
JASON THAI
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Posts posted by JASON THAI
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Jason, thanks for starting a very interesting discussion with this thread.
As an American, retired, living in Chiang Mai -- when I first looked at your 26,000 baht budget I had grave doubts. But after reading on this
thread several hundred thoughtful, constructive posts (a bit rare on TV) I began to see that you probably have a reasonable and viable plan.
When I compared your budget with ours, I was quite surprised to find that ours is not that much more, and the two of us eat well here and
live quite comfortably. I'd guess that the cost of living in your village near Korat is probably very similar to ours here.
Comparing your monthly budget with ours, you have:
- Electric 2,500 -- we pay less than half that, but 98% of the time we are quite comfortable using only fans.
- Water 250 -- ours averages about 150, but this much regional variation in cost of water is probably normal.
- Gas 150 -- we average about 200
- Internet 650 -- we pay 630 here (3BB)
- Food 9,000 -- our budget is 8,000 (just 2 of us) but we often go over that. I'd say your estimate is probably quite reasonable.
- Drink 2,600 -- suggest changing to fruit juice, be healthier and save 2,000... lol. Just joking, when I was your age I drank a lot more than you.
- Travel 1,400 -- from the context I assume this means local commuting. As suggested, a motorbike would save you a lot over the 9 years.
- Visa/visa runs 3,050 -- a biggie, but likely no alternative for 9 years. We pay 1,465/month for an agency to handle our retirement visa for us.
- 4 holiday trips 4,500 -- suggest making everyday life more enjoyable/productive, then 1 or 2 holiday trips a year will likely suffice.
- Schooling 950 -- seems very reasonable
- School transport 500 -- having a motorbike would likely save here too.
- Medical insurance 200 -- you surely can't beat that.
Good luck to you Jason. My only suggestion is to teach English locally. Ten yrs ago, I did it in Bangkok, earned about 32,000/month. That
would surely help to turbo-charge your life style... ;-)
Thank you for taking the time to post the above, I have adjusted my budget a little, food is now 11K and I know I can save on Electric later on which can be used elsewhere to help me, I will be looking to teach but only PT to start off with as I am working on other ideas and if they fell I will do FT teaching which will bring my income to about 50-60k per month
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Two things that I don't get when reading this thread.
1. If you only have $ 500 a month. Why not work so you get more money?
2. If you are very old so you can't work. Didn't you work when you where younger? So you have a real pension? Or some kind of savings before coming here?
Please go back and read page 1, I do not have $500 a month and I am not old
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You can live for this money in isaan , but not anywhere else in Thailand , I need around 12000 baht for me!
2000 every week for tesco and market food!
2000 for fuel in the car the rest internet
No rent already have a house
Fruits mangos peanuts , melon coconut bananna , dragon fruits rambutan papaya all free from our farm!
When I not buy Falang food I could proberbly live for 8 k but I not want!
Big warerbattel 10 baht 10 liter
Nearly everything coasts 10 baht here in the market sometime only 5 b
Thank you for posting, I am doing the same as you by gowing fruits on our land, which helps reduce your monthly food bill, did not think about peanuts, how long do they take to grow ? as this can help in so many ways, added to food, ice cream topping, beer snack lol
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If I come to a developing nation to live and I can't live a materially better off life style than my home country, then, I don't see the point.
100% true. With those very small monthly budgets I read about here, I would have a much better life in my home country.
What a load of crap, it seems to me that we have people here who don't have big budgets but still have a nice lifestyle and are happy and are better off than lving in there own counties otherwise why would they come here in the first place ! yes they might have to tighten there belts when it gets hard (£$ or what ever goes down but thats life and they adjust) but please don't judge other BM's who have posted here as if they don't have XXXX amount they should not be living here, as for your post Karen do you know or have you lived in London, how far will £500/£600 a month get you, I tell you nowhere, but in Thailand it goes a hell of a lot further !
