Govis
Working in Chengdu, China
Monthly Earnings 100,000
Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)
That's a full-time salary. Occasionally I may do an extra private class that usually brings in an extra 10,000 baht.
Q2. How much money can you save each month?
I save on average around 35,000 baht. Unfortunately, I have grown to have expensive taste and I enjoy traveling.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I live in a three-bedroom apartment which costs about 20,000 baht (including property management fee) My apartment is decorated in a very modern high-end style with a large outside area.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I spend no more than 300 baht on transport. The bus and metro system are both efficient and cheap.
Utility bills
Electricity: 350 baht, Gas: 200 baht, Internet / Phone: 1,000 baht (That includes two mobile phone contacts, 200mbs internet, and TV service.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
12,000 baht. That includes the supermarket and eating out. I eat out three to four times a week.
Nightlife and drinking
Zero
Books, computers
I'm a member of an ebook group, so I only read on my Kindle.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Occasionally extravagant, middle class, almost perfect.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Dining out.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
40,000 baht will offer you a very reasonable standard of living.
Phil's analysis and comment
Thanks Govis. Not knowing anything about Chengdu, I turned to Google and was surprised to discover it's one of the three most populated cities in Western China. It looks an interesting place with lots of history attached to it. It's also the home of the giant panda.
Back to your cost of living figures, you must be living very well if you earn the equivalent of 100,000 baht a month but reckon 40,000 would be enough to allow for a decent living.
It would be interesting to compare two teachers, both say earning 40,000 baht a month - one in Bangkok and one in a large Chinese city. I wonder which one would have the better standard of living in these current times?
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