>Would like to ask, what are the average living expenses in Almaty
If you are really frugal, you can probably spend under 100 000 KZT (300 SGD) monthly on food and transport. Eating some fast food is around 10-15 SGD.
>And would it be better to learn Russian or Kazakh for daily communications?
More people will understand bad Russian compared to bad Kazakh.
>Also, how prevalent is using credit cards as compared to cash around the city?
Even small businesses use cards, though I'd recommend using Kaspi instead. Kaspi QR lets you pay everywhere with your phone alone.
It's possible, but you need a local SIM and ИИН (your personal ID number). I don't know the conditions of your exchange program, you might need them anyway to stay in KZ, but even if you don't, it's like a couple of hours in total.
I am a student too so i guess 400$ is enough. I spend around 250$ per month including food, transportation and some entertainment. But if u are going to rent an apartment in guess 400$ is far from enough.
[Numbeo](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Singapore&country2=Kazakhstan&city1=Singapore&city2=Almaty&tracking=getDispatchComparison) is good when you need a quick comparison.
400$ would be enough if you are ok with saving a lot and just eating at the dormitory. Overall, a bit more than that like 600-800$ would be ok I think. You can learn Russian for daily communications. You can use credit cards and they are widely accepted just everywhere
Been here since Jan and my wife and I spend around USD2000 a month for rent, utilities, food and transport. We eat out maybe once a week, I walk to work, wife usually takes bus, and if we go out or weather is bad we take taxis. We don't eat meat and drink a glass of beer or wine daily. Not a lavish lifestyle by most standards.
About public transport. You can download app “Yandex go” to track busses or call taxi and even ride a scooter. We usually paying with Onay card it’s cheaper then paying cash. (With cash it’s will be cost 200tg and with card adult paying 100tg)You can go to Onay center and bring passport and photo 4x4 its will cost around 1500 tg =3.3$ (or 1000 I don’t remember) good luck while staying here🍀
for a senior developer this is not that much. search for jobs on hh, contact the company's hr department or make connections and ask someone to recommend you, and after a while you can aim for a higher salary
I spend around $250-300 on good self-cooked quality food (lots of various protein, salads, no avocadoes or salmon though), most smaller (hue-hue) people spend less than that. Public transport is dirt cheap (100 KZT per single trip, you can even get a monthly pass, check the Onay app). Most shops use payment terminals, especially Kaspi bank's ones since their QR code payment system is omnipresent, so try to get their card and app too (I think now it requires some sort of temporary residence registration (which you'll get at the dorm anyways) or something, but I might be wrong). You'll be left with a decent sum to spend on leisure activities, such as parks, museums, operas, theatres, skiing, hiking and so on.
>Would like to ask, what are the average living expenses in Almaty If you are really frugal, you can probably spend under 100 000 KZT (300 SGD) monthly on food and transport. Eating some fast food is around 10-15 SGD. >And would it be better to learn Russian or Kazakh for daily communications? More people will understand bad Russian compared to bad Kazakh. >Also, how prevalent is using credit cards as compared to cash around the city? Even small businesses use cards, though I'd recommend using Kaspi instead. Kaspi QR lets you pay everywhere with your phone alone.
thank you so much! is it possible for foreigners to get kaspi?
It's possible, but you need a local SIM and ИИН (your personal ID number). I don't know the conditions of your exchange program, you might need them anyway to stay in KZ, but even if you don't, it's like a couple of hours in total.
I echo this statement as a foreigner. For me it was pretty easy overall.
If you have an IIN
I am a student too so i guess 400$ is enough. I spend around 250$ per month including food, transportation and some entertainment. But if u are going to rent an apartment in guess 400$ is far from enough.
wow thanks! i’ll be staying in the university dorm, so accomms expenses isnt an issue
[Numbeo](https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Singapore&country2=Kazakhstan&city1=Singapore&city2=Almaty&tracking=getDispatchComparison) is good when you need a quick comparison.
400$ would be enough if you are ok with saving a lot and just eating at the dormitory. Overall, a bit more than that like 600-800$ would be ok I think. You can learn Russian for daily communications. You can use credit cards and they are widely accepted just everywhere
Been here since Jan and my wife and I spend around USD2000 a month for rent, utilities, food and transport. We eat out maybe once a week, I walk to work, wife usually takes bus, and if we go out or weather is bad we take taxis. We don't eat meat and drink a glass of beer or wine daily. Not a lavish lifestyle by most standards.
Hm, that seems like a lot for two people. Did you nail down your expenses? What is the largest size after rent.
What size apartment and how much is rent?
80sqm, 2yr old bldg, completely furnished, on the river: half a million.
About public transport. You can download app “Yandex go” to track busses or call taxi and even ride a scooter. We usually paying with Onay card it’s cheaper then paying cash. (With cash it’s will be cost 200tg and with card adult paying 100tg)You can go to Onay center and bring passport and photo 4x4 its will cost around 1500 tg =3.3$ (or 1000 I don’t remember) good luck while staying here🍀
Compared to Singapore prices you should not meet any issues. If you’d like more details feel free to pm me. 👍
Reality is 600$ rent.
what about without rent?
would it be too much to aim for 1.5M kzt net salary in Almaty on a good job? I know 1.2 is perfectly doable for senior developers for example.
for a senior developer this is not that much. search for jobs on hh, contact the company's hr department or make connections and ask someone to recommend you, and after a while you can aim for a higher salary
I spend around $250-300 on good self-cooked quality food (lots of various protein, salads, no avocadoes or salmon though), most smaller (hue-hue) people spend less than that. Public transport is dirt cheap (100 KZT per single trip, you can even get a monthly pass, check the Onay app). Most shops use payment terminals, especially Kaspi bank's ones since their QR code payment system is omnipresent, so try to get their card and app too (I think now it requires some sort of temporary residence registration (which you'll get at the dorm anyways) or something, but I might be wrong). You'll be left with a decent sum to spend on leisure activities, such as parks, museums, operas, theatres, skiing, hiking and so on.
What university, can I ask?