Job Discussion Forums

[PatS]

Rhonda,

Thank you! I am happy to have your perspective on the issue, as I am in constant discussion with myself along the lines of "How can I give up a well paying job with medical at this point in my career to earn peanuts teaching English in a developing country?" "But you KNOW you want to do it!"

And so on...

[Stephen Jones]

[PatS]

Stephen, I understand your point, really. Robert Anton Wilson once said there were few problems in life that couldn't be made much better by throwing money at them. And he's right.

But surely you also understand Rhonda's point? Even very rich people get sick and die. And when faced with the choice of health or wealth, I know which I would choose.

[ls650]

[Guest]

Stephen

I have Health Insurance, that does not require a lot of money. I just spent 19 nights in a Hospital in Shanghai at a cost of 7,1000 Yuan (i.e. $14,500 Australian). I do not have any money, but the Insurance covered it.

[Glenski]

sid,

Just a few comments about your miraculous savings.

Yes, the math works out. Would you mind explaining exactly what job paid you $45 an hour (average) for a 30-hour week (average)? The vast majority of eikaiwa work is half to one-third that rate of pay. I suspect that with all of the travel time you had, you may have done a lot of per-hour private lesson work, but it would behoove you to explain that.

Also, would you mind trying to detail how much you lived on in yen, not US dollars? Your conversion rate with 108 yen/dollar is not fair to use in some of your analysis. $1600 on an average of 120 yen/dollar (a more accurate figure considering the yen's fluctuations over the year), comes to living on 192,000 yen/montｈ, which comes pretty close to what I say an average person spends anyway, but it would still be nice to know some details.

Last questions, where did you live, and what years did you do all of this?

Thanks in advance.

[zaneth]

I think it would be nice to be debt free. I'd sure like to have my education paid off. I'd like to go work in an orphanage in the middle of nowhere.

But I'm not sure if there isn't a sick sort of attachment to my debts. Maybe it fullfills my deaply ingrained need to send money out the door never to be seen again (it's a sort of consumerism, right?) but at the same time allowing me to avoid all that unsightly build up of physical possessions. It forces me to be frugal and gives me a sense of accomplishment when I pay it off. And the end result is blissful nothingness. A zero. Theives can't break in a steal a zero. You don't have to worry about it lasting a period of time. It's wonderful!

A surplus of money was always something of a burden to me. Then you have to decide what to do with it, you start getting all greedy and happy for no reason. You start expecting it to last, get unhappy when it goes away. Ick.

My real dream is not to have to deal with money at all. I work and I get food and shelter, time, and clean air, water. That would be ideal.

I think it was the donkey in Animal Farm who said: The good lord gave me a tail to keep off the flies. But I'd rather have no tail and no flies.

[johnslat]

I've always thought of money as being like fertilizer:

If you pile it all up in one place, it just sits there and stinks, but if you spread it around, it makes things grow.

Regards,
John

[scot47]

Health Insurance is a MUST.

If you can't aford it, or if your employer does not provide it, then move on !

[sidjameson]

No problems Glenski. At least you are not calling me a liar.

I live in Osaka which I guess maybe makes a difference, but not that much. You are right that the exchange rate makes quite a difference. I will also say that I was lucky in the jobs I got, but there are many people here with such jobs, they are not though eikaiwa schools.

I taught business English for ECC. On site for 4000 yen an hour
I worked and still work part time at a university for 7600yen an hour
I work and stil work part time for a junior high school 5000 yen an hour
I did have a few private classes taught at the students home 5000 yen an hour
I taught at a few Kumons, very flexible so fitted them in on any gaps that appeared in my week 4000 yen an hour. Oh and I also managed to fit in ECC intensive courses often into my uni and JHS holidays, maximising my time.

Now I did say that I was lucky but then so are many others. 5000 an hour is common for privates. 4000 typical to low for pt business classes(some companies do pay more) 5000 typical for JHS and my uni class payed well I guess.

To be honest I didn't spend $1600 a month for all that time(another post) when I was working and traveling to work so much I definitly spent less, but also I eased off some of the work after about 3 and a half years as it was a tough schedule. In fact some months I was spending 100,000 yen only a month.

I did this from 1999 to this Feb, but the last year was the hardest even though I started giving up classes. I got bored teaching or at least teaching the Japanese. This thread is about the value of money not earning potential in Japan. I gave my example only to illuminate my point. I wouldn't tell anyone that they could earn this type of money for sure in Japan, but the truth is that outside the early 20's and eikawia crowd many teachers can earn at least 400,000 a month, they do though work hard for it.

Yes $200k sounds good because the dollar has weakened of late. I actually exchanged into about 105,000 pounds, but honestly it could have been more. I exchanged at the 180 to 190 level but for a year or so it was around 170 to 155 to the pound. I stupidly missed that boat, holding onto my yen

Sorry for boring others. I've had a couple of emails pm'd to me accusing me of lies and deceit. I have rambled on for too long probably trying to justify myself. Still hope this helps.

[nik_knack0828]

I appreciate your ramblings, sid.
It's nice to know that if you're willing to work hard (and have a degree ) you can make good money in the ESL game.
I've been avoiding student loans as much as I can, but I'm getting desperate. I think I may have to take the plunge, and go for the $40,000 in debt.
I can only carry on at a minimum wage job while taking three courses for so long. I certainly won't get anywhere only taking three courses at a time (I can't afford anymore).
I'm planning on going home with two grand. Whoo hoo, that's enough to pay for another 3 courses.
Either that, or stay in China forever. My Chinese friends think that's the way I should go, but I miss the lake and my family too much to stay for too long.

[Capergirl]

Happiness cannot be bought. That said, having more money would mean more peace of mind for me. I wouldn't need to worry about paying the bills from month to month or how I'm going to save enough money for my daughter's education.

Someday I hope to have (more) money. But right now, I am happy. Kinda poor, but happy.

[Glenski]

thanx sid. One more Q.

Since all of those jobs were hourly or pt, would you mind describing your visa situation then? It makes a heckuva difference to some.

[Lynn]

[johnslat]

Dear Lynn,

"50K a year is enough."

Ah, that's what you say now, but when you make 50k a year, will it really be "enough"? One "law" of money that I've noticed is:

"The more that come in, the more that goes out."

I've made 50k a year - and I've made a LOT less. My "happiness quotient" didn't change any that I noticed. My opinion is that happiness - or rather contentment, since happiness is a rare state of being indeed -
depends so much more on what's inside than on what comes from the outside.
Regards,
John