Is 37K good enough for salary in HK?

[jmbf]

37K is sufficient for a single guy living a reasonably frugal lifestyle. Finding decent accommodation within your budget will be your biggest challenge. Perhaps consider flatsharing? They have listings here:

https://geoexpat.com/classifieds/apa...lats-available

You can also check up some examples of the general cost of living here:

https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/hong-kong

[yoshioka09]

Overall 37K is quite good for normal life. Since you need to send 6.5k for family, let's count your salary as 30k a month. General cost of living here for two of us is around 20k including rent, grocery, public transport, internet, utilities (gas, electricity and water) and occasional eating out.

10-12K can give you decent apartment in Kowloon but not on main island. If you are single and can do with basic studio, you can be done with around 8k rent in Jordan. If you decide to stay further near Tuen Mun, you might get bit bigger apartments for same budget but commute could be time consuming in comparison. It depends on your budget as well as where your office is located.

Also checkout if your employer is providing some medical cover or not. Private medical care is expensive without some cover from employer.

Hi vyral_143,

This is truly helpful. I'll be living alone. My prospective employer's workplace is in Causeway Bay. Say with the remaining 30K, how much should I allocate for groceries, electricity, water, wifi, and daily meals? (As much as possible I'd like to cook so I can save as well) - given 8-10k will be allocated to rent?

[yoshioka09]

37K is sufficient for a single guy living a reasonably frugal lifestyle. Finding decent accommodation within your budget will be your biggest challenge. Perhaps consider flatsharing? They have listings here:

https://geoexpat.com/classifieds/apa...lats-available

You can also check up some examples of the general cost of living here:

https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/hong-kong

Hi jmbf,

This is helpful. Just what I needed. As much as possible I would love to cook to save some bucks too. Do you think I would be allowed?

And also, how much do you think can I save?
With that 37K
6-10K - probably would go to rent
6.5K - sent to family overseas

So remaining would be roughly 20K hkd T_T

[yoshioka09]

Original Post Deleted

I am very frugal, and as long as I can save from the remaining salary, I would gladly consider room/apartment/flat sharing. Do you know anyone or any links I can check out? Thank you!

[Mat]

You won't find anything decent under 20k these days. I'd reconsider. Is it really worth the move?

What a load os tosh.

If you are a lawyer, banker and commute phobic etc yes.

For most normal people there are plenty of flats well below 20k that are perfectly acceptable

You can get two bedrooms flats with full facility and great sea view in Agean Coast...for example...or Sea Crest Villa or Ma On Shan Area etc...

HK is not Wanchai/Sheung Wan only.

[vmlinuz]

As I have pointed out before, and I'm sure I will have to point out again, I am in a 2-bedroom place with a decent sized living room in a fairly modern building - no 'services' other than a doorman, though - on the border of Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun, literally 3 minutes walk from the nearest MTR exit, for well under $20k per month.

"Nothing decent under $20k" is nonsense.

[SannyJ]

It is doable, but will be tough.
Don't forget that you need to pay tax and MPF out of your salary. With that and the money you give your family, you will only have about 25k to live on.
Rent and bills would be around 10k, provided you live over on the Kowloon side. You may be able to find a room in a share flat for your budget in the suburbs you listed on the island but it will be harder. The smaller and cheaper apartments don't really have a kitchen, so cooking might not be an option. If you enjoy Chinese food, there are plenty of local food options which are quite cheap and you could feed yourself for 15k a month easily. I have not included the costs for transport as that will depend on where you work.
Not sure what your lifestyle is like where you are right now, but I would definitely weigh it up with a move in HK.

[Vix85]

There are studios for less than 10K that's true.
So effectively 37K is not necessarily bad.

However I'm wondering is 37K an OK salary for someone with 7y of working experience in IT? From my perspective it's quite below average... am I wrong?

[Nep]

Nah...salary is ok. Plenty of competition in Hongkong.

[vyral_143]

Hi vyral_143,

This is truly helpful. I'll be living alone. My prospective employer's workplace is in Causeway Bay. Say with the remaining 30K, how much should I allocate for groceries, electricity, water, wifi, and daily meals? (As much as possible I'd like to cook so I can save as well) - given 8-10k will be allocated to rent?

If you are open to flat sharing (where there is common kitchen and living room but separate bedroom) you can be done in 6-7k around. There are many sources to find such flat sharing listings like this forum, groups on FB, etc. If not, you can search ~180sq ft apartments for 9-10k with basic amenities. Since your office is in Causeway Bay, I would recommend you searching apartment near by like Wan Chai, Causeway Bay. This will cut down any commute related expenses to minimal. If it is 20-25 walk to work, you can take that - may be in one direction between home and office - good for health too :P

Count roughly 3k for groceries, 500-700 for electricity, water and gas, ~200 for WiFi (can get 500/1000Mbps line from HKBN/SmartOne), ~200-300 for mobile phone(depending on your usage). For meals, approx 4-5k a month (assuming daily spending of around 130-150 for two meals). These are 'generous' figures, IMHO. If you are in flat sharing, you can save in utilities and WiFi from above quoted as they would be divided.