Is 10K enough for a reasonably comfortable existence?

[PDLM]

I still say the question is moot because the chances of you getting an Employment Visa are slim to zero!

[emperorau]

Hey,

I noticed in the post that you said you are not English. What are you then?

I haven't wrote anything in the forum for a long time.

From 1999 to 2001, I was living with my Aunt in HK. Sharing a bunk bed with my cousin. Very small place. But I just had to give very little money to my aunt. Since you don't have any relatives to share, it would very hard for you with 10K.

Rent is huge depending on what you mean by comfortable. If you live like an Expat, for sure 10 K is not enough.

I was on a low budget too. I have to eat with my relatives. Oh my gosh, I can even explain what food they cook to me. Not very tasty to say the least.

If you tend to eat out a lot, the money won't last long time. But if you eat at cheap restaurants no problem.

Instead of having lunch at 12pm, I told my boss to have it at 2pm. That's when the tea set comes in. Depending on how much you eat, it is alright for me. I do eat a lot but because I have to save. I needed to do this.

Next, you have to look at transportation. If you take MTR most of the times, it can also can make a dent in your wallet. If you are living in Tsuen Wan, working in Causeway Bay. Ouch.. That takes a huge chunk of money for transportation fee. Although it seems cheaper out in the NT area.

If you are a Chinese, it is quite difficult to get the Foreign Teacher job in HK. But if you have a non Chinese face, you can get a Foreign Teacher Job that includes housing. You need to take a look at the NET scheme.
But you need invest money in getting a license first though.

I haven't reach 10K per month when I was in HK. The most I got was 9K.

Guess what I am in China teaching English instead.
Although lower salary than HK, it has it's benefits though. If you don't plan to make it a career, why not experience teaching. Plus you get so much travel time. Almost 1 months off for summer vacation and one month off for winter vacation. If you are non-Chinese, you have a lot of opportunities.

Besides the point, I think 10K is not enough unless you are frugal.

I don't spend like an expat so it should be enough. Can save at most 3K. If you can choose a small room with no kitchen at all, it just have a bathroom. Small to be exact. You can live in those conditions for the time being until you get your local experience. I say stay there for a year while looking to see if you can get a higher salary.

If you have a survery in Geoexpat asking what is their salary, you will have most people making more than 15K at least.

As the CDN dollar is getting stronger, the money I make is worth less. But Again, I can exchange more USD. Go figure that out.

Write just too much but again. I'm not always writing so excuse me this time.

[Veetmarg]

Thanks to everybody for their kind responses. I really appreciate it.

Just to make it clear, I'm Czech (the Czech Republic is that small piece of land in the middle of Europe), so not being a native speaker might make getting an English teaching job somewhat difficult for me. But who knows, maybe I'd have chance since I spent two years in the UK and have degree in English. Any experience with that?

That place I have a job proposal from offers a lot of opportunities for career growth and is very interesting--that's the reason why I consider working there. Also, it seems to me that it's much easier/secure to come to HK with its completely different culture and have a job immediately, instead of spending couple of weeks/months looking for one without any source of income.

As I said, I don't really mind being frugal at the beginning, because hopefully I should get a better salary soon. But still, partly thanks to your replies, I'm trying to negotiate better conditions or at least an allowance for living expenses.

Getting a working permit might be an issue, but it's always possible to "warp" the job requirments so that it's unlikely that a local would meet them (I'm not sure many locals are fluent in Czech ).

So thank you again, I have a lot to think about and will hopefully make the right decision.

[trondmv]

If I were Czech, I would set up a business in HK importing lovely Staropramen and Budvar...but then I'd probably drink all the profits..!

[Veetmarg]

Hey, great idea, trondmv, that might be the right source of extra cash on the side!

[goodkarma]

Well Veetmarg, go for it. Why not. You are young and will meet lots of people and it will be pretty tough on that income but maybe inivaluable for gaining experience as you said.

You might supplement your income by doing translations, tutoring or small imports even.

[MrLister]

I think you answered your question - living off $10k a month wouldn't be easy (but you could do some part time english tutoring, it pays well), and as some said it wouldn't be easy getting a work permit.

But there are ways around it. Companies will bend the job requirements when they send the form into the immigration department. Salary plays a part, but if there's a vital non-local skill, it really shouldn't matter. But don't get hung up on the visa shit - let's face it, you could probably walk into an English teaching job and get a visa that way, or always arrange a marriage of convenience with a really hot local girl.

The only question I'd have though, is why you'd *want* to come to live in HK for $10k a month, when you could earn at least twice that teaching English here (no brains necessary!) or three to four times that doing just about anything in London.

Might be worth looking at IT jobs with multi-national finance firms in London first. You'll earn heaps, can save a lot of money, and if they have a HK department you could try to get a transfer.

[Feniks]

Hamton,

Got the nr of that hot local girl agency :-p lol