Posted by
runnergal
20 yrs ago
write a shopping list of what you would buy if you had $300 to feed yourself for a month.
:)
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My dear expats, most of you are just spoiled by the salary that you or your husband is earning. Most of you rarely go to a real wet market in Hong Kong, I bet. There is nothing wrong with your life style. You have the right to enjoy it. But it wld be nice if you could also understand the real life of Hong Kong here. Sabi, very well said.
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meat fish seafood for $3???? Where?
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runnergal : at Wellcome or Parknshop in Fanling
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so how much for a helper who lives in say.....repulse bay...to get to Fanling?
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Well going back to your original thread, runnergal, I think your real purpose is to know whether a helper or simply a person can survive or not with a monthly allowance of $300, am I right? So, as a local, I can simply tell you yes. But the quality of the food and varieties is a different question. The filipino helper and the sri lankan helper I employed in the past were almost vegetarian so definitely 300 is enough as a food allowance for them, PROVIDED that she can share the kitchen with you! If you live in such a posh area as Repulse Bay, it might be better for you to give here a bit more, say $500-$600 per month. That also might stop her from gossiping with other folks that you are a mean employer. Good luck.
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We don't give an allowance per se, but our helper has a houshold cash fund for shopping for us and she buys her own groceries from this. Mostly she eats eggs vegetables some fish or meat and rice or noodles all of which she cooks herself. She also buys herself occasional biscuits or packaged cakes she even makes some homemade sweets from our larder for her friendship gatherings. Our monthly bill including cat and large dog food, all cleaning supplies, basic groceries for us, and all her food is only 1500 per month. 300 per month is generous. We came to our method after asking several friends who all found that their helper was taking a part of the allowance to send home with their salary every month.
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We dont give a food allowance,we eat together in the table shared our food,but then if she want to eat something else we had a fund that put in a coin bag she can buy what she likes to eat and she would put them together in the list for the day.I dont buy her a shampoo,conditioner ect.as it is her personal.
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Mrs Miggins, what did you eventually provide your former helper in terms of staples, toiletries, and cash?
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july8
19 yrs ago
We give to our helper hk$500 per month for food allowance,and I think is enough cause i notice that when we cook too much food for us and I suggest her to try it (lets say pasta or meat)she always throw it away without even touching it,and I have to say that this quite annoy me since I hate wasting good food!!!
From her attitude I would say that hk$500 is even too much........
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Is $500 in the contract? If not, just have her eat what you eat. Or, you can always package your leftovers for another meal.
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ritad
19 yrs ago
pls...
first of all tahnks green..i did not get a chance to reply yet..just got your mail last firday...for some reason i did not read it earlier...
now, ihave enough of this crap..first of all,honestly...most people will give the helpers more food and allowance ifthey did a decent job..i made the mistake to allow the helper to anyfood we have and on top give her food allowance..so waht does she do..eat all the food at home and hardly buy anything....definteily not worht the allowance i give hr.....and then she does not even do the job..i am sorry....you think the moeny you give a maid is little..try askign those security gaurds who work 12 hours shift..and then get paid 4000 a month..with no food, living and holiday sh*t....so pls people...
i think we are all humans..we strat out nice..if people mistreat us..then we become....more..strict...
so whoever thinsk otherwise...ask the helper to leave..get a higher paying job in where ever they come from..simple..no one froce anyone....to work anywhere...
u do it yourself...
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ritad
19 yrs ago
yeah..but eating all the food i get at home is....then the food cost is higher then 500 , 600 hundred....a month...for sure
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It is ridiculous to assert that the people who pay only $300 for food or only minimum wage for salary are somehow immoral for doing so. It is further ignorant to assume that everyone here is a white tower resident with money to burn. Some here may be a two income family just to make ends meet, pay for their extended family and save to buy a house for their own living. Some may even need a domestic to take care of their elderly parents. It is also not any ones shame to have offered these FDH an income that supports their whole family back home and enough comfort here to have many luxury’s they can’t have in their native land (like clean water and a cool comfortable home environment. I am not saying that employers should not be aware of their helpers predicament or that an employer does not need to act morally. But some would argue that simply supporting a contract to its full term is doing significant moral good. I certainly know from the hiring process that there are a lot of FDH seeking jobs and none of them want to go back to their home land.
Now here’s what I have bought for just 298.80 in my local Parknshop. I am certain I could have cut at least 30 dollars off in the local markets.
3000 grams Noodles
5000 grams Rice
1800 grams Potato
6500 grams assorted vegetables including Chinese green vegetables, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers and squashes.
4 liters UHT full fat (same price for skimmed) milk
15 gala apples
15 oranges
3000 grams assorted meat (Pork, Chicken, Fish and Canned Ham)
Daily Nutrition (better than the RDA of any western country on all aspects)
326 grams carbohydrate (excluding fruits and vegetables)
230 grams fruit and vegetable
100 grams meat per day (fat & protein)
133ml milk per day (fat & protein)
Monthly expense $298.80
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