14000 Per month in KL for a young western family
We are a western family of 3 soon to be 4. I am considering moving to KL to study for a year. We have some savings which we will be living on for the year. We realise we wll not be living a champagne lifestyle but I want to know if our expenses are reasonable/achievable.
Housing: 3500 RM (somewhere near the center or on the MTR)
Food: 2000 RM
Bills 400 RM
Phones and internet 300 RM
Medical insurance for a family of 4 ??? RM
Nursery / play school a few days a week ??? RM
Cleaner a few days a week ??? RM
Anything else
Thanks for any replies
J
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Also studying in kl is often not worth it unless Nottingham uni or similar. Most master degrees here are not worth much (I presume masters as a year).
14k from savings is sufficient (as equal to a higher pee tax salary please note anyone else reading).
Thanks for the reply.
My son will be 2 years old so it does not have to be an exclusive $10,000 international school, just a play school or nursery he can go a couple of days a week to socialise with other kids and give mum a bit of a break. As long as it is clean and safe it's good. and we will also have a baby.
Nottingham is correct they have a very good reputation.
Please try to put example numbers to costs "astronomical" may mean different things to different people.
We have access to some contingency funds but it is important we understand potential scenarios.
Thanks
J
Heart attack 80,0000 rm plus
One night in hospital with a few tests 2 000 rm. With a sick baby it can get pricey.
Btw these were charged to local friends not expats who can get charged more. These locals negotiated original price down.
Make sure you have good Malaysian insurance. AXA is best value.travel insurance wont cover you studying.
Nottingham is same degree as back in UK so good choice. For other readers place like Monash issue a local (considered inferior) standard degree.
14k a month is enough - considering you are not saving for retirement / travel etc you can spend less. What other readers often forget is that when working you need to treat part of your salary as deferred to old age.
Hiring a live in or out maid may be helpful. They cost about RM1250 per month but be careful that they have immigration in order otherwise you can get into some serious schtuck.
Health insurance - best Tokio Marine's Health Insurance , the Premier Medic Partner product. For RM20 you can cover yourself for anywhere outside Malaysia as well. Just be aware that annual limits, maximums, and lifetime limits are quite low with Malaysian products. But probably sufficient for your purposes.
We are an expat family of 4 too:
- 3,500RM housing, you may be able to find a 3 bed apartment. Pls be sure your company will cover the advance for your flat (minimum 3 months downpayment, warranty + advance payment).
- Nursery is minimum 1,200RM/month + uniforms + cost of meals + bus cost if needed (bus costs around 800RM for 3 months). For you just to have an idea: International school primary 1st year is 60,000 a year in KL!! If you want your child to socialize, pls know that preschool in Malaysia are very pushy and are not so much about fun!! It is very academic: my son had to start writing when he was 3y, he had to sit most of the day, and learn the alphabet! So in the end we took him out of there and he attended preschool at an international school (much more expensive though...). Asians do not have the same idea than us on preschool or education in general. I suggest you find a playgroup for your child to socialize on an 大咖福利影院 (moderated: no free ads please)
- 2,000RM Food budget is a bit low. If you intend to eat local food OK but I am not sure you want to feed your young kids pesticides (average nr of pesticides found in malaysian vegetables/fruits: 3!/Ministry of Agriculture), the same for chicken and antibiotics. You put your local chicken in the oven then after 1hr only half is left! Yogurts and milk + baby food are all imported and SUPER EXPENSIVE (5-9RM for 1 pot of yogurt and 15RM for an Australian organic one!!). A liter of fresh milk is 8RM, sandwich bread is 5RM, a dozen of eggs 10RM, 2 beef steaks 60RM, one slice of salmon 35RM... I also thought it would be much cheaper when we moved here but reality is different. Fresh fish is hard to find too.
- 400RM electricity is fair for a 3bed appt if you only use the aircon at night.
- Phone/cable TV 300RM - OK, but pls be aware Astro and Maxis or phone companies will ask you for a big down payment (only applicable to foreigners). I have a monthly plan of 30RM and had to make a down payment of 1,500RM! 500RM deposit for Astro too.
