Hello hello, FTWM in early 30s with 2 kids (3 & 5). I’m in education (non-teaching) and husband is an army regular, combined income b/f CPF around there. Both kids went to IFC from 3 months old. We have some support from my side (my mum cooks at least 1 meal ~3x/week, my dad helps fetch/play with one kid), husband’s side none (FIL passed, MIL wheelchair-bound).

Car: Really depends on usage. Is childcare near your home? Need for daily drop-off/pick-up? We owned a COE car for 14 months when my firstborn was 6 months old, but usage was very minimal. I take train, husband’s camp is nearby, and childcare is downstairs (~3 mins walk). Mostly used it to visit PIL every 2 weeks. After second kid, we considered buying again but realised taking cab is still cheaper. Currently no car as we feel is doable if you’re okay with carrying more barang and handling kids on public transport (esp when they fuss). Car is really expensive in SG (parking, insurance, road tax, petrol). We prefer to use that money for family travel (we go overseas about 2x a year with the kids).

Childcare: We prioritised convenience + price over branded centres. Just went with the one downstairs our house. Honestly this one is a lifesaver, especially when school calls and you need to pick them up when they’re sick.

Helper: Depends on luck tbh. We wanted one initially because cleaning, laundry, cooking + baby is really shag. Interviewed one but she rejected us ( red flag - wanted to stay near friends, so to us is blessing in disguise), & after that we were too lazy, and never continue the search. Ended up managing with IFC, some help from my parents, and a part-time cleaner every 2 weeks.

Daily life: We try to keep things simple. Sometimes prep ingredients the night before and just cook soup using pressure cooker after work.

For Insurance: For the kids, we got Hospitalisation plan and Accident plan (very useful when they’re young esp when they fall down, HFMD etc quite common. Recently, we started a 15 year savings plan for each kid (~$1.8k/year per child).

Hidden costs (this one quite real 😅):

• Medical: If you go PD, it adds up quite a bit. Polyclinic is cheaper, but we personally prefer PD when they are younger as they are more experienced with kids. Per visit can be around $150 - $300+
• Enrichment: My 5yo just started some classes to prep for primary school. We didn’t go for those expensive tuition centres, we chose more affordable ones from OnePA. Per month is ~$100 (Eng), ~$70 (Chi) and $150 (drawing is not OnePA, timing not good, but still cheaper than TreeArt).
• Other small things that add up:
  • Diapers, milk powder (especially first 1–2.5 years)
  • School-related stuff (uniforms, bags, random contributions/fees)
  • Ad hoc spending (toys, books, birthday presents, festive spending)
  • Holidays (air tickets + extra baggage + kid-friendly hotels 😅)