The Costs of Living in Hong Kong

We've been here for 2 1/2 months now, and have had an established weekly budget for the last 8 weeks, so I thought it time I shared how much it costs for the two of us to live in Hong Kong in a typical month.

First, here are the last four weeks of expenses in HK dollars:

This includes groceries, meals out, household items, snacks, etc.  It includes HK250 each for our monthly gym memberships.  It also includes several hundred dollars topping up our Octopus cards (used for the subway, buses, trolleys, and star ferry), as well as another hundred topping up Nora's prepaid phone.  It does not include utilities, our three day trip to Macau, or our rent.

On week 3, we went over our budget (HK1800), and I carried over the 293 to week 4.  With that in mind, you can see that our four week total is HK7,363, which is about US $950.  Or, to round up, about $250 per week for two people, including transportation costs, mobile phone bills, and gym memberships.  Considering how well we eat, and how often we go out to eat (usually twice during the work week, and then 4 or 5 times on weekends), I'd say that's pretty fantastic.

On to the next part: utilities.  Our monthly internet bill is HK168 (another fantastic price; for about US $22, we get 100MB service.  For comparison, 10MB service with Comcast back home is $60.).  Our water bill this month was HK45.  Our electric bill was HK434 (the government subsidizes electricity, and took HK120 off our bill). Our gas bill was HK61.  All told, our utilities come out to HK708, or ~US $92.

Last item of consideration, our rent.  We live in a nice place, with a balcony, a harbor view, and an in-house gym.  As such, our rent is a bit higher than most of our friends here in HK (for comparison, our friend K shares a two bedroom place with a roommate, and their total rent is about 15% cheaper than our 1 bedroom flat). Our monthly rent comes out to HK15,000, or a bit under US $2k.

Grand total for all expenses over the past month: just over HK23,000, or about US $3,000.

This is more than we were paying when we lived in Tennessee (our monthly expenses there were between $2,000 and $2,250).  On the other hand, we almost never went out to eat back home.  In addition, while I was making about $20k more a year there, Nora was unemployed and taking out student loans.  I'm making a lot less here, but we're no longer borrowing money, and Nora's job leaves us with about HK10k a month, or a bit less than a third of her salary, after all expenses.

Well, almost all expenses.  We do have this nasty habit of travelling.  Our 3 day weekend in Macau was very expensive--we went crazy and got this insanely nice room at at posh casino hotel.  In a week from now we'll be travelling to Singapore, where our lodging will be cheaper (a week in a hostel), but we won't be holding back on food and drinks--they're our favorite part of travelling.  Then in December we're going to Taiwan for 12 days, and in February we're going to Malaysia for a week.  There's another two week period in April that we haven't decided on yet, and a 6 week period in June and July that we'll be visiting the US.  All things considered, between what we're saving from Nora's salary and my online work, we don't anticipate to save a whole lot over the next year.  Perhaps US $5k.

But we will be paying off our student loans, eating some of the best food the world has to offer, and doing a lot of travelling.  More frugally minded people who don't have such a nice apartment or travel as frequently could easily save a lot more than $5k.  And couples who both work in HK would save even more still (an HK salary would be 3-5x what I'm making online, but we're forgoing that additional income for a year so I can concentrate on my writing).

So even though Nora's school doesn't pay for our housing, as our school in South Korea did, in the end Hong Kong offers an equivalent--or greater--opportunity to make and save money, enjoy life in Asia, and travel.  The biggest difference for us is that in SK we only got two weeks off the entire year, and the weeks couldn't occur back-to-back.  Here, between government holidays and school breaks, Nora has eleven weeks off throughout the year, during which she continues to receive a salary, making even the stresses of her job seem well worthwhile.

In other words, we couldn't be happier.

Expenses for 4 weeks in Tobago (A "Yes You Can!" story)

OK, so I hear it often enough from my friends: how do you travel so much?  How can you afford it?  They think there is some great secret that I'm not sharing, or that perhaps I have a rich benefactress.  As lovely as either of those situations might be, it's really quite simple: we save, we plan carefully, and we stretch our money.