- Cars are expensive. Minimum 3,000RM/month for a rental (medium size Honda city or toyota innova).
- Taxis are a pain. When it rains, no cab, on Fridays and rush hours no cab, you will have sometimes to book a luxury blue cab (which is a normal cab in other countries). My office is located 3km from our place. I pay 13-15RM in morning or 21-24RM blue cab.
- Transportation: buses come and go on a non-schedule basis, so you just wait and see if a bus is coming. To be avoided if you have an appointment.
- Please make sure your company covers all medical expenses as medical treatments can be expensive. For a vaccination, cost with a consultation could easily be minimum 150-250RM or any consultation with medication will also cost that price. International clinics tend to bill more (200-300RM for a consultation). Dental visit/cleaning about 200-250RM. Hospital and surgery are of course very expensive.
- Legal cleaners (from cleaning company) cost 20-25RM an hour.
Of course, you also need to add a budget for unplanned events or extra costs.
Good luck

A man is coming to study not to roll in luxury! Graduates earn 3k here and 5k if it's oil company.
You can get a full time live out maid RM1600-1800 per month wt all paperwork done by her. There are part time cleaner companies that charge 15per hour. We spend 1300 for a family of 4 for food, I do normal groceries at Tesco online, buy fruits from the local stalls near Mont Kiara, and get things that are not locally produced at Village Grocer(it has foods from all around the world!)
Local chicken is rm4 per kg if you want one free of antibiotic etc it's rm16 per Chicken.
You can register wt Tesco online and check food prices there. Yogurts are not of UK quality but you can find decent alternatives.
Eating out eg TGI Fridays you'd spend around rm200.
You'd be better off buying a car than renting, if it's indeed 3k/month. 14k considering you are not saving for future and EPF is a good budget!!
RM3500 you can get at least 1200 sf apartment depending what condo, this is true even for Mont Kiara.
International schools are expensive but your kids are small so no problem. There is Child Discovery House nursery that is well recommended by expats. Child Delivery in one of the best hospitals is 7-10k if it C-section with private room, a lot cheaper for natural birth.
you can email me at malaysiankl@yahoo.com and the requesting the fees too.
Thanks
Pam
you can email me at malaysiankl@yahoo.com and the requesting the fees too.
Thanks
Pam
I am a mother of 3 children, 2 studied in Monash University, Bandar Sunway and the youngest now studying in Heriot-Watt University in Putrajaya.聽 I am not from KL so I will share what we pay for my children.聽 Frankly, if you scout around or google, you will not spend so much (RM14000).聽 It depends on which university you choose and the location you stay. There are foreign and local universities and fees defer.聽
Housing:聽 You can get a decent apartment for RM1800 fully furnished at The Arc, Cyberjaya. If studying in
Putrajaya or Cyberjaya.聽 聽In Bandar Sunway, try a little bit outskirt (within 3 kms) to Monash, you can stay at
Suriamas , Indahvilla, Residensi Laguna for around RM2000.聽 Just google and find. They are many without
agent's fees.
Food:聽 Cook yourself and eat out occassionally.聽 Buy groceries at Giant, Tesco, Aeonbig or Econsave.
Wet markets , you are able to get fresher fish, chicken and meat.
Bills. 400 RM聽 reasonable.
Phones and internet 300 RM聽 -聽 Prepaid cards.聽 Check on those giving free calls to same lines.聽 I found one
so cheap but have not used聽 yet.聽 Postpaid RM8.00 + min internet RM5.00 per month.聽 Digi - I use less than
RM20.00 for prepaid.
Medical insurance for a family of 4 ??? RM.聽 聽 聽I get from AIA. I can enquire for you if interested.
Nursery / play school a few days a week ??? RM300 or less for 5 days / week around 2 - 3 hrs per day.
Cleaner a few days a week ??? RM30.00 for 4 hours use (in JB).聽 I got an Indonesia girl.
Car - buy a 2nd hand one.聽 There are many between RM12000 - RM15000.00.聽 Since you are staying
for a year.
If need more advise, can message me at lavenderong@yahoo.com.
