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tedkarma
Joined: 17 May 2004
Posts: 1598
Location: The World is my Oyster
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 Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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| M109A3 wrote: |
| Ok, I'll add a curve-ball to the twist. My son is five and his educational opportunities are most important. I've already discovered he'll be expensive to educate via private means. I'm still looking at China, but other eastern contries that can also meet his needs but at a cost we can afford are also open. |
Once you've worked in Asia a while - you will realize that the education your son will get here is LOUSY. A major problem for parents. |
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M109A3
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 99
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| Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Ok, then how about home schooling? Is that a feasible alternative or not? I'm just brainstorming at this juncture. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:20 am Post subject: |
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| So your organization pays $23,000 a year, which is about 55% of the average UK salary. |
If you took the rate of a starting teacher in the US which would be between $35000 and $40,000, you would not make more. After figuring the 25% tax you would pay in the US compared to 6% in Korea, you would have about the same money. If you made $3200 in the US as a starting teacher- $600 for housing and $600 in taxes, you would have about $2000 to spend at the end which is about the same amount of spending money you will have in Korea a month. |
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tedkarma
Joined: 17 May 2004
Posts: 1598
Location: The World is my Oyster
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:15 am Post subject: |
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| JZer wrote: |
| Quote: |
| So your organization pays $23,000 a year, which is about 55% of the average UK salary. |
If you took the rate of a starting teacher in the US which would be between $35000 and $40,000, you would not make more. After figuring the 25% tax you would pay in the US compared to 6% in Korea, you would have about the same money. If you made $3200 in the US as a starting teacher- $600 for housing and $600 in taxes, you would have about $2000 to spend at the end which is about the same amount of spending money you will have in Korea a month. |
One issue when living overseas though - is that there isn't quite the same pressure for the latest SUV or living in a certain neighborhood that leads to big time spending. Consumerism - at least for the expat - doesn't seem quite so important. Maybe because many of us out here are paying off mortgages, bills, or saving money purposefully.
Also, there are some other things that are quite inexpensive in Korea as compared to "back home". While gasoline is expensive in Korea - car insurance and car repairs are a fraction of what you would pay back home.
Though I have only a couple times earned more overseas than I was making in 1989! in the States - I NEVER saved US$1000+ or more there. I recall with my last job where I was making quite decent money- saving $500 a month and thinking I was really cleaning up. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:31 am Post subject: |
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| One issue when living overseas though - is that there isn't quite the same pressure for the latest SUV or living in a certain neighborhood that leads to big time spending. Consumerism - at least for the expat - doesn't seem quite so important. Maybe because many of us out here are paying off mortgages, bills, or saving money purposefully. |
This is probably true but I find that there is some presure to travel abroad on your vacations since most ESL teachers like to travel as much as they can. |
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M109A3
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 99
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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JZer,
If you can FIND an apartment for $600 a month it's in a SLUM!!!!!! We pay more than double here in Texas. The only way to pay less is to be a Katrina refugee and as of the end of September those subsidies are running out and the New Orleans refugees are going nuts over how expensive reality is. We spend nearly $1,000 a month on JUST gasoline! Yesterday we had to wait 45 minutes to get fuel that finally dropped below $3 a gallon. We have a 98 Ford Crown Vic. police interceptor and a 98 Ford Explorer (I call it an Exploder for all the #@*%$*!!!!!! repairs ($1500 so far!!) I've done on it. I turn wrenches on it to save money. However there's no room to work on the motor.) because we work just far enough away from each other to make commuting together a real nightmare. We net $50,000 but have yet to put a penny in savings due to various reasons. The only way to spend $1200 a month and save ANYTHING is to camp out in the classroom as your apartment around here. Plus, with the "pay raise" they gave teachers in Texas, all of it went to higher health premeums plus it puts teachers in a higher tax bracket. The end result is a smaller paycheck with the same health benefits at a greater cost. Last year I brought home $1050 every two weeks. This year with all the "raises" I bring home $1022. Plus, as I was writing this I got a call from the shop about the A/C compressor that went out on that P.O.S. Exploder. $1159 (I can't stand that SUV!!! Now the repairs are closer to $2700). Almost makes you want to come home eh? I'll take public transportation and walking over this B.S. anytime!
Supplimental: This does not include fuel, phone, groceries, auto/home/apartment insurance, water (not very drinkable), electricity, garbage, clothing or anything else. Even in Indiana it's expensive. But without jobs in Indiana we had to move here just to survive (sort of).
All the white collar jobs have gone or are in the process of going overseas. I presume that's why y'all have gone. Plus, that's why we are preparing to go. The American brain-drain is on. |
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matttheboy
Joined: 01 Jul 2003
Posts: 854
Location: Valparaiso, Chile
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:33 pm Post subject: |
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| don't complain about fuel bills-it's your choice to drive an obscenely inefficient car. SUV drivers should have to pay triple fuel bills to compensate for the environmental destruction they wreak. families all over europe manage quite happily without driving a 15mpg tank around. get a normal car that does 35-40mpg and you'll save $500-600 on your fuel bills and also a fortune in servicing and parts and insurance which are obviously cheaper on a smaller car. And do you not realise how unbelievably cheap petrol is in the States? you're paying less than 42p/79c a litre which is 65% the price of fuel in england and half the price of fuel in a third world, developing country like Chile. |
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M109A3
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 99
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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Matt,
Y'all need to check the price of these "hybrids" y'all tout. It takes a minimum four to five YEARS to make up the difference in fuel savings. Sorry, but a cheap Interceptor is much more affordable than an expensive hybrid. The reality is no matter what you do in the states, EVERYTHING is double or more than just three years ago. In addition, I'm complaining more about the repairs on the Exploder we're trying to dump. My ex bought it and I wound up with it (loooooong story no one would be interested in). I never wanted it in the first place but I have it.
