As a foreigner, the monthly cost of living in Malaysia is not as cheap as you might think even though it is much cheaper when I was in Seoul, South Korea. The main reasons are monthly rent and car installment. But the prices of food and other items are quite cheap. However, if you keep Korean life style just like eating Korean food at Korean restaurants, your monthly cost of living in Malaysia will become increasingly expensive.
Table of Contents
1. Factor 1 - Housing and Various Taxes
2. Factor 2 - Car Installment and Gas Price
3. Factor 3 - Grocery and Food Price
4. Factor 4 - Communication Costs
5. Summary - Monthly Living Expenses
Factor 1 - Housing and Various Taxes
Wages and prices in Malaysia have risen steadily. Nonetheless, wage levels in Malaysia are still low. Additionally, prices in Malaysia remain low. So how much does it cost to live in Malaysia per month?
The biggest part of monthly living expenses in Malaysia is monthly rent.
The monthly rent for a decent three-bedroom condo in Kuala Lumpur and surrounding Selangor state ranges from RM1,500 (around USD 320) to RM2,000 (around USD 426). Of course, condo rents in upscale neighborhoods such as downtown Kuala Lumpur(KL for short) and Putling Jaya (PJ for short) are more expensive.
A three-bedroom condo with a monthly rent of 2,000 ringgit (around USD 426 ) includes all equipment such as a refrigerator and washing machine. If you decide to use your own items, you can rent an empty house where the monthly rent is cheaper.
If you use air conditioners in two rooms, your electricity bill will be approximately 150 ringgit (around USD 32) per month, or about 200 ringgit (about 56,400 won). Water tariffs in Malaysia are cheap, around 50 ringgit (around USD 11) per month.
Factor 2 - Car installment and Gas Price
A car is essential to life in Malaysia. So these days, many Malaysian households have two cars as standard. Therefore, condos are usually given two parking spaces.
Buying a car in Malaysia involves either buying a new car or a used car. Personally, I avoid buying used cars because, as you can see from the example of the floods that occurred in December 2021, there will be many cars that have been submerged in floods or heavy rain. Even if it is not necessarily flooded, there are areas that are habitually flooded during the rainy season.
So, unless you are an automobile expert, it is difficult to select a car in good condition and not a flooded car in the used car market. When buying a new car, a cheap way to buy a new car is to buy a car from a Malaysian car manufacturer.
The Myvi from Perdua, a powerhouse in the Malaysian automobile market, is the most popular and best-selling compact car in Malaysia. The Myvi 1.5L engine model costs approximately 58,800 ringgit (around USD 12,500). Toyota's compact car Yaris, which uses almost the same engine, is priced at 84,800 ringgit (around USD 18,000).
In Malaysia, there are all kinds of Japanese and German cars, as well as Hyundai and Kia motors from South Korea. The price of the Hyundai Avante ranges from approximately 110,000 ringgit (around USD 23,400) to 159,000 ringgit (around USD 33,800).
Hyundai cars are similar in price to or more expensive than similar cars from Japan's Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Mazda. Maybe that's why you can easily see Japanese cars on the streets, but finding a Hyundai or Kia car is a difficult task. Rather, you can still see Kia cars that were brought into local joint ventures in the past.
If you purchase a new car on installments, you can repay in 3, 5, 7, or 9 years. So, it is said that young people in Malaysia often buy a new car with a 9-year installmant plan if they can prove several months of salary stubs after getting a job. In this case, since the principal is hardly paid, the installments, which are repaid over 9 years, are quite expensive.
The good news is that the nine-year repayment loan has a lower interest rate. For reference, the loan interest rate is said to be highest for about 5 years. I heard this from a car salesman, so it may not be accurate.
The monthly installment varies depending on the principal and installment period, but ranges from 500 ringgit (around USD 106) to 1,200 ringgit (around USD 256).
Of course, the cost of gasoline varies depending on how much you travel, but if you use it for commuting and grocery shopping, you will spend an average of 300 ringgit (around USD 64) to 400 ringgit (around USD 85). Of course, if you travel long distances to another city, that's a different story.
