The findings attribute it to the strong currency and everyday cost of living expenses - real estate, cars, food/drink, utilities and even the most expensive place in the world to purchase clothing! We also have no natural resources, so everything has to be imported and that makes everything more expensive.
In comparison, New York is ranked 26th on the list for the most expensive city.
I have been able to cut our grocery bills in half over the past 6 months, as I now shop at a more local grocery store called Fair Price, instead of going to the higher priced markets which cater to expats. Singapore is so diverse I can actually find a lot of western things even at the local grocer.
But where I'm saving a ton of money is on fruits and vegetables and buying more items from regional countries. For example, you can get Driscoll's strawberries imported from the US, which will run you about $13 for a pint (and by the time they get all the way over here, they're not very fresh anyway). Now, I buy Korean strawberries and they are about 3/4 of the price. My grapes are from South Africa, bananas from the Philippines, apples from New Zealand and most veggies are from Malaysia. I've also learned to purchase meats from Australia, as it's the closest to US quality, but still a bit cheaper. No Chinese chicken for this family :)
So while I still have to go to the expat grocers weekly to supplement, it's helped that I've gotten out of my US comfort zone! I'll still pay $10 for a box of Kellogg's cereal and $6 for a half gallon of Australian milk, $10 for a jar of peanut butter. And Barefoot wine, which I think is like $5 a bottle in the US, costs $25 here! But, hey, there's just some things we can't live without! xo
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-named-worlds-most-expensive-city-economist-intelligence-015408023--sector.
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