Is salary of US$ 10,000 enough to live well in jakarta

http://www.xe.com/ucc/full/

Rp90,424,993 per month is living like a king.

Divide it by 12 and you get 7.5 million per month.

You can live on it if you don't drink, live in a cheaper house and don't like to order pizza much.
Better than local average lifestyle but the very low end of an expat salary.

USD 10K/month is like a dream salary. wow excellent go for it.

no second thoughts......its very good offer.....

Thank you so much for your kind replies,one more thing can I get luxury serviced appartment near to Pondok Aren,Tangerang area OR Selatan DKI Jakart??and how much per month in US dollars??I am talking about fully furnished,very good standard serviced appartments.

My fillers:

$10k Wage a month is decent enough for you live in this country
Fully Furnished apartment will range between $1200-$1800 max - I am talking about a really high end all inclusive --although u need to pay Ur utilities bill & Internet cable (costing max of $70 dollars inclusive of 5MB internet a month)

Recommendation would be choose apartment close to your office area as traffic is a big killer in this region


Hope this helps

You can spend that sort of money on a place if you don't care about wasting it.
I pay $2,500 per year on a new, 3+1 bed in a serviced estate.

Added.
Three months daft rent gets you a full year and all the stuff for the house.
That makes the last nine months, free.

Thanks Fred but I have my family also with me i.e my two kids and wife,so I need a very clean nice place near to International schools and near to my office aswell.So no other choice than to waste money on that if i get one near to these places!!!

See your point but google "rumah sewa" with the required area before you sign a contract.
I live in South Tangerang and the house is a cracker.
Anything priced in US$ is a rip off.

Hmmm thanks Fred for your amazing tips.Now the real problem is that I never been to Jakarta and I read lot of blogs of expats living there,which made me lil depressed cuz most of ppl saying its really a challange to live in Jakarta.So if someone having decent income plus a nice house and other facilities has to go through these challenges??? I am asking about any other than traffic and water?

its been 3 weeks since i am in Jakarta and the only challenge in this city is the traffic......

Oh really???so which transport u use for going to office???and which is better to choose??Is Jakarta same like pakistan karachi , Lahore or more worse in respect of all things other than traffic???

Let's go for it.
Traffic is a pain and the roads are the arse.
You MUST be near your office unless you enjoy headaches.

This gets easier. Post the area your office is in and, if I know it, I'll tell you where the estates are.
South Tangerang and Pondok Aren are dead easy. Loads of houses (with security and so on) at very reasonable prices and plenty of shops that will delver beds and so on within a day or an hour.

Oh really Fred,thanks u made my day.What about fully furnished condominiums(serviced apartments) do they have those around that area???I prefer fully furnished condo on big empty house.thanks again for the help.

I don't know but I know my wife is aware of some.
I'll try. To post later.

Oh ok...you really lessen by burden.

http://www.sewa-apartemen.net/

You should be looking at Rp25 to 30 million/year if there is a shared pool and so on.
Houses are easy enough to get at the same sort of money but the pools tend to be shared between clusters.
Outsiders are not usually allowed unless a guest of a resident.
I can visit, take photos and send them to you if it's in south Tangerang (Big area) but would ask you to be a little generous in my fuel money.
Not really my line of business but I have a lot of free time and it would be a reasonable excuse for a jaunt or two.

That would be wonderful but wait let me check from my company first cuz if they arrange a house for me then no need,otherwise for sure I will take help from you,don't worry about fuel
I will let you know may be in two weeks or so.Thanks alot.

Nneena wrote:

Oh really???so which transport u use for going to office???and which is better to choose??Is Jakarta same like pakistan karachi , Lahore or more worse in respect of all things other than traffic???

In Pakistan worst traffic is in Karachi and Jakarta is more worse. All day traffic moves like ants. I usually use Taxi (Blue, Yellow, White bird) They have meter to charge and it is easy to travel by them as most of ppl here do not understand English. You just tell them the destination and they will take you. All have their ID's and details displayed so these are the safest.

If you want executive service then there is Silver Bird. They are the most expensive. Service vise, all are approx same.

USD 10,000 is for salary only? if so, it should be enough esp if you are still single.

House rentals here cost at least usd3000 in jakarta city. but in apartment should be cheaper, of course.

Thanks for the info Angxie, buy I have two kids and wife,so i think my expenses are way more than a single as my both kids school going.

sorry but i find this thread is a little bit funny... ))

I got 20 thousand British pound every month and it is not even enough for my standard living cost (don't even think about Angus Steak!!!)... I don't think 10k/month will be enough if you live like me... ^^

Whats funny in it Noisy steps,I needed some info and I got it through some wondeful ppl over here on this thread!!!

@Nneena... its more than salary that you shud consider ,have you considered Income tax? u will end up paying 25% tax , will your company pay for your Kids education? Will you get car/driver? if answer is no to above questions then I would advice re negotiate your contract.

@Nneena: for me, when you got an offer, if you think it is good, then it's good. If it is not, then it is not. No one can tell you if it is enough or not for spending in a month. With 10k / month, you should know that it is enough to stay in any city (including Paris, New York, etc.). For me i think you just want to make some fun by creating a thread starting with 10k usd.
Ok, if you're talking about other spending, then only you will know how much you need per month.

I can only say big thanks to all those who helped me interms of information which I required.Hopefully I will meet some good ppl over there InshAllah.thanks again

Hi Neena

If all the : house or apartment rent and school fee, driver salary, maid salary, electricity, water, car, petrol are all cover by the company, plus you get an expat allowance ; yes with 2 children n spouse it will enough. But, if the company didnt cover the housing, school, car, petrol, driver, maid, security if u stay a the house, electricity and water then what you get will be not enough.

