Job Discussion Forums

[Jon Taylor]

Going to be living and working near Tokyo (Chiba) on a wage of 250,000.

What are the average monthly expenses ?

How much can I realistically save per month ?

[Glenski]

Please do a search before you post questions like these. They are the most commonly asked ones.

Expect to burn half of your salary on rent, utilities, phone, insurance, and groceries. Everyone will differ on grocery costs, but plan on an average of 30,000-40,000 yen/month.

That leaves you 125,000 to play around with. Most people probably have about 70,000-90,000 of that after you take into account going out a couple of times a week. So, how much of that you save depends on what else you buy -- be it a postage stamp, a pack of gum, a newspaper, cable TV, long distance phone calls, a weekend jaunt to an onsen, DVD rentals, a concert, whatever. If you have debts back home to pay off, they will come out of this 125,000 yen.

If you eat a lot of meat, you will probably spend more on groceries. If you don't cook for yourself, the same thing will happen. If you don't adjust your cooking lifestyle to something more eastern, the same thing will happen.

For ways to save money (crazy ways or sane ones), read my thread on cheapskates.
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=4201&highlight=cheapskates
A couple of other related posts include these.
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=14817&highlight=cheapskates
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=11030&highlight=cheapskates
item 4 in this FAQ http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=3788
item 22 in this FAQ http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=4129