How much salary required

You need about 15k gross to afford two kids at school and support a family plus decent house. Some might scrape by on 10k but only just assuming no travel no entertainment. You will spend 4k a month min on education. 2k min on house and more these days. Food and travel min 2k so that is 8k net before clothes medical etc or a single DVD!

Hi Shashi,

Nemo is quite accurate. He is missing taxes though ;-) I would advise you to pay attention to the school fees when measuring costs. This is a big chunk and can be higher than any other expense, including housing.

Two questions:
- Where is your office located?
- Which school do you want to send your 6-year old to? And what curriculum do you want her to learn?

Most Indians, with budget constraints, send their kids to Global Indian International School or GIIS(http://www.globalschoolmalaysia.org/). They offer CBSE curriculum and quite good I hear. They also the British Curriculum, but that is highly questionable :-) The other option that Indians seem to pick is Maz International School (http://www.mazinternational.edu.my/) that offers just the British Curriculum. Both schools have their fee structure listed on their websites.

GIIS is most convenient for Indians as it is close to KL Sentral and there are some nice apartments or condos in the vicinity (Little India). I'd call it Little South India :-D No shortage of veg food in this area.

So besides school, your other monthly expenses are:

House: 2-3K
Utilities (water, elec, satellite TV, internet): 500
Groceries: 1000
Car + petrol + maintenance: 500-800 for a local made hatchback or sedan car
Taxes: 25%
Entertainment / Shopping: 500-1000
Medicals: 100

Am I missing anything? You can decide.

Thanks Nemo and Carly for your quick and very useful response. Now I got a better idea now on living expenses in KL.
About the job details, it is still under initial process and long way to go. I actually have to give a required salary quote to my consultant which can not be changes later. So I should not give a bad quote so that after I should not repent on that.
I am a 10 years experienced IT (Semiconductor field) professional
looking out of India with good salary in which I can save a good money (5k per month) too. Only in this scenario I can lookout else I no need to take so much risk by relocating with family.

Once again thanks for your quick feedback. I can quote based on this now.

u r in a good position then. quote 15k and good luck! :-)

Carl,

Found your post, quite useful.

Needed some info - let me give you some background.
I am currently on expat terms in India and been asked to look at Malaysia for the next 2 years , but on local terms. I have a family of 2 kids - 8 and 4 studying in an international school.

The negotiations would start end of this month and I see that schooling is expensive. Especially igcse...

Can you provide me some guidance on
A. a ballpark figure that I should look for in terms of package--- with 16 years in bfsi and IT.
B. Best place to stay
C. Schooling - average fees
E. Transportation - car or is it public transport
F. My wife is employed here, can she get employed in KL

Cheers
Mcl

A. RM20k - plus they pay for car, housing, removal, healthcare (hospital, clinic and dental) and schooling costs paid i.e. your take home should be more than you have now. Ask for a lump sum to help you set up a new home as well as paid home leave once a year.
B. Depends where your office is and where the school is
C. Difficult to say (beware some schools have waiting lists) http://schooladvisor.my/?p=schools but top schools charge RM35-50k per annum.
E. Car for each of you - essential as public transport is not connected or convenient
F. It may be difficult for your wife to find work - depends on what she does - there are jobs for teachers and some other key professions, but no casual or part-time jobs as minimum salary has to be RM5k per month (average local salary being RM3.5k per month)

Not sure where in India you are currently located, but cost of living in Malaysia is 40%-60% higher in Malaysia.

I lived in KL and I spent only RM 2.5 k per month

Thanks Gravitas for all the inputs.

HR expected to get back to me end of this week. Can't believe things take this long to move. Schooling seems to be the one which is going to make or break this deal...!! lets see.
Will keep you all posted on progress.

I live in Pune (India) now.

hey mclaren, what happened finally?

Folks,

the offer on the table is RM35K + full healthcare + reloc.. I havent accepted it yet, will sleep over it for a couple of days.

Meanwhile, parallely, looking at schools and comparative costs/quality....any feedbacks on International Park City school, Desa or ELC is welcome.

what do you folks think?

Rgds,
Mcl

Desa Park City - the school may be hard to get into as there are waiting lists, so don't set your heart on this one. You could drop them an email to check out the situation.  Otherwise there are plenty of other choices. Lots depends on where you are working and what the commute will be like by car (public transport rarely provides a solution). The location of DPC is quite isolated - on top of a hill, with only one way out and in - so expect traffic problems during school runs and rush hour periods.