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Guys please remeember Italy have not won there last 7 games so they are not in good form, England do have a young squad and some good players who are the future of England, Rooney will need to shine in this world cup as it will be his last, no one wants a fat 32 at the next world cup. Also this might be the last worlds cup for Gerrard & Lampard so they will give it there all.
I think England will win 2-1 and they will make it to the quarter finals, remember if they win the group they will have easy teams to play in the second round.
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Here's the latest update, my daughter has got a new job in BKK which pays a lot more than she gets in Korat, she will be staying with my sister in law so now it's only the 3 of us staying in korat with a budget of around 30k per month to start off with for the first year
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In my opinion, based on my experience of living in Isan for several years, including a few out in the village, sticking to a tight budget without a fair chunk of cash allotted for simply having fun, is a sure way to go mad quick.
My budget is now very simple:
20k Baht to the Mrs, she buys the food, pays the bills etc.
30k Baht pocket money for having fun.
What did you spend 30,000 baht on in a month when you were living in a village ?
Getting out of the village usually! 2-3 days a week me and the Mrs having a long lunch in the city, a few beers most days, BBQ for the family at the weekends, 1 or 2 nights in a hotel in the city a week so I can have a night out with the lads and not worry about getting home. It all adds up!
Thanks for the info, but I am not looking to do this yet so only needs the basics to start off with, then hopefully end up like you, but I would still like to save when I get up to an income of 50K so might cut back a bit on staying in hotels every week
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In my opinion, based on my experience of living in Isan for several years, including a few out in the village, sticking to a tight budget without a fair chunk of cash allotted for simply having fun, is a sure way to go mad quick.
My budget is now very simple:
20k Baht to the Mrs, she buys the food, pays the bills etc.
30k Baht pocket money for having fun.
What did you spend 30,000 baht on in a month when you were living in a village ?
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A set of Mach 3 razor blades and 3 days of your food budget is gone already. Socks have gone up from 5 for 100b to 3 for 100b in the blink of an eye.
I hope any budget people are making isn't based on foreign income. When I came here 10 years ago people I met with income from the UK were getting around 70b to the pound. There were probably a few 65 yr olds coming over then with their pension, 1000 quid equalling 70k p/m in a cheap ol' Thailand. Paradise retirement.
10 years later and they're 75 yrs old only getting 53b to the pound in an expensive Thailand. Bet that isn't a nice unless their pension is at least 3000gbp p/m.
Why do you need to buy socks in Thailand?
That's the latest fashion, socks & sandles
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retired with wife, no children, living about 100km outside of Korat and 3 km outside of "town".. House paid for. 5000 a month car payment. Don't drink. Have a few rai to grow rice, some vegetables and fruit trees. Eat mostly Thai. There is nothing to spend money on out here, I live on the train line so it only costs me 14 baht to go to the city. 15000 to 20000 a month, mostly depends on insurance payments for the difference.
Thanks for your post, I already have rice & fruit trees growing, what vegetables do you grow, I was looking into tomatos and the wife is setting up a Chicken Coop for about 7 so we should get about 6 eggs per day for us to eat also she has got the MIL to plant a bannana tree will take a bit of time to grow but should be ready by the time we get there.
Living off the land is the best way to keep your food budget down IMHO
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I live with my girlfriend in her parents house, so the 4 of us and a baby on the way.
These are my monthly outgoings.
Water = 200
...
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We could easily spend less and more.
Thanks for your breakdown costs
Hope the plans are going well Jason!
Yea things have got better, got a 4k GBP bonus from work, which will now help to push up my income to 30k per month with the wife & daughters income on top of this should be looking at 35-36k a month to start off with for the first year then working PT & doing my internet businesses should bring me up to 50k per month from the second year which for me is enough as I will also have over 20k GBP as backup money for emergencies.
The wife has sent money to Thailand to build a small chicken farm on her mums land, we are not getting the small chicks, but the big ones 7 in total which should produce about 6 eggs a day or 180 eggs a month we will keep half for us to eat and sell the remaining 90 for 300 Baht to cover the cost for the chicken food.
