[GVGT] A hawker meal is 0.1% of SG median monthly income, in other countries it’s 0.26%

[standarture]

Other countries basic meal is $7-$10. Drinks are more expensive also.

 

[Philipkee]

thats if u assume all 6 eat out every day lor.

a helper's salary isnt high to begin with. its averagely $500 to $600 a month excluding food. i have a helper now coming 5 years. Not a huge expense at all to be honest.

If i just factor in a helper's salary without food cost, its not even 5 percent of a middle income household per month. like i mentioned, home cook food for helper is really super affordable. i dont buy crabs, prawns, lobsters everyday. a normal meal is relatively $3 or below for 1 pax ( referring to raw ingredients)

give u quick run down, lets say i buy 1 whole kampong chicken, and i make a soup. add in some potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, that will cost about $13 to $14, and still have left over carrots mushrooms potatoes for other day use somemore. and for my family of 2 adults + 2 small kids + 1 maid, this soup can seriously last us for lunch and dinner. No joke. my 2 young kids eat very little, the most like 2 piece of chicken parts and they dont want anymore.

That is $14 divide by 2 = $7. So lunch cost $7, dinner cost $7. For 3 Adults + 2 small kids. Ex meh?

Of course if u go dabao food then its a different story la. U are paying for service. someone cook for u.

having a helper is a game changer. i dont need to do housework, alot of free time, helper also enjoys playin with my kids etc etc. She cooks for me too. Its way better than owning a car.

Doesn’t a helper cost more than what you say after factoring in the insurance and levy? I don’t have a helper but in the coming years might need one

 

[charleslee1989]

Median?

Quite clearly they know using "mean/average" would skew it completely because ultra high net worth ppl would skew it.

But using median isn't any better when ur foreigners to citizen ratio is almost 50/50

---

And again, whats with the comparison with other country? Doing better than them to justify price is OK?

Is this even a sound approach????

U mean to tell me even for food prices, as long as we are doing "better than others", it is OK, acceptable, move on? Even for things like this that clearly has no business or reason benchmarking with other country when it's an internal issue??

You mean to tell me that other country have the same exact cost of living per day, same exact costing situation, same exact living conditions as Singapore that a comparison is fair?

Don't say Arithmetic Average lah....If they got the cojones, they would have used a normal distribution to show the salaries of the residents in Singapore or simply used the Mode of that distribution.

 

[hyperfuse]

Doesn’t a helper cost more than what you say after factoring in the insurance and levy? I don’t have a helper but in the coming years might need one

u know insurance how much for a helper? let me break it down for u.

previously insurance for helpers cost around $250++ for 2 years. Recently i believe a year back, we now must get a higher coverage insurance so now it cost about $400+ for 2 years.

Levy is only $60.

A myanmar fresh maid salary is $480. This is not dicated by me, so dont flame me. This is by law and by the maid agency.

My current maid who is now in her 2nd contract with me, her first 2 years salary is $480. She is very good, now after 2 years i gave some increment.

so having a helper is really not that expensive. if i were to be realistic, me and wife each just work 1 day, and our 1 day earnings covers our helper salary + levy.

 

[c4765177]

A low-income family in Singapore is generally considered to have a household income per capita of S$500–S$3,000.

The median monthly household income from work in Singapore in 2023 was S$10,869, which is a 2.8% increase in real terms after adjusting for inflation:

- Explanation
The median monthly household income is the middle number when all household incomes in Singapore are written down from lowest to highest. It's a summary statistic that doesn't reflect the lived experience of everyone

MOE bursury nowadays tells u modest income is 7500
if need financial assistance, means 750 PCI

 

[samferguson]

6 people. Each spend $15 a day. Thats $2700 a month liao

But it also means all eat out for all 3 meals which is also extravagant

Yes you spend less on food but you make up for in by spending more on a helper.

Don’t forget need to factor in energy cost also.