You can always enrol your child in a play school of which there are plenty in the Klang Valley.
As a matter of fact my son is enrolled in gymboree which is a francise of playschools and for the whole year its approximately RM3k so its pretty worth it.
Rental wise,for a family of 4 the RM3500 rental will suffice,for that price you should be able to get a comfortable 3 bed room condominium or even a 4 room house.
As for food,RM2k is more than enough as you have an option to buy groceries from the various grocers or dine out.
Transportation wise,you have an option of buying an affordable used car which ranges from RM8 for a local car up to RM15k for a japanese car/suv (Honda CRV etc). I don't advice renting a car as its a waste of money which could be used for other necceties.
As for insurance & medical i would advice asking your current insurance company in USA if they have a branch in Malaysia and just extend the coverage to Malaysia and pay a slight premium.
Utilities wise,as in electric bills,water,phone,internet etc,RMk should be a generous enough amount (with change).
If you want to i can help you out in sourcing for accommodation,transportation etc if you like.
[moderated: please avoid posting your contact information on the forum]
All the best,
Miqayeel Bradley Low
I am a local and I think I can help you. Your housing can be around 2k Malaysian per month. Cleaners are about RM 80 per session which can be about 4 hours. You need to add transport into your expenses.
Frankly 14000 a month is over budgeted. You can survive with around 7000 a month.
Welcome to Malaysia. You will like it here although it is hot and sticky
manjin
manjin23@gmail.com
They have a very good reputation and you can call them at +603-3341 2277 or visit their website at metro.com.my . I am sure they have聽 panel of insurance companies.
I am Malaysian but was brought up in the UK so if you want to make sure you don't get ripped off here by realty agents just drop me a line or call/message me on my mobile [moderated: please avoid posting your contact information on the forum]
Regards,
Miqayeel Bradley Low
Can you please recommend this clinic in the Business Directory > Health in Kuala Lumpur.
Thank you,
Shaazia
大咖福利影院 Team
Lavenderong wrote:贬颈,听
I am a mother of 3 children, 2 studied in Monash University, Bandar Sunway and the youngest now studying in Heriot-Watt University in Putrajaya.聽 I am not from KL so I will share what we pay for my children.聽 Frankly, if you scout around or google, you will not spend so much (RM14000).聽 It depends on which university you choose and the location you stay. There are foreign and local universities and fees defer.聽
Housing:聽 You can get a decent apartment for RM1800 fully furnished at The Arc, Cyberjaya. If studying in
Putrajaya or Cyberjaya.聽 聽In Bandar Sunway, try a little bit outskirt (within 3 kms) to Monash, you can stay at
Suriamas , Indahvilla, Residensi Laguna for around RM2000.聽 Just google and find. They are many without
agent's fees.
Food:聽 Cook yourself and eat out occassionally.聽 Buy groceries at Giant, Tesco, Aeonbig or Econsave.
Wet markets , you are able to get fresher fish, chicken and meat.
Bills. 400 RM聽 reasonable.
Phones and internet 300 RM聽 -聽 Prepaid cards.聽 Check on those giving free calls to same lines.聽 I found one
so cheap but have not used聽 yet.聽 Postpaid RM8.00 + min internet RM5.00 per month.聽 Digi - I use less than
RM20.00 for prepaid.
Medical insurance for a family of 4 ??? RM.聽 聽 聽I get from AIA. I can enquire for you if interested.
Nursery / play school a few days a week ??? RM300 or less for 5 days / week around 2 - 3 hrs per day.
Cleaner a few days a week ??? RM30.00 for 4 hours use (in JB).聽 I got an Indonesia girl.
Car - buy a 2nd hand one.聽 There are many between RM12000 - RM15000.00.聽 Since you are staying
for a year.
If need more advise, can message me at lavenderong@yahoo.com.
Indahvilla? Are you talking about the one near Sunway Pyramid mall? If so, I don't know how to believe in what you are saying because from what I have heard about the place, its not a place I would suggest for someone to stay. At least from what I heard from people who lived there 2 or 3 years ago. Not sure how different it is now, but I would suggest finding some other place.
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