I find myself working longer and longer hours with WFH. My manager has an annoying habit of scheduling conference meetings in the evenings and even late at night.

She assumes that just because we WFH, there is more time flexibility to when we can hold meetings. Her rationale is that whereas last time in office the work hours were all taken up by meetings and discussions which disrupted real work from being done, now we can just focus on doing work during daytime, and schedule all the meetings in the evenings.

This means higher productivity for everyone.

Conveniently forgetting or purposely not mentioning this means much longer work hours for everyone, while the company has announced a pay freeze and no bonus for the next 2 years at least.

To make matters worse, the company is rolling out a new initiative where every employee needs to report our work progress every 2 hours to our direct report, together with screenshots of what we have been doing for the past 2 hours. To make sure we don’t slack off while WFH.

Who says WFH is better? Home is supposed to be where we unwind from work. But now I’m miserable, overworked and feeling trapped in my own home. I’m really desperate to go back to office life.

At least there was some kind of clear work vs home separation.

Here are what netizens think:

• This kind of people they will do whatever they can to lick their bosses’s boots
• This one angkat until cannot angkat, wayang number 1. From experience wayang people only climb to a certain level and they get stuck cause no new substance.
• Sounds like my last time General Manager at Jurong

Long story short, we both come from working-class families and the last year has not been kind to my parents, chiefly my dad who need hospitalization and long term care. My dad is fiercely private and independent so he doesn’t know yet I have been footing the balance of the hospital and community hospital bills – after subsidies etc, and now the home based care he needs – only child so no choice. My fiancee has her own family’s financial issues the she need to solve but that’s private. What I can say is that the aspirations and hopes of 2 sets of working class parents are resting squarely on our shoulders.

That may make some of my choices, decision making and frustrations clearer. One things is certain though, the climb up the financial ladder is much harder than expected.

My fiancee and I really appreciate each and every suggestions and sharing of personal experiences and we hope that people in future reading this reddit can utilize some of the suggestions to do better fitment of their own housing choices.]]

As a young Singaporean couple, we are priced out of the HDB resale market, yet have trouble getting a BTO flat queue number.

BTO

My fiancee and I have applied for multiple BTO exercises since 2019 to no avail. We are definitely not choosy as we applied for Tengah, Punggol North and Fernvale which are non matured estates in the outlying corners of Singapore and yet we have not received a single queue number. We were a bit kiasu and started applying during our final year at university as we wanted to get a head start on our marriage and family planning but, nope the early bird still doesn’t get the worm.

Seeing our MP for help, on our parents’ advice, turned out to be of limited utility as he said that he could write a letter on our behalf but the rest is up to HDB.

When we graduated, we were lucky to get full time positions almost immediately, but our combined income is now close to the BTO income limit, so the window of opportunity for getting a BTO is closing quickly.

We tried the HDB resale market which is even more frustrating. We understand that we are blessed to have a combined income close to the BTO income limit, which should strangely make us feel firmly middle class, but between paying off the student loans, giving allowances to retired parents, paying for parents’ medical bills and saving for our own family’s future (we hope to get married and have children young), given that we have worked for less than a year, there just isn’t much spare cash to go around.

Anyway, most property agents have been ignoring our messages. Those that respond tell us upfront tell us that the last offer was $6xx,xxx etc and ask us to top the offer to view the unit.

We made an offer for one particular unit that we liked. 30+ year old in the north east area but it’s not near the town centre or MRT. We were prepared to pay COV of $35,000, which we estimated based on the recent selling prices in that block. On the day we were supposed to sign the OTP, the owner accepted another higher offer so our hopes were dashed. And true enough, when we checked the HDB resale website a couple of months later, the flat was sold for about $15,000 above our offered price.

Since then, it has been a mad rush to view units before the prices climb higher and I have noticed that the sellers don’t even bother about the selling price anymore but are now asking for a fixed amount of COV aboved the valuation of the unit.

One incident stood out because the seller’s agent told us to commit to a minimum COV of $80,000 before we could make an appointment. We GTFO of that conversation real quick.

Public housing should be as described. Public housing for the good of the public. Not some asset-appreciation concept that burdens the subsequent generations.

Apologies for the long rant, but just had a long discussion with my future wife and we’re just dead beat.

Need some advice and opinions here. About to make a jump from my current employment and there are 2 opportunities that I’ve landed on. I’m stuck trying to make a decision between them – do I pick the job that gives me less pay but more flexibility, or the job that’s more high stress but high paying?

