# SGD 3300 salary, enough to live in SG?



## TaylorHK

I have a job offer with salary SGD 3300.
Office near Tampines.

Sounds good but I will need to pay the rental on my own...

Questions:
1. How much I need to pay for tax for salary?
2. If i need to rent a small place near Tampines/Bedok, how much is it? I don't need a big flat, just a small one and safe.
3. Is the food expensive?

Many thanks for your help...


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## simonsays

seriously, you can make do, if you manage your expectations

Forget about renting "a place" -> change that to 'renting a room' = about 700 $ to 1,000 $ for common room / master room

A flat - unlike HK, is stil expensive, and 2 bedroom flats can cost upwards of 1,500

Food: depends what you eat: you can eat chicken rice / chinese cooked food for 3$, or Macdonalds meals for 6$ or Svensons for 12 $ upwards ..

Tax: go to www.iras.gov.sg - they have an online tax calculator.


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## naomialexis

Hi Taylor, 

Welcome to Singapore  and hope you will be able to find a good place to settle down in. If you are looking for places to rent, you may wish to checkout Rentalsupermart Singapore. It's a website that specially focus on all rentals apartments and accommodations available in Singapore. There are also helpful information on renting and a forum for you to post any queries you have. 

If you are staying alone, you may wish to consider renting a room either in a condominium or HDB, depending on your budget. You should be able to get a good room around SGD 450 to SGD 700 p.m. Take care and good luck.


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## TaylorHK

Hi there! 

Thank you for all your help!

I've started doing the budget plan for me to work in SG~ =)


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## tommyq

TaylorHK said:


> Hi there!
> 
> Thank you for all your help!
> 
> I've started doing the budget plan for me to work in SG~ =)


Welcome to Singapore, I work in tampines, I can share with you budget eating place


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## TaylorHK

Hi Tommy!

I will start working in SG in late Jan 2012...
If I know the exact location that I am going to work in...will let you know


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## tommyq

Hi
Congrats! Ready to get use to singlish


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## j_n_83

This is Jayesh Nair from India & I am in the process of negotiating with a prospective employer. The organisation is a media agency & I have 5 yrs of exp.
They are offering 6500 SGD per month. I am looking at moving to SG around mid April. My office is at Clarke Quay & looking at a travel of 35 - 40 mins. Need your help on the below.

I am looking at a saving of around 3500 SGD per month, will this be possible?
What could be the average monthly expenditure?
What place should I look for renting out?
What will be the rent that I would have to shell out if I am looking at a commute time of 35-40 mins?

Thanks in advance! 

Regards

Jayesh Nair


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## simonsays

answers for you .. 



j_n_83 said:


> I am looking at a saving of around 3500 SGD per month, will this be possible?


Depends on how you live your life .. and who pays for your accommodation, as accommodation is the biggest cost here .. 



> What could be the average monthly expenditure?


See answer above - locals make do with an average pay of 2,500 or 3,000, and are happy .. some expats earn 20,000 per month and are crying out loud ..  



> What place should I look for renting out?


Come to Singapore, to have an idea of where to rent .. and one man's meat is another's poison .. so there is nothing like you choosing your preferred place.



> What will be the rent that I would have to shell out if I am looking at a commute time of 35-40 mins?


For 35-40 minutes commute, you could even stay in Malaysia  

Well, as I said, come here and then see what fits you, whether you want to be close to Little India or don't mind any place, or want a place near friends, or near work place - i.e. walking distance of just one bus away (which means, your rental for a room can border around 2,000 .. to 600 $ for a place like 30 minutes away .. )

Do some search on cost of living - if you are used to top class corn fed beef and the like, even 20,000 is not enough.

On the other hand, if you are ok to live like natives, you are good to go ..


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## j_n_83

Hi,

Many thanks for the reply.

- The company will not pay for the accommodation. I have to pay for my own.
- I am looking at a normal stay with no too much of splurging; will I be able to save around 3500 SGD?
- I am ok with travelling 25-30 mins by public transport; can you suggest the areas that i should look for renting?
- How advisable it is to search from India or come there & then hunt for place?

Thanks again!

Regards

Jayesh Nair


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## simonsays

j_n_83 said:


> - The company will not pay for the accommodation. I have to pay for my own.
> - I am looking at a normal stay with no too much of splurging; will I be able to save around 3500 SGD?
> - I am ok with travelling 25-30 mins by public transport; can you suggest the areas that i should look for renting?
> - How advisable it is to search from India or come there & then hunt for place?


I think you missed the part where I said you can live or not, upto you .. 

and Singapore, do a look up in Wiki, how big or small Singapore is - 

Areas - all over Singapore, as from Clark Quay, you can reach any end of Singapore within 25 to 30 minutes. And it only hurts when you work late and need to take a taxi to say Jurong, which can cost you like 20 $ or more, vs staying nearer and spending 10 $ or so. Same for morning commute, if you get late or rushing for an early meeting

You should come here, stay in a temporary accommodation, and see and get a feel of Singapore, and decide where is best.

