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Dipso
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Posts: 194
Location: England
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 Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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I am probably going to leave at the end of my contract early next year. I have to send money home each month to meet financial commitments in Britain, but it's becoming increasingly difficult due to the exchange rate. I would like to stay in Japan longer, but I can't sensibly afford to wait around for the yen to bounce back. Hey ho! 
Last edited by Dipso on Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Dipso
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Posts: 194
Location: England
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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| *double post* |
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J.
Joined: 03 May 2003
Posts: 327
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 8:04 pm Post subject: Less vacations home |
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The last vacation home to Canada the exchange rate really hurt. It was last summer, so it's even worse now. Perhaps it's a plot by the Japanese government to keep everyone's vacation money here in Japan. I know I am now thinking twice about, and probably won't, take a vacation home this summer.
I also remember feeling annoyed that though everything was expensive most of the retail staff seemed to be thinking they were doing YOU a favour to be taking your money. Guess I'm getting spoiled by the politeness of store clerks in Japan. (There's a GOOD POINT for you, Glenski.) |
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shuize
Joined: 04 Sep 2004
Posts: 1270
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 11:04 pm Post subject: Re: Less vacations home |
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| J. wrote: |
The last vacation home to Canada the exchange rate really hurt. It was last summer, so it's even worse now. Perhaps it's a plot by the Japanese government to keep everyone's vacation money here in Japan. I know I am now thinking twice about, and probably won't, take a vacation home this summer.
I also remember feeling annoyed that though everything was expensive most of the retail staff seemed to be thinking they were doing YOU a favour to be taking your money. Guess I'm getting spoiled by the politeness of store clerks in Japan. (There's a GOOD POINT for you, Glenski.) |
I often feel the same on trips back to the States. Like when I'm standing at the counter somewhere waiving my money begging for staff attention so that I can please, please pay for their product and go home. [/off topic] |
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User N. Ame
Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 222
Location: Kanto
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| Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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Although making money was never my reason for going to Japan, I sympathize with people caught in the web of global currency exchange. As Gordon says - there's nothing wrong with wanting to have a little to show for your work efforts, or enough to be able to invest in your family's future.
There's a flip side to the coin. For people like me wanting to return to Japan as a tourist with a rail pass, great bargain on my Canadian buck to yen now! You Canadians all watching our dollar hit the mid-90's on the US$? It's expected to pull even soon. Amazing. |
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Apsara
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 2142
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 12:31 am Post subject: |
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I'm a lifer now more or less but as I do have to send money back to NZ (I bought a house there a few years ago when the exchange rate was better and the rent covers the mortgage but not other expenses) I do want the days of 55 yen to the NZ dollar back again! I almost had a heart attack when I saw 90 yen to the dollar recently.
I guess I am very fortunate in that I was paying off my student loan when it was at that lowest rate, saving for the deposit on my house when it was still pretty good, and managed lots of travel as well. It's a bit harder to do the long-term travelling now that I used to when the yen was stronger but I just accept that exchange rates will fluctuate. I love my job and wouldn't leave it to go somewhere with a better excahnge rate if you, well, paid me! |
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 2:34 am Post subject: |
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| japanman wrote: |
This saving thing puzzles me greatly when I see posts like "How much can I save in Thailand" etc why should you be able to save money in a country that is much poorer than your own? The save, save, save mentality is very strange coming from people who come from rich nations. |
Not so strange when you consider that 'save, save, save' often means 'pay back loans, pay back loans pay back loans'. And that coming from a rich country does not necessarily mean access to high paying jobs. Most Starbucks and Big Box Stores are staffed (at least as far as the full timers go) by people with degrees. If you have an English degree and are looking at paying back loans by earning CDN$8 an hour in Toronto (which wouldn't buy you and a G/F or B/F each a cup of fancy coffee at Starbucks) or going overseas to earn a bit more and have the ability to live in your own apartment and actually pay back some of those loans, then that starts to look really good. The fact that leaving Canada is now a basic piece of advice that university career centres tell people about to graduate (ie the braindrain to the States, and going overseas to teach EFL) suggests what life is like.
If you have no loans and you are thinking of moving to another country and staying there more or less permanently then asking about a place like Thailand makes a lot of sense. If you can earn CDN$1000 a month in Thailand with a cost of living that is one fifth of Canada, then if your money does not leave the country *and that includes you not leaving the country, then it has the buying potential that CDN$5000 would in your home country. And that is usually far more disposable income than Canadian ESL teachers have in Canada.
If Thailand has a cost of living that is one fifth the rate of Japan, but a salary that is almost half of what you get in Japan, then you still come out on top by being in Thailand, so long as your intention is not to try and save for going back, but rather to stay in Thailand (or a comparable economy) for the future.
