In Singapore, I had someone tell me that even making $100,000 a year, he couldn’t live in the country.
To me, that was just.. crazy! How can you make $100k a year and not afford to live in Singapore?
Note: $1 CAD/USD is approximately $1.20 SGD — not that far off
Then I took a look in the aisles of a grocery store that was located downtown-ish:
- $1.75 for a small bunch of green onions and we pay $0.59 in Canada
- $15 for a steak and we pay $7 for the same cut in Canada
- $7 for a small bag of nuts and we pay $2 here in Canada
And so on.
Sure, there are other things that are cheaper and of higher quality such as the delicious Thai honey mangoes that are in season right now ($1 each!), but overall, the cost of living in Singapore has gone up 3x in the recent years due to the influx of immigrants (or so they tell me), and many people cannot afford to even live in the country.
They work in Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and China. Not in Singapore.
What I also found eye opening was that a home in Singapore ranges into the millions-of-dollars range…. but it isn’t NYC, Hong Kong, Paris or Los Angeles here!!!
Singapore is not a country that most people flock to, to live — it is hot, humid, expensive and there isn’t much to do there.
So for a home to be SO FAR out of the average Singaporean’s reach.. makes me wonder how the country will be in 5-10 years, when the cost of living drives people out of their own country and their kids cannot afford to stay.
It’s also why in their minds, earning a $100,000 CAD salary is “nothing” to them, and not enough to use to live on.
They don’t realize that they’re paying 3x what they should for basic needs (considering the country is an island that has to import EVERYTHING), and their $100,000 SGD salary doesn’t go as far as $100,000 CAD.
NOTE: I should also mention that this guy pays for his wife who doesn’t work, his wife’s parents and his own parents. He is supporting 3 families on that income, but even so…
It got me thinking that cost of living matters a lot more than we think.
Cost of living boils down to whether or not you spend 15% of your income on food or 25% for the same (or perhaps lower) quality.
Your money can go farther if you make a decent salary ($50,000) and live in a low cost of living area, where green onions don’t cost $2.
Of course, we already knew this, because making $100,000 in Detroit is not the same as making $100,000 in New York City, but to see the reactions of people who live in a bubble of sorts, and to hear them make comments like: “$100,000 SGD is not enough to live here”, is very interesting.
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
Hi, I have to agree with Miss JJ. I live in the neighbor country Malaysia at the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Born and breed. Malaysian has complain that the cost of living here are unbelievable. Esp for those from other area but come to Kuala Lumpur due to their jobs. My parents had survive for more than 30 years here and never complain about the cost of living even make decent saving for retirement. Like Miss JJ said, i believe it may be lifestyle inflation. Kuala Lumpur is pack with big expensive cars and expansive restaurants are also pack most of the time not just during pay day. So, at the end of the day, I prefer having big chunk of savings rather than driving big car. It’s all go back to oneself choice of lifestyle. Just my two cents..
Singapore has gotten so expensive. I think it also has to do with the weak dollar, but I don’t even go shopping there anymore with things costing 2 or 3 times what they would cost in the US. It’s ridiculous. I’m actually going there next weekend for a doctor’s appointment (they do have excellent medical care & facilities). Even when I lived there for a few months, it was difficult to save with my (relatively well-paid) job. And I was only looking after myself!
Rent there is crazy. I remember thinking: geez…$1,500 USD to rent the storage room? With no window, no AC, and just one light bulb? But it’s in a central location? FORGET IT! I’d rather live near Changi and pay less and spend more time commuting. And even then…I paid $1000 USD for a tiny room with an even smaller bathroom that had black mold growing in it.
I don’t know how the Singaporeans do it. Last time I was there, my cabby kept saying how young adults these days can’t even afford to buy their own place, even though they’ve been saving and living with their parents. Yes, there are HDB’s, but my gosh, I wouldn’t want to live in those.
I’ll only live there again if my company offers me a nice expat package…otherwise, forget it.
Hrmm, is it a little premature to base how high the cost of living is for a country based on a conversation with a single person?
Other things should be considered – for instance, the tax rates, the mortgage/interest rates, the average salary of a person working in Singapore and whether it is increasing in tandem with cost of living etc
In terms of property prices, Singapore homes are more expensive because of limited land area – a factor shared by Hong Kong and NYC. With regards to not many people wanting to move to Singapore, the Singapore government has actually tightened their regulations in recent years as too many foreigners are moving to Singapore to live.
