Singapore: How Much Per Month

[adjan jb]

How much is necessary per month to live on in Singapore? Enough for food, apartment, a beer once every two weeks, (lots of) books and a monthly flight to Chiang Mai ?

Cheers.

[LadyinRed]

There are so many variables to give you the 'right' amount, but I'd say you'll need at least 4k SG$ to be comfortable. Are you working there?

[Captain Chaos]

How much is necessary per month to live on in Singapore? Enough for food, apartment, a beer once every two weeks, (lots of) books and a monthly flight to Chiang Mai ?

Cheers.

Little difficult to respond without you being more specific - what kind of food, how big an apartment and where (city / outside), beer - again, where, books - no idea, flight - ditto ...

But I'd say if you want to live alone, then you should assume an absolute minimum of SGD5k (say, Bt 110k depending on fx rates) per month...

If you're prepared to share accomodation then I'm sure you could probably do it cheaper ...

Bear in mind that you need to be in employment here to get a long term visa (generally) and getting apartment leases and such will difficult without such a visa - you didn't say what your circumstances were, but you need to be earning SGD30k+ to get a regular Employment Pass, less than that is 'Special Pass' territory - can't help you with those, sorry...

CC

[wanderer9020]

well singapore is booming and Im one those affected. Im renting a unit for 1550 sgd a month,then come on april (renewal of contract, it will be 3400 sgd), Now figure that out. But I would suggest to negotiate with ur company a hefty housing allowance

[ade100]

As mentioned above, the biggest cost is going to be housing.

1 Cheapest Option: Rent a room in a government housing unit (HDB) - could be as low as 500SGD

2 Rent your own HDB apartment - 1000 - 2000 SGD

3 Rent a Condo: 2000 - 8000 SGD

4 Rent a room in a shared condo: 1000 - 3000 SGD

The above gives a vague idea but many other factors some into play such as proximity to City Centre, Sea, MRT, etc.

Food and Clothes could be as cheap as Thailand or as expensive as New York. You have the choice.

[soihok]

I agree with all the above posts.

[adjan jb]

How much is necessary per month to live on in Singapore? Enough for food, apartment, a beer once every two weeks, (lots of) books and a monthly flight to Chiang Mai ?

Cheers.

Little difficult to respond without you being more specific - what kind of food, how big an apartment and where (city / outside), beer - again, where, books - no idea, flight - ditto ...

But I'd say if you want to live alone, then you should assume an absolute minimum of SGD5k (say, Bt 110k depending on fx rates) per month...

If you're prepared to share accomodation then I'm sure you could probably do it cheaper ...

Bear in mind that you need to be in employment here to get a long term visa (generally) and getting apartment leases and such will difficult without such a visa - you didn't say what your circumstances were, but you need to be earning SGD30k+ to get a regular Employment Pass, less than that is 'Special Pass' territory - can't help you with those, sorry...

CC

Thanks to everybody.

I was offered a 3 month job as a translator on Tuas Crescent Rd. I was told that this job should pay around SGD 3-4k/month. But after reading your answers, I'm afraid it's not enough even though my family remains in Thailand.

I don't need much. I enjoy cheap and simple food (in Thailand it's almost always the best). I don't drink much but once in a while I like to have a cold beer at a stall/restaurant by the side of the road, watching people passing by and/or reading a good book. I don't want to rent a big apartment. A clean room with bathroom and toilet is all I need. I wouldn't mind sharing accomodation (but I have no idea where/how to find roommates in Singapore). And finally I would like to go back to Chiang Mai with at least THB100k in my pocket.

Does everybody agree that the absolute minimum I need is SGD5k per month?

One more thing: what is a "Social Visit" visa ?

[mrtoad]

How much is necessary per month to live on in Singapore? Enough for food, apartment, a beer once every two weeks, (lots of) books and a monthly flight to Chiang Mai ?

Cheers.

Little difficult to respond without you being more specific - what kind of food, how big an apartment and where (city / outside), beer - again, where, books - no idea, flight - ditto ...

But I'd say if you want to live alone, then you should assume an absolute minimum of SGD5k (say, Bt 110k depending on fx rates) per month...

