Expenses in Hong Kong

[HennaGaijin]

I will probably move to Hong Kong in the next two months. I have been offered a job there and have some questions about expenses.

1. Could I survive in HK on 25.000HK dollars?
2. I´ve heard that a small apartment will cost around 7000/month. What other expenses can I count on (water, electricity etc)?
3. How much does food cost (lunch, supermarket etc)?
4. Is the tax only 15% or are there some "hidden" taxes aswell?
5. How much does it cost to rent a movie?
6. Are there any sites or forums for designers living in Hong Kong?

Do you have some other recomendations or tips for me moving to Hong Kong?

[Max]

Congratulations on your job in HK. To answer your questions.....

1. You can definitely (even COMFORTABLY) survive in HK on 25K every month.
2. You can expect to pay that much for rent here, though that would depend on where exactly in HK will you live. Again, electricity and water charges would depend on how much you use them. You can safely assume atleast HK$300-400 per month for electricity and water bills. If your apartment needs a gas supply then that's extra.
3. As for food, you can go both ways. If you eat out everyday then you can expect to pay upto $300 a day at the higher end, otherwise if you're not extravagant with your grub then you can go for as little as $100 a day. Supermarkets? well that depends again on what you buy.
4. The income tax here is 15%. There are no other "hidden" taxes (not as far as I know, anyway)
5. If you're finicky about getting your movies from a trusted source, then Blockbuster will charge you upto $20 to rent one. Otherwise, there are many neighborhood video rental stores that charge less.
6. sites or forums? why not this one?

Hope this helps, take care and good luck!

[HennaGaijin]

Thanks for the answers Max! It really helped.

I only know about expenses in Tokyo, that´s the only place in Asia that I have stayed a longer time in. In Tokyo expenses are really high. A lunch out is about 110HK$ and a beer out on the pub is about 100HK$.

How are the expenses when partying or eating out; clubs, beer, coffee, McDonalds (do they have McDonalds and that kind of stuff?

And do electronics (computers) cost alot?

[KnowItAll]

Lunch at the local chinese / take out type places is about 30-40$.

We'd spend $25-35 (HK) @ happy hour for a good cold pint ..

McDonalds are the cheapest in the world.

At 25K you're not going to pay 15% tax. Your rent if negotiated correctly with your employer will be tax free. Look around the forums / search for rent and tax you'll find the topics.

By the way, what sort of design work do you do?

[HennaGaijin]

Thanks KnowItAll! I will search the forum for tax for rent and tax.

I mostly work with webdesign, print and multimedia stuff. I have worked with design for videogames (Playstation2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC) for the past year.

[djatombong]

In your first year, you'll also have to pay 1 year's tax in advance (called the provisional tax) but as KnowitAll mentioned, make sure you get your employer to arrange for a rental reimbursement program to get tax relief on rental. This way even with the provisional tax you dont pay much!

[HennaGaijin]

Thanks. I don´t want pay more than 15%. Have to look that up.