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ontheroadagain
Joined: 09 Jan 2008
Posts: 66
Location: PRC since 07/04
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 Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:09 am Post subject: JPN salary............. |
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Last edited by ontheroadagain on Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:38 am; edited 1 time in total |
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slodziak
Joined: 17 Oct 2005
Posts: 143
Location: Tokyo
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 1:42 am Post subject: |
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Likely initial income: 250,000 Yen
My monthly expenditure:
Rent: 70,000
Food, drink, going out: 75,000
gym: 10,000
mobile, internet, cable TV, landline phone: 10,000
health insurance: 12,000
gas, electricity, water: 8,000
Income tax: circa 22,000
Total: 207,000
Income minus expenditure: +43,000
So I could do it, just. It really depends on your rent and how much you want to spend on going out etc.
You won't make loads but probably more than in China. |
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Wintermute
Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Posts: 79
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:41 am Post subject: |
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| Can one live in JPN with only 2592 bucks per month??? |
Easily. If you can't live on 250000yen in Japan then there is something wrong with you. Entertainment and rent are perhaps the most expensive things. When I first came to Japan I was on 270,000 a month (this was before the market went south) and after all my monthly expenses (plus money to enjoy myself) were deducted I was still saving 100,000yen a month. It just depends on the kind of lifestyle you lead. |
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Quibby84
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 3:04 am Post subject: |
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| Remember that the 30 hours a week may not include travel time...it may end up being A LOT more... |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 4:40 am Post subject: |
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Half of that salary goes to basic necessities (rent, utilities, phone, food, insurance).
So, the real question should be, how well do you propose to live on the rest? Pretty easy for many, while others spend, spend, spend until there is zero left long before payday.
Even with an hour commute 1-way, that's an additional 10 hours per week when you are physically "on the job" to some minds. Gee, a whole 40-hour per week job. Who'd-a thunk it? Isn't teaching supposed to be just all fun and games? (that was a sarcastic tone in case you didn't catch it)
Get over it. It's a job! I'd like to know what ontheroadagain meant by this: You guys are working 30h/week over there... |
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Quibby84
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:00 am Post subject: |
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| Before we came we saw that it was 25 hrs a week and we were like "wow!"...then we got here and we were like..."ugh!". At my ALT job now it is a one hour commute one way (40 min of that is by bike). If you add that up it like 9 hours a day...more than we would work in the states...good thing we are changing jobs soon...but all jobs are different, you could luck up and only get 25 hrs a week...who knows? |
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chinagirl
Joined: 27 May 2003
Posts: 235
Location: United States
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:18 am Post subject: commuting |
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| Another point is that employers here (almost all) pay for commute costs by covering your train pass. So since I live in the Tokyo area, I am able to save a lot of money that used to go towards a car. I can get just about anywhere by public transport. If I were in the States now I would be spending huge chunk of my salary on gas, oil, maintenance, etc. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Quibby84 wrote: |
| Before we came we saw that it was 25 hrs a week and we were like "wow!"...then we got here and we were like..."ugh!". At my ALT job now it is a one hour commute one way (40 min of that is by bike). If you add that up it like 9 hours a day...more than we would work in the states...good thing we are changing jobs soon...but all jobs are different, you could luck up and only get 25 hrs a week...who knows? |
Quibby,
Before I came to Japan, my classmates from the TEFL class were 50% newbies to the field, and 50% veterans. Most had problems finding enough PT work to pay their bills. Is that what you meant?
Twenty-five to thirty hours a week inside the classroom is pretty standard. What did you find so "ugh" about it, and how did you fare back in the States? At least, back there, the kids were totally immersed in English whether in or out of the classroom. Perhaps that made it seem easier to you?
As for a total of 9 hours a day (including commuting time), I think most Americans would admit they had it easy simply because they were using their own cars instead of saving fuel and riding public transportation (if it even existed). However, I just want to point out that the 30-90 minutes of traveling each way in Japan is one of the many negative realities that I often point out to balance the "come on in, the water's fine" attitude of some people. It's the culture here to commute on trains and such. Not much you can do to get around it, but look at the positive sides:
You aren't behind the wheel.
Less chance of an accident.
