Cost of Living in HK
 

Hi,

I would like to get some idea about living expenses in HK.
Could a small family survive on a monthly HK$40.000,- ? When reading through other posts I have the idea this might not be enough.

Thanks in advance,

Loko

Cpt Loko,
Sounds tight if it includes rent,schooling etc.Also depends where you are.Mid levels was pricey,DB less so,and Mui Wo cheapest.
When I was there 98-01,I could get by on about HKD 6K a month(beer,food,skitles),excluding expeditions to Wan Chai:= But then I was single.;)

i think it should be survivable but my personal opinion is that it greatly depends on one's lifestlye. If living on a decent lifestyle and not asking for too much, i think it should be ok but as many of us know, HK is one of the most expensive piece of land to live on earth ... sad but true ;) just my 2 cents mate.

HK $ 40,000 per month could be tight, and first and foremost you will have to check out the rents. Obviously, location and size of apartments will dictate your rent, so it's a question of proximity to your work and schools (if applicable). Cheaper residential areas tend to be farther from city and will involve travel by either train or bus.

Also, apartments in HK tend to be very small, so in view of your family, you will have to look for a development that offers some sort of children's play area etc.

My guess is that unless you can live in an area such as Fanling, you will end up paying nearly half of your income on rent.

Schools are not cheap in HK either.

Personally, I would try and negotiate a deal that at least sees your prospective employer pick up the rent separately.

although not living in HK i've got a mate flying a gulfstream, he is living in a place close to the HK airport called Tung Chung it's a 10 minute taxi ride to the airport, 25 minutes train to Kowloon (own train station) shopping centre, the aviator bar and they are building the biggest pool i've ever seen as part of the complex, the apartments are quite large and the rent i think is not bad by HK standards but don't quote me, hope this helps

Thanks a lot for your replies. Helpfull.

cheers

I put this link on another similar thread. Handy info revolving around housing etc in Hong Kong. http://www.geoexpat.com/forum/forum3.html

Thanks a lot!

Cap Loko,
Just a word of caution for you.
A couple of the responses to this thread would lead you to assume that you will pay rent out of the $40,000 per month. That is not correct. You will receive a housing allowance to pay for that and additionally you will receive school fees assistance if you have children of eligible age.
You will need to save for tax and pay utility bills. The rest is yours!
Maybe someone else could provide advice on the levels of assistance available for new joiners.
Cheers... Max

A certain company has no housing allowance but a tax deduction of 15%

Max Reheat that is certainly NOT CORRECT. There are a couple of companies that employ expats on so called "local conditions". They most definitely do not pay housing or an education allowance for children of school age.

Therefore out of your 40K whatever the figure is, you will be paying rent, utlilities, tax, schooling and the list goes on!

Yep. I will not get housing allowance in this company so I have to pay for everything (+loan for previous pilot training). Our child is not going to school yet though.

Cap Loko
I put this together six years ago but the figures still hold true. If anything they underestimate the true cost of living in HK today. These figures were based on a husband and wife only, no kids with the wife not working. If you have kids, especially of school age, you might find yourself in deep financial trouble moving to HK on the money being offered.

HK$ (/mth).....
Tax 7,200
Rent 15,000
Utils 2,500
Car
Trans 1,200
Food 6,500
School
Clothes
Ent 3,500
Misc 4,500
Total 40,400

My advice is to be very careful moving to HK on the money they are offering you. Just remember a happy wife is a happy life. Financial stress, especially while living in a foreign country could be the straw that breaks the camels back so think wisely before accepting the offer.

I agree with 404 Titan and 15,000 in rent will give you a "nice"(very relative term) place in most areas. But if you find it a financial squeeze, you can find several 2/3 bed apartments in Tung Chung between 5,800 and 9,000 per month from 648sq ft to over 1000 sq ft.:ok:

http://www.centalist.com/listing/sea...t=&ad=1&page=1

my personal opinion, i think titans figures are a little on the high side on rental and utilities. must be living too comfortably. I may not know much but, i would put it this way especially in hk, i'm out there to make some $ and not there to live too comfortable.

rental 8.5k in TC or DB area should get you a nice comfortable place. try the direct agents and do a little bit more of shopping.

utilities 1500-2000 is quite alot unless the airconds are non stop.

tax is 6000 if you are making 40k/mth.

transportationg from TC & DB to work is not that expensive unless you expect a cab all the time. public transportation is very accessible 1000k should be able to do the job.

well, for first 2-3 months it could be training time so i will not think too much about ent & misc which costs up to 8k. maybe 5k can be allocated.

so total is approx. 22.5k, well maybe can allocated some unexpected suprises of another 5k. which totals up to 27.5k.

food 4-7k depending but can always shop and do some cooking at home (sometimes i find it nicer,cheaper and more comfortable) so it sums up to 34.5k. still some change and of course it varies and i think this should be quite comfortable to me :)

i am not here to offend any1 but just my personal view and opinions .. pls do correct it if there is any opinions ;)

Living it up in the big smoke
 

I totally concur with flyr flyer. You certainly can live like a RAT on 34.5k/pm.
But who want's to live like a RAT :confused: .

