COST OF LIVING in 🇲🇾 Malaysia , Iskandar Puteri - Expat Family of 5

Here's our monthly cost of living as an expat family of five in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia. We like to live comfortably while slow-traveling the world. We pay monthly rental prices, which are more than year-long leases. Here's what it cost for a spacious apartment, food, transportation, medical, and entertainment.
00:00 Cost of living in Iskandar Puteri
00:33 Rent
01:00 Utilities
01:41 Home internet
02:03 Mobile phone plans
02:51 Food
05:19 Transportation
07:21 Health insurance
08:09 Medical
08:51 Mail receiving
10:59 Entertainment
12:03 Education
13:11 Clothing
13:56 Total COL
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ABOUT KENSHO QUEST 🏝
Aloha! We are a worldschooling family with three young kids. We are George, Heidi, Kaisho (8) Harumi (4), and Sora (1). Our home base is the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii. We've been living a nomadic lifestyle for the past 14 years. Once we started traveling, we just wanted to keep on exploring!
We like to make new friends, eat local foods, and immerse ourselves in culture. We strive towards a natural, minimalist, zero-waste lifestyle. We're not perfect, but we keep trying!

[@googleuser2170]

That's the most expensive food budget I have ever seen in Malaysia. Like 90% more. WOW!

[@askarsepoi]

Cost of living in johor bahru consider highest in peninsular Malaysia, just like bintulu if in sarawak. But for local there are local stalls for much cheaper groceries

[@KenshoQuest]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

[@knockedouttravelling9572]

very informative video. good jogb guys.

[@LanzFrancis]

nice sharing... good video!

[@CKology]

This is such a fabulous video. I am sharing it everywhere!

[@KenshoQuest]

Thanks for sharing! 💕

[@tnl7881]

@@KenshoQuest great vlog and very informative. Can you share ( I am an American citizen) how best to handle money exchange / transfer while living in malaysia. Which bank to use etc. thx

[@foodinboxx]

Amazing not bad at all we have to decide between Turkiye and Malaysia thanks for sharing all the details that we were looking for

[@KenshoQuest]

Glad it was helpful!

[@grace14emily27]

Thank you for sharing. Is it possible to do a video on sustainability? What do both of you do for a living? We are a family of 4 and would love to do what you guys are doing but we are not sure how to. What about following school curriculum and getting tested etc? Thank you 🙏🏻

[@KenshoQuest]

Hi, we are working on a bunch of videos about slow traveling and will answer many of these questions! Please keep your questions coming as it helps us know which are the ones our viewers are most interested in!

[@keangwooichoo6138]

400 for electricity bill is normal for family of 5. My neighbour is about 400 too. Sometimes 300 plus.

[@wasimmohammed3008]

We are thinking of moving to putrajayah or ipoh for the lower living costs. 3 kids and schooling at international level is pricey 😢 really want to move though. The UK schooling medical etc is slowly going down the pan.

[@suecduong]

Thank you for sharing. Would the mobile plans work across all of Asia? We are planning to slow travel starting with Vietnam in October. Your videos have been soo helpful, I've watched all of them :)

[@KenshoQuest]

Hi, glad are videos have been helpful! As for mobile plans, if you are from the US, you might want to sign up for Google Fi, that will certainly work. We have that as a backup!. As for local plans, in general they will not work. The exception here in Malaysia is many plans such as UMobile will work in Singapore.

[@keangwooichoo6138]

Jb is near singapore. Convenient

[@denimsurfer4899]

Thanks for the great content! My wife and three children are contemplating moving to JB but are a little disturbed by the news reports about crimes such as kidnapping, rape and armed robbery. I am Canadian and lived in Thailand for eight years, so I know many of these headlines are most likely committed to people involved with bad people and out at night partying, putting themselves in bad situations. However, I did not have children when I lived in Thailand, so I must be careful. What are your experiences living there so far?

[@KenshoQuest]

Hi, of all the places we have lived in Malaysia we have always felt safe. I think it is similar to Thailand as you have mentioned. with kids like you, we take this seriously. In particular, Iskandar Puteri is a super safe and clean area. Most of the crime would be Johor Bahru, but even then it would depend on the neighborhood. For instance, in the area near the border with Singapore can be a bit scary and other places can be very nice and safe. Not sure I am really answering your question so feel free to ask :)

[@keangwooichoo6138]

We are a net exporter of carbon like brunei. Hence subsidised fuel is common for diesel and ron95. Ron97 is market price.

