Salary v/s Cost Of Living in HK

[MandM!]

Agree because I genuinely can't figure this one out. Extremely expensive vacations? Dinner at Petrus every night?

A nice dinner for a couple can easily run HK$5k, yes of course there are food options cheaper, but if you want to enjoy a 3 star, this is what you're looking at. If your parents are in town, that's HK$10k. Ability to do this every night, far from it. Probably the most I spent on a dinner for two was 8k in HK, this is more like a once every 5 years thing for me, just because I don't see the value in it.

Vacations, if I go with a group of friends, we easily spend 50k per person, up to 150k per person. Yes it's crazy, and you can spend much less, but it's more about do what you want when you want with all conveniences.

80k is enough to live on, but for someone who wants to do what they want when they want, 80k doesn't get you very far...

Beat your way up the food chain, or adapt and accept where you are at. Those are the choices we all have. I left working for others and run my own thing now. The satisfaction and free time are the real benefits.

[jgl]

LOL. Interesting perspective. Rest assured I am NOT boasting about my salary which is not something to boast about at all! In addition, as a matter of fact, I avoid all the bankers spending frivolously. I think it's ridiculous how some spend like ballers buying tables, blow, etc.

I think you should provide some constructive feedback instead of making random and offensive comments.

There has been plenty of constructive feedback in this thread.

Random offensive comments are part and parcel of many threads here, but in this case you should take their sheer weight to indicate that the problem is something specific to what you're doing or thinking, rather than a problem with HK.

Seems to me that you are comparing yourself to a very non-representative segment of the population. And if you're the type to compare yourself and feel bad, then HK is one of the least healthy places to do it because income disparity and ostentatious displays of wealth are so extreme here. This paragraph is just a rehash of other posts anyway, there's really nothing much to add...

[DimSumBond]

The OP is young and comparing himself to a select few people of similar age, or people who are much older. Regardless of age, these people are doing well and are at the hilt of their respective points on their career trajectories.

Also like to add that expat packages are mostly a thing of the past. They are typically reserved for country heads, or specialist problem solvers, who have been with the same company for a long period of time.

Long gone are the days when sparkle-eyed grads were pulling $250,000USD packages

100K is more than enough for a single. Heck, families survive on much less than this. Guess the OP feels bad to spend 20K+ on a little box in Hong Kong. That's for most people too.

[merchantms]

A nice dinner for a couple can easily run HK$5k, yes of course there are food options cheaper, but if you want to enjoy a 3 star, this is what you're looking at. If your parents are in town, that's HK$10k. Ability to do this every night, far from it. Probably the most I spent on a dinner for two was 8k in HK, this is more like a once every 5 years thing for me, just because I don't see the value in it.

Vacations, if I go with a group of friends, we easily spend 50k per person, up to 150k per person. Yes it's crazy, and you can spend much less, but it's more about do what you want when you want with all conveniences.

80k is enough to live on, but for someone who wants to do what they want when they want, 80k doesn't get you very far...

Beat your way up the food chain, or adapt and accept where you are at. Those are the choices we all have. I left working for others and run my own thing now. The satisfaction and free time are the real benefits.

You always say this same old thing. Among my peer group of mid/senior financial services professionals, $50k per person holiday is unheard of. Honestly.

[DimSum88]

A nice dinner for a couple can easily run HK$5k, yes of course there are food options cheaper, but if you want to enjoy a 3 star, this is what you're looking at. If your parents are in town, that's HK$10k. Ability to do this every night, far from it. Probably the most I spent on a dinner for two was 8k in HK, this is more like a once every 5 years thing for me, just because I don't see the value in it.

Vacations, if I go with a group of friends, we easily spend 50k per person, up to 150k per person. Yes it's crazy, and you can spend much less, but it's more about do what you want when you want with all conveniences.

80k is enough to live on, but for someone who wants to do what they want when they want, 80k doesn't get you very far...

Beat your way up the food chain, or adapt and accept where you are at. Those are the choices we all have. I left working for others and run my own thing now. The satisfaction and free time are the real benefits.

