Career as Teacher

Originally Posted by jjason

it is called inflation. 20 years ago, 100k gets you a 4 room hdb, today, you need 400k.

seriously, what kind of lifestyle can 5k give you in sg? that is 4k after cpf.

case 1. single 28 year old who wants to live away from home.

rent: 800 (share with family, no privacy)
(survivor lifestyle) own food and bills: 2k

savings of about 1k? think of transport, health insurance, investments, etc?

case 2. typical married 28 year old.

rent for family: 2k
(survivor lifestyle) own food and bills: 1-2k
wife and other's spending: 1k

savings of about 0?

case 3. typical 28 yo living at home dating.

(survivor lifestyle) own food and bills: 2k
dating: 500/mth

savings of about 1-1.5k?

we are talking about survivor lifestyle. eating cheap food daily and buying cheap clothes and stuff. no health insurance/car/holidays/occasional shopping etc to pay for.

survivor lifestyle is 2k on food and bills!?!? i bet you never heard of canteens, hawker centres and food courts ya..

and probably your accounting fail. double counting, unless your dating really excludes meals. then your girlfriend must be really blessed to have you as a boyfriend. good job bro (Y)

Originally Posted by Unregistered

survivor lifestyle is 2k on food and bills!?!? i bet you never heard of canteens, hawker centres and food courts ya..

and probably your accounting fail. double counting, unless your dating really excludes meals. then your girlfriend must be really blessed to have you as a boyfriend. good job bro (Y)

hahaha, that guy is a joke.

breakfast = eat at home
lunch = usual coffeeshop/hawker food, take a very generous amount $8
dinner = neighbourhood coffeeshop, again take a generous amount $8

1 day = $16 on food, 1 month = $480

can still afford to eat a $50 restaurant meal every weekend, total = $680.

Originally Posted by jjason

it is called inflation. 20 years ago, 100k gets you a 4 room hdb, today, you need 400k.

seriously, what kind of lifestyle can 5k give you in sg? that is 4k after cpf.

case 1. single 28 year old who wants to live away from home.

rent: 800 (share with family, no privacy)
(survivor lifestyle) own food and bills: 2k

savings of about 1k? think of transport, health insurance, investments, etc?

case 2. typical married 28 year old.

rent for family: 2k
(survivor lifestyle) own food and bills: 1-2k
wife and other's spending: 1k

savings of about 0?

case 3. typical 28 yo living at home dating.

(survivor lifestyle) own food and bills: 2k
dating: 500/mth

savings of about 1-1.5k?

we are talking about survivor lifestyle. eating cheap food daily and buying cheap clothes and stuff. no health insurance/car/holidays/occasional shopping etc to pay for.

interesting perspective. i believe one needs to manage his lifestyle and expectations in accordance to his financial means. not even a 20k monthly salary be adequate if one insists on leading king's lifestyle. i personally know of a family of 3 (one kid) with a combined household income of about 2k (take home pay) who're contented with what they have (and do not have). they lead a simple but yet meaningful life. it's hard not to envy families like them.

at the end of the day, what matters is happiness. no amount of lavish dinner or outlandish car or fancy job appointments or million dollar insurance can bring you joy if your soul is empty. while money is a definite necessity in Singapore's modern living, it should not rule over your life. to each his own. cheers!


"some people are so poor that the only thing they have is money"

[jjason]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

hahaha, that guy is a joke.

breakfast = eat at home
lunch = usual coffeeshop/hawker food, take a very generous amount $8
dinner = neighbourhood coffeeshop, again take a generous amount $8

1 day = $16 on food, 1 month = $480

can still afford to eat a $50 restaurant meal every weekend, total = $680.

sorry but your breakfast doesn't cost money? i will give you 20 sgd a day on food plus $50 restaurant every week, that means 800 a month on survivor style food.

transport? i will give you average 8 sgd a day, plus 100 sgd a week for taxis. that is 700 for transport.

throw in 100 for phone/internet, 200 for shopping and replacing clothes and shoes and etc, 200 for vital health insurance/etc, you are spending more than 2k just to survive.

i am not even talking about cars, shopping for nice suits ocassionally, going to the movies, hobbies such as collecting cards, fishes, pets, dating, spending on kids, fixing spoilt furniture in houses, etc.

Originally Posted by jjason

sorry but your breakfast doesn't cost money? i will give you 20 sgd a day on food plus $50 restaurant every week, that means 800 a month on survivor style food.

transport? i will give you average 8 sgd a day, plus 100 sgd a week for taxis. that is 700 for transport.

throw in 100 for phone/internet, 200 for shopping and replacing clothes and shoes and etc, 200 for vital health insurance/etc, you are spending more than 2k just to survive.

i am not even talking about cars, shopping for nice suits ocassionally, going to the movies, hobbies such as collecting cards, fishes, pets, dating, spending on kids, fixing spoilt furniture in houses, etc.

again, dont double count..

may i know what premium buses and trains are u taking? $8/day?? or you go to work twice a day? $100/wk for taxi? that's like 4 rides/week. if one is spending $700/month just on public transports, then that person really deserves to be poor!

