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decafdave
Joined: 19 Oct 2009
Posts: 14
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 Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 11:35 pm Post subject: Budget Help |
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Hey everyone,
I'm about to graduate with a Bachelor degree from an American university and considering teaching abroad primarily in either Japan, South Korea, Taiwan this August/September. I was really bored the other day at my internship so I did some initial budgeting for all 3 countries. I made it in Excel but I don't know if I can attach it here somehow or not....
I would really appreciate it if someone who's had experience teaching in any of those countries could take a look at my numbers and tell me if they're realistic or not. The spreadsheet itself might actually prove useful to someone as I take into account real-time foreign exchange rates imported from Yahoo finance automatically.
If anyone could help me out with actually getting my spreadsheet on here or actually giving me advice on my budget I'd be really grateful. Thanks! |
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decafdave
Joined: 19 Oct 2009
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 11:55 pm Post subject: |
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I uploaded it to a back up site that will allow you to download my file through the link.
http://www.box.net/shared/8q9htcrpxr
If you'd rather do it another way just PM me your email address or something and I can send it to you that way.
Once again I definitely appreciate any help. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 4:44 am Post subject: |
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Japan review:
You have some things in yen and some things in dollars. Don't try that, it only makes things complicated.
Is your rent (90,000) what an employer has told you, or are you trying to average something here? I'd say depending on where you live, rent could be 50,000-80,000 on average.
You have nothing for utilities. Budget 15,000 per month for that. Seasonal and depends on your personal habits.
Why US$200 per month for "Travel"? Employers usually pay for commuting, and that's around such a figure.
You have nothing for phone/Internet. Figure an employer will already have set up the apartment with a land line, so you have to pay 3500-8000 per month. If you want a cell phone, add a 10,000 install charge and use the same monthly rates.
Food costs of $510 is roughly 50,000 yen, and depending on your habits, that is roughly right.
Why have you put 7500 for insurance? First year, national health insurance is about 2500, and the following years it goes up to about 25,000 depending on location and salary.
Entertainment and miscellaneous expenses of $250 a month is entirely up to you.
You have a salary listed as 250,000; that's ok and it used to be standard here, but it might be more (300,000 for JET) or less (as low as 180,000, but I wouldn't recommend taking anything lower than 220K).
What is your start-up costs of 329,400 yen based on?
You might want to put in a figure for airfare home during Xmas, but that's up to you.
Essentially, in Japan figure that half of a 250K salary goes to basic necessities (rent, utilities, food, phone/internet, and insurance). Go out for drinks 2 times a week and drink conservatively, and you'll spend 30,000 to 50,000 per month, leaving you with 75,000-95,000 to do with as you please beyond that entertainment. |
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decafdave
Joined: 19 Oct 2009
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
Japan review:
You have some things in yen and some things in dollars. Don't try that, it only makes things complicated.
Is your rent (90,000) what an employer has told you, or are you trying to average something here? I'd say depending on where you live, rent could be 50,000-80,000 on average.
You have nothing for utilities. Budget 15,000 per month for that. Seasonal and depends on your personal habits.
Why US$200 per month for "Travel"? Employers usually pay for commuting, and that's around such a figure.
You have nothing for phone/Internet. Figure an employer will already have set up the apartment with a land line, so you have to pay 3500-8000 per month. If you want a cell phone, add a 10,000 install charge and use the same monthly rates.
Food costs of $510 is roughly 50,000 yen, and depending on your habits, that is roughly right.
Why have you put 7500 for insurance? First year, national health insurance is about 2500, and the following years it goes up to about 25,000 depending on location and salary.
Entertainment and miscellaneous expenses of $250 a month is entirely up to you.
You have a salary listed as 250,000; that's ok and it used to be standard here, but it might be more (300,000 for JET) or less (as low as 180,000, but I wouldn't recommend taking anything lower than 220K).
What is your start-up costs of 329,400 yen based on?
You might want to put in a figure for airfare home during Xmas, but that's up to you.
Essentially, in Japan figure that half of a 250K salary goes to basic necessities (rent, utilities, food, phone/internet, and insurance). Go out for drinks 2 times a week and drink conservatively, and you'll spend 30,000 to 50,000 per month, leaving you with 75,000-95,000 to do with as you please beyond that entertainment. |
I really appreciate you going into detail on this.
I got the rent figure off a random cost of living website for a recruiter and I would definitely like cheaper rent so I updated it to 65,000 as of now. I also know that some programs will pay for all rent costs after 45k but I don't want to put that in my budget yet. I added utilities into the Japan section.
