Due to the Exchange Rates - have you changed your spending habits?

[FritsSikkink]

10 hours ago, wgdanson said:

I can THINK about opening the Thai version of Playboy Mansion, so does your statement means that I AM fit to do it?

No, you need to be able to write a business case.

[EricTh]

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Get a bicycle, it's better for you and costs nothing after the initial purchase.

I'm out 5 days a week now it's too wet to hike.

Riding a bicycle in a jam-packed city like Chiang Mai is too dangerous.

 

I've seen some bicycles blocking the path of motorcyclists due to their slow speed.

 

You only need one impatient driver to cause you serious injuries. 

 

Riding a bicycle is safe if you are riding in your mooban but not the city or highway.

Edited August 11, 2019 by EricTh

[elliss]

8 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

 

In the past, I ate 3 meals per day outside. Now, I've started cooking by myself to save some money. Now only I realize that I am too lazy to cook and just buy those Mama easy-to-cook meals. 

 

 

     Correct, i used too frequent faralang bars , large beer 100 bht .

     Now i enjoy my large beer @ mama shop, 60 bht , no speak english , what a blessing...

     No talk about brexit , i am up to the gills, with it..

     PS, i am looking for a second/ third hand bicycle , preferably farang owned.

      Many thx...

      

 

 

Edited August 11, 2019 by elliss

[mike787]

HELL YA!!  Frugal as can be..the belt tightening is not ending...much more and I'm out.  

[chickenslegs]

10 hours ago, KiChakayan said:

I am cutting down on threesomes.

Same here.

I've cut back by 66.666%

[WinnieTheKhwai]

My Bunga Bunga parties are down to a single Bunga.

[NightSky]

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I make sure I buy all my veg at the local farmers market, this lot was 130bht (4 pounds).

With a bit of meat (pork and chicken 120bht) and flour (2Kg 62bht), I see 10 bowls of chicken soup, roast pork with baked potatoes and fried mushrooms in gravy, 6 pizzas, and 3 loaves of bread. I also bought 30 large eggs for 100bht so maybe some French toast, scrambled egg or vegetable omelettes.

That'll last me a week, no need to eat out at all.

 

Five years back, I would eat almost every meal out, I don't miss eating out, and it's probably more healthy eating in. I have plenty of time as I'm retired and my food costs are now under 2,000bht/month, a bit extra for milk and Pepsi.

Impressive although what about all the other household costs, sugar, coffee, milk, toiletries, (toothpaste, shaving kit, shower gel, deo, etc) then there’s cleaning stuff (bleach, dishwashing and cleaning equipment, toilet rolls, etc) not to mention breakfast and maybe an evening snack..

 

A meal for 2 people can be had cooked at the local Thai food stall for 100 baht but I would be hungry all the time if that is all I ate one time per day not to say board of the same food almost every day. 

 

Realistically on a budget we are spending about 5000 baht/month in macro then about 200-300baht per day on average and that’s on a tight budget.

So 11,000-14,000 baht/month on food and household goods any less would be really cutting out most household essential items and neither of us drinks alcohol or smoke.

 

my most expensive food items are milk and coffee. 

Edited August 11, 2019 by NightSky

[Happystance]

I changed mine big time-

Going to South America this winter instead of Thailand!

It's really the Thai combination of: terrible air quality, inane immigration BS, and poor exchange rate. 

I backed out of an annual ED Visa and am going to take that money, plus $1000 on airfare (USA), and see how far/long I can make it last down south.

 

I was planning on a long-term (several years) relationship with Thailand, but it's gonna be SO much easier just to not fight it.

 

Maybe some year I will consider Thailand again, but all the beaurocratic crap encouraged me to look elsewhere.

 

Good luck people!

[brokenbone]

20 hours ago, FredGallaher said:

I thought the Brits and other Europeans never tipped. I tip what I can afford because of good service.

for me, trying to save money becomes a farce

when i just paid over asking price,

theres no consistency or logic in it.

i cant process it, its awkward when coming from a culture where the only tipping in existence is hollywood movies

Edited August 12, 2019 by brokenbone

[ChipButty]

I believe in keeping my clothes that long, they come back in fashion

[Bigz]

On 8/10/2019 at 10:43 PM, sammieuk1 said:

No spending habits left here looks likely if there is not a drastic change I will be UK bound alone  looking for a job April the 25th is my do or die deadline brought down by Brexit after 20 years away????

Same here. Once the exchange rate falls under 30baht/£ I'll pack up and head back to Europe. That should happen in November right after no deal Brexit.

[EVENKEEL]

19 hours ago, wgdanson said:

Typical, and disgusting that you can say such a thing. So if your darling gf killed a little kid would you care?