So the question isn't really how much can I save in dollar amounts, but how much buying potential will I have left over at the end of the month. I think a lot of people don't really think about it that way until they have actually worked overseas, though. Also, especially people who've never actually lived overseas (as opposed to travelling on Daddy's Dollars/ Mommy's Moulah) and yet assume that they won't miss their home country too much and go home after a few years may be making some assumptions that just won't work out to be true. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Unfortunately for your model, most of the teachers I met from Thailand make a lot less than established teachers here. In Thailand's favor, I think the people and the food are much better, but that is my opinion after eating too much boiled rice. |
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:43 am Post subject: |
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| gaijinalways wrote: |
| Unfortunately for your model, most of the teachers I met from Thailand make a lot less than established teachers here. In Thailand's favor, I think the people and the food are much better, but that is my opinion after eating too much boiled rice. |
Really? There's an ad on this site for a Thai job paying US$671 a month. The standard in Japan was about US$2061 a month but has been falling steadily and is now closer to US$1900 a month.
An imported bottle of beer in a Thai bar costs about US$1.50. The same thing in a Japanese bar costs about $5. That means the beer in the Thai bar costs one third of what it does in Japan. The base salary in Thailand is greater than one third of the base salary in Japan. Therefore, other than things like pay raises (which most teachers in Japan aren't getting, but I don't know if the salary for Thai teachers increases) then you are a bit further ahead in Thailand than Japan, as far as disposable income in the local economy is concerned. If you need to send money home, then $671 a month just isn't going to cut it. |
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NorthofAmerica
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Posts: 187
Location: Recovering Expat
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| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 12:59 am Post subject: Re: How weak does the yen have to get before you leave? |
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| furiousmilksheikali wrote: |
| NorthofAmerica wrote: |
| I like Japan and am generally happy enough with things here but wouldn't it be nice to work somewhere where the currency adjustment worked out to a pay raise as time passed. |
Of course it would be nice, but is that what you expected would happen when you applied to work in Japan one year ago?
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Here it feels like the opposite, I need to negotiate a hefty raise just to make as much as I made when I first arrived after adjusting for inflation.
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What inflation? Japan has been experiencing a long period of deflation. Bad news for a lot of businesses in Japan but providing your salary isn't cut your money in Japan should go just as far. Has anyone living here in Japan for more than a year noticed any considerable price rises? My guess is no. |
Sorry, I meant "after adjusting for currency fluctuation" rather than "inflation"
And maybe I wasn't expecting the yen to go on a tear and increase by 20% but I also wasn't expecting it to be sinking like a stone against the Canadian dollar. Since March alone, it has lost like 15% value.
Though the Canadian dollar is going berserk lately it is still not an absurd idea to move somewhere and hope that its currency retains some of its value over a few years. Or cross your fingers and hope for some growth. |
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Chris21
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 366
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 2:08 am Post subject: |
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Moving somewhere just because of the value of the currency is really foolish, IMO. Currencies fluctuate... by the time someone gets set up in another country, the currency situation could have completed reversed. Remember, it was only 5 years ago that the CDN dollar was at all-time lows against the USD. Now it's at all-time highs. It's a crapshoot... just hope for the best and plant your flag.
Anyway, all of the costs of moving to another country would probably eat up any differences in currencies. If I was going to leave Japan for Korea, I'd basically lose everything in my apartment that is too big to move.
The Yen could turn around tomorrow and go on a tear. Nobody knows. Actually, North American markets have slumped over the last week, and a few columnists are suggesting this might be the start of a slide in stock prices. If that happens, the yen could gain some ground (which it has over the last couple of days). |
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japanman
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 281
Location: England
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| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 5:13 am Post subject: |
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Concerning thailand and salaries. i was in Bangkok treaching fo just a year and financialy I was f**ked. Ofcourse a longer stay would have improve that a lot more. And to say the food and people are better in thailand is just your opinion. I find that both are better here. But i'm not going to go into that.
Maybe then, it's just British people who find that working abroad to pay off loans etc is impossible. Unless ofcourse you are talking about oil company staff in Saudi etc. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 9:23 am Post subject: |
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part of my original quote
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| most of the teachers I met from Thailand make a lot less than established teachers here. |
I make a hell of a lot more than 1900 a month, and I know some busier teachers that do very well thank you!
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| And to say the food and people are better in thailand is just your opinion. |
part of my previous post
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| In Thailand's favor, I think the people and the food are much better, but that is my opinion after eating too much boiled rice. |
Uh, didn't I already say that  ? |
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ndorfn
Joined: 15 Mar 2005
Posts: 126
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:25 am Post subject: |
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I would have left 4 years ago when the aussie dollar started it's serious climbing, except for a partner who started a uni course then. I'll be out of here the day after she graduates.
my wage in $ has dropped 50% since I came here around the turn of the century. |
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canuck
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 1921
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:27 am Post subject: |
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| ndorfn wrote: |
| my wage in $ has dropped 50% since I came here around the turn of the century. |
You've really been here a long time....  |
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