Better life-style in Singapore compared London?

[Carla London]

Hello all,

My husband and I are moving to Singapore this Summer. He will be earning around S$13000/month without any expat packages.

We are planning to rent a flat for around S$5000/month and would like to have an extra money to save as we will try to have a baby.

We are currently live in London and thought by moving to Singapore, we will have a better life style. In London both of us working full time in the Financial industry, but as the life expenses are so high. We don't have much money to put aside. Plus the weather is not so nice and everything is so expensive (to go out), so mostly we just stay at home or walk in the park after work or weekend. We also want to have children soon, we think it will be hard in London with only one income and we don't have family to support us (like baby sitting, if I have to go back to work).

Do you think this will be enough money for us? and is it worth to move to Singapore?

[smayrhofer]

well, my boyfriend and I earn about that much a month, and we are expecting a baby.

Before I got pregnant, our rent was $1.8k and we were saving about $5k a month. Now, we moved into a very nice bigger place in preparation for the baby. With the increased rent ($3k/month), all the prenatal visits, and the millions of things we need to buy to prepare for a baby, we save maybe $3k a month. We are planning to get a maid after the baby arrives, and that will require another $1k a month or so.

We go out a lot, and we spend quite a bit. If you stayed home all the time, you'd probably manage to save a lot more. We don't have a car, however, and we take public transportation. Car or taxi is a quick way to increase your overhead costs.

So if you are not working, and therefore can save on things like maid costs, then you can certainly live a good life here with $13k a month and still save. If you use public transportation.

[smayrhofer]

Also, check if your partner's insurance covers pregnancy. Most local insurance policies don't. You may want to look into getting private insurance which covers this. They usually require you to be on the insurance for a while (6 months?) before getting pregnant for the pregnancy to be covered. I

t's definitely worth the investment. Having a baby without insurance coverage is affordable here, as long as you don't have any complications. Any complications and the sky is the limit.

[Zeenit]

Hello all,

My husband and I are moving to Singapore this Summer. He will be earning around S$13000/month without any expat packages.

We are planning to rent a flat for around S$5000/month and would like to have an extra money to save as we will try to have a baby.

We are currently live in London and thought by moving to Singapore, we will have a better life style. In London both of us working full time in the Financial industry, but as the life expenses are so high. We don't have much money to put aside. Plus the weather is not so nice and everything is so expensive (to go out), so mostly we just stay at home or walk in the park after work or weekend. We also want to have children soon, we think it will be hard in London with only one income and we don't have family to support us (like baby sitting, if I have to go back to work).

Do you think this will be enough money for us? and is it worth to move to Singapore?

Just remember that you have taxes to pay. And otehr bills. But on the plus side rentals are coming down and $5k is alot of money for rent these days. SO you might have a saving there.

Good Luck.

[Carla London]

Thank you all. That's a relief to know that we can still save some money with only one income.

Smayrhofer, you mentioned that you spent quite a bit because you go out a lot? I thought from the forum, people say the food in Singapore is cheap? We cook almost everyday here in London, but we hope to be able to go out more often in Singapore.
Again, thank you for your advise.

[durain]

overall, eating out is cheap. S$2.50 for a plate of chicken rice. no way you gonna get that in UK, not even for £2.50!

[BodyBlitz]

I think you shouldn't scare them - that we sell chicken's feed for consumption.

Its chicken with rice

[Global Citizen]

Durain, chicken rice is still available @ $2.50? Most hawker centres have it priced at $3 minimum from what I last saw.

Where do you go?

[Saint]

Durain, chicken rice is still available @ $2.50? Most hawker centres have it priced at $3 minimum from what I last saw.

Where do you go?

I get Chicken Rice quite often for lunch at the Hawker near my office at Bugis

[BodyBlitz]

portion is quite puny though - small lump of flattened slice chicken with a mountain of rice.

[smayrhofer]

when I say go out, I mean spend about $15 - $30 per person for a meal. =) While you can get cheap hawker food here, after living here for so long I got kind of sick of it.

Drinking is expensive here. If you enjoy a night out on the town, it's not cheap!

[BodyBlitz]

I think you need a "makansutra" guide book or use http://www.hungrygowhere.com/ to seek out good food.

Won't be sick of hawker food, this island thrives on culinary treats!

[Saint]

when I say go out, I mean spend about $15 - $30 per person for a meal. =) While you can get cheap hawker food here, after living here for so long I got kind of sick of it.

Drinking is expensive here. If you enjoy a night out on the town, it's not cheap!

Don't go drinking out in town then, problem solved!!

[Saint]

Carla,

I spent many many years working in the City while living in Hampshire, in the end I was hating having to use SWT and the tube ever day just to get to work and paying a lot of money for the privilege! I had also spent many years making visits to Singapore so probably heightened my eventual hatred of London

Now being in Singapore i would never go back to work in London/UK. I have a 25 minute bus ride to work which costs me $1.23 each way, that's about 50p! It's so much more relaxing here, ok some might disagree, but I feel so much better for it! Income Tax is lower, rental probably slightly higher than London but better quality, food is amazing here and you'll never get bored of trying new stuff, the locals are brilliant (OK I might be a bit bias) but they are friendly and helpful. The weather, well compared to UK, no contest. It's is stupidly safe here compared to London/UK. It's not crime free but very low crime

Bad points? The UK has many more times bad points than here so no reason to mention them, but then I don't really think there are any, oh oh besides Singapore drivers!!!!

Enjoy and look forward to coming to Singapore, come with an open mind and try not to comapre it to the UK, this is Asia and it is different!

Well I'm going to spend the next fews days exchanging and trying to get rid of oranges, and handing out red envelopes

[ksl]

Carla,

I spent many many years working in the City while living in Hampshire, in the end I was hating having to use SWT and the tube ever day just to get to work and paying a lot of money for the privilege! I had also spent many years making visits to Singapore so probably heightened my eventual hatred of London

Now being in Singapore i would never go back to work in London/UK. I have a 25 minute bus ride to work which costs me $1.23 each way, that's about 50p! It's so much more relaxing here, ok some might disagree, but I feel so much better for it! Income Tax is lower, rental probably slightly higher than London but better quality, food is amazing here and you'll never get bored of trying new stuff, the locals are brilliant (OK I might be a bit bias) but they are friendly and helpful. The weather, well compared to UK, no contest. It's is stupidly safe here compared to London/UK. It's not crime free but very low crime

Bad points? The UK has many more times bad points than here so no reason to mention them, but then I don't really think there are any, oh oh besides Singapore drivers!!!!

Enjoy and look forward to coming to Singapore, come with an open mind and try not to comapre it to the UK, this is Asia and it is different!

Well I'm going to spend the next fews days exchanging and trying to get rid of oranges, and handing out red envelopes

To put it in a better light Singapore is number 11 on the quality of life rankings, the UK is number 29