Employment opportunity 1 – startup, doesn’t pay as well as I’d like (5% increment only) but it’s super flexible, remote first and management style seems more laid back (less micromanaging SG style, western founders). Oh and lack perks like healthcare insurance but give other perks like remote work subsidies.

Employment opportunity 2 – well known MNC, pay is high (+30% increment) but it’ll be more high stress, need to be in office at least 4 days a week. Benefits slightly better (healthcare insurance mostly).

Some context for consideration:

• have a young family with a 3 year old girl. I’d like to spend more time with her because you only get so much time when they’re a kid.
• we just bought a condo. Can afford it comfortably mortgage wise. It’s not a huge place but fits our small family well.
• at our current jobs, we save >30% of our income. Out of which most goes into investments into the S&P500.

Sorry if too long, would like some input from the community if anyone has been in a similar situation before!

Here are what netizens have to say

• Depends on your tolerance for work stress, or whether you priority your personal life or professional life more, and by how much.

It does sound like you wish to spend more time with your kid and aren’t hurting for cash, so I would take employment opportunity 1 to have an easier everyday life. But then again, I’m the kind of person to prioritise my personal life.

• Take up the employment opportunity 2 for the CV and to pay your bank account for a few years. You have a young kid and a condo mortgage so added cash you’ll definitely need. Downgrade to a job with more work life balance later so you can spend more time with your kid.
• I know people who have died young – accident, cancer – in their 30s. This attitude that you can put off the meaningful things in life to earn money now is a gamble. I would say go for employment opportunity 1: you can afford it, and it would allow you to do what you really want to do, which is to be a parent to your kid.

Image source: Unsplash

My wife likes to collect and hoard all sorts of junk, from 3 for $10 all the way to $100, $200+.

Yes thats her clothes. She has bought so many clothes that scary is a severe underestimation.

Whenever and wherever she sees clothing she likes, she will buy it. Does not matter if it’s at Pasar Malam, high end store, from an e-commerce store. Bought so many online not suitable put one side.

That is wasteful stupidity! How can you buy something that need to try to wear, but without even seeing with your own eyes or trying physically? Of course most of the time the actual clothes delivered not the same as picture!

Her clothes more than mine and our children combined. Our room 99% space in warerobe belongs to her. I even need to store my clothes in the living room! Many of her clothes are brand new or wear once or twice only. Some become mouldy because too long never wear.

To me they have all become same as junk. She refuses to throw, give or sell away. How can you wear finish? When you keep buying and buying and buying non stop? I can say she uses at least 50% of her salary on clothes and makeup every month.

Next time if divorce everyone sure laugh, reason for divorce is spouse unreasonable behaviour because keep buying clothes, causing mental distress to family.

Here are what netizens think:

• new system. for every 3 clothing sold/donate/purge, she can buy 1 new clothing. both side win.
• I am the total opposite. I really dont have enough. My husband has 80% of the wardrobe. Poor u!
• Sound like most women. Chill…
• Two choices, 1)throw the clothes without her knowledge 2)change wife.

A foreign netizen was seen asking other netizens online on the topic on salary requirements for basic living in Singapore.

Apart from receiving a salary from a full time job, the netizen also asks if it is possible to do freelance or part time in the hours outside a full time job.

For context, the foreign netizen is thinking of moving from Thailand to Singapore.

Here are what netizens replied on salary requirements in Singapore

• If you are Singaporeans, 2k~3k/month salary is enough for surviving. Foreigner, 3k~5k salary is the bare minimum if talking about settle down in Singapore.
• If you’re a foreigner it’ll go against the terms of your work pass to work outside of your designated job with your employer for a salary.
• If you take a look at the MOM website it states that pass holders “must not take on additional jobs or engage in activities to earn additional salary in Singapore.” So technically it’s not allowed.
• Excluding rent, it’s possible to survive on 1000-1200/ mth salary

Phone bills and internet probably — 100+
Food (if you cook on your own) — 500+-
Public Transport (daily travel) — 300
Others (clothes/necessities) – 100/mth.

Then add on your rent thereafter then you’d be able to estimate roughly how much salary you need.

• I am a Malaysian started from scratch in Singapore. IT background. My first job salary was about 2.6k sgd. I was able to survive with 2.6k salary for two years. But please note that you have to keep your expenses at minimal. I was earning same rm2600 back in Malaysia and when I came here, food was relatively cheaper i would say. If you don’t convert. $4 can get good chinese mixed rice food.

Image source: Unsplash