Our mango trees have finally started to produce been waiting nearly 6 years but we have 2 big trees so half my breakfast is free now if I include the eggs lol, we also have another fruit tree the wife calls them shampoo, never heard of them before and we also have a pappya tree which is doing great, the MIL have rice land so, rice is free well most of the time 555 .
Now got to wait a long 18 months before I can put this plan to action !!
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This thread has given me hope for a good life in Essan. My boyfriend had budgeted 50k a month and i know we'll have a reaonable life with this amount
You will both live very well on this amount, hopefully I will be about to get my budget upto this amount within 2 years after I make the move.
Cheers
JT
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I live with my girlfriend in her parents house, so the 4 of us and a baby on the way.
These are my monthly outgoings.
Water = 200
Electric = 300
Gas = 200
Mobile credit for 2 = 200 I use Skype to call the uk
Internet = 800
Petrol bike = 400
Health insurance = 3000 I am 31 so maybe cheaper for me.
Food = 12000
Sat tv = 1500
Visa = 2000 Spend 3 months a year in uk
Flight = 5000 2 return tickets 60000 a year
Extras = 5000 beer, smokes, treats.
Total = 30,600
Plus in 7 weeks the little one will be born and will be purchasing a pickup.
Baby = 6000
Petrol, insurance pickup, maintenance = 5000
Future total = 41,600
This is based on almost my first month living in the village full time.
We have a budget of 55,000 so money spare for holidays or unforeseen expenses.
We could easily spend less and more.
Thanks for your breakdown cost, I don't want Sat TV or have a bike to pay petrol for so I could use that money to boost up the electric cost to 2200 a month based on your cost to cover the AC's, I also do not need 5000 baht a month to cover flights home as I have money already for this so buy looking at your costs I could do it on 25,600 a month!
PS best wishes for the new baby
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Hi is it a good idea to do chicken farming, I was thinking about getting 50 chicks, do any of you have the setup cost including food and the cost I could sell the chickens for once they are big, looking at keeping the eggs for us to eat and maybe sell a few
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Anymore updates on this ?
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I live with my girlfriend in her parents house, so the 4 of us and a baby on the way.
These are my monthly outgoings.
Water = 200
Electric = 300
Gas = 200
Mobile credit for 2 = 200 I use Skype to call the uk
Internet = 800
Petrol bike = 400
Health insurance = 3000 I am 31 so maybe cheaper for me.
Food = 12000
Sat tv = 1500
Visa = 2000 Spend 3 months a year in uk
Flight = 5000 2 return tickets 60000 a year
Extras = 5000 beer, smokes, treats.
Total = 30,600
Plus in 7 weeks the little one will be born and will be purchasing a pickup.
Baby = 6000
Petrol, insurance pickup, maintenance = 5000
Future total = 41,600
This is based on almost my first month living in the village full time.
We have a budget of 55,000 so money spare for holidays or unforeseen expenses.
We could easily spend less and more.
Thanks for your breakdown costs
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Interesting thread. Right now I live in Bangkok with my Thai wife. We have no children and we just bought 10 rai of land at Ubon province, where my wife originally comes from. The plan is to build a house over there in the near future and to live there. I live in Thailand for 14 years.
My monthly income: 60k+ (steady income from abroad, the exact number depends a bit on currency fluctuations)
Wife's income: 20k
What we spend per month while living in Bangkok:
mortgage 8k
food 4k (Thai food and self made 'farang' food)
electricity 700 baht (airco only in our bedroom and only turned on at night)
water 200 baht
internet 730 baht
health insurance ( http://www.thailife.com/ ) 1200 baht
visa, travel, holiday, dining & wining 7k
maintenance contribution apartment building 1200 baht
public transport 2k
misc, clothing. 2k
All in all we spend about 25k - 30k a month. Our combined income is much higher than our spending, but I really don't know where we could spend more money on; in Bangkok there's no need for a motorcycle or car and our hobbies are relatively cheap (swimming, cycling, reading, internet). I expect that our spending in Ubon will be about the same or a little less. Of course my wife will have no income when we live in Ubon. But on the other hand, we could rent out the apartment in Bangkok.
