James
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 50,000 baht on average
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I work part time so my earnings vary from month to month. A good month will see me earn 65,000, a bad month 45,000 and I don't get paid holidays (roughly 10 weeks a year), I still probably average about 50k a month though.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
A good month 30,000, a bad month 15,000.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I pay 7,000 baht a month for my apartment. It's within walking distance to the BTS so it's convenient although I do hate not having a kitchen or even a fridge.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I buy 40 trips a month for the BTS which is just over 1,000 baht. Motorbikes and taxis probably cost another 1,000 a month, so 2,000 baht a month
Utility bills
I sparingly use the air-con and I have few appliances. With my phone included I pay about 1,000 a month on utilities.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
I eat cheaply. I nearly always eat street food so probably about 150-200 baht a day. With the occasional meal out I'd put it at around 8,000 for the month
Nightlife and drinking
I like to go out at least once a week but I'll often hit cheap bars and drink cheap drinks. 5,000 a month
Books, computers
My 4-year old laptop hasn't died on me yet. I pick up maybe one or two books a month often to help me learn Thai, but probably no more than 500 baht a month.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
It's comfortable but I'm not exactly making a lot of money either. I save just enough to do a little travelling and enjoy myself.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Street food - where else in the world can you buy a meal for as little as 35 baht?
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
30,000 to survive, but you won't have much money for luxuries. 40,000 to get by and enjoy yourself from time to time. 50,000 to live comfortably without saving the megabucks. 60,000+ and I think you'd be pretty comfortable here.
Phil's analysis and comment
It would be interesting to know how many hours a week James has to teach to make that average 50,000 a month because that's not bad if he considers himself to be 'part-time'.
Why haven't you splashed out on a fridge James? The very basic models are quite cheap here.
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