Cost of Raising a Child in Singapore – How To Plan Ahead

This article was shared about 1,200 times on Facebook – basically confirming the high costs of living in Singapore.

Personally I think kids should grow up with a little bit of hardship & not be mollycoddled all the time.

The latest gadgets are not a necessity for your kids. But what is necessary is spending more time with them.

Instead of moaning and complaining, my recommendation is to plan ahead.

How can you raise your children to become successful, emotionally-balanced and responsible adults?

I am not a parent nor do I claim to know alot about child-raising.

But I have friends and clients who are parents themselves. As a 3rd-party observer, I always notice the amount of love, care and concern parents have towards their children.

It is necessary to have this positive emotions present and reinforced during a child’s early years as he or she grows up to a young adult.

I still remember a conversation I had with a marriage counsellor when I attended a family workshop. I asked her – what was the main cause of divorces in Singapore?

Without hesitation, she replied – MONEY. She said many marriages break up because of strains in finances and couples become unable to untangle the emotions and frustrations due to poor management of family finances.

It was quite sad but not a surprising truth. Many families are not watching their family budgets and not planning ahead.

What are you doing to plan ahead?

Have you:

Created a budget?

Have you taken steps to stick to your family budgeting?

Have you set aside emergency funds for the unexpected expenses?

Some good news though

Raising children with a little bit of “hardship” is actually a good opportunity to ensure they become adults of good character and standing.

If you think engaging a maid will add on costs, use this chance to get your children to do chores so they learn the value of good honest work, the meaning of responsibilities and learning how to collaborate.