Car or NO Car - with a 2 year old & 3 year old

standingroomonly · Post by **standingroomonly** » Tue, 19 Jun 2012 5:56 am

I have read the posts regarding whether to get a car or not, and best advice seems to be wait 3 months and then decide whether you still need a car (NOTE: if company is footing all the car bills)...And that is probably what we will do, but still curious to how limited YOU feel without a car being that it is often so hot out...with getting groceries and taking the kids to places across town. ...or if you do have a car...what difference it has made having it (also having young kids).

Do people with a car (and kids!) feel as though they have more freedom (motivation?) taking their kids places during the day than those who do not have a car...? Do people without a car find they don't want to trek out in the middle of the day (too hot) while someone with a car wouldn't think twice about doing it? Maybe my question is...will we more than likely want to stay home in air conditioning all day because we don't have a car...? Your thoughts on pros/cons with stress of driving or walking in the heat are appreciated... Does a car make life easier or more complicated in Singapore with two young kids in tow?

the lynx · Post by **the lynx** » Tue, 19 Jun 2012 8:38 am

I can't speak as someone who has kids (I don't) but I used to drive in Singapore and I strongly feel that if you have young kids and you have the intentions to go out often as a family, having a car will help a lot, despite of high cost of having one here. Seriously it depends on how you weigh the factors; convenience vs cost.

Public transportation in Singapore may be decently efficient but it can be a little vicious for the elderly, disabled, pregnant, parents with young children and those travelling with shopping/grocery bags, especially during peak hours.

elspike · Post by **elspike** » Tue, 19 Jun 2012 9:19 am

Hi.

Slightly different circumstances. 6 and 4 year old boys. We've been here 3 months and don't have a car.

For school we use a bus service that is organised by the school. It is a little pricy but when you do the math on public transport costs and the time it takes to go there and back it made sense for us.

We've found there have only been 2 or 3 times we have wanted a car, and those were mostly because we didn't want to wait for a taxi.

Overall taxi's, trains and busses have been very efficient and doable. If we are travelling as a family we take a taxi (we haven't waited more than 5-10 minutes for one when booking through the iPhone app) and take a bus or train if it is just one or two of us.

For shopping we usually bus to the local mall (for us it is AMK Hub), do our shopping and then taxi home. You can take the trolley all the way to the taxi stand, so bags are easy.

We also do a big online food purchase about once a month. We've used qbfoods so far and their meat and cheese have been equivalent to the stuff we bought in Australia. (Sorry mods, not sure if we are allowed to make recommendations like that). The only issue is you have to have a $200 minimum order, so you need to have a decent size freezer.

You may find it difficult in taxi's due to the size of your kids. Our boys are big enough that we aren't too worried putting them in a cab without a booster seat.

The other alternative that we haven't fully looked into yet are car sharing clubs. There are a couple of places in SG that have cars spread over the island that you can just book for a few hours.

Hope that helps.

hapa-girl · Post by **hapa-girl** » Tue, 19 Jun 2012 9:35 am

Hi,

I have three kids, 6,4 and 1 years old and I lived without a car for 3 months. I would say the car has vastly improved my life here. We go out as a family quite a lot. I feel secure that my kids are in proper car seats, I like not having to fight with taxi drivers or planning trips well in advance in case of rain and every taxi in Singapore is taken. I also much prefer to take the kids to school myself rather than school bus.

Of course you can live without a car here but if you want to enjoy life here, I would definitely recommend a car.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Tue, 19 Jun 2012 10:13 am

If you enjoy constant cruising around parking lots looking for an elusive parking spot at $4/hour or being cut off by inconsiderate local drivers who don't use turn signals or crawling along in traffic at 10Km/hr due to an accident 10 km down the highway or having your doors dented constantly because of inconsiderate people banging the side of your car with their car doors when getting out of the car, then by all means, get a car. When you are late for that appointment at the pediatrician but are stuck in a massive traffic jam, then by all means, get a car. I had a car when my kids were small but it was because I lived in a very ulu part of Singapore back then and there was only a single bus service out there. As soon as I moved into town, (Novena area) I sold the cars and haven't owned one since. (that was in 1991). My 2nd child was only 2 years old, the oldest was 7. Haven't missed it since (even after we moved back to the same ulu part we previously lived in three years later). I've got the unlimited use of a car at the moment (friend who is overseas on a 3 year contract) It's stays in the carpark for 5 days a week as it's faster normally to use the bus & MRT from door to door. I don't regret it for a minute.