 

[Eliwood]

er how u count bro..

i have 2 kids and a helper. my household income is higher than median household income but i dont spend 3k a month on food. probably less than $700. If you referring food as in for lunch + dinner, yea i believe its $700 or less. I just buy groceries and my helper does the cooking. Why u put $3k sia? eat restaurant every day ah?

just go sheng shiong....
1 pack of vegetables - $1 to $1.50
1 pack of pork - $3 to $5 depending on weight
1 tray of 30 eggs - $6.50
1 whole kampong chicken - $10+
Fish - $3.50 to $5 ( always got promo here and there)

Point is my 1 meal for a family of 2 adults + 2 small kids + 1 helper ( can be under $8 of raw food. sometimes even less than $5, for example if u make stir fry bee hoon, with pork, fish cake, some vege, eggs etc)

Really boils down to lifestyle. If you can cook your own food, it isnt expensive at all.

Me and wife every month can save at least $7 to $8k cash combined after all our expenses and that goes into my investments, high yield accounts etc.

And we are not even rich. We are just middle income, just slightly above median income thats all.

This sounds like csb sia.

If u r slightly above median, assuming $12k, how u save $8k cash every month?

No need to pay tax, utilities, sch fees, parents allowance, insurance, helper salary?

All these can fit within 3,300 every month?

 

[c4765177]

cannot calculate like that leh
they should track ppl who at least eat there more than 8 days a week
8 days cos u dun count ppl who go there only on weekends mah

8 days x 3 meals, min 30 meals must be at hawker, take the range of pay and then come back with the stats again

 

[hyperfuse]

This sounds like csb sia.

If u r slightly above median, assuming $12k, how u save $8k cash every month?

No need to pay tax, utilities, sch fees, parents allowance, insurance, helper salary?

All these can fit within 3,300 every month?

i guarantee u i am not csb.

u wanna believe or not its up to you. no reason for me to lie. i am slightly above median. not 12k but above. to me that is still slightly above median. i also not considered rich, because those high income earners have like over 20k income and above. i am not like those EDMW who says they earn 20k a month. mine is combine household income not individual. So we are really just average middle class singaporeans.

Also, i have extra kopi lui from buying/selling in carousel. every month also have interest from high yield accounts that come in. I buy things i want like IT gadgets, gaming gear n stuff, all this i dont really touch my monthly income, but use my own side hustle monies from carousel

i also do have unrealized profits in the stock market since now its a bull run. of course i dont intend to cash out. keeping it long term for 20 years at least.

 

[Eliwood]

i guarantee u i am not csb.

u wanna believe or not its up to you. no reason for me to lie. i am slightly above median. not 12k but above. to me that is still slightly above median.

Me calling the csb is not u saving 7 to 8k cash monthly, it is how you fit all ur expenses within 4k if u r just slightly above median.

If u r above median by a fair amount, then saving 7 to 8k is believeable.

Taxes, insurance and sch fees / enrichment classes for 2 kids are major costs and i dun believe those can fit within 3.3k every month.

 

[otakuflick]

er how u count bro..

i have 2 kids and a helper. my household income is higher than median household income but i dont spend 3k a month on food. probably less than $700. If you referring food as in for lunch + dinner, yea i believe its $700 or less. I just buy groceries and my helper does the cooking. Why u put $3k sia? eat restaurant every day ah?

just go sheng shiong....
1 pack of vegetables - $1 to $1.50
1 pack of pork - $3 to $5 depending on weight
1 tray of 30 eggs - $6.50
1 whole kampong chicken - $10+
Fish - $3.50 to $5 ( always got promo here and there)

Point is my 1 meal for a family of 2 adults + 2 small kids + 1 helper ( can be under $8 of raw food. sometimes even less than $5, for example if u make stir fry bee hoon, with pork, fish cake, some vege, eggs etc)

Really boils down to lifestyle. If you can cook your own food, it isnt expensive at all.

Me and wife every month can save at least $7 to $8k cash combined after all our expenses and that goes into my investments, high yield accounts etc.

And we are not even rich. We are just middle income, just slightly above median income thats all.

bc you're hiring a maid, an unsustainable way to keep cost low for a entire society, it's actually a breaker of the system not even a first aid thing. $700 raw food + the costs on maid, that's still 2k+. And, you're saving 7-8k, then you're actually well above the median leh.

15 a day for each on food, that's nothing extravagant pls.

 

[hyperfuse]

Me calling the csb is not u saving 7 to 8k cash monthly, it is how you fit all ur expenses within 4k if u r just slightly above median.

If u r above median by a fair amount, then saving 7 to 8k is believeable.

