Job Discussion Forums

[EllBee]

Whats a realistic expectation of what one could save in Japan? obviously extra work and lifestyle play a role...but what's the "on-average" amount of yen u can bank? 50,000? 100,000?

[ripslyme]

[Eva Pilot]

I haven't saved anything since I got here.

[ShaggyZ]

Ripslyme, are the menus in Japanese when you buy a camera in Japan?

[ripslyme]

[Glenski]

Realistic expectations depend on a lot of circumstances. Let's narrow things down.

Single person (ie, not married)
Entry level work (250,000 yen/month income for most; 300K for JET ALT)
Medium-sized city

Figure on spending 125,000 or so on basic necessities (housing, utilities, phone, food, insurance). (Let's not think about the cases where some JET ALTs get rent free, ok, but let's keep it in the back of our minds for future reference.)

That leaves roughly 125,000 or 175,000 with the 2 salary scenarios above.

Go out twice a week and drink conservatively. That could burn 30,000 to 50,000 yen/month. Depends on what you call conservative, whether you stay out so late that you miss the train/subway at midnight and have to depend on double-fare taxis, etc.

So, with some minor entertainment, you are left with 75,000-95,000 yen in one scenario, and with 125,000-145,000 in the other.

You'll need hair care every month or so.
Occasional mail, long distance calls, souvenirs, batteries, photocopies, replacement clothing, snacks, sightseeing, cable/satellite TV, iTunes purchases, video/DVD rentals, magazines/newspapers, etc. are all luxuries or extraneous things.
If you have a car (usually in more rural areas and on JET), you'll have to pay for gas and probably for a parking space (legally required).
Don't forget the emergencies when you need medical care and the insurance doesn't pay for it all.

Perhaps the list above will mean another 10,000-20,000 yen/month on average (key words here). That leaves you with 55,000-85,000 or 105,000-135,000 left over.

Student loans, car payments back home, mortgage back home, etc. are things you may have to consider, too.

I think this represents a fair estimate of expenses and potential savings for an average person. You can save more if you are careful, and you can save nothing if your circumstances dictate.

[Neongene]

I'm going to Japan for three main reasons, Training (martial arts), learning to speak Japanese, and taking out a huge chunk of my 12,000 (CAD) student loan. I'm acutally going to try and pay that off within the year. Or at least pay a big chunk of it, Like 10,000 dollars

I think that if you watch what you spend, brown bag your lunch everyday and don't eat out then you could save 100,000 a month easily. The cheaper the Rent then the cheaper you operating expenses will be.

Another interesting thing is in Japan taxes are alot lower when compared, say, to my home country of Canada. And I pay 550 in rent right now, and I live in a basement. It might be possible to find a place to live for 400 dollars a month (CAD) and I bet it will be the same size as where i'm living now. *grumbles out of breath, stupid toronto.

When I look for work i'm going to look for the cheapest rent I can find. During my first year at college I literally lived in a walk in closet. So nothing will surprise me in japan,

So basically what i'm saying is if you really want to save, then hunker down and save. If you want to party, then you'll most likely be scraping the barrel before every paycheck. You just need to have the right mindset.

[Mark]

If you want to save money, the best thing to do is to just send a fixed amount home, and live on the rest. If you really get stuck one month, you can always use a credit card or withdraw money from home at a Citibank branch (I think most foreign cards work there).

I find that I tend to live on however much money I keep in Japan. In other words, if I don't send it home, I spend it.

Anyway, I think on a standard 250k salary you can send home 75k without it hurting too much.

Basically, just decide how much you want to send home every month. If you don't have enough salary left to live on, then find privates or a part-time gig to make up the difference. Or live like a hermit. Or save less.

[Neongene]

or you could *beep* yourself out.



To private students I mean....



Don't look at me like that, Thats not what I meant.

I hopet to fit in 10 private lessons a month at 3000 yen an hour

70,000 yen from salary and 30,000 yen from privates equals a nice 100,000 Yen

[ElleB]

I save at least 100,000 yen every month and I have done so almost every month for the past two years. Exceptions included major items like a new computer and a ticket home to the U.S. I live 40 minutes outside of Tokyo. Here's how I do it:

1. I send 100,000 yen home through GoLloyds as soon as I get paid. That way I'm not tempted.

2. I find that 30,000 yen is plenty for food and necessities (hair products, soap, toothpaste, etc.) I budget 1,000 yen a day.

3. I spend between 3,000-10,000 each month on drinking with friends after work. Try to find places that offer a nomihodai (all you can drink deal) if you're a big drinker.

4. I spend about 10,000 each month on clothes.

5. I don't have a cell phone and until recently I didn't have internet (I used the school's internet for free at work). My bills are about 10,000-15,000 per month (water, gas, electricity, phone, and health insurance).

6. I regularly do fun things like visit onsen, sing karaoke, go to museums, see sumo tournaments, and see movies in the theater. I drink Starbucks everyday and I eat my fair share of imported chocolate. I find I can afford to do anything I really want to do, but I have to budget for it carefully.

7. My rent is about 55,000 yen per month.

I don't teach privates. Based on my own experiences and those of other teachers I know, you can totally save 100,000 yen per month on a salary of 250,000. I know people that saved significantly more than me but they never went out and ate really cheap foods. What it really comes down to when saving money here - or anywhere else for that matter - is what kind of lifestyle you are willing to live and how well you can resist spending your money on stuff you don't really need. It helps to live in a suburb rather than the middle of a big city.