David
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 140,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I work at an international school in Bangkok and my full-time salary is 140,000.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
50,000
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I pay 8,000 for a detached house out in the suburbs. It's a little run-down, but we have plenty of our own furniture, so it's comfortable enough.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I have a car and three bikes (only one of which I use regularly). Petrol for the car comes to about 4,000 baht a month as we drive around a lot and often go out of the city
Utility bills
4,000 a month, about 3,000 of which goes on electricity. We don't skimp on air-con.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
Maybe 15,000 baht a month. We'll eat out in decent restaurants maybe twice a week and the rest of the time either cook ourselves or get street food
Nightlife and drinking
Virtually nothing.
Books, computers
I spend maybe 1,000 baht a month on books - I like reading. Computer / laptop / tablet all bought and paid for so nothing on them.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Comfortable. I save a lot, pay into a savings plan and also pay off a mortgage on a house upcountry. I could cut down on savings and spend more on 5-star hotel all-you-can-eat brunches, but they've never really appealed.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Taxis, rent, fruit and some food. Otherwise things are pretty middling for a developing world capital city.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
You can survive on around 30,000 baht a month but anything lower than that would be intolerable. 30,000 would still be pretty rough and you'd be treading water. You would not be making any progress with your life.
Phil's analysis and comment
Nice one Dave. Here's a man who lives well within his means and a guy who's feathering his nest very nicely. 140,000 a month is a very decent salary and there's always going to be plenty of spare cash left over when you're only paying 8,000 baht for your rent. Dave sounds happy enough with the house he lives in though.
Dave makes several references to 'we' so I assume he is married or lives with a partner, etc. It would be interesting to know whether that partner is working and bringing home a salary as well. That would make life even more comfortable!
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