Earlier this month, Singapore was ranked the most expensive city in the world for expats, for 3 consecutive years.
As an expat living here in Singapore, how do you make "local" living here affordable?
It means eating at hawker centres, buying groceries from wet markets and eschewing private transport for trains and buses.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research and analysis division of British media firm The Economist Group, produces the worldwide cost of living survey to help firms come up with compensation packages and allowances for expatriates and business travellers.
It takes into account more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services in calculating its cost of living index.
Singapore has placed top since 2014, and was ranked first again in the latest report earlier this month, ahead of Zurich and Hong Kong, which shared second place, with Geneva coming in third.
The Singapore Government responded to this with a detailed post on its gov.sg website to explain why the country was top of the chart.
Italian Joe Galeotti, a 48-year-old hairstylist, added: "You can either have a meal for less than $10 at the foodcourt or $200 at a restaurant... I choose the former as it makes more sense to me to eat Asian food when I'm in an Asian country."
The EIU has named Singapore the most expensive place in the world to get a car because of its certificate of entitlement system and, for some expats used to driving, this takes some getting used to.
Said Dutchman Charlie van Eeden: "I used to drive a BMW but it's just too expensive here. Now, I'm paying $1,400 for a rental Hyundai. For the same price, I could probably rent a BMW 5 Series in Amsterdam." If not for his two young children, aged three and five, the 39-year-old head of Asia at a creative agency added that he would rely on public transport or cabs to get around instead.
Rental rates here also require adjusting expectations.
Instead of paying $6,000 a month to rent a new condominium unit in Novena, Mr Galeotti chose to live in a nearby 10-year-old condominium instead, paying almost half the price in rent. He said: "I don't mind that it is an old condominium. It still has great facilities."
To become an expert on Singapore, check out srx.com.sg/singapore-expats