How to live for 4000 baht a month. Not inc rents.

[SheungWan]

29 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

They probably eat nicer food than you:

Looks like the diagnostics of your bathroom showing the plumbing backed up pretty bad.

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, MaeJoMTB said:

Back to the original topic, 4k/month,

Spent 54bht on minced pork in Tesco Lotus yesterday, made sausage rolls and pork pies. Pigged out on them all day yesterday, just finished the last mouthful. Almost 2 days food for 54bht ........ not so bad.

I don't think you'll be getting an invitation from Gordon Ramsay any time soon! 

[Mooner]

Dont judge a book by its cover!

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, bazza73 said:

Oh sorry, I forgot cabbage boiled to death.

You've been reading my Mum's recipe book!!

 

Other specialities included black toast (just about EVERY time), a piece of tough meat wrapped in its fat with string and cooked until it came out about the size of a cricket ball, and just as tough, with the best tasting bit being the string and gravy made from the cabbage water and fat from this ball of meat with nothing else added to flavour it.............the list is endless but I must mention three classics.

 

The first one being a Mary Baker sponge mix which was supposedly mixed with milk, however my poor old mum managed to mix it with a mixture of Dettol and water (which looked milky) which my sister had left in a bowl after cleaning the toilet and needless to say you could taste the Dettol and it was totally inedible.

 

The second one being an egg which she managed to fry for me in industrial washing up liquid (which she used to snaffle from the kitchen she worked in) this because it was kept in an unlabelled bottle and looked just like cooking oil. This again was inedible and it took me a long time to get the taste of soap out of my mouth.

 

The last thing was the circular and flat tin which contained a Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie and which was supposed to have the lid removed before it went in the oven, but poor old mum didn't do that and when she got it out of the oven I looked at it and thought there was something very strange about this dome like object sitting in front of us, and before I could yell don't spear it with the old fashioned can opener, she did, and the bloody thing exploded and shot round and round like a Katherine wheel spraying out hot gravy and shredded meat.

 

Luckily we weren't badly scalded, but the walls of our very small council house kitchen looks like a war zone. Needless to say that was my dinner gone before football training.

 

Sorry about going off topic, however I thought that a few members might like to hear some of my mum's cooking escapades in order to brighten up their day!

[Naam]

3 hours ago, bazza73 said:

Was that COLD pork pies?

The two abominations of British cuisine - cold pork pie and warm beer. Ugh.

Oh sorry, I forgot cabbage boiled to death. Three.

i know a dozen more British "culinary" abominations but prefer to keep my mouth shut.

[Rc2702]

1 hour ago, MaeJoMTB said:

Pastry costs almost nothing to make, maybe 4-6bht on top of the pork along with 1/2 hour of my time.

Anyway, just put an Apple and blackberry pie in the oven, I'll be having some of that with custard for dinner tonight. Maybe 25bht for 3-4 servings.

Spare us the pictures I have not had dinner yet

[bkk6060]

48 minutes ago, Mooner said:

Dont judge a book by its cover!

Uh, yes we can....

[Naamblar2014]

2 hours ago, MaeJoMTB said:

Pastry costs almost nothing to make, maybe 4-6bht on top of the pork along with 1/2 hour of my time.

Anyway, just put an Apple and blackberry pie in the oven, I'll be having some of that with custard for dinner tonight. Maybe 25bht for 3-4 servings.

Finished baking yet.  Can't see that it would cost only 25baht though.  I would think that the custard alone would cost that.

[Kadilo]

Finished baking yet.  Can't see that it would cost only 25baht though.  I would think that the custard alone would cost that.

Custard 50 baht a tonne down Big C


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[Naam]

Quote

MaeJoMTB said:

I don't believe I've every seen a person over 70, living a life I considered worth living.

i'm going to be 74 tomorrow but don't celebrate my birthday. what i celebrate with a bunch of old friends from half a dozen countries is the start of my 29th year of retirement. i assure you that every single of these 10,227 days were worth living -even the scary ones- and i expect more of these "worthy" days to come. our difference in judgment is based on the fact that you and me live on different planets or perhaps even different quadrants.

[saakura]

Why is working considered as some form of slavery and retirement a liberation and celebration of freedom? I am 54, working in Thailand since the last 25 years, enjoyed every single day of it. There were ups and downs but the journey has been great so far!

