[Kay]

My husband and I are moving to HK soon. He will earn about HK$650000 per year- is that enough to live comfortably? We aren't terribly extravagant, can easily do without a car and envisage about 17 - 20000 per month in rent. Are we being too optimistic?

Kay

[shri]

Kay,

You may want to look at this discussion here.

Cost of living in Hong Kong

The key to living in Hong Kong is keeping rents down. There are several places where you'll be able to rent and commute to / from which are well within and below your budget.

Budget 30% for the first years tax bill -- given that you pay two years tax the first year around. This normally hits a lot of people who move to Hong Kong pretty badly, as they've not budgeted for it.

[reema]

Another advantage that HK has is, if your willing to look, you'll find that you can live within a fairly slim budget since everything you buy (including groceries/clothes/appliances) has a fairly low bottom end and fairly high top end so you decide what suits you. There are sales and special deals on almost everything much of the time including eating out, but unless I know which location you are currently in or benchmarking against, I couldn't really say.

[HKFella]

No mention of kids. So presuming there aren't any, you have a very good opportunity to do just fine and still enjoy yourself a decent bit. People have done well on less (even with kids, but I don't know how). I mean it's up to you - 'not terribly extravagant' is a relative thing, depending on your lifestyle where you're coming from and what you take for granted (not having a car in HK isn't a big deal).On a dependent visa, a spouse is permitted to work ..so more options later on (though run-of-the-mill job mkt couldn't be worse - still that doesn't rule out niche opportunities). Shri's advice is right - don't let rents take too big a chunk out of cash flow, specially when you're starting out.

Get some advice on medical coverage/insurance. Bills can at times be eye-popping, but I'm told cheaper options exist - except that I don't have first hand knowledge of those.

[goodfood]

Yes and you can even eat out reasonably often and take in a few beers at pubs during Happy Hours without burning a hole in your pocket. Lunchtime deals in the Central business district are getting better and better ( anything from $30 - $75 for 1-3 course set lunches with coffee) and you can also get exceptional Cantonese food at really cheap prices ( below $28) the more you move away from Central.

For dinner, lots of restaurants offer great deals nowadays. If you choose carefully, you can have a dinner for two for less than $200 ( add another $30 for a glass of wine) and that's at hi-end places. The best option for dining out is to sample the marvelous variety of cantonese, sichuan, beijing, hainan, chiu chiu, shanghainese and other forms of Chinese cuisine at local restaurants where most dishes would be below $40.

During Happy Hours a pint of beer can be had for $25 in many places and about $35 in the more swish places in Central.

And of course whenever you want to splurge, HK has some of the most expensive restaurants and bars in the world.