Can a family of five survive in Singapore on income from one home-based business?

Not just survive, but thrive, says Ms Gina Tan, 33, a mother of three and boss of online brand Baking With Gina, which she runs out of her four-room Housing Board flat in Choa Chu Kang.

Each day, Ms Tan and husband Ethan Ng, 35, execute a seamless dance in the kitchen: She weighs ingredients, he mixes, and they divide and conquer with easy rapport as they fulfil orders for Ms Tan’s sourdough bagels and waffles.

“Initially, I was not used to it,” says Mr Ng, who only started baking a year ago. “It took a lot of practice to know who does what, and automatically move to the next step without discussion.”

Before that, he helped his wife with deliveries and accounting while juggling a full-time job in tech sales. But in 2020, as orders flooded in thanks to a pandemic-fuelled craze for homemade bread, Mr Ng quit the job he held for two years to join her, and realise the couple’s dream of running a business together.

Today, their monthly revenues hover in the high four-figures, enough to cover expenses such as petrol for the car and tuition classes for children Eden, 14, Elnathan, 11, and Ethnan, 7. The family also takes holidays once every few years to places like Malaysia, Hong Kong and Japan.

“We plan well and spend only on what is necessary,” says Ms Tan, citing prudent financial habits such as eating at restaurants only on special occasions, packing their own drinks, and enjoying free activities such as cycling or going to parks, instead of paid entertainment.

Stretching their dollar

Running an F&B business has been a goal of the Ng family for well over a decade. Ms Tan and Mr Ng, an accomplished home cook, would often whip up meals for their extended family alongside Mr Ng’s late father, who had hoped they could one day open an eatery.

The couple’s story began in 2007, when they took up part-time retail jobs at Raffles City shopping mall for the Christmas season. Ms Tan, then 18, manned a chocolate shop, while Mr Ng, 20, worked at a nearby stationery store.

The polytechnic students caught each other’s eye, exchanged phone numbers and began taking lunch breaks together.

A year later, they got hitched, scored a Build-to-Order (BTO) flat with a housing grant of $20,000, and Ms Tan became pregnant. She would conceive again in 2011 and 2015.

The Ngs paid for their housing loan entirely using their CPF. To manage the cost of raising three children, they researched government initiatives such as parenthood tax rebates, baby bonus grants, and the Child Development Account.

Under the account, which is automatically created for each Singaporean baby, the Government matches any sum deposited by parents dollar-for-dollar, for up to $3,000 for the first child, $6,000 for the second, and $9,000 for the third.

They used the money to pay pre-school fees, buy the children’s health supplements from pharmacies, and pay for kids’ healthcare check-ups.

“Once we put a dollar in the account, the Government will match it, so we are technically only paying half the school fees, which are already very affordable,” says Mr Ng. The children attended pre-schools under the anchor operator scheme, which caps fees at $160 for kindergarten and $720 for full-day childcare.

Under the Government-Paid Leave Scheme, Ms Tan also enjoyed four months’ maternity leave from her job as a sales executive at a Japanese company during her first pregnancy.

But when baby No 2 came along, she resigned to be a stay-at-home mother. And that was the beginning of an unexpected new career.

Baking with mummy and daddy

By her third pregnancy, Ms Tan was bored of her regular routine and picked up baking to pass the time.

She started by making lactation cookies (cookies containing ingredients that boost the breastmilk supply of expectant mothers) and quickly expanded her repertoire to muffins, cakes and festive goodies, which she sold via word of mouth.

By 2019, her three boys had all developed an insatiable love for bread, so mum learned to make sourdough as a way to save money. “We (used to) spend $20 to $30 per visit to the bakery,” she laments.

The timing was perfect. Ms Tan began posting pictures of her colourful sourdough loaves on Instagram just as the lockdown-triggered home baking fever spread across the platform like wildfire.

Struggling with the increased demand, she roped in the family to help; Mr Ng did deliveries, while the children helped fold packaging boxes.

“The kids ate my failed bakes and gave me inspiration for new flavours,” adds Ms Tan. “They were extremely honest with their feedback.”

With Mr Ng now on board, things are less hectic, but the family continue to bond over baking treats for their own consumption – cream puffs, for example.

“All of us will have different roles. Each kid will do what they like – one likes to sift flour, another likes to beat eggs. I’ll be there to guide them,” says Ms Tan.

Adds Mr Ng, laughing: “I’m on standby to clean up.”

These precious sessions are an opportunity for the parents to teach their boys values such as patience and resilience when attempts fail.

Baking together has also strengthened their marriage, as they navigate spending nearly every waking moment up close.

“Squabbles here and there are normal as we work together 24/7,” she says. “But that's what makes the relationship stronger. We have very open communication.”

“We forgive and forget very fast,” adds Mr Ng. “This hour we’ll have an argument, the next hour, we’re okay already.”

Such a positive attitude will come in handy as the couple prepares for their fourth ‘baby’ – a hawker stall selling noodles – as an intermediate step to realising Mr Ng’s late father’s eatery dream. “Since he's not around, we’ll fulfil his wish,” says Mr Ng.

“For the kids to see us working together is a wonderful thing,” adds Ms Tan. “It teaches them what teamwork is all about, and how we built this family together.”

This feature was brought to you by the Ministry of Social and Family Development.