More time to study en route. |
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Quibby84
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:58 am Post subject: |
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Thats true about the trains, but about 60% of my travel time now is on a bike...the trains are nice, especially if they are being paid for, but even if the fare is paid for, the 4 hours of your time spent on the train is usually not.
When I said "ugh", it was when we were in Conversation School. I was gone from home sometimes more than 12 hours a day several times a week. I was only in the classroom about 3 or 4 of those hours. The rest was trying to get from one class to the other, but all means of transportation.
I thought that 25 hours a week of work was great before I realized that another 25 was spent traveling.
At home in the US, we lived close to my husbands work so he left at 8:15 and got back at like 5ish. Of course everyone in the states does not live that close to their jobs. His jobs was super boring, he would rather what he is doing now even though it is a lot more tiring. (we are both ALTs now) |
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flyer
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 539
Location: Sapporo Japan
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:39 am Post subject: |
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| Quibby84 wrote: |
| Before we came we saw that it was 25 hrs a week and we were like "wow!"...then we got here and we were like..."ugh!". At my ALT job now it is a one hour commute one way (40 min of that is by bike). If you add that up it like 9 hours a day...more than we would work in the states...good thing we are changing jobs soon...but all jobs are different, you could luck up and only get 25 hrs a week...who knows? |
even 9 hrs is a very short day for Japan, many Japanese start at 8 and are still there after 7pm |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:15 am Post subject: |
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| Quibby84 wrote: |
Thats true about the trains, but about 60% of my travel time now is on a bike...the trains are nice, especially if they are being paid for, but even if the fare is paid for, the 4 hours of your time spent on the train is usually not.
When I said "ugh", it was when we were in Conversation School. I was gone from home sometimes more than 12 hours a day several times a week. I was only in the classroom about 3 or 4 of those hours. The rest was trying to get from one class to the other, but all means of transportation. |
Quibby, the OP might want to have something clarified. You work for a dispatch agency, don't you? That (or being a JET ALT) would mean being sent around to various schools instead of having a school as your employer and remaining put all day. Two very different situations with far less travel time. |
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TokyoLiz
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:41 am Post subject: Commutes |
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My commute now is 2 hours each way. I'm on the 7:15 train in the morning, and get home about 6:30 pm.It's a comparatively short working day with a long commute. That's just life in Japan.
The previous job was a 30 minute train ride plus 20 minute bike ride to work. Out the door at 7am, home between 6pm and 8pm.
Quibby said
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| At my ALT job now it is a one hour commute one way (40 min of that is by bike). |
You've got it good! I'd rather be on a bicycle for 40 minutes than on a train. More leg room!
My commute in my hometown of Vancouver was 40 minutes each way. I've never been fitter or less stressed in my life. |
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GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:58 am Post subject: Re: JPN salary............. |
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| ontheroadagain wrote: |
Hi all -
It is harvest time again for JPN... and reading all adds I noticed that schools offer 270.000 Yen on average, a bit unclear if the 50 or 80K offered for housing are included or not; however, I hear you talking about JPN being THE place where to "make money"; nonetheless, 270.000 Yen = to 2592 USD.
Can one live in JPN with only 2592 bucks per month???
You guys are working 30h/week over there...
Thanks for answering. |
Actually, I think if you do some checking you'll see that Japan is the place where the salaries are higher on average than elsewhere (but they are falling), but that THE place to put money away for savings etc is Korea, because the salary is almost the same but everything costs much less, making your savings much higher. |
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Quibby84
Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 643
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:33 am Post subject: |
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Sorry, I work for a dispatch company, the the beginning I went to many different places to teach, now I just go to one school...it is just sort of far away.
2 hours! thats nuts! Why dont you live closer? Our school wanted us to move closer, but we didnt want to move for 6 months only to have to move back to the same place we were in the beginning (my husband is going to japanese school starting in April in our current town)
Most days I enjoy the bike ride; I like it except for when it is really windy and cold, or windy and rainy..both of those suck... |
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TokyoLiz
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1548
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:52 am Post subject: |
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| 2 hours! thats nuts! Why dont you live closer? Our school wanted us to move closer, but we didnt want to move for 6 months only to have to move back to the same place we were in the beginning |
Other committments keep me local to home, and like you say, it would a trial to move closer to work only to move back to 'home base' again when the contract is finished. Japanese work life puts our gaman to the test. |
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