Cost of living would be different for each family because it will depend on the lifestyle you are willing or not willing to settle for.

For example, me and my husband agree that we don’t want to live with other strangers in the same house so we chose to rent a single unit for ourselves which costs more than just renting a room which a lot of couples do. Would you be eating hawker food or gourmet? Do you want to go home on Holidays? If so, will your salary allow it? How much savings do you want to set aside? You need to compare what you want with what you can afford, then ask yourself if you’re happy with it. There may be luxuries you take for granted in Manila that you cannot afford in Singapore – like cars, spas, salons, etc.

Note that Singapore is the 4th most expensive city to live in in Asia and Manila is way down in the list.

Then you’d have to also put a cost on some of the sacrifices you’re going to do like maybe having to leave your kids in the Philippines, or being away from your aging parents and not being able to take care of them.

So the only way I can help you is to point you to references. But you will have to determine your own cost of living when you move to Singapore.

Since there’s two of you working, odds are it’ll be easier for both you and your wife to adapt because you can pool your resources. But it’s highly recommended you still do the numbers.

Here is a good reference that shows the basic price of most everything: http://worksingapore.com/2008guide/articles.php?article=live_1

http://www.PinoySg.com is also a good place to do survey. There are many kababayans there willing to help out other kababayans.

Good luck to you and your wife!

It depends on your definition of “live” and “enjoy” and what your current lifestyle in the Philippines is.

If you are a professional, I honestly doubt you’d enjoy living in Singapore on a S$900/month salary. Rent alone, will eat into your salary. And you will have to spend for food and other necessities. There will be no more left for savings.

But I’m pretty sure there are others who can survive on S$900 salary in Singapore. Our beloved domestic helpers might get lower wages than that but they are mostly stay ins and don’t have to pay for rent.

You can check out this article for more information: http://pinoyinsingapore.info/2008/07/22/a-guide-to-working-and-living-in-singapore/

Hope this helps

I also suggest that you start sending out resumes while you’re still in the Philippines so you can get a head start.

Ms. Tsikens last blog post..Uniteller: Wider Remittance Reach for Filipinos

I believe most of our kababayans who are single just rent a room or share a unit amongst themselves. For room rentals, it depends whether you’re renting the master’s bedroom which has it’s own bathroom or just the regular rooms in which case you’ll have to share the common bathroom with other people in the unit.

The 2k+, I mentioned is well furnished and looks like a condo inside. I’m sure you can find cheaper units but they’re probably not as well maintained. And it will really depend on your budget. If you’re still looking for a job, I’d suggest you find a friend you can stay with first while you’re looking, or start with room rentals.

You also have to note that you’d normally be asked for 1 month deposit, 1 month advance, 1 month current rent, plus agent’s fee if you went through an agent. So that’s about 3+months rent upfront.

If you follow the links in the entry I gave above, you can find classified ads for rental units so you more or less have an idea of going rental rates.

Ms. Tsikens last blog post..Uniteller: Wider Remittance Reach for Filipinos

My friend just moved in to a 3-room HDB furnished unit in Sengkang (pretty far from the city) for P2100/month.

You can also check out this entry: http://pinoyinsingapore.info/2006/11/15/looking-for-a-place-to-stay-in-singapore/. There are other useful links in there.

Good luck to you and your friends!

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can i ask how much is the average monthly rent of apartment there? Me and my friends plans to look for a job there. thanks