Also note, that tax need not be paid for over a year...by which poiint A) you should be making more $$, possibly a lot more if you've upgraded. or B) if it was that tight for you , likely you have found a job elsehwere befere the tax man has found you ;)

PS.. My 3 bedroom flat is 7K a month and was new when I moved in.

I made the point at the end of my last post “A happy wife is a happy life”. I made it for a very good reason. Your wife will spend way more time in your choice of accommodation than you ever will. I have seen it all too often in this city, if you provide her with a dog box to live in, especially if you have kids, she will provide you with divorce papers. And be warned if she can’t run the air-conditioning 24 hours a day she may have something to say about that too.

Yes you can find places to rent that are cheap. Most are cheap for a reason though. Just remember that if you are married with kids any apartment less than about 1100 square feet probably won’t cut it.

I don’t know whether those that have said my costing are on the high side are married or not? By the sounds of it though they probably aren’t and most certainly haven’t lived here very long.

So take this advice from someone who has lived in Hong Kong for quite some time. My costings are on the conservative side, especially if you have a family.

AAIGUY

That has got to be one of the most stupid pieces of advice I have seen anyone give on this forum. You should always budget for your expenses based on what you earn now, not what you think you will earn in the future. And if you think you can skip town without paying tax, think again. Your employer must notify the IRD immediately of your resignation.

It is wrong to think that you will pay 16% tax on a monthly income of 40k. You need a much higher income than that in order to reach the "flat rating" of 16%.
Check http://www.ird.gov.hk/eng/ese/st_com..._07/stcfrm.htm and you will see that on an anual income of HKD 480,000, with a wife and two kids, you end up paying 27,500 in tax - much less than the seven odd thousand per month which was suggested.

Hey , there are guys who have just walked away. All I am saying is it is an option. Hard for IRD to find you if you have skipped town.


Here is the tax payable by a Senior FO @ CR on 45K a month.


TOTAL INCOME 540,000
DEDUCTIONS 12,000
ALLOWANCES:-
Married Person's 200,000
Child(ren) 80,000
Dependent Brother(s) / Sister(s) 0
Dependent Parent(s) / Grandparent(s)
- Aged 55 to 59 0
- Aged 60 or over, or aged under 60 but disabled 0
Disabled Dependant(s) 0
TOTAL ALLOWANCES 280,000
NET CHARGEABLE INCOME 248,000
TAX PAYABLE BY YOU 36,620

This is way less than 15%.. closer to 8%
and if you start now and work half the year....

HK$
TOTAL INCOME 315,000
DEDUCTIONS 7,000
ALLOWANCES:-
Married Person's 200,000
Child(ren) 80,000
Dependent Brother(s) / Sister(s) 0
Dependent Parent(s) / Grandparent(s)
- Aged 55 to 59 0
- Aged 60 or over, or aged under 60 but disabled 0
Disabled Dependant(s) 0
TOTAL ALLOWANCES 280,000
NET CHARGEABLE INCOME 28,000
TAX PAYABLE BY YOU 560

B-744

What you haven’t mentioned is that in the first year someone comes here they will be taxed twice, i.e. Provisional tax. So therefore a married couple with no kids, as this is what I based my figures on will pay HKD$7116.66 per month in tax. If you have two kids as you suggest, the school fees here will more than offset the savings you make in the lower tax you pay.

AAIGUY

To advise someone on this forum to jump country just to try and avoid paying taxes is to put it bluntly, stupid. You might be able to name a few that did but I can name 49 that if they tried, and by the way I know they didn’t, would have been stopped at immigration before boarding the plane. That is how fast the system here can work. By the way you too have ignored Provisional Tax. So in a pilots first year here double those figures.

all in the end, hk is a very expensive place to live and i do believe it is one of the most expensive place to live on earth. so if one cannot deal with the expenses and culture, sorry to say, just gotta deal with it and find a solution to it. there are also many other airlines employing now and it could be better. to me, if one wants to live and earn in another country, you just gotta deal with how things work and never expect it like home. obviously, try not to evade any taxes. not worth to do so.

C404

I am not advocating anything, just presenting options. Most employers here have a pay scale for year 2, so if your going up 10K a month, maybe you use that instead of living in the gutter now.

Even if you pay 1/2 of year one and all of year two provisionaly - the figures from the IRD site indicate it will still be a very small amount.

My intention was not to piss you off, only to point out that many do live here on much less than 45K a month. At the same time I have friends who rent is 65K paid mostly by KA. Its all what you can get away with.

AAIGUY
Sorry skipping town isn’t an option so don’t even suggest it. It's illegal.
I never said that the tax here was a lot. Compared to where I come from “Australia” it is ridiculously small. What I have said is that based on a yearly income of HKD$480,00.00 you will pay HKD$7116.66 in tax per month in the first year. This is based on current IRD figures. You will get a tax demand for the whole amount i.e. 2 years after being here twelve months. You must budget for it now not in twelve months because it will be too late to start saving for it then.

Cap.
I think I would go to Mui Wo or South Lantau,before Tunga Chunga.Even DB high rise would be better.It can be done on the amount you have,but Tung Chung just looks like a 40 storey getto in HK pukey green.I think the trouble and strife would be happier at Mui Wo.:hmm:

Yuen Long rocks!