If you're prepared to share accomodation then I'm sure you could probably do it cheaper ...

Bear in mind that you need to be in employment here to get a long term visa (generally) and getting apartment leases and such will difficult without such a visa - you didn't say what your circumstances were, but you need to be earning SGD30k+ to get a regular Employment Pass, less than that is 'Special Pass' territory - can't help you with those, sorry...

CC

Thanks to everybody.

I was offered a 3 month job as a translator on Tuas Crescent Rd. I was told that this job should pay around SGD 3-4k/month. But after reading your answers, I'm afraid it's not enough even though my family remains in Thailand.

I don't need much. I enjoy cheap and simple food (in Thailand it's almost always the best). I don't drink much but once in a while I like to have a cold beer at a stall/restaurant by the side of the road, watching people passing by and/or reading a good book. I don't want to rent a big apartment. A clean room with bathroom and toilet is all I need. I wouldn't mind sharing accomodation (but I have no idea where/how to find roommates in Singapore). And finally I would like to go back to Chiang Mai with at least THB100k in my pocket.

Does everybody agree that the absolute minimum I need is SGD5k per month?

One more thing: what is a "Social Visit" visa ?

I'd agree with the 5k figure to be fair as an absolute minimum.

[Captain Chaos]

Thanks to everybody.

I was offered a 3 month job as a translator on Tuas Crescent Rd. I was told that this job should pay around SGD 3-4k/month. But after reading your answers, I'm afraid it's not enough even though my family remains in Thailand.

I don't need much. I enjoy cheap and simple food (in Thailand it's almost always the best). I don't drink much but once in a while I like to have a cold beer at a stall/restaurant by the side of the road, watching people passing by and/or reading a good book. I don't want to rent a big apartment. A clean room with bathroom and toilet is all I need. I wouldn't mind sharing accomodation (but I have no idea where/how to find roommates in Singapore). And finally I would like to go back to Chiang Mai with at least THB100k in my pocket.

Does everybody agree that the absolute minimum I need is SGD5k per month?

One more thing: what is a "Social Visit" visa ?

The Sing property market has absolutely shot up over the last couple of years. Rental increases are becoming a major issue even for those on generous salaries and/or expat allowances. That said, Tuas is way over on the west side of Singapore island (get your feet wet if you go any further) and is mainly an industrial area - think you'd be looking at staying around Jurong which is nearby, and that should be somewhat cheaper than staying in the city area.

Just asked opinions of my Singaporean colleagues who seem to feel that over there S$4k / month might be manageable but very tight and you'd definitely be looking at an HDB rental (see Ade's post) which you need to research carefully as living in an HDB may not suit everyone (google job - there is loads of Sing expat info available on the web)

My personal opinion is that S$4k for 3 months is not enough at present - it's about THB265k in total (assuming FX rate of S$1 = THB22). To take home THB100k therefore you'd need to live on S$2.5k per month - that's about the minimum the most junior local staff in my office get paid, and remember that they all live with Mum & Dad so no rent to pay as a rule...

Work permits are a doddle to get here but I am not sure how short term contracts like yours are handled - think the best thing to do is to throw that question back at your prospective employers. If they start talking about going under the radar on "social visit visas" (effectively the same as a Tourist Visa Exemption in Thailand, 15-30 days in duration depending what passport you hold) , personally I'd pass on it - Sing Govt ain't idiots and I don't think they'd be fooled by someone pretending to be on vacation in Tuas for 3 months!!!

Sorry to sound negative but I'd ask for S$5k / month and tell them you want whatever visa is needed to allow you to work legally.

CC

[thedude]

i think you can share a room in a good location for about 1500 per month.

you can budget about S$ 20 per day for food, and another S$ 20 per day for transportation (on average). that would total about S$ 1200 per month.

you'd probably need another S$300 for electricity and phone bills.

so the total is S$ 3000 per month so far.

you want to save about Baht 100k in 3 months, or about S$ 4200, which means you need to save another S$1400 per month.

so the minimum payment you will need is about S$ 4400 per month, which is pretty close to the S$ 5000 as suggested by some here as a minimum.

