Job Discussion Forums

[sidjameson]

I thought I would post this as I would love to know about other people's expenses too. I hope that we can get a good selection of countries that would be a really useful guide to teachers. If you post here please give as full information as possible as this will prove most informative to others who are prehaps consider your country as a future destination. To be honest gender and age are probably vital as well as I imagine that a young International playboy such as myself would have a different social life than the lovely Rhonda in China. Oh and as exchange rates fluctuate so lets use the $ but please post the current exchange rate so the more astute can use these figures in future months.

Osaka, Japan 5th April $ = 105yen
Ok I am male, 36 and consider myself pretty good with money. (err I don't mean tight )

Old apartment, great centre location, not small by Japanese standards $600 a month
Utilities I use air con in summer, heater in winter, never economize, cook everyday $80 a month
Land phone $20
handy phone $40
High speed Internet $40
Sky tv $30 including premier league football
food I cook and I am vegetarian, I think I eat well, I eat a lot of snacks too $250
Health insurance good coverage including dental $55
Transport I find it easy and nice to cycle everywhere. free. work always pay for travel to work as well
Entertainment tricky, I go out to bars a couple of nights a week, drink about 4 beers(lucky as pricy) eat lunch once or twice a week. Dinner twice a month. Day out hiking every now and again. $500 I enjoy myself but I never go mad. I also dont chase women so much which certainly keeps costs low as in Japan men are usually the ones that pay. But I certainly do have the odd date.

On top of this is buying clothes, "things" and travel. Of course each to their own but flights are very reasonable and I fly to SE Asia for about $500 and Europe for $700 but summer is defintly more expensive.

So ignoring the above I spend $1600 a month. Lowest wages here are $2500 a month. But I and most of my friends here earn quite a bit more. Tax is an incredible low 5% I like my lifestyle. I am a naturally careful with money I guess but I don't feel as if I am being careful, if you see what I mean.

Hope this is useful to others. Looking forward to other accounts.

[nolefan]

hi there,

I figured I'll give this one a go:

I am in China and 1US$=8.24 RMB

Rent and utilities are covered by school so it don't count but as far as the rest goes:

Internet: 200 RMB/month
food: 1500 RMB/month dining out 5 times a week in the poshest places of my neck of the woods
DVDs: 40 RMB/ week
Alcohol (liqor) 300 RMB/month


I don't really spend a whole lot mroe than that, the food expense is the highest and it is only whe it is my turn to pay.. I have gone months sometimes before actually paying a tab at the restaurant!

[struelle]

Great idea for a thread!!

What really caught my eye was your $55 a month health insurance. I don't have nearly as good a deal as that, but I'd like to. Does your provider give international coverage to expats with emergency evacuation?

Now for my account. I'm also good with money but not a skinflint. Male, 26 years old. Currently living in outer Shanghai, China. At present, $1 gives 8.28 yuan.

My current apartment is provided by the school, although last year I lived in a small downtown unit for $300. Great location, traditional Chinese style, very convenient.

Air-con was used all the time in summer: $18
Tack on $10 for phone and other utils.
Internet was about $15 a month, thanks to net cafes.
Food worked out to $150 with frequent eat-outs at good places.
Transport and taxi cabs: $100
Clothes: $80
Regional Travel: $50
Insurance: $4 (thanks to the travel insurance)
Other: $30

Now things have changed a little.

All housing, utils, and internet is paid for. A major headache solved.
Food is about the same, $150
Tranport and cabs: $200 - suburban commutes doubled this one.
Clothes: $100
Travel: none. No time to travel now, which sucks.
Insurance: $100 - Where can I get a deal like yours?
Other: $50

All in all, costs are less this year, but I'm also making less. Still, the net savings now are greater.

Last year I made $1200 on average with one job. This year my main jobs only pays $720, but thanks to moonlighting, I can make more than $1100.

Doing the math, I saved $443 last year, but now it's more than $500.

Now I'm thinking I should quit my TEFL job and go into accounting

Steve

[dmb]

Here in Qatar.(in a month)
Accomodation $0
utility bills $0
Car rental $0
Petrol $0
health care $0
tax $0
Supermarket/eating out $ 150-200
Sport $40-50
internet cards $50
Beer $ ???? changes every week

[basiltherat]

Here in "prison" in Syria.(in a month)
Accomodation $0
Meals/Food $0
utility bills $0
Laundry $0
Petrol $0
health care $0 (included)
tax $0
Personal snacks $50
Sport $0 (provided free)
internet $0 (free)
Beer - who me ? Drink ???



basil

[waxwing]

Good idea! Let's all do it.
1US$=28.5 Russian roubles.

