# Estimating monthly living expense



## lucid79 (Jan 26, 2017)

Hi,

A friend of mine has recently moved to Singapore on a very good role offering relocation, medical insurance, and a handsome salary. 

After looking around for residential and education options, he estimates that to live in a 3 bed Condo and enrolling his 2 young children in an international school should cost around $8.5K. He'll aim to find a Condo near the school to reduce the journey time. His own job is in consulting so he has to travel around any way. 

I wanted to confirm with the members of this forum if $8.5K for a 3 bed Condo and enrollment in an international school is about right? 

I am asking the question as I am also considering the option to relocate but I need to understand whether it makes financial sense for me to move or not, considering my personal expense which would be similar to his. 

I have searched and read several threads on this forum as well as other websites like Guidemesingapore. I'd appreciate some feedback from other members of this forum.

Thanks.


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## jamierc1 (Dec 12, 2015)

lucid79 said:


> Hi,
> 
> A friend of mine has recently moved to Singapore on a very good role offering relocation, medical insurance, and a handsome salary.
> 
> ...


Sounds about right. 4.5k - 5k for the condo, and 2k per child for schooling. There's probably a sibling discount available too. 

Eye watering isn't it? I've got friends involved in managing international schools, who are concerned by falling numbers of expats. Hopefully they'll realise that fewer companies are including school fees in the package, and so people are more conscious of fees, and stop increasing them. Teachers are very well paid here.

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## lucid79 (Jan 26, 2017)

Many thanks for your response. It definitely is expensive considering I am living in the UK and send children to private school here. That costs me approx 2k for living and education. The cost of these essentials is extremely high in Singapore. I can appreciate if people decide to move on to look for other options.


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## jamierc1 (Dec 12, 2015)

lucid79 said:


> Many thanks for your response. It definitely is expensive considering I am living in the UK and send children to private school here. That costs me approx 2k for living and education. The cost of these essentials is extremely high in Singapore. I can appreciate if people decide to move on to look for other options.


Yes these things are expensive in Singapore. But taxes are a lot lower than the UK, and other things are cheaper in Singapore than the UK. I'm working here, sending 2 kids to private schools, taking a few nice holidays in the region, and not too stressed about money. My wife is not working here at the moment. That would be impossible in the UK.

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