Is 6k RM per month good salary in Penang ?

No… you will struggle to meet ends let alone the savings.

@Ajay4884  Thanks Ajay for your reply. so what should be minimum salary then?

Hello Niltopol,

Welcome to Expat.com

Your thread is now on the Penang forum.

This will increase your chances of receiving information from individuals living in that area.

All the best,

Cheryl

Expat.com team

Is that offer of RM6k including free accommodation or do you need to pay that for yourself? Also, what else is included in the offer?

@wyngrove60

I need to pay for accommodation from 6k RM, health insurance and PF

If you are sharing accommodation and renting a room then I guess it could work. Not sure how much you will save though. If local Malaysians can survive on this kind of lower end salary then I suppose you should be able to. However, it isn't a lot, so you'll need to find cheap accommodation and eat cheaply.

6K enough? Yes and no. Lets discuss.

As recently as end of 2022, my monthly expense was below rm2500/mo for two people. I had more to spend but didnt need to. How did I do that?

Nobody ever talks about the cost of starting life in Malaysia and thats the key to what salaries work or not. At rm2500, we start with the fact that everything I needed for life was already bought and paid for since a long time. At 2500, I already had a car and all furnishings. Is this true of newcomers? In 2000, everything was pretty cheap but not now. You need a frig, table, chairs, bed, stove, pots and pans and etc. and at the lowest possible prices, you need 15k for a low, secondhand car and 3-5k for the beginning starting furnishings. So if you get off the plane with 20k, you can make a start but at 6k salary, you will be hard-pressed to comfortably add something to your house every month or so.

But lets say you have everything needed to start. At 6K youre going to be very stressed with worry. Dental cleaning and a filling for a foreigner is at least rm130, a doctors visit with medicines can be rm300 or more. If anything happens like an accident or real medical problem, then its thousands. Again, do you come to Malaysia with another 20k in your pocket for emergencies?

So, at 6k salary, even two people (after taxes and no kids in school) can do it provided not one cent of that is being spent to start life, its only for maintenance of life you have already created and paid for. Its really incredible how fast money can jump out your pocket here. Everyone has their hand out for money. Id say it costs rm100 just to wake up in the morning everyday and then be ready for multiple surprises.

Look at it in reverse. You come with nothing. Rent is paid in advance and salary is paid in arrears. So you need half your salary for rent, deposits, and you buy a secondhand, broken down motorbike for 2K because you have to get to work, right? And you have to eat. Do you expect to borrow your first month salary from your boss? Unlikely, but lets say he pities you and gives you 6k. The first month you live on the floor,  no lights, no internet,  no furnishings at all and you eat street food. What do you do the second month? You have to wait until the third month to get that salary. So you continue this life on the floor for at least 2 months. Third month, you buy a bed and what you will soon learn is how miserable you are, especially when you realize it will take you at least a year to outfit your crappy, dark apartment. You will hurt and take out your misery on other people until they are sick to death of you and your boss may dump you. Then what, you dont have the money to go back to your country, right? See how this goes?

So, 6k can be done if you can start life properly at the beginning. If you cant do it, then dont take it. Obviously, things are better when you negotiate for more salary and have some money to start life. As it is, 6k is very thin and cant accommodate surprises like a sudden 2k medical or car expense or anything else. Without substantial pre-saved money, i wouldnt even attempt this but like everything else in life, im sure its been tried.