Singapore salary for a family of five

[willowdog33]

Hi. I am just wondering if anyone can help us please? My husband has been offered a job in Singapore and we are struggling to work out if the salary offer is good for us. They have offered him SG$320,000. Everything will have to come out of this ie housing, schools, medical etc.

We would be looking at either Middleton or Invictus (cheaper international schools)

Our children are 14,12 and 6. We are going to visit in the next couple of weeks but just wanted opinions on the kind of lifestyle we could have with this sort of wage. Thanks for your time x

I’d avoid Invictus. It’s basically in an office block with zero facilities. My sister taught at the HK one for a while ( supply) and the penny pinching was v evident. They didn’t even have a playground. Kids just milled about the corridors at break. No gym or sports field at all.

Thanks @illiterato. I really appreciate your advice. It’s so difficult to imagine what these schools are like when we are only looking in the internet.

SG is very expensive especially paying for 3 kids school fees will you be planning on working as well? You won't be eligible for subsidised housing , taxes are lower but if your DH earns a good salary here in the UK I wouldn't say it would be worth it because a lot of stuff costs a lot. Almost everyone in Singapore lives in flats , a landed house to rent will cost a lot just looking at propertyguru and it will cost at least 12,000 SGD a month for the cheapest 3 bed landed house. More like at least 18,000 SGD have a long think. Your DHs salary might be higher but cost of living is ridiculous. I'd be tempted to live cheaply and he saves up as much as he can and move home after a few years.

We pay $4200 a month for a 3 bed landed but we got a bit of a bargain. Say 5 min usually, so $60k min
School fees for 3 - min. $60K

My kids go to Middleton. The fees are rising, we've been told of a 10.7% increase starting next year. It'll still be one of the more affordable schools in Singapore but I think fees are going to regularly go up (last hike was smaller but just 2 years ago) so something to keep in mind depending on how long you're looking to stay here. Second language is also charged separately after Grade 5.

Cost of flats are also going up but this depends on where you want to live - if up near Middleton (Tampines), it'll be cheaper than downtown. You can get a nice 4 bed condo for about S$6000 a month. Groceries, clothes, etc are very expensive so just like a lot of places, you need to prioritise and budget, which I think is doable on that salary but you'd have to treat it as an adventure rather than a luxury expat life.

I would say that the majority of expats enjoy it here for a set amount of time. It's different and not a hard expat life at all, but you'll have to be careful moneywise.

I'd also look at Dover Court or Nexus. I don't think Middleton have any outdoor facilities which is a tough for lunch-time play! The fees of DC and Nexus are higher but still mid-range. Particularly Dover Court if you're coming from the UK so you can keep your children following the same curriculum. I think Middleton follows a calendar school year rather than August - June.

We left SG a year ago but have heard that rental prices have really jumped. Expect to pay about $9000/month for a good size 4 bed apartment in Bukit Timah. Car rental is also very expensive ($1800/month).

Look at the older condos for bigger, sound-proof apartments. I can't remember many names now but Duchess Crest, Somerville, Villa della Rose, Reflections, Gallop Gables are all popular with ex-pats and good for families.

Singapore is a wonderful place and my children loved growing up there. Good wishes with your re-location.

Look at OWIS - moderate fees, no huge rises possible due to their arrangement with the government I think. Out west were properties are much cheaper.

Middleton Tampines (the only Middleton campus - there are 3 - which runs from kindergarten up till Year 10) has outdoor space (field, basketball court, playground etc).

The majority of your expenses will be school fees (because x3) and rent. So moving to less expat-ty places (e.g. no to Bukit Timah!) would make your money go further. I live downtown and the kids take the train to Middleton Tampines (40 mins door to door) but we pay for the privilege of this location.

That is not a great salary if you have to pay 3x school fees for that. We earnt SGD 216k but school places were free. We lived a fairly low key expat lifestyle and were able to save quite a lot of this. We lived out of the main expat area and in an older condo. We left 16 months ago but rentals have apparently gone up a lot in that time. It's a great place to live.

We are in a similar predicament but 2 children and we are wondering if it will be worth it. We will be staying at least 10 years. It all depends on what they offer and they haven't yet so thank you for the insight.

We are quite low cost living as a family in Singapore, but the temptation is there to spend quite a lot, especially with travel.

I came without a job, then got one that maybe earns about SGD120,000. We mostly live on that for every day living, but our housing, utilities and school fees are paid for.

It’s manageable for sure, but would not be super lavish, depending on your lifestyle (and hobbies!)

We are in SG at the moment. If you want to live comfortably, I would not relocate for that salary with 3 kids. It depends on your current lifestyle. 3 x school fees will be chunky and rents are crazy. We moved out a year ago and pay £13k for 4 bed in a central location but I know the same is going for about £17k per month now. Everything costs much more than at home

Rent is crazy atm and trying to secure a rental is crazy. I don't have kids or a car, so no school fees but I'd say this salary is too low. You'll probably pay about $12k (and $36k deposit) for a decent condo or house for your family.

It's very expensive and lots of expats are leaving because of this.

Join "The Oracle, Singapore Expat Wives" on Facebook for advice. Singapore Property Guru will give you an idea of property prices.

I'm guessing you've had your trip, how did it go?

That’s a good extra point actually. Public transport is good but much slower than driving (opposite of London), and car ownership is very expensive.

Taxis are cheaper and easy to get, but still. Bit in once ist if your hopping between different destinations in one day, car seats etc

Not sure if you planned to work to top up the family income but it can be very difficult to find employment (or self employed) on a dependents pass. The rules changed last year for DPs and it's another reason why many are leaving.