Atwo
Working in Udon Thani
Monthly Earnings 34,000
Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)
All of my income comes from one full-time position. I have considered getting another line of income but I do enjoy my free time. That is part of the whole reason I moved to Thailand; to explore and enjoy my free time.
Q2. How much money can you save each month?
I save roughly 21,000 baht a month pretty easily. It's just about budgeting and choosing what you want to do.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I live in an apartment. It's more of a French style chalet to be more precise. I have a big bathroom, one bedroom, a sizable living area, kitchen, two patios, and a space for my hammock.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I have a motorbike and fuel runs about 400 baht a month if I am really putting the miles on it.
Utility bills
Water is 100 baht for unlimited use. Electricity is about 900 baht or less. This is offset by the use of a water fan, which I would recommend to everyone.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
This is about 2,000 baht. I spend 800 baht a month on meats. I can get away with about 200 baht on vegetables at this wonderful Monday market we have. I go once a week and buy everything I will need for the week.
Eating out is variable as I don't like to go to restaurants that much, but I budget 1,000 a month for that if I do decide to go out and eat.
Nightlife and drinking
I budget 5,000 for this because I do like to go out and have a drink and a mingle. Since I ride my motorbike all the time it is important to have a high budget for enjoying yourself. I also count nightlife as a part of the adventure/exploratory section.
Books, computers
My Mac Air is running strong and I read books online for free. So this is a zero spend area.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
It's a comfortable and free lifestyle in Udon Thani.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
A real bargain in Udon Thani is the cost of street food. If I had to pick a real bargain in terms of my situation it would have to be unlimited water use.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
In my opinion, someone could earn 25,000 and get away with it. Rent and utilities always take a chunk, but you could work around that by finding places for 2,000 to 3,000 a month.
Phil's analysis and comment
Thanks Atwo. It sounds like a nice and peaceful, free and easy lifestyle in Udon Thani.
For those not familiar with where Udon Thani is, it's one of the big four cities in the North-east. It's way up there in Isaan and not too far from Nongkhai and the border with Laos.
It must be a nice place to live and work if you're looking for a hassle-free existence and you also have a largish city on your doorstep. There's obviously some nightlife as well for those who want it.
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