Weekly living expenses

[upupandaway]

Hi. I am considering moving to HK with my wife and 9 week old baby. Can anyone give me a rough estimate for the weekly grocery shopping. We are not bothered about top brand names etc and maybe will have dinner out once a week. I am trying to see how far the salary on offer would go.
Any one able to save any money living in HK or is it a place you spend many years with nothing to show for it when you return home?
Anyone care to suggest a reasonable salary (excluding rent) that would be acceptable for a senior management position in the aviation field?
Thank you for any help. By the way, it's my first post.
Cheers

[carang]

you can get away with spending very little per week on groceries or $1000's

we, family 2 adults, one three year old, one 1 year old, our helper and two dogs (including diapers and formula and dog food...) spend about $5-6k/month. we eat (a lot of) brazil chicken, NZ/Oz beef (frozen from the wholesaler), local pork. we buy most of our fruit/veg from the markets, but not all. we live quite frugally, but our helper is a fantastic cook and can make amazing dishes that taste like they are from a restaurant (her chicken & eggplant curry with coconut milk is to die for!).

we don't drink alcohol, so that isn't included in our costs.

[carang]

i know people who lived here for 5 years and went back to canada and bought a huge house in calgary (not cheap) in cash.

i also know people who have lived here for years and get caught up in the "expat" lifestyle and blow most of what they make.

so, it really comes down to you. if you don't go mad with your money, and think before you spend, just as you would do at "home" then you should be able to save. especially if you are coming over on an expat package.

[Alby]

I agree with Carang and find being Smart with my money to be quite easy.

I prefer to buy locally and I get fresh veggie/fruit from the wet market; fresh meat from the butcher (I find the Halal butcher to have the best quality and excellent value), bread made daily at the bakery across the street, and fresh soy milk from the soy milk shop next to the bakery.

I tend to go to the supermarkets Park-N-Shop, and Wellcome, Vanguard, for my dry goods.

Entertainment / eating out and even shopping in general - there is always a promo or sale going on in HK.

[upupandaway]

can you give me an idea what an expat package would consist of? (some rough figures)

[carang]

with no experience in your field, i can't help sorry.

[Bayrunner75]

Upupandaway, you may want to look at the websites for ParknShop and Wellcome. They will show you what the price of goods are and what the weekly specials look like.

Do a pretend "shop" and see how you go.

Sorry no idea about salary for your industry.

Good luck.

[jimbo]

Agreed with the others really, Its a question of being how frugal you wish to be.

I'm about to sign a contract for a job offer in HK and whilst the salary is nothing to write home about I can still save a considerable sum each month and have an active social life in HK.

Its going to bars and clubs in HK which take a big hit out of your salary thus I don't actively go there anymore unless its to network.

Eat and shop locally and you'll save a lot of money, Going to places like 360 and Olivers is fine once in a while to buy luxury goods but again is expensive and not wise to do your weekly shopping there unless you're on a massive expat salary.

[rebekah]

We get all the basics from park n shop and wellcome and then get western goods at oliver's, 360, gateway, etc.

My husband is the world's pickiest eater, we go out about once a week, and I spend about 600 at park and shop every week or two, and about the same at some combination of oliver's/360/gateway/great/taste/city'super, though we spent more at first trying to find what we liked and finding where to get it, and I am pregnant, so there were times I just HAD to have whatever it was i saw at the western type stores. Now that we have a pretty good set of recipes it's easy to keep things stocked up at home, and we buy more from park n shop than the specialty stores.

[Richack10]

upupandaway,

Whereabouts are you considering moving from? I moved from the UK and find my money goes a lot further here. My salary is nothing to write home about by HK standards but I go out about once a week on average, eat out 2-3 times a week and still manage to save. No kids, just me and my girlfriend.

Rich