TAS or TES would be hard for your budget, unless your wife will get a position at either of the two schools. They may cost something around 60k NTD per month.
The other international schools should be slightly cheaper.
Some local bilingual schools are around 15~40k / month.
Public local schools are less than 10k per YEAR. Their school hour is shorter than private schools, till 12:00 for most days for the 1st grade, but they offer after school care and programs in school with reasonable cost.
Local bilingual schools have native English speaking classroom teachers and many of kids are somehow familiar with English, coming from English or bilingual kindergarten. That would provide a soft landing for a non-mandarin speaking 6 yr old.
In many cases, 6 yr old is young enough to get used to mandarin even at a local public school too.
As for the cost, if you live in outer part of taipei, or in New taipei city, 100k income should be ok with one kid at a private bilingual school, which costs most probably 40k at the most. If you send the younger one to a kinder, it would cost another 15kor more, but would be ok with a cost wise life style.
In this forum, there are threads on (older) non-mandarin kids entering to local schools. Here are 2 examples.
You may contact the posters and could get first hand info.
Why on earth would you spend that much on an apartment? You can get a very nice, very new, very modern apartment in Taichung for 20 to 25k and that includes parking. Check 591 for apartment listings.
One other thing, about speaking Chinese in school…
I teach at a private bilingual school and I’ve taught in public schools. Your children will need to have an understanding of the BPMF system of learning Chinese. That is how it is taught here in all schools and they expect 1st graders to have already mastered it.
In a private bilingual school, their day will be split up into Chinese classes and English classes. I would be worried about the Chinese classes if your children have no understanding of Chinese. In a public school it would be near impossible for them to keep up. Some schools offer remedial Chinese classes for struggling students. It would be first on my list to ask about when looking for schools.
Here’s a nice one for you.
Taichung.
3 bedroom 2 bath.
Furnished.
Newer.
Nice community.
26k + 2k community fee (get the landlord to pay it) https://m.591.com.tw/show/rent/R5361898
Would 20 - 30k a month be enough to feed, transport, mobiles, internet, bills be a reasonable amount for 2 adults, 1 child and a baby? We don’t live to excess.
Again thanks for the replies they are massively appreciated
Just be cautious.
35k tuition
25-30k rent
3 to 5k Utilities (water, electricity, gas, cable TV, internet, cellphones)
5k food (for 4 people, that is pushing it)
Transportation costs, health insurance, car or scooter insurance, entertainment money, clothes, school supplies, etc…all add up fast. Not much will be left for any decent savings.
The big dent is the tuition. Try to get a teaching job at a private school and your kids could go for free or half cost.
Here is what I pay:
Family of 3. Both parents work.
30k Mortgage
16k Nanny
8k Food
2k Gas (car)
2k Public Transport (MRT)
2k Cellphones (unlimited data for 2 phones)
3k Utilities (water, gas, electricity, internet, home phone)
3k Community Fee (because we own)
Our yearly expenses are insurance and taxes.
We set aside 10% of our income every month for an emergency fund + 10% of the remainder for fun. The rest goes into savings.