[adjan jb]

Sorry to sound negative

CC

You don't sound negative to me. On the contrary, you are very helpful.

[ade100]

When the rent on my apartment doubled, I decided to share. This site is great for finding shared apartments but it takes a bit of work:

http://sg.easyroommate.com

A lot of Singaporeans consider 3k SGD to be a pretty good salary

[ade100]

Oh and if you want to check out other jobs in SG, this site is pretty good:

http://www.jobsdb.com

[adjan jb]

Oh and if you want to check out other jobs in SG, this site is pretty good:

http://www.jobsdb.com

Thanks for the links. The first one seems very interesting.

A lot of Thais consider 8k THB to be a pretty good salary but how many foreigners can live on that? Life is always more expensive for an expat.

[thecas]

Are you a native thai?

I am a Singaporean and can help you in certain areas. pm me when you are coming.

Thanks to everybody.

I was offered a 3 month job as a translator on Tuas Crescent Rd. I was told that this job should pay around SGD 3-4k/month. But after reading your answers, I'm afraid it's not enough even though my family remains in Thailand.

I don't need much. I enjoy cheap and simple food (in Thailand it's almost always the best). I don't drink much but once in a while I like to have a cold beer at a stall/restaurant by the side of the road, watching people passing by and/or reading a good book. I don't want to rent a big apartment. A clean room with bathroom and toilet is all I need. I wouldn't mind sharing accomodation (but I have no idea where/how to find roommates in Singapore). And finally I would like to go back to Chiang Mai with at least THB100k in my pocket.

Does everybody agree that the absolute minimum I need is SGD5k per month?

One more thing: what is a "Social Visit" visa ?

[soihok]

Sorry to sound negative

CC

You don't sound negative to me. On the contrary, you are very helpful.

Yes ,CC has pretty much summed it really.

I have been working in Singapore for six and a half years on employment passes and for you to have a reasonable standard of living ,you should be looking at what CC has stated.

The salary for qualified engineers is a world away from what it is in Europe.

Singapore is really great place to live in......and dont be put off .

Singapore has a door open for those that wish to progress.

Go for it.

Cheers

[soihok]

For your info.

I pay 2000 Sing $ a month for a three bed apartment( due to rise by 100% in November this year)

My daughters school fees are(about) the same as an international school in Thailand(1800 Sing$ per term)

Life is good,,I have considered Singapore PR but have decided against it.

Expat or not?

Anyway my heart has been stolen away to Thailand

I am not a very wealthy person but my family has a good standard of living

[wanderer9020]

Anyway my heart has been stolen away to Thailand

i can agree no more.Been living here for 7 years, but Im about to trade it with the lure of the land of smiles.

[torrenova]

I was going to move down there and may still do but it has been put on hold for a while. Some kind guys on this board helped me no end so you could perhaps dig up some of my threads on this.

I reckon you can get a decent place for about $3k a month but rooms in a share vary enormously from the mid hundreds to the mid thousands ! I tried to contact a few on that share site to see if they were genuine (don't want to share but I would have to hit town for a month to sort all the other stuff out so as an interim cost saving exercise I wanted to investigate sharing). I got zero replies to about 10 enquiries so I cannot recommned that site very much.

The other thing is that they want rental contracts often out to 2 years which is difficult if you don't know the area. But if you don't get a long contract, you can get hit early with these massive rent rises as explained.

I reckon in my field its possible but I would also be maintaining 2 or 3 households (2 in LOS potentially, 1 for sure) and the place in Singapore so I had to do a few calculations.

To the OP. If you really want to come back with Bt100k then I think you're going to struggle even on 5k. Your looking at about 4 flight round trips minimum at perhaps 25k. Go out for a beer (most is that awful Tiger) and it is expensive (I don't know cheap places I admit). I found food reasonable but I don't have enough experience to put together an accurate monthly budget. Mobile phones are expensive (you pay when someone calls you ! or per day, i cannot remember).

Would you need internet, wifi ? Your own tv with cable ?