28 year old Singapore teacher burdened by hefty mortgage loan for HDB flat before marriage
March 24, 2010 by admin
Filed under Life Stories, Opinion
Dear TR,
Thanks for publishing the article by Ms Judy Eng. (read article here) It really strikes a chord in my heart as I am in the same situation as her too. I am 28 this year now working as a teacher in a secondary school.
My fiancee just found a job in a GLC as an engineer after six months of looking for one. The pay isn’t fantastic as there is an abundance of foreign engineers in Singapore. He considered himself lucky to finally secure a full-time job after months of being on contract.
We are planning to get married in July and just bought a 4-room resale flat at Sin Ming. Guess how much it costs? You won’t believe it, we bought it at almost $500,000. No kidding, it’s true! All the flats in the vicinity cost above $500K. After paying about $30,000 in COV partially paid for by our parents, we do not have a single cent left for our wedding which we will have a simple afternoon tea buffet at our church instead of the traditional 8-course Chinese dinner.
I am really worried about our future. We earn barely $5,000 together and the mortgage loan already took up 30 percent of our income. We still have to cough out some cash after using up the entire CPFs. The moment I think of this, I lost all the mood already.
People used to say that marriage is the happiest moment in a girl’s life, but I am not looking forward to it. I feel very heavy, like a burden placeed on my chest, sometimes choking me, it is so suffocating. Can we buy a new flat? I do not wish to wait for another 3 to 4 years, anything can happen to our relationship during this period of time. It is a risk I cannot afford to take.
My hubby-to-be is burnt out everyday from work – OT, OT and OT and he is not paid for it. For me, my weekends are either burnt in school CCAs or marking the homeworks of my students. We hardly meet each other at all, sometimes just enough time to have a meal or catch a movie. Somehow I feel apprehensive startinig life together with another person, am I ready for it? I don’t think we can start a family, at least for the next three years or so. How to have children when we are not financially stable?
I will pay the loan mostly on my own as my hubby still have to pay for his student loan and car loan. I have only a few thousand dollars in my savings now and I wonder how long they can last me. What happens when there is an emergency? Or if we are retrenched? I dread to think of the worst…but women being women, they always think alot.
Every month, my pay gets used up almost immediately after it’s deposited into my POSB account – living expenses, allowances for parents, and now with housing loan, I really don’t know how far we can continue like this. Did we do our Maths before we make the purchase? Yes, but what can we do, the flats are expensive everywhere and we want to stay near our parents. Even 4-room flats in Jurong are calling above $400,000 nowadays! The prices are really going crazy, the agents told us that they will only go up in the future as the govt will never allow them to come down.
Sorry for the ramblings. There are so many things on my mind now, I can’t think or type clearly…..Thanks for providing me an outlet to vent my frustrations, who can understand what we are going through? Sigh, maybe I am one of those few unlucky souls.
Please edit and publish this rant of mine as you see fit. Thanks again for listening.
Melissa Quek
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- My HDB 4-room flat valuation appreciated 10% in 6 months!
- Woman regretful about her broken marriage
- Email Interview with a 30-Year-Old Ex-teacher
- Seven-Year-Old Already Harboured Thoughts Of Leaving Singapore
- Sydneysiders spending 3/4 of monthly income into mortgage repayment
- Teacher in $130,000 debt over World Cup bets
- Ban Permanent Residents From Buying HDB Resale Flats?
- Ex-teacher earns $15,000 a month as tutor
I think just married 28 years old Melissa must have over budget themselve with so much loan that they make their marriage life miserable. Why can’t she just live simple and stay hunble until they can afford all this luxury. A 4-rooms flat and a car. Hardly afford it, her parent have to paid part of the flat price. Where are your pride and independent? If you wnt to start a family. My advice is start small; stay at your in-law place. Or rent a room ($400-500), buy a 2-rooms Reslae HDB flat ($90K – $150K, 3 room ($180K -$260K). With their income now at $5K, they have so many choices and options to live life comfortablely. Why stress yourself just to save face.
when i read the letter, my first thought was “poor students”.
a teacher with bad english, poor financial management skills, and too much self-pity for her own good. seriously, she should learn to live within her means instead of complaining about paying off the interest on her house and car – assets she can do without. bring melissa back two years into the past and put her in america, and she’d be one of those involved in the sub-prime crisis.
Dear Melissa,
Here are some suggestions which I think should be of some help to you.
Advice:
1) Give up the car
2) Have some financial goals for 2 years eg:
Money received\saved from selling car, put them in a high interest savings account. eg CIMB star saver account.
What ever bonus\cash you have, save it.
3) After 2 years, make a lump sum payment to your morgage so that the interest you are paying are much lower.
4) Scout for loans from banks with the lowest interest fixed rates. (e.g 2 years)
5) Repeat your financial goal. You will see your monthly morgage payments get lesser and lesser and you will not be so stressed up.
You are only 28 yrs old…still a long way to go in your work life. If you enjoy teaching…excel in it and your rewards will come. Use your money wisely. I wish you all the best. Be joyful in whatever you do…life is too short to be so stressed up.
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Dear Melissa Quek,
Count you are very lucky to have your parents pay for the COV. Making a rough estimate, if you are a female graduate teacher, you would have started teaching at the age of 24 by the latest. don’t you have any savings after working for 4 years?
with a combined family income of 5k, how can you afford a car?
bear in mind, car is not a necessity, but a roof over your head is.
also, car depreciates every day. your house, although slightly over budget as illustrated by Mason, is still an asset as it will appreciate in value.
thinking back, the first HDB resale flat that i purchased with my wife/fiancee was only a 3-room flat costing $128k.
just my 2 cents
shawn lim
To All Learned Friends Singaporean,I am very much obliged to forward my suggestion,PR second citizen of singapore should not allow to purchase public housing from resale flat from open market,Those india indian PR Second citizen of singapore are here to make singapore dollars ,and,back to india with cash to india.End of the day,Singaporean is loser to foriegner.
The PR second citizen of singapore should purchase only private property,not HDB public housing flat,By doing so, I believe ,the price of HDB public housing flat will be back to normal in future
PLS have mercy towards fellow singaporean for their future,and,better place to stay in singapore.