Job Discussion Forums

[HarryG]

Hi-I travelled in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia last year and fell in love with the continent, the language, the people, the cocktails, the nature, siestas, the beaches-the whole deal.

I am about to take my CELTA in Bangkok and am considering possible destinations-with one (tragic) limitation: bad debts. This has left me looking for jobs in Asia where savings like this seem quite plausible. I am thinking of working for a year to pay the whole lot off and then moving down to Latin America.

I would like to ask everyone down there already how much they can save (and what country they work in) to help me with financial predictions. I am interested in any and every country south of the USA, but especially Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela and Central America. I am expecting very low figures-in which case, see you in a year.

Cheers in advance

[naturegirl321]

Keeping in mind that many teachers earn between 500 and 700 USD it may be difficult to save. However, if you're planning to stay here a while, you can make connections and get better jobs.

Also depends how you live.

For example, I work three jobs and live with my husband, We have a very strict budget, but we're saving similar to what someone in the Middle East (Oman, not KSA) would save.

YOu can save, just be prepared for sacrificies and long hours.

[denise]

I had (and still have... boo hoo hoo) serious debts to pay off, so I did what you're thinking of doing--went to Asia first to save money, and then headed down to South America. While I was there I didn't save anything, and honestly I didn't try to--the salaries are fairly low, and I thought, "Hmmmm, I can work my butt off and save a couple of hundred dollars a month--still barely enough to cover my loan payments, and not actually get to experience and enjoy life here, (NOT a very appealing option to me!) or I can use the money here and have a good time." Where are you from? You may be able to defer your loans. I know that it's easy to do in the US, but I think you're British, based on another one of your posts.

I haven't worked in the countries you specifically mentioned, but in Chile I earned roughly $1,000 monthly and in Peru $700.

d

[nineisone]

I am going the Asia route to save money. It can be quite difficult to save in Latin America unless you have lots of connections/experience, or money saved to get established. Thailand, where you are going to study, presents similar savings issues.

[naturegirl321]