Dani
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 80,000
Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)
My full-time salary is 80,000 baht a month.
Q2. How much money can you save each month?
Maximum of 10,000 baht.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I pay 12,000 baht for a two-bedroom condo.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
My journey to and from work costs 18 baht. At weekends I may spend up to 500 baht on taxis, and I’ll occasionally grab a taxi to or from work if it’s raining or I’m running late or feeling lazy. So, no more than 3,000 per month.
Utility bills
5,000 for TV, wifi, mobile phone, water and electricity. Water and electricity are both on government rate but I do use air-con constantly during the day and during the night for my pets.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
This is where it goes downhill - the food provided by my school isn’t as healthy as I’d like and I’d much prefer to use organic vegetables. I find shopping at markets very busy and stressful so I easily drop around 10,000 per month on food for the condo - probably more! I’d say I eat out once per week and with drinks and tips for the two of us, probably around 4,000 baht per month. So a total of 14,000 baht.
Nightlife and drinking
I rarely drink but when I do, I tend to go over the top. I go out maybe once per month but this night can cost up to 5,000.
Books, computers
My laptop I came over with is ticking over nicely and I only ever download free or cheap online books from Kindle.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Boring!
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Taxis and rent!
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
To survive? I just about survived on my previous job earning 40,000 a month, but I gained weight from eating school food and street food and I never had the money for travel. 80,000 is in my eyes, a livable salary.
Phil's analysis and comment
Be nice to know what you do each month with that money you are saving, Dani. By my reckoning, you barely spend half of your salary. Where's that spare half a million baht a year going?
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