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MisterButtkins
Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Posts: 1221
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 Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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| I think 6000k/month is plenty... |
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MisterButtkins
Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Posts: 1221
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| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Zero wrote: |
No matter what figure you mention, people will always disagree. In the United States, if you start talking money, some will say you can live on $35,000 a year. Others would immediately jump in to say: "Not if you have a car payment! And a mortgage! Especially on the coasts! You can go broke making $100,000 a year, especially if you have a family. And how would you buy Gucci and decent wines on $35,000?"
And they are, of course, both right. And, of course, if you are the kind of person who eats 100 yuan hamburgers, then 6,000 yuan a month won't do the trick.
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This is the best answer you're going to get. |
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The Great Wall of Whiner
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Posts: 4946
Location: Blabbing
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:14 am Post subject: |
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Well, look at it another way then.
To teach in South Korea or Japan, or even Taiwan, one can live comfortably and have a fairly "western" lifestyle on a foreign teacher's salary. I'm not going to go into specifics because some people will tear me apart saying I'm against China or whatever. So let's just be wishy-washy and say: Open internet, modern facilities, civilization closer to what we are all used to, and cleaner all around.
That's why I personally have to make over 10k a month. Minimum. I didn't come to China to live poorer than I would back at home.
When I tell people in China that in my hometown burger flippers make over 8,000 RMB a month, they ask me bluntly "So why would you ever want to come to China?"
Fair question.
And don't tell me "Back home is far too expensive, taxes, yada yada." Because you know what? Back at home I was netting about 3k CAN$ a month and had a house, a garden, a car, and furniture. I wasn't rich, but I was comfortable.
6k a month in China may be awesome for some of you, but it is certainly way too low for me. It means that I spend a whopping 100 RMB a day (read: $14 or so dollars a day) and save a whopping $400 a month.
In South Korea, I was saving minimum $1,200 a month and living a nice lifestyle AND working much less per week.
Back at home I was saving barely 50 bucks a month, but my money was going into my home and my car----capital assets.
Again, without getting into the specifics of my personal expenses, I normally like to spend about 100 RMB a day. This means 20-40 RMB in cash to give my wife in pocket money. 20-40 RMB for food for myself, and the rest maybe a pair of socks, a taxi ride somewhere, or a couple beers.
So generally, and I am not pointing fingers at anyone, but I do not understand why anyone would work in China for 5000-7000 a month when they could work in South Korea, Taiwan, or Japan for much, much more-- and have a better lifestyle all around.
That's why I only accepted the job I have at the salary I have. |
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Zero
Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 1402
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, I agree because, you know, if you aren't saving, you really aren't getting anywhere. Not good to live paycheck-to-paycheck in any country.
Only one thing in the post I disagree with. While technically I guess a car is a capital asset, it is different from a house in that houses tend to appreciate while cars depreciate. So I do not see it as a way of saving. |
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norwalkesl
Joined: 22 Oct 2009
Posts: 366
Location: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-China
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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| The Great Wall of Whiner wrote: |
| And don't tell me "Back home is far too expensive, taxes, yada yada." Because you know what? Back at home I was netting about 3k CAN$ a month and had a house, a garden, a car, and furniture. I wasn't rich, but I was comfortable. |
Some of us may not want to have "stuff" at this point in our lives. I know I got tired of owning things and sold it all. |
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milkweedma
Joined: 19 Nov 2006
Posts: 151
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| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:11 am Post subject: |
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| The Great Wall of Whiner wrote: |
Posted from another thread, but worth a read:
What 99.99% of foreigners do not know, or do not accept, or do not believe, is that public teachers can make 20,000 RMB+ a month.
Because most basic salaries are so low, most public school teachers spend half the day thinking up ways to make extra money.
For example, where I live, there is a Chinese middle school English teacher. She is in her 40's and her salary is about 3,000 RMB a month.
However, she takes home over 20,000 a month.
How?
First of all, she has "extra classes" after school. Students who attend these classes pay about 200 RMB a month. These students are guaranted more attention in regular class and more focus on them and their ultimate grades.
60 kids, paying 200 RMB a month? I'm not a mathematician, but it looks nice.
Then there are some parents who give "red envelopes" to some teachers to ensure their kids get the best grades no matter what. Or get to sit in the front of the class.
This is how China works, and we foreigners are shut out of this system. In fact, most of us are 'in' the system already but we see none of the money associated with it because we simply do not know that our salary of 4500 a month is from the government and the parents who pay 200 a month for their kid to have a foreign teacher are paying the teachers and headmaster---not us.
I currently teach about 1,200 kids. They pay about 200 RMB a month. I see about 16,000 of that money every month.
Who gets the rest?
My boss, of course.
So my boss sits back and I make for him 240,000 RMB every month. He gives me a fraction of that.
I figure 16,000 RMB is enough for what I do.
But I promise you all this: If I did not know how the system worked, I would be at about 6000 a month still. Maybe 8000 after all these years.
So, the sooner you learn the system and get your hands in it, the sooner we all will be making a lot more money. |
I think this is the some of the most important information (truth) ever said about working and earning a living in China. So much so, that every english teacher who comes to China to work needs to know it and it should be a Sticky either here or in Middlekingdomlife.com..........the best info site on China as a whole. Thank you Whiner for saying what needed to be said. |
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A'Moo
Joined: 21 Jan 2007
Posts: 1067
Location: a supermarket that sells cheese
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| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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| norwalkesl wrote: |
| The Great Wall of Whiner wrote: |
| And don't tell me "Back home is far too expensive, taxes, yada yada." Because you know what? Back at home I was netting about 3k CAN$ a month and had a house, a garden, a car, and furniture. I wasn't rich, but I was comfortable. |
Some of us may not want to have "stuff" at this point in our lives. I know I got tired of owning things and sold it all. |
Are you under the impression that those that those locals that you "have 100y meals for four" with feel the same way? That they would tire of having "things"? Having "extra cash"?
Whiners post is the truth. As many of us have reiterated, there is no such thing as spirituality or a minimalist outlook on life here. If you are a non-chinese speaking foreigner willing to work for 5000y a month here, then, in their eyes, you are a fool who needs to somehow be exploited.
Maybe they draw straws? |
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General Franco
Joined: 29 Dec 2009
Posts: 22
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| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 4:32 pm Post subject: Re: 6000Y is ok? |
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| elliot_spencer wrote: |
Hey guys, I've been offered a job in Hangzhou with free accommodation. Is it possible to live comfortably there with 6000Yuan a month?
Thanks |
If your school also provides free food on work days, free internet, and pays your utility bills, visa costs, etc. (as many schools do), then yes, you can live very comfortably, but you won't save much if you go out to bars often, or spend your money on luxuries, or have to support a family.
For a single person, 6000 disposable income is a good deal. Sure, there are better deals, but you won't be struggling to enjoy yourself on that money. |
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