[PettsWood]

Originally Posted by normad

Oh, thanks for the warning. Not very welcoming news That means if I really want to double my space, I'd better look for a 800 sq ft +/- apartment, right?

Possibly. The ratio varies a lot depending on when the flat was built. What are you at now? A studio flat or a one bed? When you say 260 sq ft, how is it measured (including bathroom, kitchen etc.). Also the way HK flat are built, they often have a long-ish corridor that serves no purpose apart from eating up your flat area...

[carang]

we have 2 dogs, so i know what we pay for them... not sure what cats cost though...

depending on where you live will depend on the cost of the pet food...
i live in Discovery bay and the pet food here is much more expensive than in say... Yuen Long...

i usually buy my pet food on HK island and transport it back to Db...buit my two dogs are quite big and so eat a lot of food....

if you are talking of only buying 1kg of cat food at a time, then it should not bee too expensive, but it is still MUCh more than in N America....

vets are costly here, but there is the SPCA that you can take animals to that are cheaper... not sure if the pills are available in Hk or not...sorry

[VetinHK]

Originally Posted by carang

vets are costly here, but there is the SPCA that you can take animals to that are cheaper... not sure if the pills are available in Hk or not...sorry

vet care here is not costly if you factor in the level of care provided, which from what i have seen in a few expat vet practices, is better than in some other countries

re tablets - you really should talk to a vet when you come to HK about the wisdom of long term hormone therapy, potential side effects, and the relatively simple solution to your problem

most drugs are available in HK, or can be purchased on special order if needed. actually, the availability of some meds in HK, and the diversity, is quite impressive.

[SalseroHK]

40k for two for most foreigners is not much (including me), but with the lifestyle you describe should be no problem at all!
enjoy HK!

[EUChinese]

Originally Posted by discobay

The average household income is not worth comparing against when you realise that the average household lives a very different lifestyle to europeans/americans.
I doubt that normad will be satisfiedwith eating fish ball noodles three times a week or living in a sub-500sq.ft flat.

What do you mean by the average household lives a very different lifestyle to europeans/americans ? you mean those in UK on social benefits getting 68 pounds a week = less than HK$1000 a week ? or those professionals run out of cash on beer end of every month ?

[normad]

Shoegal, thanks for your advice. I am not paying UK tax. I am paying tax in one of the world's most heavily taxed countries (hint: in Scandinavia) .

Mat, thanks for the estimate for transportation for two people.

Pettswood, we have a studio apartment now and the 260 sq. ft includes toilet and kitche(tte) and a narrow hallway.

Carang, thanks for the tips on SPCA. Good to know they also provide medical care for pets.

VetinHK, judging by your username, are you a vet? Do you mind if I PM you if I get more questions on my pet?

SalseroHK, I hope it will be enough. I think we'll probably get by with 30K but that would mean no savings and no long-distance traveling.

EUChinese, you are right about the frame of comparison. Not all Europeans/Americans live the same lifestyle. But I think it was understood that we were talking about a professional lifestyle (without the alcoholic part ) .

[VetinHK]

Originally Posted by normad

VetinHK, judging by your username, are you a vet? Do you mind if I PM you if I get more questions on my pet?

no problemo. go for it.

[qemily]

40K should be more than enough if you want to spend 10K on housing.

transportation, depending on where you live, can range from 3000-5000 for 2.

I eat out quite a lot, and i eat very good food - i spend around 2000-3000 a month (50-100/pp/per meal + home cook food occassionally) should get you pretty wonderful food. you just need to know where to go. you also need to know NOT to shop too often at city-super and expensive places like that. parkinshop and wellcome is good enough in general

utilities and other scheisse - 1000

domestic helper(part time) 60/hour x 10 = $600
you can tip her a couple of hundred = $800

shopping = $2000 - 4000 a month
you do the math =)

hong kong is VERY different from the US in the sense that here you have the freedom to choose expensive/cheap things/service. its up to you two how much you'd like to spend/save.

if i make 40K, i'd expect to save around 10K every month. - i am planning to move back to hong kong in a year to start saving. i simply CANNOT save in the US no matter how much i make
=)

hope this helps


em

[normad]

Hi em,

Thanks for your post and the useful examples. But I'm curioius about transportation. 3K-5K seems rather high. How did you get at that figure? Do you live on an island and have to travel by ferry? Or do you travel by taxi a lot?

Yea, I know what you mean about saving. It's the same here in Europe. Even more impossible than in the States coz taxes are horrendous. At least in the States I used to get 3 times of my European salary so I did manage to save a bit. It was all used up during my year of unemployment here though.

Normad

[hughb2000]

that transport estimate is way too high. Unless you take taxis everywhere you would spend at most $50 a day on transport! making a max of $1500 a month per person! If the 3-5k estimate was for 2 people well then def much closer to the 3k. It really depends if you plan on travelling to and from work during the week and not really go anywhere else you would struggle to spend over $25 on transport!