Hey All! Thanks to Bosley, misskiwi, and PsyGuy for the additional info. I've done more research on Hong Kong and talked to a few folks who are currently living there. Here's what I've been able to put together:

I'll assume a salary HK$50,000 per month

Taxes(-HK$4500):
I was told that taxes run from 9-17% of your earned income and that most international teachers would fall in the 9% bracket.

Housing(-HK$7000-30000):
HK$7000 seems to get you a simple, small, unfurnished apartment for which you will have to populate with material stuffs on your own and for which utilities are not included. HK$20000 gets you quite a nice, albeit small (about 400sqft) serviced apartment; meaning it is furnished, cleaned by a cleaning lady about twice a week, sheets and pillow cases changed, utilities included, internet included. HK$30000 starts getting quite nice. Lets assume you want a serviced $HK20000 apartment.

Utilities(-HK$0-1000):
These can run about HK$1000 per month if you are not in a serviced apartment; in which case, they'd be included.

Food(-HK$5000):
An inexpensive meal in Hong Kong runs around $50. Assuming 3 meals a day and 7 days a week; this comes out to about HK$5000 per month.

Transportation (-HK$500):
They say the public transport system is first class and a car is unnecessary. Assuming you'll opt for public transport, the price of a monthly pass is about HK$500.

soooooo.....

That's +HK$50000(income) - 4500(tax) - 20000(housing) - 0(utilities) - 5000(food) - 500(transport) = +HK$50000(income) - HK$30000(expense) = +HK$20000 per month

The exchange rate is HK$1 = US$0.13
HK$20000 = US$2600 per month

I tried my best to get good info to share with everyone here, but I'm bound by speculation at this point as I haven't lived in Hong Kong.

Obviously if your income is only 30,000 per month, then you would have a hard time saving with these projections and would probably want to skimp a bit on the housing expense. Adjust accordingly.

Trocaderoo .... it seems you'll be fine even with fine dining.

Hope this helps for anyone thinking about moving to Hong Kong in the future. Please feel free to correct any mistakes or add anything and thanks again for your help.

Dcgirl
Thanks for the info and the website. I've snooped around there all day and it seems that the small furnished apartments run around hk$20000+ per month. Is it reasonable to aim for something a little closer to 10000 per month or is the cost to furnish it just not worth it?

Psyguy
Thanks for the extra info.

So the scale seems to be
20000/mo poor
30000/mo college student
40000/mo comfortable enough with little savings
50000/mo comfortable with a good amount of savings
60000/mo more comfortable with good savings

Of course I'm thinking os this scale after recovering from the initial hit of setting up and adjusting for what I think the standards of living may be like Hong Kong.

So I'm pretty new to this whole International Teaching thing, but have found ISR to be quite an indispensable resource. Thank you all so much for your years of input.

I've been having a really difficult time navigating the finances of living in Hong Kong. I've done tons of research and the more I learn the more confused I become as there is so much conflicting information out there. Are any of you on ISR currently living in HK or have lived there? I'm not really a needy person and can be pretty comfortable in most situations, but I would like to be realistic about what I'm getting into. It seems that NOT providing housing is the norm for international schools in Hong Kong. It also seems, as per posts by other members, that the initial start up costs are worthy of a second thought.

* I guess what I'm looking for is more of a clear cut "cost of living scale" that I can keep in mind when applying to schools there.

* What is considered poor? Just enough? Comfortable? Living it up?

* Where would, say, 30,000 Hong Kong Dollars per month fall on that scale?

Thanks again for your expertise continued luck and fortune to all.