Just my 2¢

beppi · Post by **beppi** » Tue, 19 Jun 2012 4:22 pm

A few years ago I monitored all my movements (mostly by public transport) for a month and estimated what it would have cost me to do all this by taxi.
It turned out to be much cheaper than owning a car and driving myself (I included all actual costs incl. COE, depreciation, road and parking fees, etc.).
And since I cannot decide whether the hazzle of finding a taxi during peak hours or rain is worse than a constant lack of parking space and occasional accidents with idiot drivers, we never got a car, even after our daughter was born.
A bicycle is actually more useful in terms of mobility and freedom gained, but only if you are not averse to sweat and exercise.

poodlek · Post by **poodlek** » Tue, 19 Jun 2012 5:07 pm

I'm pretty happy with one child and no car, but my child is a handful, very active and wiggly at 15 months. I don't take him on the bus unless he's in a carrier or my husband is with us. I can't imagine handling two small kids on a bus or in a taxi on my own, unless they were of the age that I could control them both with verbal commands. At age 2 and 3 and depending on their personalities you may be able to handle it. I try to avoid taking taxis as much as possible as I don't have a portable car seat for my son. He uses the lap belt in the centre of the bench when we go in a taxi, which I guess is better than nothing but not much. We really only go in a taxi when I am bringing home a large amount of groceries. Anywhere else we go on the MRT with his stroller, which is pretty easy and accessible to most important places for us. I think if we had a second child here I might still be ok with no car as long as I only had to physically carry/restrain, etc one of them. I'm really not sure it's worth the cost for the convenience. BUT...if your company is paying for it, that's another story.

standingroomonly · Post by **standingroomonly** » Wed, 20 Jun 2012 11:40 am

Thanks for your thoughts.

If it were just my husband and I, it would be 'no car' no question. With young kids though, I just forsee a lot of 'internal cursing' at having to make the trek out in the heat to the pediatrician or grocery store or ____ with 2 kids in tow without a car. But at the same time, I can see how it is probably something you live with and just get used to. I suppose this is where a domestic helper comes in for some too, being help in watching 1 or both kids, but we will not be having a live-in helper.

There is the added stress of driving and finding parking and learning to drive on the left side... Having lived in and near a large city...I have gotten used to circling the same blocks for 30+ minutes looking for parking. Traffic is no fun anywhere...but I don't forsee using the car to sit in traffic every time I use it. Hmmm...then of course, my husband would need to still use MRT/Bus to get to work on those days he didn't have use of the car--added cost. I do love that I can drive for some distance and my kids can sleep or get their naps in if necessary (drive is longer than expected).

Lots to weigh, but guess we'll wait till we get there.

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:03 pm

That would be my suggestion. Wait until you have been here a month without a vehicle before jumping for the minimum of 1K/mo expense of having a car. $1K/mo is just about the absolute minimum you can get away with for a small used compact with about 4 or 5 years left on the COE (inclusive of parking, road tax, COE Fuel, Insurance, etc). A new car currently is not advised as the COE alone is around 80K.

For information, all in costs for a maid is also around $1K/mo. And she can clean the house, while the car cannot!

davidcf · Post by **davidcf** » Tue, 17 Jul 2012 6:07 pm

Probably hold on for a while for the CEO to drop a bit. It's really high at the moment.

beppi · Post by **beppi** » Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:34 pm

davidcf wrote:Probably hold on for a while for the CEO to drop a bit. It's really high at the moment.

CEOs seem always on a high horse. But they drop quickly (and not just a bit). Unfortunately, then another moron just takes over.

nutnut · Post by **nutnut** » Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:01 pm

COEs won't be going down any time soon, its about to go up if anything!

We just sold our car, we have two kids and I am so pleased to be free of it! Taxis are cheaper for sure!

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:26 pm

You'll have to pardon davidcf as he's just a spammer trying to flog his profile link with anal one-liners, none of which said anything of importance or accurately.

nutnut · Post by **nutnut** » Wed, 18 Jul 2012 1:38 pm

A Little like me then!

Post by **sundaymorningstaple** » Wed, 18 Jul 2012 1:50 pm

You don't have a profile link.

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Car or NO Car - with a 2 year old & 3 year old

Car or NO Car - with a 2 year old & 3 year old

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