I would like to travel around Japan a little bit. Visit Tokyo definitely as I'll realistically not be placed there probably. Is $200 a good amount for a weekend trip once a month or so? I'd be staying at hostels when possible.
Don't remember where I got the insurance number but I'll update my budget.
I'm just doing prelim comparisons now so I don't want to put the high Jet amount or the low-ball number just yet.
My start up costs were estimated by a country teaching chart I downloaded from one of the TEFL certification websites. Basically, I need to have enough to survive, pay rent/deposit until my first check comes in. I'm not including airfare either over there or for XMAS but am keeping it in mind. What do you think of the start up costs?
A couple general questions: am I correct in assuming TEFL/CELTA cert is not required for most jobs? Also if you know anything about the job markets in S Korea and Taiwan how does Japan compare for someone just out of school?
Once again, thanks a lot for your help. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 12:17 am Post subject: |
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| decafdave wrote: |
| I got the rent figure off a random cost of living website for a recruiter |
Just one site???????
| Quote: |
| and I would definitely like cheaper rent so I updated it to 65,000 as of now. |
What you want and what you get are not always the same. Figure the obvious: urban housing is usually more expensive than rural.
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| I also know that some programs will pay for all rent costs after 45k |
"Some"????? I know only of one (AEON). Who else do you know?
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| I would like to travel around Japan a little bit. |
Newbies usually come in 2 varieties: ALT and eikaiwa instructor. The former gets Sat/Sun off as weekends. The latter gets whatever the school allows, and that sometimes means two non-consecutive days off. By law you don't even get paid vacation for the first 6 months, but if the employer offers it, so be it.
| Quote: |
| Visit Tokyo definitely as I'll realistically not be placed there probably. Is $200 a good amount for a weekend trip once a month or so? I'd be staying at hostels when possible. |
Depends on where you start from. Train costs can be expensive here. And it might be cheaper to fly (like from Hokkaido if you start from there).
| Quote: |
| Don't remember where I got the insurance number but I'll update my budget. |
Your figure of 7500 yen sounded like what a couple of employers offer from their own brand of insurance, something I suggest avoiding.
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| I'm just doing prelim comparisons now so I don't want to put the high Jet amount or the low-ball number just yet. |
Keep them in mind, though. They are reality.
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| My start up costs were estimated by a country teaching chart I downloaded from one of the TEFL certification websites. Basically, I need to have enough to survive, pay rent/deposit until my first check comes in. I'm not including airfare either over there or for XMAS but am keeping it in mind. What do you think of the start up costs? |
Without knowing what your "teaching chart" had in mind for specifics, I can only tell you a few generalities:
1) Airfare depends on where/when you leave. Estimate about US$800.
2) If you have to pay for key money deposits on an apartment, they could be 2-5 times a month's rent equivalent.
3) If you have to buy your land line phone setup, plan on around 30,000 yen.
4) Are you including in setup costs the fact that you will have to attend interviews, buy a suit(s), get a haircut/perm, create a demo video (rare, but sometimes asked for), etc.?
For items 2 and 3 above, they are highly variable. If an employer has a place already lined up for you, they should but don't always have such things paid for. But if you get your own apartment, you'll have to pay for them. Also, apartments here are usually unfurnished, and you'd have to buy everything from washing machine to refrigerator, stove, curtains, light fixtures, space heater (no central heating), kitchen utensils, bedding, furniture, etc. The 100-yen shops only go so far in that regard, and it will still take time to furnish even if you go with a cheaper place like a recycle or secondhand shop to save money. It is not possible to tell you how much those costs are without a lot of research.
| Quote: |
| A couple general questions: am I correct in assuming TEFL/CELTA cert is not required for most jobs? |
No. In Japan, certs are usually not even considered for newbie jobs. With the flooded market here, though, it might not be a bad idea to get them, especially if one has a non-teaching background.
| Quote: |
| Also if you know anything about the job markets in S Korea and Taiwan how does Japan compare for someone just out of school? |
I don't know the Taiwan or Korean markets, but I do know Japan. Your background is vanilla generic in nature. Two of the biggest eikaiwa just went bankrupt here, putting thousands of people on the streets to look for work. The market is terribly crowded with teachers and wannabes. Plan far ahead and well for any contingency. Know the market. You just missed the biggest hiring time of the year (Feb/March), other than for JET program. If you don't plan to come here to look for a job, realize that you have only about a dozen places that recruit from abroad, and not all service your area. |
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