Brother in law killed 2 in an accident, no license or insurance......3 yrs jail for him.

[grifbel]

On 8/10/2019 at 8:24 PM, Pilotman said:

I am a Brit expat, dealing, as many of us are, with a reducing income due to a very bad exchange rate, Pound to Baht.  It is now impacting our spending habits quite substantially. It has curtailed all of our family plans, no travelling holidays, including cancelling a planned trip back to the UK for a family get together. No eating out, no nights out, watching the utility bills, reducing the grocery bills. No spending on the house or garden, no purchasing of large items.

Instead of sitting around twiddling your thumbs while the sky is falling, why not get a job in your home country.

Edited August 12, 2019 by grifbel

[Jip99]

25 minutes ago, Bigz said:

Same here. Once the exchange rate falls under 30baht/£ I'll pack up and head back to Europe. That should happen in November right after no deal Brexit.

 

 

Don't let the door hit your ar5e on the way out.

 

 

Another doom and gloom merchant will not be missed.

Edited August 12, 2019 by Jip99

[DILLIGAD]

 
 
Don't let the door hit your ar5e on the way out.
 
 
Another doom and gloom merchant will not be missed.

Wonder if the sky is still going to fall down too?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pilotman]

23 minutes ago, grifbel said:

Instead of sitting around twiddling your thumbs while the sky is falling, why not get a job.  If you have to go back to your home country to work, so be it.

I expected some idiotic responses, looks like I have one.  Read my post, read 'acceptable standard of living', read, 'we don't intend to leave our home and life here', read, 'I am retired'.  I don't need a job thanks. I am financially secure. in both my home country and here in Thailand and I don't sit around 'twiddling my thumbs'.  

[grifbel]

48 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

I expected some idiotic responses, looks like I have one.  Read my post, read 'acceptable standard of living', read, 'we don't intend to leave our home and life here', read, 'I am retired'.  I don't need a job thanks. I am financially secure. in both my home country and here in Thailand and I don't sit around 'twiddling my thumbs'.  

Idiocy is sitting around twiddling your thumbs and whingeing instead of  getting off yer duff and proactively finding a solution to your problem.  The "woe is me" routine is tiresome.

[wgdanson]

1 hour ago, EVENKEEL said:

Brother in law killed 2 in an accident, no license or insurance......3 yrs jail for him.

Only 3 years? Should be 30.

[Rimmer]

Troll post ans some replies removed

[Matzzon]

On 8/10/2019 at 7:04 PM, elliss said:

What a typical bar stool , statement ..

 Fyi ,  not all expats choose to marry ex bar girls . No offence intended .

    Farlangs , who have learned to speak thai, have a much larger choice of ladies,  enjoy, i have..

 

      Bttopic ,   my  expenditure at the moment is sustainable .

       That said , 35 may need cut backs . i am preparing for 30 bht /gbp. 

       My thai partner is of the opinion , that i am not serious, meaning ,

       she believes there are no poor Atm/ farlangs , living in Thailand .

        Sadly a time of deep concern , for most expats ..

 

 

You are spot on, regarding the bar stool comment. That post just came from a person that have no knowledge of anything around him while residing in Thailand. Asanother choice one that is eating his mistakes at dinner time every day.

 

However, regarding your partners opinion. That one is actualkly quite correct. Most foreigners that have been chosing to stay in Thailand mostly have a minimum salury, income or pension of at least 30-35k baht per month. For a Thai person that is not at all considered small and therefore they do not see us as poor people. The problem comes with the rules that state a foreigner cannot get an extension without 40/65k per month or 400/800k in a bank account. That´s where they have a difficulty understanding why some foreigner consider themselfs too poor to be able to stay in Thailand and live a happy life.

 

Deep concern is also totally right. Unfortunately the world economy has been taking a sad turn, and many foreigners in Thailand is feeling the pressure of that now.

[brokenbone]

40 minutes ago, Matzzon said:

30-35k baht per month. For a Thai person that is not at all considered small

 

that depend entirely on the thai person(s),

i know one family personally who consider that kind of foreigner

white trash that only seek a cheap ass 10k room in thailand

for the purpose of living up their savings on prostitutes

before heading home to start the cycle anew saving up for another trip to thailands prostitutes and the 10k loom

 

Edited August 12, 2019 by brokenbone

[Matzzon]

11 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

that depend entirely on the thai person(s),

i know one family personally who consider that kind of foreigner

white trash that only seek a cheap ass 10k room in thailand

for the purpose of living up their savings on prostitutes

before heading home to start the cycle anew saving up for another trip to thailands prostitutes and the 10k loom

 

It´s amazing how wrong you have been understanding my post. What i talked about here was neither sex tourists or persons that comes to Thailand half year and then go back to save. (Is it not very stupid to always connect to this way of living a garbage life?) In my book, the kind of people you refer to is considered to be very poor too. That in relation to mind, behaviour, soul and future. That is also aspects that Thais take into consideration when they consider if a person is poor or not.

