Job Discussion Forums

[Mark]

To the OP, your question depends a lot on location. I have friends who live in small cities and they rent big, nice places for 40,000 yen. My place is pretty big and nice, but it's 180,000 yen. That's far and away the biggest difference. The cost of groceries varies as well.

This is the way I worked things when I came to Japan.

Rent/utilities/monthly bills = 100,000 yen. This included my cell phone and gym membership.

Groceries/household goods = 50,000 yen. You'll have a hard time getting by grocery-wise for less than 10,000 yen a week.

Entertainment/going out = 50,000 yen. This one is extremely variable. It's easy to blow 10,000 yen in one night if you're not careful. I tended to include eating out in this category.

Or, put more simply, 100,000 for your place and your bills, 100,000 for everything else.

So, when you first get here, I would expect to only save the money you make above 200,000 yen. At least for the first 6 months. After that, once you've figured things out a bit, you should be able to lower that amount (or pick up extra work) and save more money.

I opted to pick up extra and better work as I can't seem to live on less than 200,000 a month. Of course, I've always been really bad with money, so most people can do better than me on that score.

[Mark]

[Brooks]

when you are new, you have to buy furniture, so you have to wait to save money. When I first got to Japan, I even had to buy lightbulbs!

Then I bought a futon (10,000)
dishes, chopsticks, cleaning supplies...

If you really want to save, you head for the second hand stores.
Bargains can be had. That is where I got bookshelves. And wardrobes.
And chairs.

The way it used to be, like 10 years ago, people used to check what people threw out.
Decent bookshelves and other things could be had.

And there are always the sayonara sales. I got a decent air conditioner for 20,000 yen that way. And a TV.

[Glenski]

[Yawarakaijin]

Yeah, my first year in Japan was spent in Kushiro. The town itself is totally uninspiring but the sorrounding area is amazing. Close to national parks and lots of great seafood. The expat community was quite small at the time but there was this cool little bar called Party On that everyone hung out at. I also read somewhere that it has the highest concentration of bars per capita in Japan.

If I remember correctly the entertainment district was called Suehiro. Fun little area and you got to know everyone really quick. On many a nights after calling it quits in one bar I would run into people who I had met earlier and those "easy" nights turned into the some of the most expensive ones The only drawback was that I would occasionally be mistaked for a russian sailor and refused entry into some of the establishments hehe.

If you like a small towns where you can really get to know the locals but still have a little fun then I would recommend it to anyone. If you are into hiking/skiing and are able to get an international liscence then you would have a great time for sure.

[Mark]

[lalalateda]