Job Discussion Forums

[Volodiya]

Henry Cowell wrote:

[tedkarma]

Some people can save money - most can't. I can't.

I'm in my fifties and want to live comfortably, run the A/C when I feel like it, drive a decent car, not have to count my baht to see if I can afford a second beer with dinner out, etc.

But - I do feel that I am living a relatively modest life!

It's not like I drive a new car - it's ten years old (though my motorbike is just a few years old), or live in a fantastic mansion - it's just a nice little 2br, 1ba. house (okay, it's an eight minute walk from Bang Tao Bay - but it costs what I paid for my apartment in Bangkok). I don't eat at the finest restaurants.

The problem is - if I exclude the things you say to exclude . . . housing, travel, clothing, and medical . . . I too could save a lot of money!


The real issue is that I go out to eat often. If I stayed home most of the time - I'd do much better. But hey! Life is for living.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

In a good month where I've got 22 hours per week in the classroom,

I could save US$100 or $200 if I wanted to,

but like tedkarma says, it's too easy to spend it.

As for a 'baseline minimum amount' - I can't leave the house with less than 500 Baht in my pocket.

During the work-week, I do fine with that.

At the weekend I feel a lot more comfortable with 1,000 Baht+ per day.

I'm not extravagant by any means, but I eat, travel & live pretty well on that budget.

foreign exchange rates: http://www.krungsri.com/eng/50/511.asp

[junkmail]

Interesting topic.
Let's say B5000 for an apartment; realistic for Bangkok?
How much for utilities; ballpark?

Now taking Kent's breakdown, that's about 18500 + rent is 23500 and with a guess for utilities comes to about B26000. Does that mean anything over and above is 'potential' savings?

Having visited Thailand several times, I guess the biggest problem is the amount possibilities to spend the extra. I know it would cost me nearer B35000 just to make it from payday to payday.

[kenkannif]

It's all dependent on life style. Although I don't mean this as in going out, getting lashed, a bit of p4p or anything like that. I rarely go out (once a year or so) and yet I spend a fair bit each month on luxuries (food, games, Plat package for UBC etc.).

I know a fair few teachers that save on 25-30,000 Baht a month. I know others that can't save a bean on earning 50-60,000 Baht a month.

Also a lot of teachers aren't on a contract per se, so they only get a guaranteed 9-10 months pay, this can mess up your savings.

[sigmoid]

The best way to save money in Thailand, perhaps anywhere, is to get a rich girlfriend.

Me? I'm still looking...

[Sheep-Goats]

Here's the problem with saving money in Thailand. If you want to save, say, 10,000B a month that'll lilkely be at lest 1/5th of your salary (being optimistic).

Here's what you can do with 10,000B in Thailand:
-Eat top-notch foreign food five days a week. or,
-Buy one world class premium tailored suit, or,
-Take your Thai girlfriend to Dream World on every single day off you have, or,
-Go to really nice bars on every single day off you have and not worry too much about what drinks cost, or,
-sleep with twenty different absolutely beautfiul hookers.

Now, I know a lot of people aren't intersted in that last one, but all of these will help put into persepective how much you really sacrfice by trying to save in Thailand.

I knew one Canadian who was paying down credit card debt back in Canada at a 38,000B a month job. He lived in the boonies, almost never went out of his apartment, only used the internet at school, and never bought himself a steak or some good pasta, and rarely drank. He did this for months, but he saved about 20,000 a month. That's not what I'd call a moderate lifestyle.

The truth is that a moderate lifestyle includes a sampling of the luxuries I listed above each month for most of the people living in Thailand. Say you spend 10,000 on rent, transport and utilities (could be a lot more than that), 10,000 on food, and 10,000 to achieve a moderate lifestyle. All of these figures are very moderate. Say you work at a job that pays you 40,000B (a bit better than your average EFL job, if you include the overtime people usually sneak in). That last 10,000B you'll be saving to fly home, but if you spend it on a vacation or if you don't do your overtime work for a few months then you won't be able to fly home. And after you miss your first chance to visit your family after a year in Thailand, you feel the impact of what saving 10,000B a month actually means a little more acutely than you did in the past.

Even if you have a 50,000B job, which are rare, you'll find that there are 10,000B worth of DVDs, espresso shops, nicer-than-baseline clothes, a non-farang model of cell phone, etc etc, to spend your cash on each month.

The ideal way to do Thailand is to come with airfare to get home in your pocket and spend every cent you make here. If, for some reason, that's a really bad idea for you at the present time, Thailand might not be such a good idea either.

[Sheep-Goats]