Taxes, insurance and sch fees / enrichment classes for 2 kids are major costs and i dun believe those can fit within 3.3k every month.

truth be told, me and wife dont need to pay much tax and its legit. i utilize tax reliefs for myself including my parents. so my taxes are super minimal. My wife dont even need pay any tax and she earn more than me, because there is a tax relief for parents. i let her claim all so she dont need to pay a cent of tax.

insurance, heres the kicker, me and wife only have hospitalization plan. dont cost much, its yearly too. my wife dont need give allowance to parents as they dont want it. I give a little bit to my mom only, not alot. shes contented as well and didnt ask for more for years already.

one of my kid in pri sch, sch fees are cheap. not a big deal. enrichment classes are ex but we only are selective right now. Dont cost more than $600 a month on enrichment.

i didnt go sit down and tabulate my expenses exactly. i just know every month around 8k i use to allocate to my high yield accounts and buy ETFs.

i dont own a car, i work from home permanently. always eat lunch/dinner cooked by maid. occasiional weekends go out eat. also wont make a dent.

I do have overseas holidays twice or thrice a year. the amounts spend can be offset from the interest i gotten from my high yield accounts, stock, endowments etc etc.

Heading to japan next week. This is my 3rd holiday for the year. in fact 4th.

 

[hyperfuse]

bc you're hiring a maid, an unsustainable way to keep cost low for a entire society, it's actually a breaker of the system not even a first aid thing. $700 raw food + the costs on maid, that's still 2k+. And, you're saving 7-8k, then you're actually well above the median leh.

15 a day for each on food, that's nothing extravagant pls.

tha guy mentioned 6 pax. $15 x 6 is $90 a day.

compare that to mine only less than $10 a day for 1 meal for 3A + 2 Kids. ( dont factor in when i go out and eat at malls la)

why hiring a maid is unsustainable? do bear in mind i am talking in perspective of a household with around median income. Not a single or a couple that belongs to a lower income bracket. Well u mentioned entire society..i was speaking in context of a median income household. ( anyway u should go see singstat website and u will see that there is a very high percentage of household earning more than 20k.)

go see https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/table/CT/17868#! ( scroll down you will the 20k income tier has the highest percentage) never mind i paste to you easier.

The cost of a maid salary as compared to my household income is not even 5 percent of our household income. Its very affordable. basically having just to spend around 5 percent for someone to cook, clean , and take care of kids. i do give my maid a contractual bonus and angpows. these are not fix or mandatory. Out of my own goodwill. I can dont give if i dont want to.

if i count my helper salary + the food cost for her portion of meals, definitely less than 2k. You compare to some household owning a car... thats already 2k of expenditure, havent count the other food costs.

toiletries wise also is peanuts. just go value dollar store by tons of toothpaste, shampoo, body soap for her to slowly use. How much only? all this i dont bother count.

 

[PaboJames]

Average pay is likely to be much higher than 5k.

I can kinda understand the disbelief, as i have spoken to ppl who told me they dunno anyone earning above median pay. But earning above median pay is really common.

Yeah... Cos even for my own workplace... We have a tendency to hire juniors as no budget to pay

That is why sometimes it seems surreal

 

[otakuflick]

u know insurance how much for a helper? let me break it down for u.

previously insurance for helpers cost around $250++ for 2 years. Recently i believe a year back, we now must get a higher coverage insurance so now it cost about $400+ for 2 years.

Levy is only $60.

A myanmar fresh maid salary is $480. This is not dicated by me, so dont flame me. This is by law and by the maid agency.

My current maid who is now in her 2nd contract with me, her first 2 years salary is $480. She is very good, now after 2 years i gave some increment.

so having a helper is really not that expensive. if i were to be realistic, me and wife each just work 1 day, and our 1 day earnings covers our helper salary + levy.

no taste to say another human being working under you're cheap -.-

not paying somebody a liveable wage who's living in the same community as you, certainly it will cost more in a long term. It's simply cashing out short term benefits, and throwing the problem to the youngsters in the future. Not like I like to bad mouth the situation, but it's going to do shitty going forward.