Desa has no exam record and is expensive, but is a proper attempt at an international school (prob needs a few more years to mature). ELC is cheap, doesn't have the best teachers or best facilities as a result, but small classes. It is highly selective and gets good results academically. In the budget "class" of school I would say a good one to look at. Certainly way ahead of many "international schools". Basically a grammar school.  A few others are improving, Tenby has upped its game, upped salaries, brought in good teachers and even a SENCO now (for SEN). So another worth looking at nowadays. But most of the new schools in KL......

Becareful of most of them they are all glossy brochures and no substance. Many employ unqualified white foreign "teachers" (Europeans and Iranians teaching English for example) to make themselves look good to local parents.

Thanks Nemo & Gravitas for the inputs.

I am still evaluating if its worth the package. a tough call...!
Need to get back with a response by 1-Apr. Also, realised that a site visit will be required to assess schools & acco.

Rgds,
Mcl

Dutch Expat Shop wrote:

I lived in KL and I spent only RM 2.5 k per month

Congratulations on living in KL for just RM2.5k per month. It's very cheap.

mclaren4u wrote:

Folks,

the offer on the table is RM35K + full healthcare + reloc.. I havent accepted it yet, will sleep over it for a couple of days.

Meanwhile, parallely, looking at schools and comparative costs/quality....any feedbacks on International Park City school, Desa or ELC is welcome.

what do you folks think?

Rgds,
Mcl

Jeez man, thats a really good package. Go for it!

Yup it's a good package!!!

Hi,

Hope you are doing well.

Let me introduce myself - My name is Amit and I am a supply chain and Logistics professional working in India. I have 7+ years of experience. I am a married guy without child. Beside my wife, I have my mother in my family.

I have been offered a job in Puchong area, with RM 10,000/ monthly salary (tax included). Currently I am working on CTC of INR 10,00,000. Out of which I hardly save upto 300,000/ yearly.
Would you mind in suggesting if I should accept this offer or not. if accepted I will be moving along with my family hence will I be able to save good amount.

Thanks for your help and looking forward for your input.

Rgds,
Amit

Hi,

Hope you are doing well.

Let me introduce myself - My name is Amit and I am a supply chain and Logistics professional working in India. I have 7+ years of experience. I am a married guy without child. Beside my wife, I have my mother in my family.

I have been offered a job in Puchong area, with RM 10,000/ monthly salary (tax included). Currently I am working on CTC of INR 10,00,000. Out of which I hardly save upto 300,000/ yearly.
Would you mind in suggesting if I should accept this offer or not. if accepted I will be moving along with my family hence will I be able to save good amount.

Thanks for your help and looking forward for your input.

Rgds,
Amit

I am planning to bring my wife and kids ... and I have an offer around this number ...  u were able to bring ur wife and kids and live with this figure ?!! ... thus wil be a very good news for me .... confirm plz

A.Shaarawy wrote:

I am planning to bring my wife and kids ... and I have an offer around this number ...  u were able to bring ur wife and kids and live with this figure ?!! ... thus wil be a very good news for me .... confirm plz

Hi Shaarawy, I am Mohsen coming from Cairo to KL hopefully by July/August with a wife and 2 kids (10, 6). tell now nothing decided yet but mostly will be Mont Kiara area and school.
Hope to start our Egyptian commuinty in KL.

egydream2002 at yahoo dot com

Ok ... My brother ... Waiting you isA ... U can contact me on ... [email protected]

Hello All,

I am an IT Professional from India and planning to move to Malaysia. I would appreciate if you can provide the info on cost of living to stay in Kuala Lumpur. I am married and have a 7 months old baby. I am getting some offers but confused on salary expectations due to lack of info on cost of living.

I am vegetarian and bit of more in spending. I want to know the following info for calculating my expenses to arrive:

1) Monthly House rent for 2 Bedroom house in decent locality in Kuala Lumpur
2) Monthly House-hold expenses for 3-member family including 1 baby (Groceries+Electricity, mobile, internet bills+ Medical expenses+ etc.)
3)Transport expenses

Let me know if any other expenses I should consider like Medical.
Also want to know in Kuala Lumpur, do we have Indian grocery available like wheat and all.

Waiting for a reply.

Regards,
YS

Is RM1600 enough  for a bachelor to survive in KL?

Thanks Maria.