In my opinion it is doable to live in Isaan for less than 30k (with wife and children) and have a decent life. Especially when you don't have to pay rent or a mortgage. If you grow your own rice, fruit and veggies and don't spend money on booze, I would say that 20k is enough. But in the end it all depends on ones lifestyle.
Thanks for the breakdown, I think I would need a lot more that 4k for food, I have just been looking at the Big C website and started working out rough costs for all the items I would need to buy and also have got the prices from the market we goto to do most of our shopping, I have changed my breakdown a little
Rent Free
Food & other bits 11K
Drinks 2.5k
Travel 1.2k
Bills/Maintenance 3.5k (Electric,Water,Gas,Internet,Phone,AC service, clearing of Cess pit and a little left over for basic stuff)
Othet Costs 9k (Visa fees & runs, School fees & travel,Childs pocket money, Holidays, Medical Insurance)
So it total around 27,000 Baht a month !
The 1200 you pay for your insurance is that for you or is it for the both of you ?
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I,ll look out for a link to more information and post it here.
Again,you are correct it has not been passed by parliament,but they have outlined their plans,as i,ve posted today.
Well I guess you couldn't find that info then striking sunset......so I will carry on believing the info from the UK government website then that the maximum requirement is still thirty years.
HL
Sorry for the delay,it is within the article that is linked to here.Regards.
http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/state-pensions/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions
and to quote from the article ;
"The Government has announced its intention to reform the state pension system, by changing it into a single-tier pension for those retiring on or after April 2016. Under the proposed changes, the number of qualifying years required for a full pension will be raised from 30 to 35"
Yes and it will go upto 40 as it was before sooner or later as they are raising the age of retirement as you are now working longer
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SantiSuk post # 263
But the sort of stuff that the "live life to the full merchants" like doesn't suit everyone and especially not the designer drugs part. Sorry - you are just another punter trying to impose your preferences on the population
The only designer drugs I've ever done was Abbot Ale at parties.
Well off guy ?
Living on our farm in Surin can hardly be described as life in the fast lane can it Living in our home in Samut Prakarn is hardly high living is it ?
Yes two homes one tied to farm and village life the other is also rural in many ways too.
I worked over the years to make my working life and my subsequent retirement fun even now at 68 I still have our youngest at school. even now I still enjoy work, however it's choice not necessity.
I was not, nor am not forcing my lifestyle upon anyone, I made a statement which it seems offended you.
I have seen many a dream turn to a nightmare over my 23 years here as I am sure you have too. Hence my comments.
If life is a bitch in ones home country it certainly can and will be a lot worse here if the whole dream turns bad.
Ones retired life and life in general should be an enjoyable experience, not composed of watching ones pennies and living on a razor edge budget, that's the road to a martial and family breakdown.
True but I am not retired and will work, not looking at being a teacher all my life thats why I am learning web design and other bits
not composed of watching ones pennies and living on a razor edge budget
As you quoted above, this is what a lot of old people still do in the UK and have to carry on working well after they retire to make ends meet and never get the chance to live their dreams
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I am at present learning web design and looking at doing more internet based stuff,but all this depends on internet speed, if I can get AIS Airnet with 7mb connection then things will be all ok if not then I will have a problem !
