Rehan
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 140,000 baht
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I work at a public university. My salary is 130K and I earn another 10K a month from proofreading on-line.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
65-75,000 baht.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I live in a condo in downtown Bangkok in a very good location, which sets me back 22,000 a month
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
I live walking distance from work so daily transportation charges are negligible. However I do travel back home to see my family (in another Asian country) every month. That usually costs around 15-20,000
Utility bills
Electricity and water, between 500-1000 baht per month. Internet is paid for by my employer.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
I don't have a kitchen in my condo so end up eating out, usually street food or not expensive food - I'd say around 5,000 a month
Nightlife and drinking
I usually go out once a week with my colleagues for dinner and drinks and maybe once a week with friends. Plus when I visit my family I take them out for meals. Probably around 10,000 per month.
Books, computers
I do actually like buying gadgets and books so usually if I have money leftover after saving my target I spend it on that. Around 5,000 per month. I usually give 5-10,000 to charity, depending on how much I've left over after saving.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Excellent. I can pretty much afford to eat and buy what I want, I have enough social life, and by keeping my lifestyle modest I can save for the future.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
The food. You can get food at whatever price point you want here. Fresh ingredients can be expensive though so it probably works out cheaper that I don't cook. Taxis are also really cheap compared to other countries even Asian ones.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
I think foreigners can live in Bangkok very comfortably on 50,000 baht a month. Below that, you could probably still do OK if you found a cheap place to live.
Phil's analysis and comment
I'll always tip my hat to someone who lives well within their means. Someone who earns a very decent wage but still insists on living a modest lifestyle. That's exactly what we have here with Rehan and this allows him to save a very tidy 75,000 a month.
"Fresh ingredients can be expensive though so it probably works out cheaper that I don't cook" - that might well be true but as I always say, when you cook at home, you don't save money but you DO eat better. I'm surprised Rehan doesn't have some sort of kitchen set-up when the rent is over 20,000 a month.
Nice to see someone doing their bit for charity as well.
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