Rough budget for living

Old May 22nd 2017, 2:54 am
  #76  
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

Originally Posted by Marchk
nope and no plans for them, only reason we are in the position of thinking about slowing down or stopping work.
GMTA....

Then again, fools seldom differ :rolf:

We'll see if our decision made 20 years ago will come back to bite us in the proverbial backside.
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Old May 24th 2017, 3:36 am
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

I had a great meeting with Epicurious (thanks for the tips!) and saw a few apartments during this short visit. As Epicurious noted, the Batu caves area is a bit grubby because it is basically an industrial area with only a few condos (which themselves actually seemed nice). The condos are also not really walking distance from the train station so their location is actually quite poor.

The only other area where I looked at were a couple of places in Sentul. The Sentul area looked much more conducive for living and the condos also have a better feel (which is difficult to put your finger on) even if the facilities are basically identical to the one in Batu caves. It was also surprisingly cheap though not as cheap as Batu caves. Well renovated partially furnished 3br units in Sang Suria which looked nice were going for RM 1800/month and less renovated ones for as little as RM14-1500 after bargaining. The only downside of these units was that they were about a km from the train station but there seemed a lot of buses nearby and my Uber experiences in KL were quite good and transport seems quite cheap and convenient even without a train nearby.

There are, of course, other areas to look at which I will do in another visit or when I finally move. Another place that seems good on paper was Kampung Warisan - the pictures looked fantastic and it is right next to a train station. Of course, at nearly 3k it is quite a bit more but might be worth it.

There seems to be no shortage of decent quality cheap housing in KL at least. The prices look particularly shocking in comparison to HK. For RM 1500/month, you can't even get a 16 sq ft apartment now in HK (yes, it is really 16 sq ft - not a typo!
).

Last edited by physdude; May 24th 2017 at 3:37 am. Reason: Minor grammatical errors
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Old May 24th 2017, 7:47 am
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

Originally Posted by physdude
and my Uber experiences in KL were quite good and transport seems quite cheap and convenient even without a train nearby.
You all should not forget to thank me for this. I annoyed my friend at SPAD for weeks that they should not kill UBER because the people of Malaysia and also the foreigners love it so, so, so much

By the way, it is not only the prices, you also get a lot more than in other coutries. Parking space, fancy pools, good eqipped gyms, Squash, Badminton, sometimes Tennis courts, really nice garden areas ...
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Old Jun 6th 2017, 5:37 am
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

Update: I finally rented a fully furnished 3br unit at Seri Maya condo just oppose Setiawangsa LRT station for RM 2k/month on a whirlwind trip over the last three days. It has a few downsides like being at a low level and looking out onto other apartments as well as having somewhat old furniture but being right next to the train and being fairly spacious makes up for it IMHO. Maybe I was being a cheapskate not taking the much nicer Kampung Warisan units nearby for RM 3k/month but I plan to travel a fair bit so putting that extra 1k into that might be better for me.

Once I move, I plan to slowly scope out other options and, as I broaden the options to beyond KL and being next to the train, I think I will find something more suitable.
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Old Jun 6th 2017, 10:29 pm
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

Congratulations! Sounds like you've found the right place for you for the moment. Good luck with the move.
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Old Jun 29th 2017, 1:19 pm
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

Now that I am organizing the moving, one of the movers says that I require a letter from the govt saying that I have a one-time duty exemption in addition to the MM2H visa and approval letter. Since I am moving soon, I might be in a fix if I don't get that very soon! Does anyone know what this is and how to get it. I am flying to KL tomorrow in order to collect the keys and will be there until Tuesday so at least I can be there in person.

Thanks in advance for any help!
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Old Jun 30th 2017, 7:45 am
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

I have not heard of such a requirement ("one-time duty exemption"). When I moved my stuff to Malaysia in 2015 was this not required from me.
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Old Jul 2nd 2017, 6:31 am
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

Originally Posted by physdude
Now that I am organizing the moving, one of the movers says that I require a letter from the govt saying that I have a one-time duty exemption in addition to the MM2H visa and approval letter. Since I am moving soon, I might be in a fix if I don't get that very soon! Does anyone know what this is and how to get it. I am flying to KL tomorrow in order to collect the keys and will be there until Tuesday so at least I can be there in person.

Thanks in advance for any help!
I have not heard of this. When we shipped our items we had to stick copies of the MM2H visas onto the shipping paperwork. There was even a designated space for them. It sounds to me as though your shipping agent is not really experienced with shipping to Malaysia. Send him copies of you p/p visa together with a link to the MM2H web site that states you can import your items.
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Old Jul 5th 2017, 10:35 am
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

Originally Posted by NeonHippy
I have not heard of this. When we shipped our items we had to stick copies of the MM2H visas onto the shipping paperwork. There was even a designated space for them. It sounds to me as though your shipping agent is not really experienced with shipping to Malaysia. Send him copies of you p/p visa together with a link to the MM2H web site that states you can import your items.
Thanks for the information from all! This request was made by a couple of the moving companies we contacted and we are finally going with another one who seems to understand the process better so it is working out fine.
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Old Jul 5th 2017, 11:48 am
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

Good ho
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Old Jul 12th 2017, 7:35 am
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

The movers are all done in HK and the ship is scheduled to arrive in Port Klang on Monday! If customs is quick, I might even get my stuff before the end of the month. Didn't really expect that.

Can't believe that I will finish the move in just a couple of days now!
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Old Jul 16th 2017, 6:39 pm
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

Originally Posted by bakedbean
Good ho
Bit harsh 😅

😜
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Old Jul 24th 2017, 5:45 pm
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Default Re: Rough budget for living

I have now settled down a bit after the initial moving hassles and finally got my broadband today! It has been incredibly busy over the last week settling down and taking care of a lot of minor issues (mostly apartment related though the owner has been kind enough to take care of them promptly) that I have been joking that I am way busier in early retirement than while working.

Despite a bevy of minor issues, the apartment has turned out better than my initial expectations in terms of comfort and environment (my expectations were not that high since I did economize on it) and the convenience of being right next to the LRT has been very good. It is also fairly close to a weekly pasar malam which is great for my Nyonya dessert fix (developed a taste for them in SG). Overall, it is all turning out quite good.

My wife and I have also not neglected enjoying all the fantastic and amazingly inexpensive south Indian food we have missed for so long. I was also amazed to discover a rather nice second hand bookshop at KL Sentral (something I really didn't expect in Malaysia) and that was a pleasant surprise as I love bookshops in general and HK doesn't have many of them.

My household stuff only reached KL port on last Friday and will be delivered either late this week or early next week after clearing customs. Still, I would say that a full international move in just 3 weeks is fairly impressive.

I haven't had the time to meet up with anybody yet (particularly Epicurious who was quite helpful earlier) but it should be getting a lot easier soon once everything is set up at home.

It looks like the whole plan is working out like a charm. Further, it seems that 8k is actually quite a generous budget for running a two person household even in KL, particularly given our affinity for the local food.
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