[carang]

we have 865', 3 bedrooms(no helper's room).the prices are a little higher than that now. probably around $7,500-8,500. my helper gets a proper bedroom.

i pay the minimum wage to my helper, $3400/month(minimum is actually a little less than this), but she also gets bonus for times when i think that she deserves it, plus extra for xmas, birthday, CNY, etc. we are also hoping to bring her son here for xmas.

she is very good at meal planning and as such saves us quite a bit of $ and her cooking is FANTASTIC!

[cerberus]

well said carang, certain things that are formally extras can and are indeed essentials. entertainment has long been added to the basket of "basic" expenses by many, since it's one of those little pesky things for which we crawled out of the caves to begin with. to say enjoying life is a luxury seems unfair to at the very least.
regarding the MTR, well yes, it's OPERATED as a private enterprise, but so's Disneyland here. both, i believe, are minimum partly owned by the gov't i.e the public. and besides, who's willling to condone a company blatantly maximizing revenues when its customers are a captive audience dependent on a vital service like transportation? you don't see people complaining about cafe de coral not having a monthly ticket. they can try to make as much money as they want, we can always go elsewhere. decency alone dictates our friends at the MTR at least offer the appearance of a pass, even if it comes out at a higher price, such as 1500 or something.

[discobay]

I think Dick in the peak needs to consider gas, electricity, landline, water, government rent and rates and management fee before coming to his monthly total.

[cerberus]

indeed discobay. plus may i remind the pearl cost of living may also include non-monetary expenses related to quality of life. for example, the noise in HK has totally ruined my experience here and is something i never expected in a million years. these issues also figure into the equation. in short, this city's very costly to live in. of course there's costlier places still.

[discobay]

Yes cerberus, I can definately say that living here has changed me. I am grumpier and often more hostile when taking public transport (especially the MTR). I have a dislike of most civil servants and people shouting loudly into their mobile phones and clipping their finger nails in public ... oh no now you've got me started!

[John Smith]

PPP - Purchasing Power Parity

Re Cerberus' quote: "regardless, cost of living isn't determined by exchange rates but rather purchasing power since we don't live in a bank. hence the ice cream example, amiable as it may be, still doesn't reflect the actual situation unless a person is a true expat i.e getting paid in their "native" currency and maybe even enjoying double pay"

..... living in a bank? I think perhaps the reverse is true no? I thought I'd just make a note, because I was a bit confused about what was written by Cerberus and I thought it might be helpful to others who might of felt the same. I'm new to the PPP measurement, however, from my grasp of it, I think Cerberus misunderstood it. I think Cerberus was getting the methology using exchange rates to simply figure out the difference between the price of goods in different countries using your own currency mixed up with with something else. Basically using exchange rates to compare prices against your own currency is part of what PPP is about and it would be very good at showing say the difference in costs to buy a burger in HK, London or NY for anybody on any wage. Emuse's original message which Ceberus was referring to was actually right. She compared the cost of things in the US and HK simply using the exchange rate.

I just want to end this message saying it's probably an understandable mistake, as it took me a few web sites on the subject of PPP for me to figure out what it really was! Before this Cerberus mentioned it, I was never aware of it!

P.S. I hope to go to HK soon. I look forward to it!

[ohchk2001]

Originally Posted by cerberus

cost of living isn't determined by exchange rates but rather purchasing power since we don't live in a bank. hence the ice cream example, amiable as it may be, still doesn't reflect the actual situation unless a person is a true expat i.e getting paid in their "native" currency and maybe even enjoying double pay.

I am run my own global Internet business in HK under an Investment Visa. I get paid in U.S. dollars by my clients, but it gets converted instantly to HK dollars in my HKD current business bank account.

Would I count as one of those "true expats"?

My business can be run anywhere from the world, and gets most of its revenue from the states. I moved to HK for the following reasons

1. Low taxes
2. Economic freedom
3. I want to use HK as a launch pad to eventually expand business into China.

[cerberus]

discobay, you have all the makings of a healthy person. my reactions have been the same since moving to east asia, although the nail clipping is definitely something i first encountered here in HK. what the hell is that all about? good to know someone like minded is out there.

well John Smith thanks for enlightening me. however, what you explain as PPP isn't the definition i learned in school, nor is it mentioned in the resources i just looked at. exchange rates were specifically created to allow for international trade, not buying burgers or ice cream cones. PPP means taking a sample product and figuring out how much it is of the average/median/typical income in any given place. this ratio may be similar to the exchange rate between currencies of two questioned locations, or it may not. that is not what emuse said, sir.
in fact, YOUR explanation derives from common misunderstanding (and this annoying but natural aversion to rocking the boat), but then it is human to err and maintain the status quo.

just in case you think i'm pulling this out of my behind:

"BIG MAC INDEX

Burgernomics is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity, the notion that a dollar should buy the same amount in all countries. Thus in the long run, the exchange rate between two countries should move towards the rate that equalises the prices of an identical basket of goods and services in each country. Our "basket" is a McDonald's Big Mac, which is produced in about 120 countries. The Big Mac PPP is the exchange rate that would mean hamburgers cost the same in America as abroad. Comparing actual exchange rates with PPPs indicates whether a currency is under- or overvalued."

http://www.economist.com/markets/bigmac/about.cfm



ohchk2001, no, you're not an expat according to my definition since nobody asked you to relocate or sent you here. you're in HK of your own volition. others have other definitions, though.

[ohchk2001]

Originally Posted by cerberus

ohchk2001, no, you're not an expat according to my definition since nobody asked you to relocate or sent you here. you're in HK of your own volition. others have other definitions, though.

Well what I'm saying is that I would get paid the same high income in HK as I would in the U.S. due to my business being global. This would mean that I would benefit from cheaper ice cream cones and big macs.

[cerberus]

hey why stop there? there's lots other treats up the cheap thrills evolutionary ladder awaiting your dollars.