With regards to wondering how Singapore would be in 5-10 years – if you’re wondering about Singapore, then in fact, the whole region is a bigger cause for wonder – China, India, Thailand, Malaysia (although its not really reported), Hong Kong etc are battling real challenges of high inflation rates. Certain parts of Hong Kong for instance has seen a 50% increase in property prices in just 2 years. In comparison, Singapore has been doing an exemplary job controlling inflation challenges in comparison to other countries in the region.
However, I do get the point of your article – it is to give food for thought regarding the power purchasing parity of individual currencies rather than being an article with actual facts about Singapore. So good effort here.
Hi, I am a new visitor to your blog and I thought it was serendipitous that the first post my eyes lit on was regarding Singapore.
I am a Singaporean born and bred and I don’t deny that Singapore is an expensive place to live in compared to our SEA neighbours and even some of our Western friends. However, I think we all know there is living and there is living. Many Singaporeans have been exposed to lifestyle inflation. I do not profess to know the financial details of the person you spoke to, but there are plenty of families making do with 40K salaries in Singapore. Supporting our parents in retirement is very common in Asian countries. Your friend is not unique in that situation.
Our homes are not cheap, I agree, but people seldom mention that mortgage rates are also around 1% currently. People also seldom mention that we have extremely low income tax rates in Singapore; we get to keep almost everything we make. Cars are very, very expensive here, but most foreigners I know who have tried our public transport wonder why people even drive in Singapore. Medical and insurance costs are definitely more affordable in a lot of places I know. University is about 75% subsidized by the government for Singaporeans.
Yes, COL matters, but COL is more than just grocery store and home prices. In the case of the person you spoke to, I do wonder if his comment was more a result of lifestyle inflation rather than an actual COL issue.
Sorry for the long comment! Couldn’t help myself, it is so rare for anyone to discuss my beloved country!
Yep cost of living matters a lot. My best friend found out the hard way. He was hired at IBM straight out of college with what seemed to be a killer starting salary. After sticking it out for a year he quit and moved back saying he was barely scraping by on what he made out in California. He was paying more for just a parking space than I paid for my entire monthly rent 😉
After moving back he took a 20% pay cut to work locally but in the end he said he was bringing home much much more after basic expenses with the lower cost of living.
Hi FB! I have a question that would do me a GREAT service, I’m moving out of the Northeast in search of a better cost-of-living to income ratio in the allied healthcare field; any suggestions to a site that might provide info about cost-of-living specific to different regions/areas of North America?
Try these two sites
http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/savings/moving-cost-of-living-calculator.aspx
http://www.bestplaces.net/col/
A bunch of spring (green) onions costs $2 here…
Yes but you’re in the same area of the world where I’m sure you have to import a lot of your food 🙂
Interestingly, I live in Northern British Columbia, and green onions are $1.79 here too. Our housing costs have gone through the roof in the past 5 years as well, and our slightly shabby 1 bedroom costs 50% of what I can potentially make in a month, on not much above minimum wage. And I moved up here because it was cheaper than down south! Even in Canada, cost of living varies wildly.
Cost of living is exactly why I’m scoping out other places to live. In my experience salaries do not adequately adjust for the difference so you get a much better deal by moving to somewhere with low cost of living.
If you can get steady employment that is. Some jobs aren’t that flexible.
I read a while back that the cost of living in the Yukon and the North West Territories is astronomical, because of the diamond rush! A friend of mine moved up there recently and she said she’s paying pretty much what she would be in Toronto for a tiny room in a house. Plus all the food and everything is more expensive, because is has to be imported. Never thought Toronto would look cheap by comparison!
Also in Alaska. They have to basically import everything to eat.. a jar of honey is $20 or something insane like that.
This is interesting..I never knew that about Singapore, yet I have absolutely no desire to live there. The same could be said in the different states of the US. My daughter just moved to Florida. The housing is cheaper if you are buying, but rent is equivalent to No. Virginia. Food is more expensive as well. However, they pay no state tax, so they have all that extra money in their paycheck.
I think it balances out if you do the math and figure out how much things would cost in comparison to where you are now. This involves a little research, and I’d never move anywhere without first flying there to check it out.
I live in a high cost of living area, very similar to Singapore. While I could moan and groan about it all I want, I look on the bright side: If I can make it here, I can make it ANYWHERE. Los Angeles, New York City, London, Singapore, Vancouver — moving to places like these used to seem daunting to me, but not anymore.
As someone who’s lived both around Los Angeles and a rural area, cost of living matters a lot! Things around LA are so much more expensive than the same things back where I used to live. The US government actually adjusts its own pay scale based on location, so someone living in San Francisco gets paid more than someone in Nebraska because San Francisco is just that must more expensive. http://www.fedjobs.com/pay/pay.html
Agreed.