Often it is not only a question of you ISP-connection; it’s also a question of the speed/traffic out to the Big World. There may be no difference between a 2MB and 10MB, if the routers out of Thailand or Southeast Asia are too crowded. At some points the speed to Europe may not be better than a pair of old-fashioned IDSN-lines, whilst the domestic speed is light the-speed-of-light.Furthermore, the 699 baht/month 7MB is not a clean line, but shared with up to 10 other so-called 7MB connections, and virtual IP-number. At periods a number of shared users may downloading, making your speed slow. A clean/unshared line with dedicated IP-number will cost around 3,000+ baht/month, but may not be worth the money. I have tried having both for a number of years; dedicated line is not faster out in the Big World than a shared line.If you will be working mainly locally and upload, you may not face a problem, but working on-line on a remote server may cause time-outs and data can be lost. When working on-line, be careful to copy/store data locally before hitting a “send-button”, so do don’t loose your work.Thanks wil take this on board
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Cheers HL.
Sounds like a nice place to be.
Will be home in Korat for a week in April (the week after Songkran). Not sure if my wife would allow me to sit and get friendly with female students tho?
Or even look at them lol,
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I am at present learning web design and looking at doing more internet based stuff,but all this depends on internet speed, if I can get AIS Airnet with 7mb connection then things will be all ok if not then I will have a problem !
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Where did I say he was broke? And a normal family go to the dentist and doctor even when it's not a sudden emergency. That's the reason people include those things in a budget.
Again if you read OPs posts from the beginning he is not broke. He has cash availale and will use it if there is a sudden emergency, like a dentist.When loking at your budget:
200 baht a month for medical insurence!!! Nothing more for the medical or medicin for 4 people !!!
And nothing for dental care. Are your plan that none in the family will never ever visit a Dentist?
And nothing for repair or buying stuff for your house!!
Sent from my GT-I9152 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app
So try to use common sense and you'll see it's possible to live on this budget .
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Yes he can survive on that budget if no serious emergency happen. But is that the life you would recommend for a family with children
Sent from my GT-I9152 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app
<deleted> he has 12 to 15 thousand pounds as backup. He owns a house and one back in the UK.
What do you want? That is plenty for any emergency. Wake up an smell the roses and stop being so negative.
Thank you, I think people here think I am planing to live on 26k for the rest of my life which I know cannot be done.
I will have 12-15k GBP as backup if I need to return to the UK and also for any emergency, I will be also renting out my house and the money from that will go to pay the morgage and will leave me around £100 - £150 per month which will be used to top up the emergency fund.
I don't have to pay for my daugther anymore as she is grown up and working and she will help with the food bills
I have 800k saved up in a Child trust fund which will be over 1mil by the time he turns 18 which will be used to pay for his collage/Uni fees in Thailand so he can get a good paid job and I am sure he will have some money left over from this to start off in life.yes I know that the UK has better standards in education but that does not mean that children in Thailand will all be poor and working in a rice field
I think I made the mistake in my OP about the 26k per month and I should have explained that this was for only a year only as I wanted time to adjust and learn more Thai as I think this is very important if you are staying in another country and you should be able to stand on your own 2 feet without help from others, this is why I am looking at the mininum cost so I don't have to dig into my emergency fund on the first year.
Our total income for the first year will be 33k per month including my wifes & daughter contributions, then in the second year I will be working but only PT which will bring the income upto around 43k per month as I have other Ideas that I will working on as I don't want to teach all my life and depend on this.
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22 year old surelycan get a job to help
Can you please read the other posts before you post as you may find out that she is working, she will pay 1k a month until she finishes paying off for her motorbike which will be about 7 months after we are there then she will raise this to 2k per month, I am not going to ask her to pay more as I want here to enjoy herself which the rest of her money
How low can you go, monthly budget cost
in Isaan
Posted
950 baht per month for schooling is pretty miserable. What sort of education are you planning for your children on such a pittance? I really do feel for them.
This is for the first year only, my son will atttend the local school as he needs to learn to read & write Thai and will most likely be put back 1 year in his class so cost are cheap, then I will be working the following year & will send him to a school in the city, I am still thinking if I need to send him to a EP school as he can already speak,read & write English so it might be a waste of money which I can use to send him to a better school, he has a Trust fund which has enough money to send him to Collage & Uni when he older.
My Daughter has already finished Collage and is working in BKK at present so no money for her lol