Cost Of Living in 2014

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  • #41514
    Avatar photomcpeacock
    Participant

    hi all,

    Another newcomer shortly, and I am very happy to run into this forum and have found some usefull information here; hoping you experienced Chengu-ers can help me with my question as well!

    I have an offer to move to Chengdu to work (seems I will be one of few foreign non-teachers in Chengdu?) and would like to understand if the offer is reasonable and to what extent this would allow me for decent saving. There are some scattered post on this on the forum, but most of them seem pretty out of date and not accurate anymore.

    So for me and my wife, what would be reasonable monthly expenses for:

    – rent for 2bedroom apt, in Wuhou district, close to metro line.

    – utilities – TV, internet, gas, electricity;

    – food & drinks (we vary local foods with western & SE asian foods, prefer to go shopping at the Carrefour).

    – entertainment – say 1 night/week out in town for dinner and drinks

    – transport. we want to live close to metro line and take this to my work. My wife would take taxis around mostly.

    Much appreciate your feedback on this, we are keen on living in Chengdu, but am a bit worried our offer is not substantial enough to do some saving.

    Also, how is airquality and weather like in winter? we used to live in Hanoi, Vietnam, and winter times would be most depressing as we wouldnt see the sun or a few months, and temperature would be damp and cold… i heard Chengdu is more or less the same….. ?

    Cheers

    #41515
    Avatar photoRay
    Participant

    Apartment: can vary enormously. If you want reasonably modern, 3000+. if youre happy with older, you can get decent for about 2000. Keep in mind, building quality here ain’t that high. my apartment is about 8 years old but looks MUCH older.
    Utilities: building fees (rubbish collection, security guards etc.) generally 150 -ish, depending on apartment size and building amenities. My internet is about 100, water/gas/power another 150 (i live alone).

    SE Asian food: doesnt matter that we’re close to the region; any food that is NOT Chinese is foreign, and you’re gonna pay for it. Had a Thai curry a few days ago, cost me 68 kuai.

    Taxi: starts at 8 kuai. Depends how far you’re gonna travel. If used often, can add up.

    Air quality is bad, often awful. People will say “not as bad as Beijing”. That’s wrong (often worse here) and unhelpful. Beijing is not as bad as New Delhi, but that dont make it good. Winter is grim and damp. No getting around it….

    Lotsa non-teachers here.

    If youre having to support two people, given what you quoted, you could easily blow 10,000 a month.

    #41516
    Avatar photoVincent
    Participant

    I’ve lived in several apartments in Wuhou district near the metro. You will have no problem finding a decent 2 bedroom place for 3000-3500RMB. You’ll need the same amount for the deposit.

    I work at home so my utilities are around 500RMB/month in the summer because I have the A/C on pretty much all day. Another 150RMB for internet. And 70RMB for 3G. Those are your fixed costs.

    I’m a pretty thrifty guy, cook wholefoods at home about 70% of the time and rarely splash out on +150RMB meals. I need about 100RMB/day on average for food/drinks/transport. Almost half of that is spent in the weekend.

    Taxi’s are rarely over 15 kuai if you live around Wuhou. Everything you need is within a few km distance. Metro is 2-3RMB per trip.

    A thing most people forget to calculate is their visa. If you get a visa from your work then it’s not an issue but if that’s not the case (which is probably true for your wife), then you need to add another ~10000RMB per year per person. (6 month visa 2500-3000RMB through an agency + a 2000RMB roundtrip to HK, twice a year). Don’t forget about flight tickets either if you’re planning on flying home every now and then.

    Visa’s and travel aside, I think ~12000/month for the both of you sounds realistic.

    #41519
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    Regarding the quotes above, I’m guessing you guys are unmarried 😛 Ignoring visa costs, 10-12/mo is enough to live well for 2 people here.. keep in mind that costs don’t double when you’re a pair, cooking at home isn’t a whole lot more and eating out doesn’t double either. Utilities — well, it’s still just 1 internet/heating/wuguan/whatever fee also. Since you’re looking to calc savings, I guess you could consider a reasonable minimum for what you describe above around 8k or 9k so a month, then tag on whatever personal purchases you typically make like clothes or travel or whatever into that decision.

    #41528
    Avatar photomsinglynx
    Participant

    Hmm, I would add that you could also do a lot cheaper. If I spend 50RMB on taxis daily and eat out twice I generally spend only 100 per day, so about 3000 per month. This is still true because if I dont take taxis/eat in that week I will probably drink the money during the weekend 😀 I also spend around 800 for rent and 200 for utilities a month. The only times I spend more than that is generally when I blow the lot of money on clothes or have to pay school or visa fees (ugh 14k per yer+ 800 for visas+ 400 for health check= a whole lot of money I could be drinking!). not including those things, my daily life expenses are insanely low. So, depending on your work and just how cheap you are you may very well be able to get by on as little as 6k a month if you bike/take buses, cook your own food and drink at home.

    #41533
    Avatar photomcpeacock
    Participant

    thanks all for the helpfull advise. gives us a bit more piece of mind that our budget would allow us for some saving. on another note – is there any regular (weekly or monhtly) meet-up where us Chengdu-newbies can meetup, socialize and share first impressions? cheers!

    #41534
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    “is there any regular (weekly or monhtly) meet-up where us Chengdu-newbies can meetup, socialize and share first impressions?”

    I’ve never heard of specifically ‘newbie’ meet-ups, but you could try to start one. Or you could just hang out where other foreigners hang out, bars or cafes or whatever..there are lots, can check Chengdu Places.

    #41539
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster

    To echo the helpful advice that others have already offered: you and your wife will be able to live comfortably in the 10-12k rmb range. The cost of living in Chengdu has risen significantly in recent years, but along with the cost of almost everything rising, the availability of expensive things has gone way up.

    For me, food is where the bulk of my money goes. Excepting breakfast, I never eat at home, and I can easily spend 1k rmb a week on food alone. Went to the Paulaner last week before the World Cup and had a big German meal with beer, 500rmb. Sushi at a place I go to often, routinely 300rmb. Delivery from Mike’s Pizza Kitchen, 150rmb. All these expenses are worth it in moderation to me.

    It was difficult to spend this much money when I first came to Chengdu but it’s very easy now. At the same time, if you want to live cheaply, you can do that also. If you’re disciplined I’m sure you’ll be fine – I used to have a roommate who lived in 2k rmb a month for years. Now he’s making a lot more money and spending a lot more as well. That’s how it goes in Chengdu, I find.

    #41564
    Avatar photomsinglynx
    Participant

    For weekly meetups checkout couchsurfing.com. there is an active group that meets every thursday. They are a mix of local and travelors, foreigners and chinese and usually happy to meet new people. They used to meet at helens but I’m not sure where the new spot is. If you like more professional vibes the monthly toastmasters and entreprenuership meetings are great places to meet people as well. I’ve made some good friends at all 3 places/events.

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