[Andrew Dwyer]

 

The second one being an egg which she managed to fry for me in industrial washing up liquid (which she used to snaffle from the kitchen she worked in) this because it was kept in an unlabelled bottle and looked just like cooking oil. This again was inedible and it took me a long time to get the taste of soap out of my mouth.

 

 

My father did a similar thing to me on my last visit 6 months ago !!

Cooked hamburgers in washing up liquid, said it was the lemon on the bottle that had thrown him (?) [emoji23]

 

On the same visit he made some dubious liver for tea , on inspection I found the Co-op dog food ( liver flavour ) tin in the dustbin !!

Needless to say the dogs were happy and licked the plates clean [emoji2]

 

I am in the uk now and yes I am doing the cooking !

[Naam]

14 minutes ago, saakura said:

Why is working considered as some form of slavery and retirement a liberation and celebration of freedom? I am 54, working in Thailand since the last 25 years, enjoyed every single day of it. There were ups and downs but the journey has been great so far!

a slightly silly question combined with an irrelevant comment. i too liked my work and its results and it never felt like "slavery". but the liberation of retirement from working an average of 14 hours a day and that 7 days a week in a hostile environment enabling finally shared time with the family and friends, travelling to any place for any length of time whenever you please and enjoy multiple hobbies tips the scale in favour of retirement. all afore-said of course in my[not so]humble opinion. 

[MaeJoMTB]

49 minutes ago, Naam said:

i'm going to be 74 tomorrow but don't celebrate my birthday. what i celebrate with a bunch of old friends from half a dozen countries is the start of my 29th year of retirement. i assure you that every single of these 10,227 days were worth living -even the scary ones- and i expect more of these "worthy" days to come. our difference in judgment is based on the fact that you and me live on different planets or perhaps even different quadrants.

Clearly you Klingon.

[balo]

On 10/29/2017 at 12:02 PM, Naam said:

4,000 Baht = one week electricity.

 

tried hard not to comment but my dogs barked "coward! go and piss on the anthill!"

It didn't took long before our hi-so resident Naam had to enter a Cheap Charlie thread,  He can't stand to hear people spending less money than himself. 

 

[MaeJoMTB]

1 hour ago, Naamblar2014 said:

Finished baking yet.  Can't see that it would cost only 25baht though.  I would think that the custard alone would cost that.

35bht for a 300gm tub of powder in YoK, lasts me about a year (30 servings).

3 apples, (40bht for 10) = 12bht

10 blackberries (65bht/kg) = 3bht

200gm cake flour (24bht/kg) = 5bht

50gm palm oil margarine (45bht/kg) = 2bht

50ml milk (95 bht/2l) = 2bht

Total = 25bht (5 servings)

Edited November 1, 2017 by MaeJoMTB

[balo]

On 10/29/2017 at 2:39 PM, Just Weird said:

Really?  Exactly what do you get in that bag for less than B50?

Sounds just weird to me...

 

[KiChakayan]

a

Edited November 1, 2017 by KiChakayan

[Naam]

11 minutes ago, balo said:

It didn't took long before our hi-so resident Naam had to enter a Cheap Charlie thread,  He can't stand to hear people spending less money than himself. 

 

i can stand these comments otherwise i wouldn't participate in the discussion. plus it's amusing what kind of ridiculous claims are often invented or pulled out of thin air concerning the ultimate happiness of living a frugal life.

for the record... it didn't take long for me to join. you find my first posting on page 5. we are now on page 28.

 

[Neeranam]

On 28/10/2017 at 7:21 PM, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

I'll do it.

 

 

2k a day, that's cutting grass, about 12m x 8m. And cutting a large privacy hedge.

[Neeranam]

49 minutes ago, Naam said:

a slightly silly question combined with an irrelevant comment. i too liked my work and its results and it never felt like "slavery". but the liberation of retirement from working an average of 14 hours a day and that 7 days a week in a hostile environment enabling finally shared time with the family and friends, travelling to any place for any length of time whenever you please and enjoy multiple hobbies tips the scale in favour of retirement. all afore-said of course in my[not so]humble opinion. 

14 hours a day, 7 days a week is slavery.

In a hostile environment too! 

I guess it was in the desert.

What did your kids think about that?

[balo]

37 minutes ago, MaeJoMTB said:

35bht for a 300gm tub of powder in YoK, lasts me about a year (30 servings).

