Possible Expat in HK... how expensive is it really?

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  1. #11

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    Apr 2005
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    most people from a western country cannot imagine 3 adults living in 500'.

    what exactly do you think is expensive about my lifestyle? we live VERY frugally. we almost never eat out. we go to the cinema once every 4-6 months. we NEVER go out to the bar drinking....


  2. #12

    Nam,
    I recently moved from San Francisco, and while I'm not an expert, I think you can certainly live comfortably here based on your responses to some earlier questions. Other than rent, you can find what you need relatively inexpensively. I chose to live in an older walkup because I found a very nice apartment that is about $1800 US (700 sq feet which is quite spacious for little me). I eat very cheaply - my lunches are far less expensive than what i paid in SF, and I eat a lot of delicious $4 noodles for dinners Groceries are similarly priced or cheaper, unless you require organic (as someone else mentioned) or US brands. Taxis are so cheap, and public transport is so efficient, clean and inexpensive. I am making less money than I did in the states and I'm actually saving more....

    Hope this helps - I know i didn't add much to what has already been said, but i think you should go for it

    - RA


  3. #13

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    Oct 2007
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    i make 600k per year, but be able to safe about 300k annualy. of course i not have 2 dogs and i am not in the dog business too and not drive a 7 seater, but drive a BMW 740. LOL


  4. #14

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    Dec 2007
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    Hi Carang, may I know where are you living. Rental below 20k/month for 2100' + rooftop is a real bargain.


    I understand this question is pretty subjective and depends a lot on lifestyle but let's take an average view. Will HKD52/month salary (accommodation provided) provide a comfortable living for two in Hong Kong? No children.

    Thank you.


  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by chako:
    Hi Carang, may I know where are you living. Rental below 20k/month for 2100' + rooftop is a real bargain.


    I understand this question is pretty subjective and depends a lot on lifestyle but let's take an average view. Will HKD52/month salary (accommodation provided) provide a comfortable living for two in Hong Kong? No children.

    Thank you.
    Pretty much anywhere in new territories will provide you with that size for that budget.

    52k a month for two? Thats more than enough to live on especially if accommodation is already provided.

  6. #16

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    our neighbour just signed a lease last week same house as ours (actually we share one wall) and they are paying $17K/month

    BUT we live WAYYYYYY out of town. it takes me 1.25 hours to drive to central. we are in sai kung country park. it's perfect (except the commute!)


  7. #17

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    and yeah, you should live VERY comfortably for that.

    you wouldn't necessarily need the space that we have (5 bedrooms/4 baths). you could get 1400' for around $8-9K in our village and still live quite comfortably.

    we earn slightly less than what you surmise(between the two of us with no housing allowance) that you will be earning and we support 3 adults, 2 children and 2 dogs, so you won't have any problems on that front.

    good luck!


  8. #18

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    Whether HK is "expensive" really depends on your lifestyle... what we've found compared to US (new york) are:

    HK more expensive...
    - apt sizes are a lot smaller for what you pay. a decent sized place (800 sqft liveable space) in the 'heart' of HK is more expensive than a comparable place in the 'heart' of manhattan. Of course there are places outside of the city which are a lot cheaper... but then you'll need to compare those places with Queens / Brooklyn / Jersey...not manhattan...

    - transportation adds up. in NY they offer unlimited Metrocards for subways / buses... no such thing in HK - ie. every trip counts and cost $$. It's not expensive persay but can add up if you're not careful and should be factored in when you find a place that requires a long commute...

    - owning a car is ridiculously expensive here compared to the U.S. - parking spaces as well as registration fees are expensive... not to mention the cars themselves... but then again, you really don't need to drive in HK even if you live away from the city - the transport system rocks.

    - your cellphone bill might get outta control. we're not used to monitoring our minutes / data usage... since in the U.S. you can get nationwide unlimited as well as unlimited data plans... for some weird reason this doesn't exist here - everything is by minute/bytes etc... (unless someone out there can turn us onto a better plan... we have CSL) the concept of "unlimited" is not really practiced here (eg. see transportation cost above)

    - if you wanna have starbucks everyday, you'll go broke... starbucks is almost twice as expensive here than in NYC. For a grande coffee it's almost $4usd...it's nuts. :-)

    - not sure if you're a shopper (clothes) but it's surprising that we found MUCH BETTER shopping deals back in NYC - with all the sample sales and sales in general at Macy's/Bloomingdales and even Barney's, you can really get great deals on name brand high quality stuff- not to mention outlets. In HK, if you want anything 'branded', it's almost never on sale, unless it's the short period right after xmas / chinese new year. Clothes seem to be cheaper in the States.

    - There aren't as many sales/discounts at grocery stores in HK for some reason... (or maybe we don't know where to look). For a bottle of Listerine it'll run you close to $8usd... in the U.S. you can go to Target and stock up - especially when there are sales.

    the post-ers on here hit it right on the nose... it really depends on your lifestyle. Eating out can be cheap(er) if you opt for asian food - but if you wanna have western food, even simple stuff like a decent burger or pizza, it gets expensive. Wonton noodles... cheap, no problem. If you live a Chinese-lifestyle you can live cheaply, but if you wanna consume western food / products, it's gonna cost you.


  9. #19

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    Dec 2007
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    Hi Carang, thanks alot.

    I am not familiar with Sai Kung. Is it too much to ask some building names in the vicinity of where you are staying. Or whether you can let me know your real estate agent.

    Thanks.


  10. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by goleoboy:
    - owning a car is ridiculously expensive here compared to the U.S.

    - your cellphone bill might get outta control. we're not used to monitoring our minutes / data usage... since in the U.S. you can get nationwide unlimited as well as unlimited data plans... for some weird reason this doesn't exist here - everything is by minute/bytes etc... (unless someone out there can turn us onto a better plan... we have CSL) the concept of "unlimited" is not really practiced here
    On cars I think you'll find it is the US that is the exception rather than the rule - there you are free to pollute the planet to your heat's content.

    On phones, how many calls do you make? You can get bundled minutes up to several thousand a month (let's say 2+ hours per day every day). Do you really spend more than that on the phone? If so then I respectfully suggest that you need to get a real life! And there are certainly unlimited data packages around (albeit rate limited above some number of Gigabytes). Again I'm not an expert because the last thing I want to do when I'm not in front of my computer is download stuff.