To migrate or not?

[sunflower]

Oh yes, talking about cost of living. I remembered buying a quite well known brand shampoo for A$1.99 when they were on sale. Fruits and veggies in season were pretty cheap, not to mention the slashing of prices to clear food items (esp meat) when the supermarket was going to close for the day.

[Coolkidsrock2]

I remember those days now. Too long ago. Forgotten already.


And Blackmores supplements are cheap as well. Is it still those kind of prices mentioned?

Those were the student days …

If stay there now, got to pay tax which is too painful. Not sure if can afford the same lifestyle as here based on net pay.

[sunflower]

Coolkidsrock2:

And Blackmores supplements are cheap as well. Is it still those kind of prices mentioned?

Didn’t know that….not in the habit of taking supplements.

Coolkidsrock2:

If stay there now, got to pay tax which is too painful. Not sure if can afford the same lifestyle as here based on net pay.

You’re right about the taxes. If high income earner, think it’s better to stay in Singapore. Taxes in Australia can be quite high, especially for the higher income bracket, but they have quite good rebates for families with children.

If the lifestyle we’re talking about is having live-in maids, than forget about it, unless ultra rich. The culture over there and here is VERY different, expectations got to be adjusted if wanna stay there and be happy. Not possible to replicate what we're having here over there. There's no perfect country, it really depends on what are our priorities and what we want in life. Different strokes for different folks.

[Coolkidsrock2]

The tax part is hard to swallow. When I was schooling, I volunteered at St Vincent’s de Paul. The locals pointed out to me certain individuals who chose not to work (and have many kids) so that they can collect (even more) dole. Got to admit that I am not sufficiently big-hearted to share so much of my salary.


No point having big house and garden there as it means more work for myself.

One of my family member had been staying in serviced apartment to get round the maid problem. Did this when staying in New York, Sydney and London. Long term stay arrangement with hotel when in Japan.

[sunflower]

sweetiepie:

School standards are far below than spore. Even with individual Learning program arranged by the school, the school basically do not teach just ask the kids to do matheletics and readingeggs educational websites at home. So a lot rely on parents to teach if the kids want to do more rather than just playing.

That means less stress! In Singapore, everybody complains children overloaded, too much work, too stressful, no childhood! Over there, children have lots of time to play and have all the childhood they want. :rahrah:

BTW, are your children in the public school? Private schools are very expensive, but their curriculum’s pretty solid, quite a holistic education I must say. I’m not familiar with Melbourne, but for your case, try to look around for a better public school, if can’t afford private schools or places in there have all been taken up.

[sunflower]

Coolkidsrock2:

The tax part is hard to swallow. When I was schooling, I volunteered at St Vincent's de Paul. The locals pointed out to me certain individuals who chose not to work (and have many kids) so that they can collect (even more) dole. Got to admit that I am not sufficiently big-hearted to share so much of my salary.

Haha, encouraging more babies aye? …to curb population decline?

[sunflower]

Just to share, a friend who migrated to Australia quite some years back said that she enjoys more family life now, as compared to when she was in Singapore and had to slog a 10-12 hrs workday, leaving her young children in the care of her maid.


She shared that the first few years were tough, but the government provided some help to pull through that period. Her hubby got promoted later so they’re pretty stable financially now. She went on to form her own network of friends and is currently staying in a decent house, still renting because housing prices have gone up so buying a house is expensive.