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New to HK

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    5

    New to HK

    I'm an Aussie coming over to Hong Kong in a week. My employer will be paying the rent for me in the Tuen Mun area in the New Territories.
    I will have to pay electricity, food costs, internet, transportation.

    Does anyone have an idea how much will all these cost per month?
    I was looking on this forum and electricity seems to be like $600/month when its not summer and $1500-2000/month in summer.

    Anyones help would be great. Thanks.


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    966

    [QUOTE=travela;
    Does anyone have an idea how much will all these cost per month?
    I was looking on this forum and electricity seems to be like $600/month when its not summer and $1500-2000/month in summer.

    Anyones help would be great. Thanks.[/QUOTE]

    I think that's a bit too high.
    My electricity bill is around HKD600 - 800 for two months. I'm single living in one bed flat. Aircon on all night.

    internet: HKD 200 per month
    TV: HKD 200 per month


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast Marina
    Posts
    17,934

    Re transportation - where are you working? If in Tuen Mun, then transportation will be practically zero all week (maybe HKD3-5 each way on a bus if you have to cross town). But if you want to get to HK Island at the weekend, more like HKD20 on a bus each way. (bus is faster than MTR to HK Island from Tuen Mun).
    Internet - perhaps HKD200-300 per month depending on whether or not you include Now TV or something with it. Sometimes you can get it included in the accomodation price, you might ask.
    Food - very hard to say. Taste in Tuen Mun has a good selection of international foods. There are not that many good international restaurants out this way - a few in the Gold Coast (10 mins from Tuen Mun, more expats if you like that) but plenty of good local ones.


  4. #4

    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Posts
    5

    Aah Thank you for the info moving07. Thats good to know the transportation will be quite cheap comparatively in the Tuen Mun area. They will be finding a place for me to live close by the families if I choose to take the live-out option. By what it sounds like, as long as they pay the rent, cost should be pretty low even with internet, tv, electricity, transport.
    I think I'll have to wait and see about the food cost. It's not like I'll be eating out every day, but buying groceries might be more expensive?


  5. #5

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast Marina
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    Yes - eating out (if you eat local) is often cheaper than buying groceries, particularly if you want to cook western standard meals.

    Your main cost for transport would be if you stayed out in LKF (the partying area of HK island) on a Friday night, for example, until after the MTR shuts. Then you either take a taxi (circa 300HKD) or wait for the night bus (HKD20) - which only runs every half an hour and takes a while..... if you are not going to hang out in the party-area, you're absolutely fine.

    Last edited by MovingIn07; 20-04-2011 at 12:01 PM.

  6. #6

    hiya, u should find out if your employer is paying your rent or just giving you a rental reimbursement for living, which is basically a tax deduction on your taxes......if that's the case, u might end up wanting to relocate to somewhere closer to the city; which you should find out what the actual amt the are willing to deduct from your salary....... Tsuen mun is quite local in terms of the community that live there; if you have never been to hk before, u mite find it a culture shock........Im Chinese born Canadian and i, too find certain places to be too local....


  7. #7

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast Marina
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    Why on earth would someone working in Tuen Mun on a low salary want to live on HK island? And Tuen Mun is hardly less developed than the rest of HK - a bit less English is spoken but otherwise it's fine, and the Gold Coast is FULL of expats - so only a 10 min bus ride if she wants a western style restaurant.


  8. #8

    assuming the company is willing to pay for rent; salary is not likely to be too low; compared to general standards that is, but if someone is just relocating to hk for the very first time, i would think being closer to the city helps the individual to settle in a lot easier, especially with the convenience of being able to attend activities mostly on hk island; in any case, its just an opinion....


  9. #9

    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Tuen Mun
    Posts
    6,191
    Quote Originally Posted by elle_esse:
    assuming the company is willing to pay for rent; salary is not likely to be too low; compared to general standards that is, but if someone is just relocating to hk for the very first time, i would think being closer to the city helps the individual to settle in a lot easier, especially with the convenience of being able to attend activities mostly on hk island; in any case, its just an opinion....
    What, settle in by adding an unnecessary hour each way commute from and to one of the most densely populated and polluted concrete heat traps in the world?

    Have you ever actually been to Tuen Mun? I am still astounded that people think there is nothing going on in the New Territories.....I'm sure I can speak for many of us living up here when I say that we rarely and only under protest go to HK Island.

    On Thursday I need to go to immigration and it will be my first time on the island for months. My plan is to get in and get out of there as soon as possible..hate it..

    Tuen Mun? It's a proper city with electricity and running water and everything!!
    chingleutsch and MovingIn07 like this.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Tuen Mun
    Posts
    2,074
    Quote Originally Posted by bryant.english:
    On Thursday I need to go to immigration and it will be my first time on the island for months. My plan is to get in and get out of there as soon as possible..hate it..
    And even for most Immigration stuff (I don't know what special mischief Bryant is getting up to that he need to head over to Wanchai ) you can go to the less manic Yuen Long office!
    bryant.english likes this.