestyle than in Australia. Some thing will be better and cheaper, other things very expensive.

Teaching jobs are available, check out the schools websites for more information.I hope this helps -- I don't mean to sound discouraging, the salary is great, it's just kind of an apples to oranges thing. It would be hard to sustain an expat's lifestyle on a local salary. Good Luck.

[jimjam]

Reading through the expat forum, it appears that not many expats attend local schools for various reasons so we would prefer to have them attending the International Schools. Are the waiting lists long or do you usually get a spot right away?

[Mary Hatch Bailey]

Not so many waiting lists any more. If you need to stick with the Australian calendar/curriculum your choice will be very limited. Check out the Australian school website ASAP I'd say is your next step.

[k1w1]

Would it be difficult for me to find a teaching position there? Are school fees for teachers' children usually included in the salary package?

No, you can find work fairly easily but as a new teacher, it might be slim pickings. As for free schooling, only some will offer that (and with four kids I imagine a company would be less than willing too). Most schools will offer a discount, however some will not offer it after the third child. This is very dependant on the school obviously!

My advice? Contact some International Schools SOON and tell them you are coming to SG and are looking for a teacher's assistant position while you finish up your studies. You will still get the staff discount then and they will prefer to hire you as a local anyway. At around $15-18k per child, schooling will definately be your biggest cost. It also means your foot's in the door for teaching positions later.

If you are really worried, I might be able to make a few suggestions for some local primary schools where other foreign children (including Kiwi's and Aussies) attend - there are some increasingly open-minded local schools here and they're not the horror that some think. There ARE some nasty places, but honestly, they don't want foreigners anyway. PM me if you like and I will pass on the names of places that are good - read: I would put my own children.