Hello,
My wife and I have recently been lucky enough to welcome our first child during these interesting times. We live in London, UK, but are from S Korea so we made the decision to have the baby and spend a few months in Korea as things escalated back home in England.
I've recently had a transfer offer to HK through my job as a consultant and, while the package seems ok (~60K HKD/month, pre-tax), I was surprised at the high living costs, even compared to London.
I was wondering if I could get people's thoughts on the feasibility of two (Korean) expats raising an infant in HK.
Researching the internet, I've worked out the following living costs for the three of us, if people could give their opinions on whether too high/low:
Water/Gas/Electricity/Internet: 3500 HKD
Mobile Phone: 500 HKD
Groceries: 1500 HKD
Food: 2000 HKD
Travel: 1500 HKD
Local friends/colleagues I spoke to have recommended the areas:
- TKO/LOHAS Park (far from client/our offices and airport but new-build homes with seemingly great value for money)
- Olympic/Kennedy Town (near the offices and a cultural centre... but one colleague does not recommend)
- Tseun Wan (further from offices but well-connected)
We were hoping for a 700+ sq ft (saleable area) 3 bedroom apartment costing just under 30k HKD. As my wife will take time off from working, a quiet home in a clean environment (preferably with playgrounds, parks and other families) is preferred.
Also, the company has offered 70K HKD to help us move our personal items from London. Does anyone know if this is reasonable? All removals companies I've found require personal details entered to give a quote...
Thanks in advance for your help.