Robert
Working in Bangkok
Monthly Earnings 80,000 - 90,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
I typically earn between 80,000-90,000 baht a month from my job at an international school. My full-time salary is 80,000 and I sometimes make extra money teaching university classes, camps, or writing exams/course content.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
I usually save about 30,000 baht a month, but sometimes more.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
I pay 12,000 for a new 36 square meter condo.
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
Unless I am going out for drinks I typically drive my 150cc motorcycle, which saves me a lot of money on transportation. I spend about 150 baht a week on gas. Overall, I'd say I end up spending about 1,500-2,000 a month on transportation depending if I have to fix an issue with the bike and how often I go out for drinks (which isn't all that often)
Utility bills
Since I live in a condo, my utility bills are typically pretty low. I spend about 3,000 for water, electricity and garbage (running the aircon whenever I am home) and then my phone bill is about 550 baht a month and then another 500 baht for wifi.
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
I spend about 10,000 baht a month on food. Most of my meals come from local food stalls and will be between 50-70 baht. Every now and then I will splurge on a hamburger, pizza, or take the missus out for a nice dinner.
Nightlife and drinking
The longer I stay in Thailand the lower my nightlife spending gets. A night out can run anywhere from 1,000-2,000 baht, but nowadays I typically prefer to avoid the club scenes and stick to local bars or chilling at a friends party, which is a lot better on the wallet. Overall, I'd say I spend about 5,000 baht a month on nightlife
Books, computers
I read at least one book a month, to keep the mind in shape, and so spend about 400-600 baht depending if I pick up a knock off on Khaosan or one at Kinokuniya.
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
I have a very comfortable standard of living. Money is never an issue, and I can go on awesome vacations anytime I want.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Food, clothing, transportation, and rent. Also, if I were back home in Seattle I'd pay 3x as much for something the same size in an equivalent part of town.
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
When I first moved here I made 32,000 month for 6 months through an agency at a Thai government school. I think it would be pretty hard to survive on much less than that, especially if you hope to finance a trip home every year or two.
Phil's analysis and comment
Not much I can add to a pretty solid set of figures from Robert. 80-90K is always going to get you a very comfortable lifestyle in Bangkok and here's the proof. Robert is a man with absolutely no money worries. Enough said!
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