Job Discussion Forums

[TK4Lakers]

Hello all, its me again (the one who posted previously about Interac).

I had a question about working in Japan and realistic goals for saving $$$.

I'm pretty much leaving for Japan (w/ Interac, for now) in late March and I'm hoping I can make it big in Japan (or find somekind of career, or gain enough experience/language skills to come back to the states w/ more on my resume).

I was wondering how realistic is it to save $$$ in Japan? I've heard everything from it's hard since it's so easy to go out and have fun in the nightlife or travel, to it being easy and as much as $1000 USD a month.

Although Interac only pays the standard 250K/mo., I plan on doing a lot of tutoring on the side to make more money (yen). What is the avg hourly rate for an English tutor, and how easy is it to find clients??

Also, I don't know how long I expect to stay in Japan, maybe 1-2 years, but I would like to return with enough money saved so I can rent out an apt and possibly buy a used car (in southern cali). How easy is it to save up enough $$$ and still live somewhat of a comfortable and fun-filled life in Japan????

Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you.

[Glenski]

[denise]

Depends on what you consider a "comfortable" lifestyle. On a salary of 300,000 with paid housing, I always had enough to go out, but sometimes didn`t reach my monthly savings target.

"Going out" meant one or two trips per week to my favorite restaurant (a great little Indian place--I miss it so much!), drinks a couple of nights a week, maybe a trip into the city twice a month to see a movie, snowboarding four times per week (seasonal, obviously), etc. And always enough money to have guests over and be able to feed them. And occasional online purchases from companies in the States--books, CDs, vegan food, etc.

Oh, and a car, with all of the expenses cars entail.

With all of those expenses, I was lucky if I still had $1000 to send home at the end of the month. $700 was a more reasonable goal.

d

[adventurous]

I was able to save an average of $1000 on an average of 260,000/month, but I was a nazi about it. (I had to pay subsidized rent, too!)

I had tricks. One was to limit how much I drank while I was out. If you have a few drinks before you go, you don't need to buy as much when you're actually in a bar. My friends spent $50 a night (that they went out), whereas I spent $5 or $10.

I like to call home a lot, so I got a Vonage phone. If you're going to have the internet anyways, the phone is the cost of about two hours worth of phone card time.

I didn't eat out too much. When I did, I chose cheaper places. Otherwise, I got some pretty decent food from convenience stores. Also, all of the daily foods in the grocery stores go on a half-price sale about the last hour of each shopping day.

Finally, I wasn't a nazi all of the time. My budget included a weekly amount for general expenses, but also a certain amount per month that was explicitly for something fun. I'd take a day trip, spend a night clubbing, go shopping, or something like that. There are also things that I don't compromise on.

My coworkers were not as frugal as I was. They bought a lot of junk. They ended up leaving it all with me when they left because they couldn't afford to send it all home! They were 'poverty jet-set' - going on trips on every occasion, but being flat broke before and after. They were partying a lot, and so hungover that they couldn't attend their expensive Japanese classes. (I found a volunteer teacher and used a $20 textbook; they paid hundreds of dollars per month.)

So, what I'm saying is...what you save depends on your goals and actions. I'm more nazi-ish than most, but it's possible to save money. So, my former coworkers are still living paycheck to paycheck. I've nearly paid off my student loans, put myself through grad school, have nice electronics and a nice little nest egg. The bottom line is that you have to decide what is right for you.

BTW, I wouldn't accept less than 4,000 or 5,000 per hour for privates, more for pairs. Remember when negotiating that the more you value yourself, the more they will value you.

[gaijinalways]

Hmm, a lot of things depend on your ability to find private students and your spending habits. Certainly just like in the States, looking for bargains will save you money. Drinking more often during happy hours, drinking at private apartment parties or in a park, cooking at home more often or looking for more reasonably priced restaurants, biking (if possible) to work and pocketing the commuting fee (maybe not an option at Interac), etc. Also I would suggest that unless you are small in stature, buy clothes before coming out here and bring any common over-the-table medicine and vitamins that you take with you (they are very expensive here).

Looking for private students is sometimes a crapshoot as it does depend on where you are, when you have free time in your schedule, and where you advertise or manage to get referral students from. As to hourly lesson rates, I think 4-5000 yen is high (for Tokyo), but it depends on your academic credentials, how good your Japanese is, and connections, and how eager (translate that as desperate in some cases) your prospective students are in the area that you are based. Also your appearance and age will have some bearing on that as well, if you're a good looking woman, well then you could consider hostessing as well !

