You must live in some really small city. My mortgage is 5250 per month not including utilities. Our child's schooling is 140,000 RMB per year. I have not even figured in daily travel expenses when not driving, gas and insurance for the car, food, clothing, full coverage insurance, etc. The interior of the house without furniture was 200,000 RMB and it is not lavish but nice. New building, secure, clean, modern. We put in floors, good windows, in floor heating, paint, a good quality kitchen and two nice bathrooms, as well as lighting and we completed the outside patio area so that it is enclosed. A recent hospital visit for our child was just over 3000 RMB for some essential tests and medicine. A wage of 7000 RMB per month in Beijing does not buy a good quality of life for a family. If you have no bills, no kids, live in an old area in an old building in a small city, and assuming you have the 300,000 to 500,000 RMB down payment for an apartment that is 80 square meters or less, you can maybe get away with less than 7000 RMB per month to live assuming you live beyond 6th Ring Road. FT's pay a premium for any reasonable quality of life with regard to keeping higher standards in China. That requires a high wage job.