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Is 43k a good salary for a single person

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  1. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Acho0087:
    There are clearly a few sensitive expats who don’t choose to live on the island, and that’s ok - everyone has their own preferences & budget, and everyone should be respectful of views and circumstances that differ to their own.

    I’m just giving one opinion to someone who is a solo, young, reasonably mobile female expat from nz who obviously enjoys the city life, will be earning decent income, will be working in cwb, and who is intending to be in Hk for a little while and not planning to settle for the long term with a family etc.

    There are lots of options on the island that are not “Mayfair” pricing but still close to the action eg cwb, sheung wan, Sai Ying pun. There’s suggestion that there is an equivalent alternative expat social hub to the same extent as LKF/soho in Hk - I’d be very surprised to know if one such exists and wonder if cocktails are more reasonably priced there!
    Your opinion is ok, it may be appropriate to the OP, but don't paint a false picture that it represents the majority of expats. It is a small sub-set.
    chingleutsch likes this.

  2. #22

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    Original Post Deleted
    Which is why I said the advice may be appropriate to the OP. You can live on the island and not spend your social time having cocktails in LKF, my issue was generalising from what young, single, reasonably well paid to very well paid expats do to the majority of expats.
    chingleutsch and TaD_LaLa like this.

  3. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by Acho0087:
    LKF/Soho prices - that’s where the majority of expats hang out. A decent cocktail outside of happy hour is $100-$120 a pop plus service. Of course if you’re a guy it’s easy to eat $30 noodles and get your canned beer from 7-11 and drink on the street, but as a professional woman in a similar age group it’s not something I would personally want to do on a night out!30 mins to Kowloon is pure travel time - doesn’t include the wait for taxis in a massive queue or drivers refusing to take you to the dark side, ordering cars with hefty tips attached etc.There’s 2 camps - island vs not - the latter is cheaper for obvious reasons! In Hk you really do get what you are willing to pay for - convenience, social life & prestige. Look for cheaper flats on the island eg. older “walk ups” with no lifts, anything requiring more than 2-3 flights of stairs will go cheaper. I personally wouldn’t choose to live in quarry bay as a newcomer unless you work in insurance and that’s where your office is - the point of staying on the island is to stay close to the action
    How dare you!I am a guy and would never drink a canned beer from 7/11!
    Acho0087 and huja like this.

  4. #24

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    Oops here I go again, painting generalised pictures of guys and setting unrealistic expectations for newcomers


  5. #25

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    I personally think it is doable whilst living on the island. You can find a room in a shared apartment in SYP, Sheung Wan, Wanchai or CWB for around 10k per month. You could even get a small studio and not have to share for that price. Your tax will be 15% so you need to make sure you save that, plus your $1500 for MPF (retirement fund). Bills could be around $2k per month, which would leave you with around $23k which is not bad at all. Bills could be around

    You might not be able to save as much as you are used to, but you can still have a decent expat life. Yes, you wont be able to have fancy dinners every day, but there are heaps of deals and happy hours out there, so you can certainly make it work.

    Travel is also a lot cheaper from HK, and if you keep an eye on the deals you can have 3-4 small trips a year easily on that.

    I guess it all just depends on the type of lifestyle you are used to and what you like to do in your spare time.

    I know plenty of expats who live comfortably on that salary.


  6. #26

    You have to factor in the tax rate as well, 43k/month if based on UK tax rate, where I'm from (which I'd imagine is similar to Aus/Nz) is the equivalent to earning £75k/annum which makes a massive difference.

    One thing to bear in mind is that people are very savvy in hk, you may find a cheaper place on the island but there will invariably be a good reason for that (noisy neighbours, bug problems, condition of rooms). I havent rented for a while but try not to get locked into a long contract and sign a shorter duration rental term so you're not locked in if anything goes wrong with the property.


  7. #27

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    I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and say Acho is generalizing Soho/LKF.

    Yes the $30 noodles are very tasty but there are plenty of places in the area where you can get a pizza, burger, kebab roll, sandwich, salad, indian takeaway, etc. for under $100. If the OP is working late and doesn't cook those are all easy options for a typical work night dinner.

    Even if she does go clubbing on a weeknight there are plenty of good deals to be had. Many places provide free antipasto/canapes so for the price of that $120 cocktail you get free food too. There are also a few places that do ladies night on different days where ladies drink absolutely free.

    On weekends if you want to have a nice dinner and go clubbing afterward, yes it can be over $500 but there are only 8-9 Fridays & Saturdays a month so that would be only about 10% of her salary. Easily doable if you are young and single.


  8. #28

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    to be honest, places like tsueng kwan o (20mins - mtr source) and hung hom bay (21 mins - mtr source) is doable with that budget and depending on your lifestyle, do you want to live in high rise with decent clubhouse facilities? ie, 500 sq ft with swimming pool and gym, even mini bowling alley and some newer places have even private mini cinemas, or do you want to be close to the action for night life and drinking social life, thus, living within HK island and don't mind living in a 250 sq ft for the same price ?


  9. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mat:
    How dare you!I am a guy and would never drink a canned beer from 7/11!
    You're french, you may not drink a beer from a can, but you'll drink wine from a box.

  10. #30

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    How about living somewhere like this?

    https://www.weavecoliving.com/our-property/