Cost of relocating to Singapore

[pilotswife]

I'm looking for some advise on the initial cost of moving from the UK to Singapore.
My Fiancee has been offered a job to start at the end of September and it will be the two of us plus our 2 year old daughter.
I'm trying to work out how much we need to raise in order to make the move successful. What costs should I be thinking of?
I've got -
Flights
Rent - deposit + 1st months rent - does anyone know if there are any charges ie. taxes, agent fees, signing fees etc.
Should we ship our belongings out (beds, wardrobes, tv etc) or buy new when we get there?
Utility bills- average monthly cost?
Please help.

[durain]

should be all free. get your fiancee new company to pay for it.

[snowqueen]

When asking about rent costs, that's like 'how long is a piece of string' - we had to put down 3 months rent on move in - 2 months deposit then the current month's rent. That was a bit of a shocker and just about wiped us out. We lived on toast for the first month we got here, that or Pastamania before we discovered hawker centres.

Utility costs come on one bill and cover gas (unless you are on bottles), electric, water and waste disposal. We live in a 3 bed apartment and pay around $250-300 per month, can be a bit more when we have visitors. As an expat you are expected to pay $500 as a deposit when you open an account - just in case you do a runner and don't pay the final bill.

There is a stamp duty to pay which is based on a percentage depending on the rent value, then you may need to pay an agency fee - we didn't as this was covered by the landlord.

Flights, can't help with. You need to check the web for that.

There is a lot of information on this web site and would recommend you use the search facility.

The range of schools and costs is so vast I wouldn't know where to begin. There are so many schools here it's mental. I'm struggling on which playgroup to send my boy to this September.

With regards to furniture, that's really a personal choice and depends on whether you are paying for the shipping yourself as it could run into thousands. If you are only going to stay for a limited time it may be cheaper to buy furniture at Ikea (other stores also available obviously).

My husband's company was very vague about how much they would cover so we just Fed Ex'd two large boxes which came to about a $1,000 then got all our furniture as we went along. We started with a blow up bed and an ikea shoe rack for a table and watched DVD's on a laptop we bought when we arrived. Can laugh about it now but it was not so much fun at the time, especially as I was 3 months pregnant.

[pilotswife]

Hi, Thank you so much for this information it's been a lot of help.

We're planning on moving out in Oct/Nov time and will be staying for at least a year then see how things go.
I've heard that hawker centres can sometimes work out a lil cheaper to eat at then cooking at home!

Whats the best way to find a place to live? internet, local viewing, agent?

I could never imagine doing a move like this if I was pregnant, It's hard enough with a toddler. How far did you have to move?

[durain]

I've heard that hawker centres can sometimes work out a lil cheaper to eat at then cooking at home!
probably, but do you really want to eat out 3x a day at hawker centres?

Whats the best way to find a place to live? internet, local viewing, agent?
www.singaporeexpats.com

I could never imagine doing a move like this if I was pregnant, It's hard enough with a toddler. How far did you have to move?
life was in a suitcase every corner of the world years ago, but not anymore.

[snowqueen]

Hi, Thank you so much for this information it's been a lot of help.

We're planning on moving out in Oct/Nov time and will be staying for at least a year then see how things go.
I've heard that hawker centres can sometimes work out a lil cheaper to eat at then cooking at home!

Whats the best way to find a place to live? internet, local viewing, agent?

I could never imagine doing a move like this if I was pregnant, It's hard enough with a toddler. How far did you have to move?

I must admit it was a bit scary but we are far better off having a baby here than back home in the UK. When you say how far did I move, do you mean, my move from the UK or from our Hotel to where we live now? We were put in a hotel called the Grand Mercure Roxy at Marine Parade. It's not an area we considered but after spending a Saturday/Sunday afternoon on bikes on the the East Coast we just fell in love with the place.

We didn't have much to move, just 2 suitcases and 2 sets of golf clubs (along with any stuff we bought when we arrived) and our lovely agent helped us out with the use of her car to move our stuff.

I used this web site's condo directory to have a better look at more detailed info about the condo - like the facilities, pool, kitchen etc and age of the development, which was quite important to me as I found the sanitary ware in some apartments a bit grotty - I'm a bit weird about that kind of thing.

If you have any other questions just ask. You could always keep in touch on here and PM when you arrive and I could meet you for kiddies play date and coffee.

[Mad Scientist]

I'm looking for some advise on the initial cost of moving from the UK to Singapore.
My Fiancee has been offered a job to start at the end of September and it will be the two of us plus our 2 year old daughter.
I'm trying to work out how much we need to raise in order to make the move successful. What costs should I be thinking of?
I've got -
Flights
Rent - deposit + 1st months rent - does anyone know if there are any charges ie. taxes, agent fees, signing fees etc.
Should we ship our belongings out (beds, wardrobes, tv etc) or buy new when we get there?
Utility bills- average monthly cost?
Please help.

Try this link to get a head start what you need to spend. This link is being forwarded to many forumers here. So...... you will need to adjust yourself on your budget but you will fall along this line

http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic ... y+expenses