$200/month - 1 month's rent = $100-$300. I pay $200, actually my place is worth slightly less.(NB: Moscow will be more expensive than this)
$10/month - utilities for apartment
$100/month - $3-$4 per day on food. I am quite lazy and could get by on less if I cooked more (I often buy pre-prepared food).
$95/ month - 'Going out' (covers a multitude of sins) on average twice a week, cost approx twice a week, let's say 10 times a month, average cost 300R, including 50R for a taxi home.
$60/month - cellphone and internet. Internet cost much the larger part, dial-up at ~10roubles/hr, bad connection
<$20/month - DVDs and computer stuff. DVDs go for $3 a time.

I don't have a tax expense because that's dealt with before I see the money. My travel costs are also basically zero because my work is 5 minutes walk from my apartment, and on the rare occasion I need a tram or trolleybus, it only costs 4R (or 6R for the marshrutka).

Hmm so what's that?
About $500/month outgoings/month not including exceptional purchases or travel. Sounds about right.

[dmb]

Basil, your laundry and internet are free? Boy, does my contract suck

[Teacher in Rome]

And from a European perspective:

(I share my flat with my sig. other, and we divvy up everything. This is my half of the outgoings.)

For central Rome:

Rent and condomium (light, water, garden and porterage): 425 euros per month
Phone / internet / electricity: 75 euros per month
Food / wine / household: 75 euros per week

Other personal costs per month
Transport: 30 euros
Mobile phone: 30 euros
Lunch: I get luncheon vouchers from my employer
Clothes / personal expenses: 150 euro per month
Health insurance / pension contributions are paid by my employer

It's not a particularly cheap place to live!

[dmb]

teacher in Rome, does your salary cover this?

[Teacher in Rome]

Yes - it covers this and leaves me some extra...

I get the equivalent of a 14 month salary, but I'm in a fortunate position. I have a contract with one employer and get paid holidays and sick leave.

[foster]

Wow...after reading those, I KNOW I am paying to much...but then again, HK is the 4th most expensive city in the world....

$1CDN - $6HK (prices are listed in HK dollars)

Rent - $8000
Transport (Bus/train/taxi) - $500
Cleaning lady - $600
Utilities - $1000 (every second month)
Cable TV- $40
Internet - $230
Investments- $6000
Entertainment - $1000-2000 (depends on the month)
Insurance $5000 (per year)
Food - no more than $2500

Yeah, so thankfully we get a living allowance and are well paid!!

[khmerhit]

Cambodian costs, approximately speaking:

Rent - 100 to 200 USD a month
Transport - mototaxis - 70 USD a month
Cleaning lady - 50 to 70 a month
Utilities - 20 a month
Cable TV - 10 a month
Internet - not sure
Newspaper - 3 a week
Investments - n.a.
Rabbits for crocodile pit - 5 a month
Entertainment - 50 to 100 a month
Insurance- n.a.
Food - 150 to 200 a month
Haircuts - known as "cotsuks"--careful how you pronounce -- 5 a month

[Shaman]

1 Loonie = $0.7639 US

La ville de Montreal

Rent - $324.77/month for a furnished, unspectacular bedsit
Transport - metro pass (1 zone) $45.09/month
Utilities, Cable TV, Land phoneline - inclusive
Internet - currently on 3 month free AOL trial demo (after - $29.95/month)
Newspaper - $7.04/ Saturday edition of The Gazette (4/month)
Investments -
Entertainment - T.B.A.
Food, Beer/Wine, General Household - $229.24/month

Not included: emergency slush fund, incidental costs

1 Euro = $1.2098 US

Paris

Rent - $483.88/month for relatively the same setup (add private washroom and shower)
Transport - $54.44/month (2 zones) - paid by company
Utilities, General TV - can't remember
Internet - usually used the school faciltities
Entertainment - $181.46/month
Food, Beer/Wine, General Household - $290.32/month

Not included: emergency slush fund, incidental costs

Shaman

[Aramas]

[Joachim]

OK, $100 HKD = $12.83 USD, 10.70 Euros, $16.86 CAN, 7GBP

Rent = 7000 HKD
Bills - (including electricity, water, cable TV and Cell phone) = 1000 HKD
Travel (Octopus Card) - $400-500 HKD
Food = $500 HKD
Eating Out = $3000-$4000 HKD
Taxis = $1000
Books/CDs/DVDs = $3000 HKD
Entertainment = $3000-$4000
Clothes = $5000

And I save a bit, but not as much as I could if I were more frugal.