[jjason]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

again, dont double count..

may i know what premium buses and trains are u taking? $8/day?? or you go to work twice a day? $100/wk for taxi? that's like 4 rides/week. if one is spending $700/month just on public transports, then that person really deserves to be poor!

hullo...the train from sembawang to raffles place costs $1.90. two way, make it 4 sgd. and if i take a bus from my apartment to the mrt station, it is an additional 1sgd or so, so total 6sgd minimum a day to get to work and back, no including any shopping trips or trips to elsewhere to meet friends etc.

8 sgd is pretty reasonable. 100 a week is for additional costs, be it traveling around, taxis when you are late (about 30 sgd for one way from admiralty to city hall), etc, it is a little more than what is needed, yes.

there is also a premium bus for something like 5 sgd to my office. so that will be 10 sgd two way.

so what kind of standard of life will 5k give you in singapore? especially if you have kids or plan to have a family.

Originally Posted by jjason

hullo...the train from sembawang to raffles place costs $1.90. two way, make it 4 sgd. and if i take a bus from my apartment to the mrt station, it is an additional 1sgd or so, so total 6sgd minimum a day to get to work and back, no including any shopping trips or trips to elsewhere to meet friends etc.

8 sgd is pretty reasonable. 100 a week is for additional costs, be it traveling around, taxis when you are late (about 30 sgd for one way from admiralty to city hall), etc, it is a little more than what is needed, yes.

there is also a premium bus for something like 5 sgd to my office. so that will be 10 sgd two way.

so what kind of standard of life will 5k give you in singapore? especially if you have kids or plan to have a family.

Live within your means. What is considered basic to you may be luxurious to others! For example, if I am really poor, no way will taxi be even within my consideration. Too late for public transport? Then don't stay out too late!

With your kind of reasoning, the bottom 20% of Singaporeans (family income less than $1,500 per month) must be living like 3rd world country standards to you. If you really open your eyes to look around, those who are really trying to squeeze their budget will bring food from home, drink plain water only, walk to MRT instead of taking bus, cut down on expenses (i.e. watch movies, buy clothes etc.), work 2 jobs intead of 1 etc. MRT now offer free rides before peak period, so transport can technically be free (if you're working in CBD area). Just wake up earlier!

So what is necessity to you? Obviously you have not been put through the mill to truly understand.

Originally Posted by jjason

hullo...the train from sembawang to raffles place costs $1.90. two way, make it 4 sgd. and if i take a bus from my apartment to the mrt station, it is an additional 1sgd or so, so total 6sgd minimum a day to get to work and back, no including any shopping trips or trips to elsewhere to meet friends etc.

8 sgd is pretty reasonable. 100 a week is for additional costs, be it traveling around, taxis when you are late (about 30 sgd for one way from admiralty to city hall), etc, it is a little more than what is needed, yes.

there is also a premium bus for something like 5 sgd to my office. so that will be 10 sgd two way.

so what kind of standard of life will 5k give you in singapore? especially if you have kids or plan to have a family.

Back when I earned 4k per month (before CPF), I had some nice meals at restaurants over the weekend, covered myself with sufficient insurance, took a yearly holiday to a decent Asian country flying SIA (economy of course), and still had enough for savings and investment every month.

Over the years and after changing a few jobs, my pay has risen decently. Someone suggested $8 for lunch and dinner EACH? My lunch costs only $4, which gets me a decent plate of chicken rice with egg, or some fishball noodles, wanton mee, sometimes nasi lemak with chicken wing and sunny side up egg. For $9-10 I've settled lunch and dinner (something slightly better for dinner after a long day at work). And seriously, some of these food taste way better and are more filling than some $20 main course at a restaurant. All in all food costs $150 per week, inclusive of some good restaurant food over the weekend.

$400 for taxis? I don't even think I spend $400 in a year on taxis, let alone a month. I spend $200 on public transport per month, that's for a bus ride to the MRT, then a MRT ride into town, and vice versa to get home. No free rebates.

Over the weekend I just booked my new car, which fits comfortably into my monthly budget. But I guess for you, you will need to earn 10k or 20k per month first.

Originally Posted by jjason

hullo...the train from sembawang to raffles place costs $1.90. two way, make it 4 sgd. and if i take a bus from my apartment to the mrt station, it is an additional 1sgd or so, so total 6sgd minimum a day to get to work and back, no including any shopping trips or trips to elsewhere to meet friends etc.

8 sgd is pretty reasonable. 100 a week is for additional costs, be it traveling around, taxis when you are late (about 30 sgd for one way from admiralty to city hall), etc, it is a little more than what is needed, yes.

there is also a premium bus for something like 5 sgd to my office. so that will be 10 sgd two way.

so what kind of standard of life will 5k give you in singapore? especially if you have kids or plan to have a family.

There's an adult monthly card for public transport. $120 a month.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

There's an adult monthly card for public transport. $120 a month.

so that guy doesnt know how to save money by buying a monthly card? he can reduce his 700/month transport budget to 120, even more reason to take public transport since it's unlimited rides, take taxi for what?