Singapore: What is life like in the most expensive city in the world?

The answer is surprising. Pretty cheap.

After half year in Singapore I don't elevate myself to a "connoisseur on Singapore". Yet I was very surprised when I red that Singapore was the most expensive city in the world in 2013 (http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26412821). Particularly after living in Paris and Sweden, or spending longer time in Tokyo and Geneva, it almost seemed ridiculous. I have never been able to have as good standard of living as I have here in Singapore.

You must know that I come from the Czech republic where loaf of bread costs $0.5 and draft beer $1.5. Ridiculous prices for most of the people from West. Yet, as a poor student back home I seldom eat out or even in canteen, I share my room, and I buy discounted stuff in supermarket. You may consider me cheap but I rather call it frugal :-). I know what's the cost of my time and I don't save on this kind of stuff.

Yet in Singapore, I have my own room and I eat out two times a day delicious food. My expenses might be slightly higher, but not significantly. Middle class people here doesn't suffer as well: some even have own maid. Something unimaginable for us in Europe.

So where is the catch?!

I suppose the problem is that the ranking is made by bunch of western economists who probably live somewhere in suburbs where they have a big house and own a big car... One mustn't forget that Singapore is a city state and all those things are very very expensive.

Then they probably, in the sense of inflation, evaluate basket of goods. I am sure that it includes things like wine, cheese, milk, yoghurt, ham, bread, apples... But don't forget, you are in Asia. Those things are imported and extremely expensive. I treat myself with a white yoghurt as I dearly like it and miss it: 500g costs around $5. That makes it like four times more expensive than in Paris. It is similar with milk. People here simply do not cook often, food in food courts is way to cheap for cooking was worth it... And besides that, it is like 30 minutes drive to a mall in Malaysia..

They also rather use taxi than buy a car: one km in taxi costs around half SG$ while in Prague, my home, it is more than twice the price. Government regulates number of cars on the streets; each two weeks several car licenses are released and there is auction to get the license. Demand is high, supply low. The price is crazy: it can be SG$ 90,000 for a small "shopping" car. Twice for a "family" size.

Life in Singapore is good. The city is very green, safe, and friendly. There are countless cheap opportunities to do any kind of activity from climbing beautifule mountains, hiking in jungle, or diving due to its proximity to number of so diverse countries.