So I have been considering working abroad for several months now, as I feel stagnant in my home country (Canada).
I have uploaded my resume to the jobs.shanghaiexpat.com site so I'll see where that leads.

Some of the things I am considering is what sort of budget should I allocate for the initial move.

By that I mean, how much local currency should I have in order to:

1 - locate and secure an apartment (probably 2-3 bedroom as I typically have a home office and a guest bedroom as I do now)

2 - furnish said apartment

3 - purchase all of the necessary electronic items, computers networking etc, as well as a full home theater system (42-46" 1080p television)

4 - have money left over for at least 1 - 2 months worth of decadent living as i figure it will take time to adjust to such a new surrounding.

I'm not really looking for specifics, just sort of a ball park figure that I can plan for so that everything is accounted.

Apologies if this is in the incorrect forum, and thank you for your time.

another English teacher ...yeah great

Haha, no not a teacher. I am actually in Information Technology, thanks for your input though.

Are you fluent in Mandarin?

What is the expertise you are offering China that they can not fill with local help so that you will be able to obtain a foreign expert certificate which will allow you to work in China even if you were so lucky as to find a job?

Competition is fierce for IT jobs in China, maybe you should look in another country.

If you use the search function on this website, you will find many posts that will answer all the questions you are asking.

IT really hard bro.. so many chinese do IT with super super low salary.. Malaysia or singapore still better field for IT

gmac wrote:By that I mean, how much local currency should I have in order to:

1 - locate and secure an apartment (probably 2-3 bedroom as I typically have a home office and a guest bedroom as I do now)

Completely depends on the area and the apartment. Could be anywhere from ¥3,000 to ¥30,000+. Probably best to figure out what your budget is first and then look for apartments in that range. Keep in mind, that when you find a place, it is normal to pay (upfront) 3 months rent + 1 months deposit + a percentage (I think usually 35%) of one months rent to the real estate agent.

gmac wrote:2 - furnish said apartment

Almost all (rental) apartments come already furnished. Beds, sofas, tables, chairs, desks, TVs, microwaves, washing machines...etc.

gmac wrote:3 - purchase all of the necessary electronic items, computers networking etc, as well as a full home theater system (42-46" 1080p television)

Well, how can we give you any help here? Again figure out how much cash you have to spend and then get what is in your budget. (prices won't be much different than back home.)

gmac wrote:4 - have money left over for at least 1 - 2 months worth of decadent living as i figure it will take time to adjust to such a new surrounding.

Decadent living? Depends on who you are and what you consider "decadent living" to be.

For me, decadent living would be spending somewhere between ¥40,000 - ¥60,000 per month