And if Condos, with pool and all are good or HDB without the frills is good.

And if you want a whole apartment for 2000 $ onwards or just a room for much less.

All of the above - only you can decide once you have an idea of life.

If you want to eat Indian food, you put up in Little India, i.e. closer to town, like 10 minutes by Train, and higher rental, or you don't mind localised indian food, anywhere and pay lesser for rental .. you know what I mean ?

And as I said, maybe you want to stay nearby your work mates, or some long lost relative, or near say some specific church or near some specific temple, or so ..

So, again, come here, get a feel for your work and where you feel comfortable, and then decide.

If your company is paying you for relocation, you could put up in some serviced apartment while doing your search

By the way, what is with this 3,500 $ target ??


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## j_n_83

The figure of 3500 is looking at the kind of savings I do in India (obv. adjusted to purchasing power parity).

I don't have any preference of Indian food, staying close to relatives or staying close to temple. My only parameter is closer to work (25-30 mins). The company is not paying for relocation.

Thanks again for the reply.

Regards

Jayesh Nair


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## simonsays

Just for curiosity sake, so how much would you want to spend, out of the 3,000 you have after saving, on rental ?


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## j_n_83

I looking at 1000 - 1200 on rent & the rest will be towards my other exp.

Will that be a good figure to look at?


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## simonsays

for a room, yes, you can do .. 

For the selection, my suggestion stands, better that you take a look before committing any place.

Note that you need to put up a one month deposit, one month advance as payment for rental, on top of any possible agent fee, if you can't find it yourself.


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## j_n_83

Are there any good and reliable websites where I can look for short term stay for 1 month from where I can look for permanent stay?


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## simonsays

Google for serviced apartments, if you can afford, about 2,000 or so for a month, for one room, or, if you are cool, look for hostels.

Not many choices, when it comes for short term rental ..


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## j_n_83

Thanks!


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## TheEndofDays

straight answer: Yes it's possible!!!!


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## kourosh

I have a question please help me.

I wanna know how much the minimum paid up capital of a company should be for apply EP for foreigner in Singapore.
In Malaysia, minimum paid up capital for a company must be RM 500k when a foreigner wanna apply work permit visa.
Is there any particular and similar rules in singapore?

Your cooperation highly appreciated.


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## kourosh

I have a question please help me.

I wanna know how much the minimum paid up capital of a company should be for apply EP for foreigner in Singapore.
In Malaysia, minimum paid up capital for a company must be RM 500k when a foreigner wanna apply work permit visa.
Is there any particular and similar rules in singapore?

Your cooperation highly appreciated.


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## Jimmy1978

Property prices are very expensive here, that goes for rentals as well. You could get a room for under 1800 maybe, depending on location. Day to day expenses is really up to you. There are cheap food alternatives like hawker centres, food courts etc that can make it easy for your wallet but if frequent more expensive places often then i guess your disposable income would be pretty much gone.


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## DorisDay

I have lots of friends who earn lesser than 3300 per month and still able to survive. I think it really depends how you work out on your monthly expenses.


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## SAP_TECH

Hello,
I am also looking for a job in Singapore and presently I am in India, I have around 5 years of work experience in SAP Technical side.(SAP ABAP/BI), could you please guide me as to how to find a job in Singapore.

Thanks.


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## simonsays

SAP_TECH: did you ask the many Indian consultants if they can assist you in this matter ?


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## SAP_TECH

Hello Ecureilx,
Thanks for your response, If I am not wrong by consultants you meant Indian SAP consultants working in Singapore, I have no contacts with any such consultants, hence following this forum to get some help.
If you meant job consultants, I tried contacting few here but of little/no help.

Please guide me if you have any such contacts.

Thanks.
SAP_TECH


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## simonsays

if you had used this wonderful tool called Google, you will know that all Indian / India based / Largely Indian staffed companies have representation .. to source staff for Singapore .. 

From TCS, Apar, Emerio, Cognizant


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## Gwen McPherson

your rent will be around $800-$1000 for one room depending on location
you probably do not need to commute that far as there are places closer 
You can save around $3000 and also need to put aside money for income tax (it is your responsibility to pay tax-go to Irs singapore to find out)

Once you are here, probably go to a budget hotel and start room hunting then. Most people would want to meet you and you will need to put deposit etc.....


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## WonderLust

TaylorHK said:


> I have a job offer with salary SGD 3300.
> Office near Tampines.
> 
> Sounds good but I will need to pay the rental on my own...
> 
> Questions:
> 1. How much I need to pay for tax for salary?
> 2. If i need to rent a small place near Tampines/Bedok, how much is it? I don't need a big flat, just a small one and safe.
> 3. Is the food expensive?
> 
> Many thanks for your help...


You can look for alternatives like co-sharing a room with other professionals, which is very common in Singapore. That will bring your rent down to 450-550SGD. Anyway you won't be in the house for many hours.


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