Job Discussion Forums

[philip.randall]

I know that this all is contingent on how much I drank, party, etc. I was just curious if you have a job earning 10,000rmb how much can you save per month. In Korea I made 2.3 and I saved about 800-1000 usa dollars a month. I've visited china but I was a tourist so I wasn't exactly documenting how much things cost and such.

Any information is appreciated,

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

I save about 60% of my salary monthly and I don't want for anything.

Those who can't save or claim it's impossible are the same people who never saved anything back home in their old life. They don't know how to budget and they have no financial sense.

[Zero]

Too many unknowns to say. So the only way I can answer is by filling in unknowns with assumptions.

-Assuming you will live in a provincial city or town, and not a Beijing or Shanghai, food and transportation expenses will be low, let's say 1,500 a month.
-Assuming you must pay your own rent and utilities, take 2,000 away from the salary.
-Assuming you prefer other males and are not interested in women, dating opportunities will be limited. This sort of thing is not out in the open in provincial China. So you'll spend nothing on romance.
-Assuming you have chronic, noxious flatulence, you may need to buy large amounts of Beano each month. Deduct 500 yuan from the salary figure.
-Assuming you are addicted to online gambling, you could blow the remainder of your wage every month, and incur large debts.

Based on what we know so far, this doesn't look good for you!

[choudoufu]

"[T]here are known knowns; there are things we know we know.
We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know
there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown
unknowns � the ones we don't know we don't know."

okay...here's the deal....you can save as much as you want.

take your typical 5000 rmb university job......apartment, utilities,
internet are all paid. (chinese) health unsurance included, taxes
not applicable. wanna be a cheap charlie? eat in the student
mess twice a day for 5-6 rmb per meal. you'll need to buy 3-4
5-gallon jugs o'water at 6 rmb. you live on campus, so no
transport costs. budget in 50 rmb per month for you cell phone.
you have no friends...nowhere to go, nobuddy to call. oh, yeah,
you'll need 50 per month for soap and toothpaste. dont' forget
to add another 50 rmb per month for your bi-weekly pilgrimage
to kfc.

there ya go, you can save 4500 per month. enjoy china.

[philip.randall]

Haha, I just ment the usual type stuff. I just didn't know what a typical cheap meal costs. I enjoy local food and during my time in Korea almost never ate "American." I was just trying to gauge some sort of idea. When I see 10,000 rmb I don't know what that gets me where I knew 2.3 million won got me x,y and z.

[Gamecock]

I had about the same rate of savings as you when I lived in Korea. Now in China I spend 2-3000 a month and live comfortably. I eat out a few times a week and buy western foodstuffs in the supermarket which are more expensive. I'm not a drinker or big night life guy, so my spending would be about the same in one of the big cities or in the 2nd tier city where I live now.

Figure on spending a little more getting set up your first couple months in China. But after that, with a salary of 10,000 (if your apartment is free), you should be able to save US$800-1000 a month.

The big difference is that often contracts here are 10 months, so you may have to use some of that savings during your long holidays. Depends if you are looking at a university or a private gig.

[dog backwards]

[dog backwards]

[Ariadne]

Regarding 10 or 11 month contracts... If you stay at the same school you won't have to worry about a place to live during the summer.. at least the rent is paid, even if you're not getting a paycheck. That can be a huge benefit.

If you are a fisherman, you save up during fishing season and plan for non-fishing months. If you're a teacher, you plan ahead for the summer.

.

[daCabbie]

Here are my two cents: You can save what you want and you can make more if you want. It's China, you have that choice.
The percentages below are the amount you can save and the lifestyle you will have. May vary from city to city and person to person.

Save 20% Life is good. Trips whenever and wherever. So much food you are getting fat. Western food delivered to your door. ALL the gadgets, a new computer every two years, iPhone, swanky electric cycle. Private driver once a month.

Save 40% A middle-class lifestyle. Movies, western food, bi-monthly trips, all the kitchen gadgets. Twice a week western food and a bi-weekly trips to an upscale supermarket. Roundtrip taxi.

Save 60% Live a comfortable life. Go out once a week. Mix of Chinese/Western food. Travel on long vacations. Nice gifts for friends. Take a taxi. there and bus home.

Save 80% Live like a Chinese middle-class. Eat on the street or cook at home. Sit-down restaurants once a week. One trip a year. Bicycle and bus.

I personally will buy a new/2nd hand computer every other year but I won't pay more than 250rmb for a pair of glasses and 150rmb for a nice hotel room. Your personal spending habits have a major impact on savings.

[nickpellatt]

Ill give you some ideas of costs, based on my experience in a small town. It is quite geared toward tourism so prices may be higher than a typical small town, but I would guess less than a large city.

Cigarettes. My brand of choice was 2.5 RMB for 20. Anyone can find a brand at 5 RMB for 20.

Drinking - 600ml bottles of local lager was 7-10 RMB in a bar.

Meals in a decent restaurant would run at up to 30 RMB for a standard meat dish, up to 20 RMB for a veg dish. Thats enough for 2 people, so roughly 25 RMB to eat out and have decent food.

Noodle bars and quick and easy lunch places would be between 5-10 RMB for a simple dish.

Quick breakfast when walking to school? You could grab 3 smallish steamed breads for 1 RMB, or get a pot of Guilin noodles for 3.5 RMB.

A very drinkable cup of tea was 3.5 RMB in a small convenient place, a more authentic coffee in a nice place was closer to 20 RMB, luckily I dont drink coffee.

A Big Mac was 12.5 RMB...a little MacDonalds ice cream was 3.5 RMB.

Pirate DVDs were 10 RMB each from a decent shop that would let you try them first.

I pretty much walked everywhere, that the good thing about small towns...if I was in a rush and wanted a motorbike taxi they were 4 RMB anywhere in the town, if I wanted to explore at weekends, hiring a bicycle was 5 RMB a day. Local touristy things were from 20 RMB to 130 RMB. The higher priced ones included transport there too.

This is based on my experience, in one location last year. Cheap cigarettes might be the same everywhere, some other things may not.

[philip.randall]

Thanks for all the information guys. This has been very informative.