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SCMP Reporter

With food and transport costs accounting for most of the outlays, the expat’s daily amount ranges from just over HK$100 to nearly HK$1,000.
Personal Details
Industry: communications
Location: Hong Kong
Salary: HK$520,000 per year
Age: 28
Roommates: one (a friend)
Monthly expenses
Rent: HK$12,250 (this is half the full rent)
Utilities: HK$200 for electricity, water, gas and internet, HK$350 for mobile
Monday
7.40am: Here we go again. I take the bus to work. HK$5
9am: It’s Monday and I need some encouragement – I get a bagel, pain au chocolat and latte at the PCC down from my office. HK$60
1pm: Lunch is takeaway Greek salad and crisps at Pacific Coffee. HK$40
7.25pm: I’m late for dinner at F.A.B. in Soho. I jump into a cab and ask the driver to race towards Soho. He achieves the impossible: we are on time and … I realise I am HK$10 short. I direct him apologetically to the nearest 7-Eleven, where the cashier tells me the minimum cashback is HK$500. HK$38
7.45pm: I go for the croque monsieur and two ciders. HK$168
Total: HK$311
Hong Kong now second most expensive city in Asia Pacific, survey finds
Tuesday
7.40am: There’s a red rain alert.I buy a Kinder Bueno at the 7-Eleven opposite my apartment building, HK$8, and take the bus to work. HK$5
12.30pm: I go for a working lunch with my boss at a Japanese restaurant nearby. I get the beef noodle soup, on the company.
9pm: I take a taxi home from work. HK$36
9.45pm: I decide to go to the gym as I know I won’t have a chance again this week. I get another orange energy drink, HK$16. After the gym I treat myself to Nood, the salad bar downstairs, which I always wanted to try. I discover ‘gluten-free’ doesn’t do it for me. HK$84
Total: HK$149

Wednesday
7.40am: It’s beautiful outside and I’m really getting into this ‘getting up early’ routine. I take a bus to work. HK$5
11.45am: My colleague and I head for a luncheon talk on innovation, and she picks up the taxi fare. We have lunch there – sandwiches and a coke – included in the cost of the talk, which is covered by my company.
2pm: After the talk I decide to walk over to a client’s office in Central for my next meeting.On the way over, I notice the new magazine “#Legend” is on sale; I’ve been looking to get a copy for work since it launched, so I cash out the HK$60 – which I’ll claim.
2.15pm: I arrive at the client’s building 15 minutes early, so I decide the get a beer in the restaurant downstairs and send a few emails using my mobile hotspot, while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. HK$60. After the meeting, we head back to the office, and I pick up the taxi fare, which is claimable. HK$28
8.30pm: I head home and get a croque poulet to go – it’s as delicious as it sounds. HK$58
Total: HK$123 (work-related expenses HK$88)
15 great places to eat free food in Hong Kong ... providing you’ve bought a drink
Thursday
9am: I am late for a meeting after an 8am weekly conference call from home, so I decide to take a taxi HK$42. I decide to get the first iced coffee of the year, to go, HK$36.
12.45pm: I have to catch a taxi to Quarry Bay to meet a journalist for lunch with my colleague. My colleague pays the taxi fare, to be claimed back. The two-course lunch for the three of us sets me back HK$611, also claimable. We take a taxi back to the office, my colleague pays again.
11pm: I finally leave work after trawling through 200 emails. Taxi home. HK$40
11.30pm: No restaurants or shops are open, but I don’t feel all that hungry, so I skip dinner and crash.
Total: HK$118 (work-related expenses HK$611)
Friday
7.45am: I’ve decided to start the day early and take a taxi to work as we have to manage a PR crisis for a client. HK$44.I get a bagel and Earl Grey tea in Pacific Coffee while waiting for my colleague. HK$38
1pm – I have no time to go out for lunch, but my boss buys me a cheese and tomato sandwich and pumpkin soup at Pret a Manger.
3.30pm: I take a taxi to a meeting in Central for a new potential client. HK$32. Following the meeting, my boss and I are feeling a bit peckish, we get a McDonald’s meal of chicken nuggets, two chips and two cokes. HK$48
9pm: I finally finish work and take a taxi home. HK$32. There’s no time for dinner, as I’ve arranged to meet my friend who is already out.
9.30pm: First round of drinks on me, at F.A.B, two beers. HK$120. Second round on him, at Lily and Bloom. I have a whisky ginger ale. Third round on me, two whiskies again. HK$160. Fourth round on him, gin and tonic.
Total: HK$442 (work-related expenses HK$32)

Saturday
9.30am: Surprisingly, and happily, I’m not feeling too hungover. I make for Classified where I get a mushroom omelette and Earl Grey. HK$99
11.30am: Head to Central Pier to catch the 12pm boat to Yung Shue Wan on Lamma Island. I rush to buy a bottle of iced tea to make change for the turnstiles. HK$10
11.59am: We board the ferry. HK$17.10
12.30pm: We make our way to Lo So Shing beach on the other side of the island. The path is long and arduous to my hungover mind. Thankfully the coconut stand atop the hill is open and we get fresh coconuts. HK$30
3.45pm: We move on to Sok Kwu Wan village and stop for food. I order fish and chips. HK$88
5.15pm: I buy a chocolate cornetto as we wait for the 5.35pm boat back to Central. HK$11
5.35pm: Return fare from Lamma Island. HK$21.10
6.15pm: On the way home, I stop at Marks and Spencer’s to buy some basics: orange juice and pineapple juice, two packets of crisps, and beetroot salad. HK$218.
9.30pm: I head out to Soho with my flatmate and another friend. First stop, 7-Eleven, where my friend gets us beers. Second stop, Primo: it’s empty so we don’t even set foot out of the lift and go back down. Third stop, Brick House, an old favourite, but people are still eating so we move on to the next spot. Fourth stop, Lily and Bloom, three martinis on me. HK$240. Then two more rounds of martinis on my friends. Fifth stop: Insomnia. I buy the first round of beers to get us in. HK$210.
Total: HK$944.20
Sunday
11.30am: I go down to Oolaa to buy food for my flatmate and me – chicken and avocado sandwich with flat white and fruit tart. HK$110 plus HK$10 tip
12.30pm: I haven’t done any of the domestic chores I was meant to do for weeks. I go out to buy blu-tac for my posters. HK$16.40. While I’m out, I get inspired and decide to buy some nice-smelling candles and holders at a candle shop on Lyndhurst Terrace. HK$216. Back home, the posters are back up, the candles are lit. I strip the bedding and bring it down to the concierge for dry cleaning. HK$40.
7.30pm: I head out to the gym and get an energy drink. HK$16
8.30pm: I get a bun xuong nuong, or pork chop noodles, at Bep, before heading back to crash. HK$80
Total: HK$488.40
Grand total: HK$2,575.60 (work-related HK$731)


How much do you spend in a typical week in Hong Kong?

The expat works in the communications industry and earns HK$520,000 per year. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Taxi queue up to wait passenger at Causeway Bay. 06FEB11  SCMP/ May Tse

Stock Photo: HONG KONG - 22 DEC: view of Lamma Island on 22 December, 2015 in Hong Kong, China. Lamma Island is the third largest island in Hong Kong with a population of around 6000 people. Image ID:358997543

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Post chronicles the expenses of one expat living in the city