Finally someone on the same wave length! Yes I have been investigating start up a side consulting biz. Hope the $$ from it will get me up to be on par with other expats. What you are mentioning is totally correct.. need to adapt to survive in Hk. Glad to see you have done it and have your personal and financial freedom.

[HK_Katherine]

Finally someone on the same wave length! Yes I have been investigating start up a side consulting biz. Hope the $$ from it will get me up to be on par with other expats. What you are mentioning is totally correct.. need to adapt to survive in Hk. Glad to see you have done it and have your personal and financial freedom.

Have you not noticed what an outlier MandM is? It's not normal to spend HKD5k on an evening meal. I have a colleague who does it, and considers it normal and he struggled hugely when we started our business and everyone took big pay cuts. But seems to have figured it out now. You can live on pretty much any sum of money between 20k and 200k. I know people on 20k who are single expats who are happy. I also know the ones on 200k and they are at least as likely to be unhappy as anyone else. Money doesn't bring you happiness. Fancy restaurants don't bring happiness, enjoying a meal with good friends does. Expensive holidays don't bring happiness - enjoying new experiences and meeting people on your travel is far more rewarding and FAR more likely to happen on a bus or a train rather than in that expensive driver-provided car.

Unfortunately, you are not listening to this. Probably because you are pretty young. Getting old gives one greater insight into what's more important in life. And more self confidence to live your own life and not somebody else's.

There is only one person making you unhappy, and that's you. Not your salary. Not HK.

[mrgoodkat]

I'm with OP and MandM on this one. 80k doesn't get you very far in this city, might not even cover rent. 5k is also not a lot for dinner here and it's still a mediocre experience. You can eat at very nice Michellin starred places in Europe or the US for what you spend on an average seafood dinner here.

The unhappiness part is self-made though. I'm probably just as unhappy here as Op, but that is my own fault and I understand all the counter arguments saying the opposite. It's just difficult to find people to relate to here, especially if your social circle is mostly work related. Everyone always seems to want something out of friendships. I've been thinking about taking the pay cut and moving back to have a nice middle class life, normal friendships, normal blood pressure, BBQs, going to a nice museum etc. But I'd probably miss the life and travel opportunities here. The more time I'm spending back home the less I want to return to HK. But maybe I'm just getting old and running out of patience.

[hullexile]

I'm with OP and MandM on this one. 80k doesn't get you very far in this city, might not even cover rent. 5k is also not a lot for dinner here and it's still a mediocre experience. You can eat at very nice Michellin starred places in Europe or the US for what you spend on an average seafood dinner here.

The unhappiness part is self-made though. I'm probably just as unhappy here as Op, but that is my own fault and I understand all the counter arguments saying the opposite. It's just difficult to find people to relate to here, especially if your social circle is mostly work related. Everyone always seems to want something out of friendships. I've been thinking about taking the pay cut and moving back to have a nice middle class life, normal friendships, normal blood pressure, BBQs, going to a nice museum etc. But I'd probably miss the life and travel opportunities here. The more time I'm spending back home the less I want to return to HK. But maybe I'm just getting old and running out of patience.

Any single person who was spending 80k on rent would need their head examined. If you want to blow 5k on a meal or 150k on a holiday fine IF you can afford it but not if you are then going to complain about how much things cost. M&M lives in her rich bubble and the OP wants to live in that bubble but unfortunately can't afford to.

[drumbrake]

I'm going to open a restaurant where people spend HKD5000 a head.

[mrgoodkat]

Any single person who was spending 80k on rent would need their head examined. If you want to blow 5k on a meal or 150k on a holiday fine IF you can afford it but not if you are then going to complain about how much things cost. M&M lives in her rich bubble and the OP wants to live in that bubble but unfortunately can't afford to.

Not single, the Missus plus myself. But we are spending more than 80k a month on rent. We could easily live comfortably back home on the amount we spend on rent here alone. We would also earn substantially less. I'm not really complaining, well maybe I am. Everyone needs to find their own balance of potential to earn a lot in HK and cost of living here. I also try to spend less, but somehow end up charging my credit card just as much as last month. It's just way to easy to spend big in this city. Another member here once wrote that every expat has to bring two bags, one for gold and one for shit and leave when either on is full. I think that is pretty spot on.