What is relevant with your post is not that the Thais consider them poor because of the monthly finances. These foreigners are considered poor because they live a sleezy life in poor conditions and standard as lonng as they can drink, party and get their payed sex fix when ever they desire.

Back to what my post was about and relating to. I was talking about all the foreigners that have been staying in Thailand on lower monthly finances than required. You know, the bigger part that actually come here to live a descent life with partner, wife and/or children as well as those who wish to retire and have a better life in a foreign country. When it then comes to tha finances, then there are not many Thais that consider a person having a spending power of 30-35k baht per month poor. That´s as long as they behave in a good and descent way that does not put a negative mark on them.

Edited August 12, 2019 by Matzzon

[JaiLai]

I don't disagree. Thai judge a person based on how they act and how they present themselves. A person of modest means who is clean and properly dressed ( doesn't mean fancy but cleaned and ironed) is accepted. Its called polite dressing. If the accommodations that are clean and well kept are OK. Always drunk and dirty are not socially acceptable to most Thais. 

Thais base a person on how much money and power they have - end of...


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, brokenbone said:

i know one family personally who consider that kind of foreigner

white trash that only seek a cheap ass 10k room in thailand

for the purpose of living up their savings on prostitutes

That makes no sense, I'm living in a new(ish) 3 bedroom house (90% home loan) and my repayments are 11k/month. I'm surrounded by Thai doctors/teachers/lawyers/and managers struggling to finance their homes.

 

Does the family you know consider middle class Thais as brown trash?

Edited August 12, 2019 by BritManToo

[brokenbone]

16 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

That makes no sense, I'm living in a new(ish) 3 bedroom house (90% home loan) and my repayments are 11k/month. I'm surrounded by Thai doctors/teachers/lawyers/and managers struggling to finance their homes.

 

Does the family you know consider middle class Thais as brown trash?

the thai middle class never came up as topic,

she would refer to poor thais as 'local people',

interpreted by me, in the context, as feral savages

Edited August 12, 2019 by brokenbone

[BritManToo]

11 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

the thai middle class never came up as topic,

she would refer to poor thais as 'local people',

interpreted by me, in the context, as feral savages

I'd find better quality friends, associating with people that clearly value money above all else will be spirituality damaging to you.

Edited August 12, 2019 by BritManToo

[brokenbone]

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I'd find better quality friends, associating with people that clearly value money above all else will be spirituality damaging to you.

she valued sex parties too, so it was spiritual to say the least,

easily the highest quality friendship i ever knew,

just she didnt want anyone to know that she associated with me, and that was never going to change

Edited August 12, 2019 by brokenbone

[Farangwithaplan]

On 8/11/2019 at 11:25 AM, wgdanson said:

Don't rub it in please Percy.   LOL

 

Saying that, I bought land in 2004 @ 70,000 Bht per rai @ 74 Bht to £. Sold it in 2012 for 1.1M per rai @ 47 to the £. You do the maths. I am happy here!

You do realise that without knowing how many rai or land was involved in the transaction, they simply cannot do the math. ????

 

I tend to spend the same as I have in the past. I drink much less now and really only buy a bottle of single malt in duty free a few times a year. After rent and electricity is paid each month, I put 35k on the shoe cabinet near the door. I have 10k folded and 25k laying flat. If I get to the folded money, it is a reminder if I am spending too much. That covers food, entertainment and any other small to medium outings like a weekend away which we do usually twice a week.

 

Girlfriend and I usually split about 60-40. I eat more so we usually just take it in turns and I usually pick up a few extra meals when out. We like to cook occasionally and eat well so we also do a regular shop for good ingredients and then buy from local markets for fresh produce of salad, vegetables and fruit. I usually always have 4 or 5k in my wallet and top it up from the stack as required. What is left of the stack at the start of the month is used for the following month. On rare occasions I pull a few k out of the ATM if we have a dinner out or make a large spur of the moment purchase.

 

I recently bought new new tv, fridge, table and sofa because the prices were very good and Home Pro sales guy cut a deal on the electricals. Don't see any other large non-business related expenses on the horizon at the moment.

[wgdanson]

1 hour ago, Farangwithaplan said:

like a weekend away which we do usually twice a week.

 

You lucky man....two weekends in a week.   lol

10 rai.

[Farangwithaplan]

5 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

You lucky man....two weekends in a week.   lol

10 rai.

 

Touche' ????

 

And now I can do the math. Nice earn there.

 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2019 by Farangwithaplan