 

[Eliwood]

truth be told, me and wife dont need to pay much tax and its legit. i utilize tax reliefs for myself including my parents. so my taxes are super minimal. My wife dont even need pay any tax and she earn more than me, because there is a tax relief for parents. i let her claim all so she dont need to pay a cent of tax.

insurance, heres the kicker, me and wife only have hospitalization plan. dont cost much, its yearly too. my wife dont need give allowance to parents as they dont want it. I give a little bit to my mom only, not alot. shes contented as well and didnt ask for more for years already.

one of my kid in pri sch, sch fees are cheap. not a big deal. enrichment classes are ex but we only are selective right now. Dont cost more than $600 a month on enrichment.

i didnt go sit down and tabulate my expenses exactly. i just know every month around 8k i use to allocate to my high yield accounts and buy ETFs.

i dont own a car, i work from home permanently. always eat lunch/dinner cooked by maid. occasiional weekends go out eat. also wont make a dent.

I do have overseas holidays twice or thrice a year. the amounts spend can be offset from the interest i gotten from my high yield accounts, stock, endowments etc etc.

Heading to japan next week. This is my 3rd holiday for the year. in fact 4th.

Sounds like a gd life. I always appreciate the low tax rate in SG but many edmwers think otherwise haha.

But u and ur wife shd consider insurance especially since u have 2 kids. Shd protect and not just accumulate wealth. If anything happened to you or ur wife ur family wealth will take a hit.

 

[hyperfuse]

no taste to say another human being working under you're cheap -.-

not paying somebody a liveable wage who's living in the same community as you, certainly it will cost more in a long term. It's simply cashing out short term benefits, and throwing the problem to the youngsters in the future. Not like I like to bad mouth the situation, but it's going to do shitty going forward.

who is saying that? u mean me?

that is what is mandated by sg law. thats a fresh helper market rate salary. No ones gonna pay a fresh maid anything higher until she proves herself. This salary is agreed between Myanmar and Singapore authorities.

This argument is for another day la. u wanna talk about livable wage.. its win win for both sides,. u know how much a myanmar person earn in their own country? not even $200.

 

[hyperfuse]

Sounds like a gd life. I always appreciate the low tax rate in SG but many edmwers think otherwise haha.

But u and ur wife shd consider insurance especially since u have 2 kids. Shd protect and not just accumulate wealth. If anything happened to you or ur wife ur family wealth will take a hit.

i do appreciate the low tax because i am enjoying it. Problem is people who dont know how to make use of it... or people dont know how to grow their wealth ... starts to whine and complain and blame the govt etc. They just dont know how to help themselves and start blaming the govt.

They probably didnt travel out to the world and compare other countries at all. We are really fortunate. We have massive opportunities unlike people from other nations.

yea i have the basic hospitalization plan. just didnt see a need for the other types of insurance like term insurance. If us as parents pass on, my kids inherit whats left of us anyway. But yes i am aware of some of the benefits of insurance. Will one day look into it. ( insurance agents please dont pm me)

Disclaimer : i dont support any political party. i saying what i truly feel thats all.

 

[EXIDBeast]

Displace 1 mp can feed how many hawkers ah

 

[otakuflick]

tha guy mentioned 6 pax. $15 x 6 is $90 a day.

compare that to mine only less than $10 a day for 1 meal for 3A + 2 Kids. ( dont factor in when i go out and eat at malls la)

why hiring a maid is unsustainable? do bear in mind i am talking in perspective of a household with around median income. Not a single or a couple that belongs to a lower income bracket. Well u mentioned entire society..i was speaking in context of a median income household. ( anyway u should go see singstat website and u will see that there is a very high percentage of household earning more than 20k.)

go see https://tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/table/CT/17868#! ( scroll down you will the 20k income tier has the highest percentage) never mind i paste to you easier.

The cost of a maid salary as compared to my household income is not even 5 percent of our household income. Its very affordable. basically having just to spend around 5 percent for someone to cook, clean , and take care of kids. i do give my maid a contractual bonus and angpows. these are not fix or mandatory. Out of my own goodwill. I can dont give if i dont want to.

if i count my helper salary + the food cost for her portion of meals, definitely less than 2k. You compare to some household owning a car... thats already 2k of expenditure, havent count the other food costs.

toiletries wise also is peanuts. just go value dollar store by tons of toothpaste, shampoo, body soap for her to slowly use. How much only? all this i dont bother count.

Hiring maids will only fasten the decrease in birth rate, and making people forgetting to live a life or taking care of the people including their own parents. Yes, I have a strong opinion against it, I will stop.