Cost of living in HK

[RastaMan]

Food: 20 hk$ up
Transport: very cheap.
Electricity: far too cheap = people waste it = global warming
Focus on housing, very expensive.

[RLM]

Dear Friends,

A few questions related to the cost of living in HK:

1. How is the medical service in HK?How much would it cost to have a medical insurance or something similar (I'm not sure of the right wording here)?
2. How much does food costs in HK - any website where I can find details?
3. How much for water, electricity,internet connection (broadband), cell phone?
4. Is public transportation expensive (bus, taxi)?
5. What would you suggest me to focus on, when calculating my expenses in HK?
6. How much for a regular meal in a restaurant?
   

Thanks to all!

[Sleuth]

This is going to sound like a non-answer, but food is expensive as you want it to be. If you have to have Western brands, it will be expensive. Same goes for restaurants.
Should be able to look at the Wellcome and Park-n-Shop grocery prices on the web.
If you aren't constantly crossing the PRC border, public transportation is cheap--bus/train/taxi/subway.
Electricity is expensive during the summer; I have been told to figure one US$ per square foot. The rest of your utilities and phone shouldn't run US$300 per month.
And housing is ridiculous.

[funnie]

The biggest expenses in HK are accomodation and medical services.
Transportation is cheap but food expenses varies depending upon your eating and drinking habits.

[PDLM]

Electricity is expensive during the summer; I have been told to figure one US$ per square foot. The rest of your utilities and phone shouldn't run US$300 per month.

I think both of those figures are HK$ not US$... (although the phone bill will depend on how many international calls you make and how cost-effective a service you use for them).

[Sleuth]

I think both of those figures are HK$ not US$... (although the phone bill will depend on how many international calls you make and how cost-effective a service you use for them).

On the electricity you are correct. One HK$ per square foot; I had divided that by 7.6 to use in my USD budget. So, 1,000 square feet = HK$1,000 or US$132.
Don't know about the utilities, though. I picked that up somewhere in here, I thought. Would be good news for my budget if the utilities
ran HK$300 instead of US$300. But it seems to me that cable TV runs that HK$300.

[RLM]

Dear All,

Thank you for your kind replies!

[pommiechick]

Hey, not really sure how these things work, but hey! here goes...

I might be moving to HK soon but wanted to find out a few things:

what is the weekly cost of food shopping? ( i know that stuff is expensive but how much?)

which area is the cheapest area to live in HK? Maybe somewhere near the airport, such as DB or TC?

When moving into a new place, are you required to stay for a year or can you get a shorter lease and is the bond situation the same as in oz- bond is 4weeks rent?

Thanks!!! Would be appreciated if someone would give me some general info on the areas!!

[carang]

if you have a HKID you are eligible to use the gov't hospitals. these are CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP! and the medical care is of a very high standard, however, the bedside manner and the "little extras" are missing. if you want the extras, you can pay to have private care at a gov't hospital or go completely private, which is excruciatingly expensive

[carang]

to sign a liease, you need....3.5 months worth of the rent!!!

2 months deposit
1st month's rent
1/2 month for agent fees (unless of course you go direct from the owner)

as for food....how do we know if you consider king crab legs once per week a necessity or if you are happy enough with instant noodles 5 times per week?

rent wise, the cheapest you'll find for space would be the outlying islands...then probably new territories, including tung chung & sai kung... then DB, then kowloon, and lastly HK island.