Cost of Living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Hi mayura105 and welcome to Expat.com!

Your thread has been moved to Kuala Lumpur forum for better visibility.

Do not hesitate to browse through the forum, it may help.

Harmonie.

Hi 5k is far too little to support a wife - she will have to find work and not so easy (depending on her qualifications). You don't say what sort of job you will be doing but 5k is very little. 10 years ago any management job in banking - locals - was 10k plus.

:)Nemodot: Thanks a ton for your response. I am a core IT Professional. Would be working for a banking firm. My would be wife is looking for a job on the sales & marketing management profile. She is equally well-qualified. So considering this could you help out as to what's the current market rate for a Core IT professional.

Harmonie: Thanks a ton

Hi guys,

I am desperate need for your feedbacks as you are living the life in Malaysia currently.

My would be hubby has got a job from a banking firm. Its located in Cap Square Tower. They are offering him 5000MYR on a monthly basis. Request your kind help.

1) Is it affordable to stay in Kuala Lumpur with this pay check.
2) What are the tax deductions that happen.
3) What would be the closet and affordable area to stay? Is there a facility of PGs in the city.
4) I would be shifting in with him in a few months post marriage and would be also looking for a job over there. Could you provide me job sites which help in recruitment.

Please this is a sincere request. Kindly help.

Thanks & Regards,

Mayura

hi, im from argentina and they ofered a job in malaysia as a chef in a restaurant. im marry and i have 2 kids, i want to know if 1.000 dollars by month is enough to live, to eat, to rent. its expensive to have a car...i want to know if its a dangerous country and how about schools and health.
im very exited to go there but im scare coz its so far away...i want if u can help me all the information u can give it will be welcome, thanks.

Hi rosita,

Even i am searching and trying to get details of the cost of living in Kuala Lumpur. Hence i cannot comment much on your requirement. Hope some of the guys on this blog help us both out on our enquires.

Good Luck to u!!!

Hi People,
Just to advise the expats who want to live in Malaysia. I am a Malaysian but I have many friends who are expats whom living here in Malaysia. They are mostly my colleagues basically. So I got rough estimation on living cost in Malaysia(in KL particularly) for expats since I have spoken many times to them. If Bachelor, RM5k to RM7k is adequate to live with including entertainment on weekends.But for a family , I would say RM10k above is the ideal deal to grab. Nothing lesser than RM5k for single is not advisable unless you are desperate looking for a change.

Aside to Rosita,
For 1000 US Dollar a month is quite low I would say . Furthermore you are having 2 kids. Unless ur lodging and transport is covered by employer, then maybe u can consider. It will be very tight for you even with this . The country is safe of course. And healthy place to stay too. But international schools impose quite high schoool fares.

1) Is it affordable to stay in Kuala Lumpur with this pay check.
Yes. If it is just a base salary.
2) What are the tax deductions that happen.
Tax deduction is normally handle by company. Check hasil.gov.my
3) What would be the closet and affordable area to stay? Is there a facility of PGs in the city.
There is a lot of apt there. But for cheaper price, go outside of the city.
4) I would be shifting in with him in a few months post marriage and would be also looking for a job over there. Could you provide me job sites which help in recruitment.
jobstreet.com.my

Thanks Bornd. You were a great help. This will help me in further research.

:-)

Salary is illegal and job sounds dodgy so avoid. 1,000 USD a month? below legal min for a work permit.

Hi,
I am software engineer offered a job in KL, Malaysia.
Salary given by my employer is 9000 MYR.
1. what is tax deduction over this salary (is it flat 26% ??)
2. If i will live comfortable, own a 1 bhk apartment over rent, cook by own and weekend entertainment. how much i will spend in this.
3. Approximate cost of good living standard.

Thanks. appreciate your quick response.

Hi,

5k RM is very less to support a family. You need to pay 26% tax here for the first 6 months. However, you will get back that amount and u ll be charged on normal tarif once u finish 182 days in Malaysia. If you have decent salary then you dont require to come to KL as the pay is low.

Regards
Sanjeev

Hi, please don't be offended. My personal opinion is that any salary below RM20k is not considered as expat.  Expat should get paid at least USD7k a month with accomodation provided, handphone bills & transportation taken care of. Annual trip to home country should also be provided.

If you are coming to KL with a salary between RM5k to RM10k, my opinion is that you will have no problem to live a decent life in KL.  But given the objectives of most expats is to save more money, i personally think that you may not save much from this range of pay, not to mention if you come with your family.

Hope it helps.

Hi Conface I agree, but be prepared to be told you are being daft by a few! I had the same argument on CS and it seems some are happy to work for peanuts - some illegally on less than 5k - it's the spolit youth of the west of today they are desperate for jobs and think they have the right to work anywhere despite displacing locals from jobs - and unemployment is increasing -  Personally I think the expat min legal pay should be raised to 10k a month. There is only one reason to pay an expat less - that is because they are taking less than skilled locals as employers are cheapskates in many cases and won't pay or invest in malaysians.