Moving: The Planning
So, I’ve made the decision. I am moving out. I’m going to change my environment and be where I can grow to my true potential. Now, comes planning my move.
Just in case you missed it:
So, how exactly do you plan for something so big in your life? How do you plan for a daunting step in your life? Where do you start?
For me, it started off with deciding what I wanted to do. Of course, you can’t have everything that you want in life. I wanted to reboot my career and have a fresh start.
Guess what? Things changed. If you’ve read an old post on starting over I had, you would know that I have deferred my studies due to medical reasons. Since then, I’ve gotten a Diploma. Following that, I am going to get a Professional Certificate from CILTS.
You might be wondering what I’m going to do if I’m not doing what I planned. I ended up enrolling myself back to University and continue my Bachelor Degree studies.
I’ve sent in my application and gotten accepted. So, I’ve got my goal. Now comes the most important bit of every move, logistics.
It might sound easy, oh get a job, move, get a place yada yada. You are wrong. Sure, if you have a friends, it’s easier to do it. You can couch surf for the better of a few months before finding a place on your own.
So what did I do? Studying again, despite not wanting to, will cost me money. I needed to sort out a place to stay, money to sustain myself overseas.
I started off looking into friends. But I found that it isn’t a practical or viable option. So, I went on to room rentals. Cause what am I gonna do with a 2–3 bedroom apartment right?
On average, a decent room would run me down around S$800 a month. Anything below that are either on the wee ends of the island, or just terrible.
With employment, it wouldn’t be too bad. I took life on a ‘hard’ difficulty. Not wanting to cheat, I decided I’d get a job fair and square. So until that happens, $800 is already kind of pushing it.
A miracle then happened! An old friend of my father, has a place in Singapore that he seldom stay at cause he’s in Indonesia for majority of the time.
I’ve spoken to him, and he gave me the all clear to look after the place while he’s away.
Roof over my head, solved.
Next, I need to deal with financing. Moving with finances is far more important than you think. Sure you can couch surf and find a job after you’ve moved, but you still need money.
If you’re moving within the same country, it’s fine. What if you’re moving overseas? Then what? I thought of the same thing and concluded that I need to open a bank account before moving.
In Singapore, it’s a little bit more of a hassle. One can’t just ‘open’ a bank account if he/she does not have a green card or a pass. If you don’t have a long term stay, you need a reason to open one.
UOB Singapore was my first go to, because I have an account with UOB Indonesia. They told me that I need to sign up for this “Savings Insurance” for me to open one.
What it is, it’s just a scheme where you deposit a set amount monthly. Call it savings or premium, it’s a gimmick still. You save, they invest.
After a set amount of time, they’ll return you double or more of your saved amount. So if you saved $30,000 you’ll get $60,000 in return.
Sounds fair? Not really. You’re tied down for at least 5 years. It’s not something that you should take lightly. 5 years is a long time and you’re never certain of the days to come. Don’t commit.
So I’m looking into other banks. Although I haven’t had the chance to actually go look for banks to open an account. Push comes to shove, Citibank will be my go to.
Called DBS. They’ve told me that they can allow me to open what they call a “Multicurrency Autosave Account”. What it entails? A minimum average and monthly fee, plus penalty if you don’t meet the average. This is by far one of the better deals I have come across.
Prior to that, I got in touched with UOB ID, they got me connected with a UOB SG relationship manager. Who told me, UOB isn’t supposed to be asking for me to sign up for ‘Savings Insurance’. There’s a minimum starting deposit of $500 but that’s it.
Lesson right there people, don’t trust the first person you meet when it comes to this. Always, always, study your options and evaluate carefully.
I went to DBS. Long story cut short, I can open the account that they mentioned on the phone. But they need everything from proof and reason of why I’m in Singapore and also proof of my tax in Indonesia. They wanted my tax number and whatnot.
I though that was a hassle and went next door to the UOB branch in Bedok. I walked in. All they required was this letter from the school saying I need a bank account and my Singapore address.
The best part? I only need to maintain a monthly average of $500. If I don’t, I get charged a $2 for that month!
Banking, solved.
All that’s left, is to move.