To illustrate this principle in action, I have tabulated every single penny that we spent getting to and from Tobago and that we spent while in Tobago.  Here we go:

2 round trip tickets:      $1,247.80
4 week cottage rental:     $1,000.00
4 weeks groceries:         $398.91    [Small disclaimer: we prepared most of our food at the cottage rather than eating out.  Further disclaimer: we powered through five 3-liter boxes of wine, which aren't cheap.  Thus, individual expenses may vary.]
1 week car rental:        $245.00
ATM withdrawal:           $245.84  [Disclaimer: this was for petty cash for food and souvenirs, and includes all ATM fees.]
Other expenses:           $39.48  [This includes anything not covered in the categories above.]

Total cost of trip:        $3,177.03
Per week cost:             $794.26
Per diem cost:             $113.47

If we look back at the daily cost of our trip, again remember that this is for two people.  To derive the actual daily expense per person, one need only divide by two:

Per diem per person:       $56.74

Remember, that this is the total cost per person when there are two people on the trip, but there needn't be two people for this to be affordable.  Some things, such as car rental and cottage rental, can't be split because they would cost the same either way.  So if one were to do this on one's own, renting the same cottage and same car, and all other expenses being equal, the total cost for a single traveler would be $2,201.02, or a daily cost of $78.61.   Not a high price to pay for four weeks by oneself.

But of course not all of us like being alone.  Nora and I travel together because we enjoy it.  We also have traveled with friends on occasion, and invited a few people to Tobago (they unfortunately couldn't make it).  The cabin had 2 extra beds in it, and obviously the rental car could have accommodated, so if 1 or 2 extra people had come for just one week, that per diem cost of $56.74 would be even less -- closer to $50.

Now, you may point out, that's great in theory, and $57 a day I could probably do, but you had to come up with the $3,200 for the trip.  You're right, we did have to come up with that.  But surprisingly little of it had to come out of pocket.  You see, I work for an online university teaching American Literature.  During the 4 weeks we were there, I made $2,186.37 after all taxes and withholdings.  Thus the cost of the trip to our savings was $990.66.

Now the other matter that I think prevents most people from taking such trips is time: most people just can't get four weeks away from work to take a vacation.  [Those of you in school, teaching school, or working in restaurants really have no excuses here.]  Nora and I are really blessed in this area.  As I mentioned above, I work online, so all I really need is a consistent internet connection.  Nora is going back to school for her teacher's certification, and is taking 5 classes online through her alma mater this semester as well. This enables us to have a certain amount of flexibility in time that most people might not be able to have, I admit.  Most days I woke up 2 or 3 hours before Nora, and by the time she was out of bed I had finished my work for the day and read up on several news sites.

Twice during the vacation I had to set an entire day aside for grading, but other than that it was about 2 hours of work every day.  Nora had similar constraints: most days she spent a couple hours on her classes, whereas a few times she had to set an entire day aside for tests or projects.  Working on vacation might not sound like much of a vacation, but I can assure you -- when you are sitting on a deck overlooking the ocean, watching geckos run across the boards and the occasional rain shower spread a rainbow over the sea, you don't mind your work one bit.

Of course not everyone has such leniency with their time.  But anyone can get a minimum of a week away from work if they plan far enough ahead, so the only real question is funding your trip.  After several years of watching our own expenses and traveling overseas, here are some tips that we discovered:

- cook at home.  I know this is a no-brainer, but if you really track your food expenses, you'd be surprised just how much is spent on eating out here and there.  We don't abstain from eating out entirely, but we cut back to generally once a week or so.

- get rid of your cable/satellite TV.  Not only is this an unnecessary expense (you can watch any TV show you want for free if you know where to look online), but it is also a drag on your free time.  Rather than watching TV 5 nights a week and going out to eat the other two, why not invite friends over for a potluck?  Read a book, watch a movie, play card/board games.  These are all ways Nora and I spend our evenings.  And believe me, the $50-100 most people spend monthly on TV adds up.

 - buy clothes that are meant to last; do not think you are above buying second hand clothing.  I am right now wearing a pair of pants and a long sleeve shirt that I bought my sophomore year of college (that was 7 years ago).  I have clothing that is even older.  I don't buy clothes that often, but when I do I make sure it is something that I like a lot and that I will be able to wear for many years.  We also buy clothes at second hand stores, because you can get the same quality and style for 10% of the store cost.  Not only are they already comfortable and broken in, but once you wash them you can't tell them apart from anything else in your wardrobe -- and neither can anyone else.

