Julio
Working in Hokkaido, Japan
Monthly Earnings 72,800
Q1. How is that income broken down? (full-time salary, private students, on-line teaching, extra work, etc)
I get 72,800 from a private language school. Due to my small town, there isn't much apparent opportunity for private lessons outside of my main gig. Also, my contract strictly forbids me from taking outside work.
Q2. How much money can you save each month?
I save about 14.5K each month. I could save a bit more but I have a girlfriend. I also spend a bit of money on hobbies and traveling to Sapporo each month for a night or two.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
My accommodation is 15K each month. It's a one bedroom place that's arranged by the school. It isn't bad considering it's fully furnished and equipped with a decent kitchen. but it's a little old.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
4K on a two way train ticket to Sapporo each month. It's a big chunk of my salary, but the happiness it brings me seems worth it. I live close to work so I use a bicycle or walk in my city.
Utility bills
5-6K a month! My city is in the northeast of Hokkaido and it gets real cold here during the winter. Between electric and a gas heater, this is one of my biggest expenses.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
Close to my same cost in rent, 11K. Japan is expensive and I love Sushi. I also love eating quality food in Sapporo.
Nightlife and drinking
4K a month goes towards a bottle of wine every night or so. This town is about as boring as it gets, and the booze also keeps me warm.
Books, computers
I bought an Xbox one when I got here. I use it to watch movies and Youtube. All my other reading is done through my computer screen for free.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Comfortable, but generally quite boring. Food is great, and while I enjoy my work and stress free lifestyle, there's plenty of greater things out there that I feel I should be doing. Considering it's only my second year teaching, it's not bad, but this kind of lifestyle should only be seen as a starting point in my opinion.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Healthcare. I had a procedure done here that cost me about 2K baht that would have been a fortune back in The States.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
One can survive day to day quite easily on what I'm making, however, surviving is precisely what you'd be doing. If you want a good life and some true comforts, you'd need 145K baht, or close to 500K Yen.
Phil's analysis and comment
Thanks Julio. It's not often we get a cost of living survey from Japan. It's a shame that your language school puts the block on earning extra money from outside work because I bet you get requests quite often. I don't really know how things work in Japan. Great place for a holiday though!
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