Housing ; I stay in Kemang area which expat exelent housing area. The cost to rent decent house as what you expect; here is between usd 2850 up to usd 3500 for min normally 2 years, can be also for 1 year. All you have to pay in advance during. Mostly unfurnished or half furnish but they have furniture rental.

School; international school is very expensive . You can search or Jakarta international school. Time being we put our daughter 3 years old in tutor time international preschool, for your info we pay the tuition fee usd 1945 for every 3 months. This excluding the reading course which is rp 2,100,00 or usd 200. For 20 sessions.

The rest maid salary ranging from usd 120 usd - usd 190 can be stay in, or out. Security salary usd 130 - usd 230 usd, driver usd 170 usd - usd 300 depend on the over time. All paid in local currencies.

Our  fnb , cleaning , house mantnance expense only every month is  25,000,000 rupiah. With expat life style ya. Because if you want to keep the standard expat , like butter, cheese, vinegar, meats, any cane products, cereal, jam, yoghurt, milk for baby, drink, alcohol, salmon, they are all import. I even many times did my shopping in KL at Carrefour  to buy all this things since it is much cheaper than in Jakarta. Like idea products for my daughters I bring it from  K L . Unless it is ok for you to use local product which is not my case, for vegy, fish , seafood , chicken,I took local because it's more fresh. As well as the seasoning.

There rest are import.

Hope this will be slightly give you more figure.

Good offer

If your company does not pay your rent apartment in Jakarta, you can rent a pretty nice apartment and in the city, at a price of less than IDR10 million/ month or RM3,386 can have 2 bedrooms (furnish), include the cost of maintenance per month.
Electrical and water meters, depend.

And for meals, same in Malaysia for the price.
But for partying, Malaysia still cheaper than Jakarta.

The taxi also cheep in here, use Blue Bird taxi.
Don't hesitate to email me if you need help in here
You can email me nengchin@cleguk.com

Go gal

Priority shld be kids schools and wifey activities. Once they are well settled, then you can focus ok n yr work. Problem is apmts with international schools nearby are mostly expats and rents crazy, but my info could be updated by others here. apmts are good in that you dont have to worry abt too many things like gardener, swimming pool, security,  garbage, 2-3 maids, etc. just lock up and travel as you like in apmt.
South Jakarta brings fond memories, emerging areas like Kelapa Gading also good but more Asian expats. City apmts have restricted outlets for schools and children recreation beyond malls.
Good luck, indonesia is a lovely country for its people, the simple normal people... Humility and warm inspite of daily adversities. it is easy to forget yourself amongs the elite and rich... best spend a few years to develop career, but not too long for children's formative years to be permanently augmented.

Bluntly not much. Jakarta is far more expensive than Bali and I live on more than that monthly as an expat. Depends what you mean by live well. Do what you did in your own country than answer is probabably not.

basically in this city whatever ur budget you can try to fit in... start from the cheapest in to the lux.depends on your standard and your lifestyle.

so Good luck.

Hi Nneena,

It's seem a good offer. What's the company ? Do you think they got some over opportunities there ?

Thank for advance for your answer and good luck for this new life

best regards

Wow, I was making around $10K a YEAR a few years ago and doing fine.

$10K is 90 million juta, If housing, schools, tax and medical are paid for it's a pretty good wage, if not, it's still ok, but probably on the same level as a teacher at an international school.

Bear in mind that English teachers seem to do ok on less than 10 mill a month.

Wow, Nneena, if you are not satisfied with this offer, I will be glad to replace you without any negotiations! I would be happy to earn even a little bit less :-)

Perhaps it depends on the coutnry you are coming from, but I live in a more rich country than Indonesia and can only dream of such a salary :-)

Hi Neena,

I've been living here in Jakarta (from New York) for over 10 years with my family and wanted to give you some advice on schools and areas you might want to consider.

In terms of schools, JIS is still probably the best in terms of reputation and is running at about $15,000 last time I checked. They have two campuses one in Pondok Indah (nice area, but traffic) and Simprug. If your kids are HS age i would choose JIS.

I would also recommend BINUS International where both of my son's attend. The school is modern, secure and close to south jakarta also in simprug. The cost is about $7,200 and I personally like the facilities more than JIS and if you kids are younger than High School age I would choose BINUS.

For apartments, I would have a look in Permata Hijau (which is 5 minutes from BINUS) at Bellezza. Three bedroom is about $1,500 and its a private elevator to your apartment. Also has a 24/7 Food Hall and Celebrity Fitness in the shopping arcade. There are also new apartments at Gandaria Mall for about $1,800+ but I check both and found Bellezza to be nicer. If you like an older style apartment with wood floors then Apartment Permata Hijau is nice and about $1,200--but doesn't have all the facilities.

Avoid living in Tangerang or East Jakarta or West Jakarta. I personally like Kemang but the traffic is too heavy which exposes you to a lot of pollution. Nice to go for dinner but might not be ideal.

Good luck to you and your family in Jakarta!

hi Neena,

I personally would suggest South Jakarta area, there are many nice serviced apartments...like Capital...Oakwood...Kuningan City etc:)
Since traffic is a BIG deal in Jakarta, it is better to ask for the exact location first...then try to accomodate as near as possible...since commuting in Jakarta is really really a huge pain!

COngrats!!

if your company is paying, you can rent my appartment for 1500$ a month lol.
Doesn't matter how much you earn, you will still manage to spend it here if you want to