 - stop wasting money on electronics.  This is the hardest category for me, as I have an undying love for electronic gadgets.  I have been planning for over a decade to own a digital SLR, and don't have one yet.  I get by just fine with my point-and-shoot camera, though I do plan on finally buying an SLR within the next year.  I have decided it would be worth the expense because I would get that much use and enjoyment out of it.  However, I have set myself certain goals and conditions that must be met before I can buy it.  You'd be amazed at how much money you don't spend if you wait to buy something until after you have the money to pay for it in full. Do not buy electronics with a credit card.  Ever.

 - prioritize.  A few years ago I was saving up for a solo trip to Europe.  I came up with a total estimated cost of the trip (I knew how much the flight was, and from past trips I could reasonably guess how much money I'd spend each day).  Whenever I wanted to do something that cost money, I'd ask myself how much it would cost, and if I was willing to sacrifice a part of my trip to do it.  For example, if my friends wanted to go out to eat and then see a movie that night.  Was I willing to give up a night in Venice for that?  The answer was no, so instead I'd either just go to the movie, or meet them at their apartment after they returned. Think practically, and remember that every dollar gets you that much closer to your destination.

There are many other things that one can do to save money, and many other things that Nora and I both do, but these are the broadest and easiest to cover.  Once you take a look at your own habits and expenses, I've no doubt there are many other ways you could think of to save money as well.  Try them out.  See what you come up with.

This is my challenge to all of you reading this: Try to cut back on a few different expenses.  Set that money aside, and have the willpower not to touch it for anything.  Remember, you are investing in your future.  If you are tempted to spend it, ask yourself: is this worth sacrificing two nights on the beach?  is it worth not seeing the Louvre? do I really want to give up seeing that landmark, eating that food, hiking that trail, or being with those people?  All too often, you'll find that the answer is no.  That means you don't really need what you thought you wanted, and you can do without it.  Pretty soon, you'll be ready to go on your own trip, whether for a week, a month, or even a year.  Let us know about it when you do, and we can swap stories.

Good luck, and happy traveling.

Birthday Weekend

a quick update first: last weekend we went to the DMZ and JSA, stepped into north korea, toured the third tunnel, and had a slightly awe-inspiring time.  the signs warning of land mines everywhere were pretty sobering.  it's a spooky place, but the dozens of bird species that have made the undeveloped land home help liven it up a little bit.

now on to the good news:

monday is my birthday, and conveniently enough our private school has monday and tuesday off, so we get a four day birthday vacation.  we wanted to go somewhere in korea that was not a big city, that showed us a part of korea's history, and that had actual green growing things.  so to celebrate we are going to gyeongju.

gyeongju was the seat of the Silla dynasty, and home to dozens of kings' burial mounds, among other things. there is also a law that no tall buildings can be built here, and the city remains very small, so it is very easy to get around and there are supposed to be lots of parks and resting places -- though there is apparently very little shade and the sun can be intense, according to Juli-hee, our school manager.  there is also an incredible final resting place for king munmu: a small island off the coast is bisected by two perpendicular lines, at the crossing point of which is laid an enormous granite slab.  his remains lie underneath.  he stipulated that this be done upon his death so that he could become a dragon and protect Silla (the southern part of the korean peninula) from the Japanese.  he was pretty effective until last century.  perhaps after 1,300 years even a guardian dragon is allowed some time off.

to travel there we found a bus service that is free for all non-koreans (i wonder if they would let japanese travel for free as well?).  it was a lucky find, and we got return tickets absolutely free of charge.  we're staying in a hostel for three nights as well, in a private double room that may or may not have a bathroom, for a little under 120,000 won total.  so all in all, a pretty inexpensive long weekend away.

while in gyeongju i hope to tour the burial mounds, see king munmu's tomb, visit a nearby temple and take part in their sunday service and share food with the monks, walk along the beach, read a lot, write a little, and enjoy myself immensely. i hope you all enjoy my birthday as much as we will.