The main point is JZer was thinking life has simplified here state side since the '90's. I just wanted to help her understand it's gotten a whole lot worse.
Supplimental: Toyota Hybrid $25,000. Ford Interceptor form auction $3,100. Ford Exploder $4,500. That's quite a bit of fuel to burn before the scales tip back. Plus the Toyota is FIVE TIMES more expensive to insure because it's new and the insurance companies want to cover their back-sides (savings?!?!?!?) and the parts are from three to seven times more expensive (I used to be an ASE mechanic and still own a surplus business so I KNOW the prices wholesale). Sorry, I don't see where a hybrid is the better buy, let alone a typical import. Plus I have driven 1.7 million miles (I still have a current and legal C.D.L. but will never willingly drive a semi. again) and don't care to drive another inch. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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| M109A3 wrote: |
| Y'all need to check the price of these "hybrids" y'all tout. |
One doesn't need an expensive "hybrid" to get good gas mileage. When I lived in Canada, my car got about 40 MPG in the city and about 50 MPG on the highway - and this was a 1990 Japanese beater. Yeah, it was a cramped little econobox... but how often do you really need to transport four adults?
It's a good point. Yes, in a lot of places in the US/Canada, there is little or no public transportation, and one DOES need a private vehicle to get to work... but $1000/month for gasoline? Even if you have a gas-guzzling SUV that gets only 15 mpg, that's more than 300 gallons. Do you really need to burn 10 gallons of gas a day? Are you really driving 150 miles every day?? |
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M109A3
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 99
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 4:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Right now we're driving 212 miles round trip between the two of us. My wife drives 75 minutes and I drive almost the same. We're liquidating our farm and looking to move into an apartment that's closer for us. However, the housing shortage is making that difficult. That's why we purchased the farm. It was as close as we could get to our jobs. Hurricanes really bite!!!!! |
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Pollux
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
Posts: 224
Location: PL
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Toyota Hybrid $25,000. Ford Interceptor form auction $3,100. Ford Exploder $4,500. That's quite a bit of fuel to burn before the scales tip back. Plus the Toyota is FIVE TIMES more expensive to insure because it's new and the insurance companies want to cover their back-sides (savings?!?!?!?) |
Nice try. Comparing a new car to an old one.
The uncomfortable reality is you can't have the cake and eat it too.
You can't live at a farm and commute to work easily, you can't drive a couch and get good mileage, and you can't live the American way for much longer if you want to enjoy your life.
Get away and teach overseas, in Canada, for example.  |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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| The main point is JZer was thinking life has simplified here state side since the '90's. I just wanted to help her understand it's gotten a whole lot worse. |
Not at all. I was not making any such statement. I was stating that if you take a middle class salary in the U.S. and compare it to a salary in Korea, you would have the same amount of spending money when you subtract taxes and your rent.
I was not making any comparison or statement about the cost of living in Korea or the United States. The simple fact is that after paying rent and taxes, you have the same money as an ESL teacher in Korea as most school teachers in the United States. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Right now we're driving 212 miles round trip between the two of us. My wife drives 75 minutes and I drive almost the same. We're liquidating our farm and looking to move into an apartment that's closer for us. However, the housing shortage is making that difficult. That's why we purchased the farm. It was as close as we could get to our jobs. Hurricanes really bite!!!!! |
It is not really fair to compare the cost of housing in a disaster area with that of normal living cost. |
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M109A3
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Posts: 99
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:18 pm Post subject: |
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Jzer,
Indiana is not any better. They have had no job growth for almost a decade. That's why we came down here. The cost of living may be slightly lower. However, unless living is free it holds no meaning if there are no jobs. Fair or not, it's the American reality, and we're living it. BTW, since when is life fair?
Pollux,
It's not a matter of trying. It's the reality here. People do actually do these comparisons when buying a vehicle. It's called the bottom line. It dictates who can afford what. America is not a bread-basket of jobs any more. It's fast deteriorating into a third world country. Why do y'all think many of my cousins and high school friends have expartiated themselves? They have Masters degrees and wish to be paid what they are actually worth and live without these realities in the USA. I'm following suit. That's why I'm liquidating my assets here and leaving. I'm confident if this was not the case y'all would be here teaching and what not instead of being where you are. This is called economic reality. Because if America had a healthy economy I would not even be aware of this site and happily teaching in Indiana with a plathura of job opportunities before me. I had job offers there, just on a volunteer basis. Sorry, that doesn't pay the bills. No job growth means no tax growth which means no additional teaching positions which means no future growth. This is where America is today. The tax base is erroding and teaching jobs are being cut. It's a negative spiral. I'm not trying to be intentionally negative. It's just the climate that exists in America today. I suspect many have been away too long to see this accurately. I am not meaning to offend anyone, just point out the facts. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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| That's why I'm liquidating my assets here and leaving. I'm confident if this was not the case y'all would be here teaching and what not instead of being where you are. |
I don't agree. I think that many people on Dave's would not be in the US even if their salary was $100,000+. Some people have even quit $100,000+ jobs to travel the world. You live once, so why would anyone give up their dreams for money. You can't take the money with you when you die! |
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