Job Discussion Forums

[Kilad14]

It seems that starting salaries for teachers with masters degrees in education WITHOUT TESL/TEFL are pretty low, coming out to about $2000/month, according to the NET Scheme website.

Does anyone know the cost of living in Hong Kong? What's rent like for a decent place? How much does a bottle of water cost? Is $2000/month doable?

[munasa]

I assume you mean US$2000 a month, which is definitely doable if you have no children's school fees to pay. The EMB Special Allowance more than covers the rent and utilities bills. It is HK$12950 a month in addition to the base salary. I don't buy bottled water, but use a filter on the tap at home -- I do purchase small bottles of water when out and about, though.

The rent for a decent place? Depends on a whole lot of variables -- location being one of them. HK$7000 gets a nice small apartment in some locations. My friend rents a 2 bedroom apartment in a great complex on HK island -- HKD$8000 a month. Another, a 1 bedroom apartment in North Point for HKD$8500. My rent is higher as I have family with me and we rent a large apartment (3 bedrooms).

Cost of living again depends on your choices. Shopping in local supermarkets and wet markets keeps the cost down. Eating out can be cheap or very expensive -- again, it depends on the choices you make. Overall, you can live quite well on the bottom of the NET pay scale. My frugal, but not poor, single friend saved several thousand Kiwi dollars in her first year on the lowest point on the scale AND she traveled to China and back to NZ.

I, on the other hand, don't save much because I've been flying my adult kids back and forth between home and HK! And I am not very frugal. It's been fun, though.

[JZer]

How much are things like cable and electric in Hong Kong?