Toasty, you've completely underestimated a number of of figures. Lets run some more accurate figures for you intrepid wanna be cadets.....
Rent - dependant, but most of you will be in a tiny studio or 1 bedder in Tung Chung, or worse, 10K per month is good enough.
Food - not even close
Try a 1000/week, and I'm not exagerating at all. Everything here is twice or more what you pay at home. Example, milk, its $28HKD per litre; Cheese, 250gm $45.00; Bread $20.00 for cheap stuff (loaves are half size too btw); Box of cereal 60.00.....I think you can see where I'm going with this one.....
Don't even think about steak! Cheap snags, $50-60 for 4. Get used to those I think
Forget the home phone, go with a mobile only....my bills are usually around $1500/month and I don't use mine all that much. And they have been higher.
Internet and TV - NOW has both, you'll pay around $1000/month for that...and of course you'll need to buy a TV....
Electricity - my last bill was nearly $4000, that's for 2 months. Don't think you can live with no aircon here in summer.
Public Transport - that's hard to estimate, but say $1000 per month to be safe.
So now we are at around 20K per month and our intrepid cadet has yet to buy a TV, furniture, bed, linen, kitchen items, clothes or even been out to have a bit of fun to try and forget his woes....that by the way is easy $1000/night, and that's also conservative. Want to stay in shape? Check out gym prices....or the local Residents Club, in DB, you'll be looking at another $1000/month again minimum....cause you'll want to be doing something with all your time off
A few other points, don't include your 13th month in any calculations, we haven't had that the last few years. Tax, more like 17%, and you have to save it up, they don't do PAYE here and it's harder than you think, especially when you have bugger all money left over anyway. I haven't even begun to mention the "Hong Kong" factor in prices here
I now await the screeches of justification
You have been warned