[@KenshoQuest]

Interestingly, at the pump it says that ron95 is for Malaysians only but each time I went to pay for petrol, they offered me the ron95! 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@keangwooichoo6138]

@@KenshoQuest let me explain. Ron95 is for malaysian registered cars including renting. It is not for singapore registered cars or thai registered cars. It does not matter who drives the car.

[@KenshoQuest]

Thank you for explaining this!

[@1yanfei]

Yes, your food part is pricey. Mine is around RM4000 for 5 person... 2 adults and 3 kids.. similar age. Include eating out. FYI, Mine grocery shop is local supermarket which much more cheaper than the high end grocery shop. Malaysia has alots of supermarkets.... range from low, middle and high!

[@KenshoQuest]

Thank you for sharing! Always great to get other perspectives especially since you have the same size family 😁

[@nadeemyousaf186]

wow guys, we just found you and love your videos. We are a family of 4 and we have spent the majority of this and last year in South America. But we may need to hope to another location with a digital nomad visa and a tax break. We came across your video about the process and were wanting to know if we could hire you guys to help us through the process as well. We are US based family. thanks hoping to hear from you soon

[@KenshoQuest]

Hi, we hope you found our videos helpful. Sorry, but we don't provide individual assistance with the DE Rantau application process. Our best advice is to reach out to MDEC whenever you have questions along the way. Best of luck!

[@nadeemyousaf186]

@@KenshoQuest makes sense thanks

[@rejoycealways]

Thank you for sharing this really informative video. We really enjoy all of your videos. May we ask if you are digital nomads?

[@KenshoQuest]

Hi, and thank you! Yes, we fit into the digital nomads category, though we don't consider ourselves that ;)

[@rejoycealways]

@@KenshoQuest thank you, will you be doing a video on how families like yours can live overseas as slow travelers (ie how do you make a living, doesn't have to be specific)? Thanks so much.

[@KenshoQuest]

@@rejoycealways Yes, we do plan to make a video addressing our income sources.

[@rejoycealways]

@@KenshoQuest thank you! That would be really helpful for those looking to live aboard too!

[@keangwooichoo6138]

Yes since you go organic, it is expensive for food products but healthier of course.

[@azharidris7092]

no.. they are not healthier.. organic products is a big scam.. what proof do any of these outlets have to prove all the products they sold are what they say they are.. beside when this family eat outside all the restaurants are not organic.. so what's the benefits and whats the point.. by buying all the imported products they are only increasing their carbon foot print.. should stick to local product.. they are better i think..

[@keangwooichoo6138]

@@azharidris7092 my mother likes buying these organic produce but i cannot tell if they are certified

[@KenshoQuest]

True, we never now for sure if an item is organic or not. We just have to decided to trust in it or not. And completely agree about buying local if possible. In fact, most of the organic veggies we buy are from Zenxin organic - mostly grown in Kluang, which is only an hour drive :)

[@keangwooichoo6138]

@@KenshoQuest kluang is my hometown

[@KenshoQuest]

ha, so you are from Johor! Nice! 👍

[@khairikhalil980]

The utilities sounds about right. Actually mine is higher..

[@KenshoQuest]

Thank you for sharing!

[@damonlbs]

Hey Malaysia just launched a new Digital Nomad Visa call DE Rantau , you guys go check it out maybe you can make a video about it

[@KenshoQuest]

Thank you for the tip! We knew it was coming someday, but didn't realize it had been announced. We'll look into it!

[@damonlbs]

@@KenshoQuest now you all have more options and time to explore more of Malaysia

[@keangwooichoo6138]

So if your pension is usd 5k, very comfortable living indeed.

[@KenshoQuest]

Yes, indeed.

[@Jay-ht7rf]

Hey guys, my question is… from your experience living in Malaysia,when you get an apartment do you generally have to pay a down payment or does it vastly depend on where and who your dealing with ? I’m in Thailand and everyone has to pay a down payment lol

[@KenshoQuest]

Yes, just like in Thailand, expect to pay a down payment. At least one month's rent in advance.

[@Jay-ht7rf]

Thanx so much 😊

[@Pajtim2023]

U need to chose pasture organic raised eggs Free range eggs are not organic pasture raised 👍🏻

[@KenshoQuest]

Thanks for the advice!

[@jingojingo1]

In Canada all that is 7 x more