3 apples, (40bht for 10) = 12bht

10 blackberries (65bht/kg) = 3bht

200gm cake flour (24bht/kg) = 5bht

50gm palm oil margarine (45bht/kg) = 2bht

50ml milk (95 bht/2l) = 2bht

Total = 25bht (5 servings)

 

If you know how to cook you can live a really good and healthy life in Thailand for almost nothing .  I admire you for that . I do cook sometimes but when I can get fried rice chicken around the corner for 50 baht it's not so tempting to cook myself.

 

 

[balo]

20 minutes ago, Naam said:

concerning the ultimate happiness of living a frugal life.

Yes our happiness is on very different levels for sure.

 

Anyway Happy Birthday for tomorrow and enjoy your retirement life. 

 

[yooper]

11 hours ago, torrzent said:

Sounds cool....the cars, snowmobiles, etc......what is the bit about running chainsaws...izzat a sport?

Oops, I should have said 'operating' chain saws.  Frequently necessary here to clear fallen trees after a storm.  I read in the BKK post recently about a Thai woman that was killed in a chainsaw accident somewhere in Thailand. Lots of similar stories here, I am always mindful of them. Earlier this year I traded my large model for a smaller/lighter one that is easier to handle. Last week we had a huge windstorm that broke several trees on my property but not where they require attention any time soon... I'll be away and won't have to look at them.

[Naam]

16 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

14 hours a day, 7 days a week is slavery.

In a hostile environment too! 

I guess it was in the desert.

What did your kids think about that?

it was Arabian desert, African bush and Asian swamp. our son spent intermittently some time with us in the first two areas i mentioned and found it "phantastic and any time better than the boarding schools in Europe" and i didn't consider my work as slavery because it was my choice. slavery would have been a job at home with a fraction of the financial benefits and a boss or a supervisory board or shareholders breathing down your neck even if you are the CEO of a big company. in that respect i had all the freedom one can think of.

[yooper]

On 10/30/2017 at 9:29 PM, MaeJoMTB said:

I don't believe I've every seen a person over 70, living a life I considered worth living.

Productive years? In whose opinion?

Wow, I can only shudder at what your considerations must be.

I'm as productive now as I was 20 yrs ago, actually more as my customer billing system is processing million$ more in revenue than then, and supports dozens more employees.

Of course you haven't 'seen' me, but can I get a gold star anyway?   

 

[MaeJoMTB]

6 minutes ago, yooper said:

Wow, I can only shudder at what your considerations must be.

I'm as productive now as I was 20 yrs ago, actually more as my customer billing system is processing million$ more in revenue than then, and supports dozens more employees.

Of course you haven't 'seen' me, but can I get a gold star anyway?   

 

Not really, you should give someone younger a chance.

[Rc2702]

Just now, MaeJoMTB said:

Not really, you should give someone younger a chance.

It's a blinking good point and one I have come across twice this year. Ailing 87 year old in poor health in hk and his younger biz partner 72 in NZ. Both of them dynosaurs and I really want to tell them but it's a tricky junction.

[Berkshire]

Geez man, 29 pages of the same senseless drivel on an overdone, tired subject.  Fact: There are homeless people living in the USA on $0 a month.  Rent included.  Is the OP going to give them a standing ovation?  What the freak.

[yooper]

46 minutes ago, Rc2702 said:

It's a blinking good point and one I have come across twice this year. Ailing 87 year old in poor health in hk and his younger biz partner 72 in NZ. Both of them dynosaurs and I really want to tell them but it's a tricky junction.

I am a prisoner of my own invention, by design and proper planning.  When I was 30 I believed that then was the time for fun and games and work was for the later years. I started computer programming when I was 40 and got into a vertical market that was confusing due to govt regulations (telephone bills).  I worked for a modest wage that saved my clients tons of money, always as a contractor. None of the clients wanted to pay for additional programming staff so my software went undocumented and understandable to only myself.... the 'job security' cliche. My clients have been small telecoms, helping them grow until they were bought out by a larger company.  My current client was sold several months ago but the new owner has not made any moves to dismiss me yet although it obviously has to be on the agenda due to my age. Due to the size and nature of some of the customers and products sold it will take some time and careful planning to transition away from my services and I will welcome the day whenever it comes. Meanwhile I keep adding to my savings and mostly living off of social security while only working a very few days per month. I have no intention of looking for a new client, my goal is accomplished and it has made my remaining years well worth living. 

Edited November 1, 2017 by yooper
typo