Job Discussion Forums

Anda · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 2199 Location: Jiangsu Province

Where I live a local doctor gets 2,000 RMB a month. I get 4,500 plus apartment etc. I can live okay but not save much. If I wanted to be mean on myself I could save 2,500 but.

I now teach part time in another city for 110 an hour but I pay bus fares out of that. My hours are going up as parents and students are liking my teaching results.

A little bit of extra work helps a lot as it give me something to do etc. So now I can save more but I will only do that until I pay some debts back home.

What I want to ask is just how well are you living now. I would have to get $1,000 Australian a week to live the same as I do here back home.

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

arioch36 · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 3589

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

wailing_imam · Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 580 Location: Malaya

5K a month and living on campus, or 15K and own rental.

The latter is my obvious choice. Get a flat in Shanghai for 3K (I know, I have one, 14th floor, nice view). Get a dodgy fa piao and pay little tax. Loads left over.

My philosophy is that a plane ticket home should not cost more than a month's wages. For me PVG - LHR - PVG RMB6000

cj750s · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:30 pm Post subject:

arioch36 · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 3589

Oh, has the obvious been said? 5k in Henan is equivalent to about 8 or 9k in Beijing I would say.

On the average, if I had a two hour side job paying 200/hr in SHanghai or 100/hr in Zhengzhou Henan, and went by taxi, I would say the two were at least equal in actual saving power

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

KidfromBrooklyn · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:15 am Post subject: Money makes the World go Round

Life is a Caberet.

Make as much as you can. Always striving to make more. The thing about money is you can never have too much of it.

Money is the tool with which to CREATE your life style. If you have the right perspective you can be happy and wealthy at the same time.

life is short give you wife a beautiful apt or house and a car to boot.

Heath is more important than money but when you are sick you need a doctor and they work for money. You need the green to pay the hospital or you die.

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN. (Wiz of Oz 1936?)

Try not to fall into the trap of those professing that China is a cheep place to live. I like to eat and eat well. A diet of noodles will leave you malnurished. RMB 5000 is not enough to live on RMB15000 is much nicer.
Food for my cat has jumped from RMB 7.8 a can to 10.7 a can. Dry food is up to 35 and change. Oh my Whiskas!!!!

Yesterday I priced a Mini Cooper at our local BMW Dealer and the MSRP China was 33 wan. Equivilant to $41 thousand US Dollars.

MSRP in the US AND the UK is $18,700 USD. Go figure. The people are not being taken advantage of???????

Life is short make as much as the Laoban of your school can stand. Don't forget to beanpic for the bennies it all adds up and adds up quick.

Money in your pocket is better than money in their pocket. Its not a job its an adventure.

Their job is to relieve you of as much money as they can as quick as they can. Your job is to make it as fast as you can and keep as much as you can.

Life is short you only go around once. Why be a doormat. Play hardball.

KidfromBrooklyn · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:20 am Post subject: Forgot to Say

Sorry for the short post but I forgot to say.

With respect.

CATS DON'T EAT RICE!!!!

vikuk · Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1842

If you believe earning less benefits others - as in human kindness/giving charity - then I have great respect for those taking low wages.
But if you take less - so others can take more out of your labor (you're here so your employer can make a buck) - then their really must be some very pressing reason to work as a China FT Idea

This pressing reason - may well be just the excuse to live in in China short-term - to have a little teaching/traveling adventure.
But long-term - making ends meets Chinese style - existing so you can keep warm, dry, clothed and fed. No major luxuries - no great career prospects - no great saving potential - no pension scheme - no national health service. Probably living in the normal polluted bustle of the Chinese concrete city (after modern redevelopment China urban grey sameness is the 99.9% norm for all cities) - without any independent means of getting out to enjoy the countryside!!!!
Well that "pressing" certainly needs to take a firm hold of you - otherwise life on a small wage in China can be bleak Exclamation

Zero · Joined: 08 Sep 2004 Posts: 1402

We don't need to keep up with the Joneses necessarily, but my wife doesn't want to be fraught with financial worries, either. So we need to make enough to cover all basic needs, have a little fun in life and still save for a rainy day and for retirement. She thinks 15k a month and an apartment would feel somewhat secure, in a provincial city, not Shanghai etc. I wonder about health care, though. If we were truly in China for the long term, would some kind of insurance be available?

KidfromBrooklyn · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:51 am Post subject: Your Chinese Long March

Mr. Zero.

Of course there is Health insurance and don't forget in the cities Hospitals are rapidly approching western standards of wellness care. However you must BUY the insurance, and PAY the Hospital Bill, and that brings us back to the question of Money.

This Spring Festival I am ending my 12th year and entering my 13th year living in China with my wife. We live very nicely but not on the common salary of an FT. I also have been buying and selling realestate in the countryside. You can do it with less money than in the city and still make 25 to 50% on the dollar and thats alot better than the Bank will give you. We have learned through a network of GOOD freinds not school laobans who want to take advantage of you, the ins and outs of living in China. The schools are good for you base, and don't forget the Students are very lovely and eager to learn. Life can be very good here. Put together your crew over a long period of time. Remember that respect and trust are EARNED not given. Its costs. Be very afraid of the fellow laowai that works to rat you out to the school about what you are doing. If you find some one that blindly supports the school and everything they do. BE AFRAID. Life here is like anywhere else. The Good the Bad and the Ugly. Strive to be harmonious it is a good idea. Get along with everyone but your life is yours to live.

Harmonious does not mean Poor. Giving back to China does not mean give them your money. Oh the Buzzwords. Think before you act.

Be a cool oporator and you can win, and win big here. It is the largest boom economy in the world. The big apple is here now. Take a Bite.

If your wife is Chinese you have an advantage.

Young Mr. ZERO you may PM me with questions if you like.

Teatime of Soul · Joined: 12 Apr 2007 Posts: 905

11:59 · Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 4:17 am Post subject: