Kuala Lumpur/ Cost of Living

emilyhurd · Post by **emilyhurd** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 5:49 pm

I'm trying to get a clear picture of what kind of budget we would need in KL, how much we'd be able to save, etc. I'd love to hear from anyone living there now or in the recent past about:

housing in Mont'Kiara per month (3 or 4 bdrms)
food per month
utilities (Is $50/month for internet accurate?!)
airfare to US and to other parts of SE Asia (ex. Bangkok)

Any idea of what kind of $ tutoring could bring per hour in KL or Mont'Kiara?

Thanks!

emilyhurd · Post by **emilyhurd** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 5:58 pm

OK- I just found a similar thread from last month :)
Still, feel free to chime in.

Thanks.

rumour5182 · Post by **rumour5182** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 6:47 pm

Housing in Mont'Kiara = 3800RM (3-4 bedrooms), 2800-3000RM (2 bedrooms)

Food = Depends on how you spend your money and how many you're feeding. For a family of two (me and my husband) we budget about 1400RM per month. A friend of mine with a family of four (and more expensive tastes) spends about 4000RM per month. Eating out in the neighborhood will run you between 30 and 60RM per person (without alcoholic beverages).

Utilities = We pay 240RM per month for cable and internet together (although the cable is wasted since we download and use Netflix/Hulu for all our TV/movie watching, so we'll be cancelling that portion once we get to the end of our initial one-year contract with Astro). I'd guess 150RM for internet alone is probably about right, but check Astro's Web site.

Airfare = Air Asia runs really cheap deals to parts of SE Asia. We paid $70USD per person to HCMC (one-way) and $350USD per person to Japan (round-trip). Haven't bought airfare to the U.S., but it sounds like my colleagues have been shopping for deals in the neighborhood of $1200-$1400 (per person).

People I know who tutor with organizations in the neighborhood pull in between 100RM and 150RM per hour. Not sure what they charge for independent tutoring though.

We're finding it a really affordable place to live. With EPF we're saving a lot of money, and we've traveled on every extended break so far.

Let me know if you have any other questions. :)

emilyhurd · Post by **emilyhurd** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 7:48 pm

Thanks so much!

Does EPF- 11% of monthly salary- factor into the % tax rate paid on income? For example, Search Associates quotes around 15% tax on income.

Where do your friend's children go to school? Is s/he happy with their learning and social experience?

rumour5182 · Post by **rumour5182** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:53 pm

The EPF is pre-tax. So then what you're left with after that is taxed at the appropriate rate. Malaysia uses a progressive tax rate, though, so it's not a flat 15 percent. If you google Malaysia tax chart, you should be able to find the information you need to calculate how much you'd be taxed based on your income.

I'd be happy to share more specific information with you about the school side of things via e-mail. Send me your address, and I'll contact you.

emilyhurd · Post by **emilyhurd** » Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:38 pm

Awesome! bamboomuhly at gmail dot com

Nemo. · Post by **Nemo.** » Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:14 am

[quote="rumour5182"]The EPF is pre-tax. So then what you're left with after that is taxed at the appropriate rate. Malaysia uses a progressive tax rate, though, so it's not a flat 15 percent. If you google Malaysia tax chart, you should be able to find the information you need to calculate how much you'd be taxed based on your income.

I'd be happy to share more specific information with you about the school side of things via e-mail. Send me your address, and I'll contact you.[/quote]

EPF is voluntary as an expat but used by a few schools to pay a bonus as you and them contribute and you get it back when you leave. Interest rate good - hence it isn't a tax. Tax rates vary but best estimate is take 25% as a rule of thumb.