The price of gasoline is 2.05 ringgit (around USD 0.44) per liter as of December 2021. And gasoline prices started at 1.84 ringgit (about USD 0.39) in January 2021.
Car washing costs 10 ringgit (around USD 2) once, and washing two cars every week costs 80 ringgit (around USD 17). And you can easily find a cheaper car wash than this. I wash my car at home on the weekends.
Factor 3 - Grocery and Food Price
Food ingredients are cheap. However, the prices of ingredients at grocery stores vary widely. For example, there is a large shopping mall called Jusco next to where I live, but the grocery section there is so expensive that I drive to a cheap grocery store about 10 minutes away.
If you go to the grocery store eight times a month and spend 200 ringgit (about 56,300 won), you would spend 1,600 ringgit (around USD 340). For around USD 40 in cheap groceries in Malaysia, you can have your hands full.
In Malaysia, there is no separate city gas, so you have to buy and connect the gas cylinder you use for cooking. If I cook a lot, I spend about 30 ringgit (around USD 6.40) on gas. You can buy gas bottles cheaply at gas stations, but it's a hassle to go back and forth, so you buy them at a local supermarket or usually have them delivered.
The prices of these delivery gas cylinders also vary widely, so if you find a cheap place in your neighborhood, the price may be almost double that of a more expensive place.
Regarding the cost of packaged food, it costs 8 ringgit (around USD 1.70) per person for 3 people, so if you eat for 30 days, it costs 720 ringgit (around USD 153). Roughly speaking, packaged food costs around 6 to 8 ringgit.
The restaurant costs 200 ringgit (about USD 42.60) at a time for three people, and if you go every weekend on Saturday and Sunday (8 times) a month, it costs 1,600 ringgit (about USD 340).
Factor 4 - Communication Costs
The Internet costs 140 ringgit for 100M of Telecom Malaysia (TM), which I use at home, and cell phone communication fees vary depending on the package, but range from 50 ringgit to 100 ringgit. It takes.
If you purchase a package from major Malaysian telecommunications companies such as Celcom, Maxis, and DG, you can purchase iPhone, Galaxy, etc. on installments. However, I buy and use blank phones cheaply at places like digital malls. Also, you can just buy a SIM card and charge it before using it. (I never get a phone call.)
Cable TV is famous for its ASTRO package in Malaysia, but these days, Malaysians use a TV box instead of ASTRO, which incurs installation and monthly fees. That's why I don't use Astro either.
It is said that Malaysians buy TV boxes costing 300 to 500 ringgit and install them themselves. Since we don't have a TV box in our house, we only use the TV to watch YouTube.
Summary - Monthly Living Expenses
So how much does it cost to live in Malaysia per month? The cost shown is an example for a family of three.
- Monthly rent: 1,500 ringgit (around USD 320)
- Electricity bill: 150 ringgit (around USD 32) - Our current electricity bill is lower than this amount.
- Water tax: 50 ringgit (around USD 11)
- Car installment: 600 ringgit (around USD 128)
- Gasoline: 300 ringgit (around USD 64)
- Ingredients: 1,600 ringgit (around USD 341)
- Gas: 30 ringgit (around USD 6.40)
- Packaged food: 720 ringgit (around USD 153)
- Dining out at a restaurant: 1,600 ringgit (around USD 340)
- Mobile phone communication fee: 100 ringgit (around USD 21)
- Internet: 140 ringgit (around USD 30)
- Total: 6,790 ringgit (around USD 1,447)
Of course, the items that account for the most in living expenses are monthly rent, food ingredients, and eating out.
If you own your own home and have paid off your car, your monthly living expenses will be 4,690 ringgit (arond USD 999). When I actually calculated it, the cost of living was not as cheap as I thought. However, if you eat and stay like this in Korea, you will end up spending a lot more money.
And there are some items that cost less than the above amount and some that cost more. In particular, the cost of eating out fluctuates from month to month.
There are no clothing expenses, but I rarely buy clothes in Malaysia. I don't buy clothes except for Chinese New Year.
What do you think?
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