[rvsensei]

I starting to really save money after one year in JApan, after I traveled and experienced new things. Depends how disciplined you are, I liked going to eat and drink once a week or so. After a year, you should have a better financial sitiuation and time to get other part-time jobs if you wish. Sometimes you may have to teach on Saturdays and pocket that money as your savings. I earned from 50,000-90,000 yen a month just teaching on SAt, but you gotta be willing to have only one day off a week.

[Nismo]

I save $1000 USD / month.

[Rorschach]

With privates in tow now I can save roughly 150000yen a month if I don't have any big expenses that month (such as insurance, tax etc.) I usually put aside 100000yen. I make 320000yen after tax with privates included approx. so it is possible to save money here.

[cornishmuppet]

I agree with the other posters, all depends on where you live and what you do. In the centre of Tokyo I doubt you`d save much, but in a smaller place you could save 100,00 a month if you really wanted to. I had a friend who religiously sent home 110,000 a month, though she did very little travelling while she was here and didn`t go out all that much. I go out to restaurants three or four times a week, eat lunch in cafes, go snowboarding and travelling on the odd weekend, and can still save about 50,000 out of my 260k salary. My overheads are low, though, my rent is only 33k because I live in a box, though its quite a nice box!

I did find that a couple of weekends away, say in Tokyo, and that was most of my savings for a month gone. Same if I bought anything significant, like a computer or digital camera.

My main tip - walk to the pub and get pissed on Conveny beer on the way. I`ve found drinking to be the most expensive thing here (bar the Shinkansen!). A beer is 500yen in a cheap place, which is only 2.50 Uk pounds, about the same as a pint back home, but over here you usually get a pansy little glass that:s gone in a couple of gulps and I can easily put away 15 of them on a hard night. Even five or six and its adding up. I don`t go to the pub much, but when I do I have a few first, or just don`t get very drunk.

Good luck, eh.

Chris

[cornishmuppet]

I agree with the other posters, all depends on where you live and what you do. In the centre of Tokyo I doubt you`d save much, but in a smaller place you could save 100,00 a month if you really wanted to. I had a friend who religiously sent home 110,000 a month, though she did very little travelling while she was here and didn`t go out all that much. I go out to restaurants three or four times a week, eat lunch in cafes, go snowboarding and travelling on the odd weekend, and can still save about 50,000 out of my 260k salary. My overheads are low, though, my rent is only 33k because I live in a box, though its quite a nice box!

I did find that a couple of weekends away, say in Tokyo, and that was most of my savings for a month gone. Same if I bought anything significant, like a computer or digital camera.

My main tip - walk to the pub and get pissed on Conveny beer on the way. I`ve found drinking to be the most expensive thing here (bar the Shinkansen!). A beer is 500yen in a cheap place, which is only 2.50 Uk pounds, about the same as a pint back home, but over here you usually get a pansy little glass that:s gone in a couple of gulps and I can easily put away 15 of them on a hard night. Even five or six and its adding up. I don`t go to the pub much, but when I do I have a few first, or just don`t get very drunk.

Good luck, eh.

Chris

[cornishmuppet]

I agree with the other posters, all depends on where you live and what you do. In the centre of Tokyo I doubt you`d save much, but in a smaller place you could save 100,00 a month if you really wanted to. I had a friend who religiously sent home 110,000 a month, though she did very little travelling while she was here and didn`t go out all that much. I go out to restaurants three or four times a week, eat lunch in cafes, go snowboarding and travelling on the odd weekend, and can still save about 50,000 out of my 260k salary. My overheads are low, though, my rent is only 33k because I live in a box, though its quite a nice box!

I did find that a couple of weekends away, say in Tokyo, and that was most of my savings for a month gone. Same if I bought anything significant, like a computer or digital camera.

My main tip - walk to the pub and get pissed on Conveny beer on the way. I`ve found drinking to be the most expensive thing here (bar the Shinkansen!). A beer is 500yen in a cheap place, which is only 2.50 Uk pounds, about the same as a pint back home, but over here you usually get a pansy little glass that:s gone in a couple of gulps and I can easily put away 15 of them on a hard night. Even five or six and its adding up. I don`t go to the pub much, but when I do I have a few first, or just don`t get very drunk.

Good luck, eh.

Chris

[cornishmuppet]

for some reason I posted that four times. Don`t know how that happened, sorry. You only need to read it once, eh?

[Gordon]

[tokyo376]

I live in downtown Tokyo, eat out once a day, go drinking once or twice a week and manage to save 100,000 yen a month. I don't teach any privates. Most teachers who want to save money manage to find cheap ways to live, but still enjoy themselves.