KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Dear mummies,
Mind to share with me how much household income is enough to support a family?
Thinking to quit the job but also scare later financial wise will bcome tight.
Is 5k enough to maintain a family?

$850 can feed a household of 4 n still afford a HDB, it all about expectation n the kind of lifestyle u want

Yup, it's what your current lifestyle is and what changes you are willing to make. Frankly, $5K a month is not very much esp if you have more than 1 kid who needs to attend enrichment etc. I am assuming you guys are financing a flat so it will be tight if you also need a car. Possible but not much savings left.

Some pple can take bus everyday and be satisfied while some must buy continental cars... it all depends on your lifestyle really. "Sufficient or not" is very subjective.

Your decision to quit also depends on how much $$ you actually make. If your contribution is >50% of the total household income ie. around what your other half makes, then it is very significant. If you only make less than half of what your hubby makes, then maybe it's ok to stay home.

Yes, a family of 4 is able to survive on this amt.

But lots of unnecessary expenditure has to go out of the window.

A. Plan your daily chore and meal schedule to save electricity, water and gas and food wastage.

B. all second tier enrichments like arts, ballet, judo etc di it in a cc.

C. Buy only when necessary and on sales.

D. Get free delivery for grocery shoppings at certain supermarkets.

F. Cut down on dining out.


With careful $ planning, you should be able to stretch your dollar.

Nice list LOLmum! You also forgot to add that with just $5K, the family must also cut down on frequent overseas holidays. That burns a big hole...

Whatever it is, just make sure you and hubby talk it out and ONLY QUIT when your hubby is fully supportive. Believe me, most Singaporean men (and their mothers) want their educated wives to work unless they can earn a lot of money themselves. If your hubby is not supportive, he will blame you for the reduced income and will not appreciate you as a SAHM.

You must first ask yourself why you want to quit. Don't take SAHM route as an escape from your work environment. Just change jobs if you find your current job yucky.

Ha ha, the list goes on and on.....but with proper money management, one does not need to live like a pauper.

Yes, cherry gal is right about getting hubby's support.

how many kids in the house hold?
how old are the kids? ---> have you heard about discussions about tuition slowly becoming a norm? do you have surpluses to send your kids for tuition or are you satisfied if they can get by (ie no need to chase after IP).
is quitting going to be long term?
do you have to give your parents' allowance? your husband's contribution to his parents allowance/medical emergencies etc?
will your husband be agreeable to shoulder part of your parents' medical bill when the need arises? your husband giving your parents' allowance?
$5k is take home pay or gross? work out a balance sheet on your monthly expenses and you'll see. for us on single income, there is no savings every month and the last time we had an overseas trip was more than 6yrs ago. savings are from yearly and performance bonuses. my husband foot my share of my late-dad's medical bills and monthly allowances for my mum. we managed mainly also because his parents are self sufficient and even future medical/retirement are all planned out.

whatever it is, ultimately, what is the reason for you wanting to be SAHP? coming from a SAHM pov (that's me), if i had had enough family support for child care previously, i would have chose to stay gainfully employed. now SAHM so long, my children makes it harder for me to be away from them for long as we are very close.

yup more than enough, especially if you don't have to finance a car and hubby's CPF contributions are enough for HDB installments.

Dear mummies,
Thanks for all the advices.
But nxt time if my kid go to school, we need to pay for nanny + school fees, total up should be $1k++ for kid's expenses.
So i was thinking if i quit, at least we can save the money for nanny loh..some more i can definitely take good care of my kid compare with nanny.
Well, husband always said if i want to quit then can quit, but my big worry is after i quit for job, i will have no personal saving, everything also need to depends on husband, nxt time even buy toy oso need to ask his permission..lol..
Now i think his own cpf is able to cover the monthly instalment for the house. But we still have loan for car, then kid's education insurance which cost about 8k yearly.
I think after i quit, definitely very hard to join workforce again. Even now if wanna to change job also like nobody wanna to hire. maybe after married and have kid, is tough for employer to hire us..

How about considering working part-time? You can earn some savings for yourself and spend more time with your kid.