Are you still able to live comfortably?

[vukovar77]

On 10/1/2021 at 2:06 AM, Swiss1960 said:

It can be done, but why live in a city of fun (or in a city that used to be that), when you can not really enjoy the fun?

 

Your base is 50K. You will spend 10K/month on rent, water, electricity, phone. If you are not stupid, you will spend 10K/month on health insurance. That leaves you with 30K or 1K per day. 

 

1K per day in Pattaya is possible, IF... 

- you mostly cook yourself with stuff from market OR live from street food

- don't smoke and/or drink heavily

- don't expect Australian Wagyu on your plate weekly

- don't expect to have a permanent girlfriend/boyfriend

- don't want to travel

- don't want to enjoy yourself with cinema, water parks etc

- don't... basically everything I like to enjoy (except the girlfriend which I replaced by a family)

You will be living a Thai style live and will have to forego many of the perks that you can enjoy today in Australia, because they are cheap (i.e. beef, wine). Anything western in Thailand has its price which might not fit in a tight budget.

 

This is purely based on my experience and my expectations, you will need to define for yourself what you expect your life to look like. 

Well,if You have condo and motorcycle in Pattaya and Thai spouse,it is more than enough for good life 30000-35000K for both .Maybe add 4000-5000 for health insurance.

 

[MRToMRT]

I can live on 50 a month but its usually unexpected costs and treats that trash my budget. 

[EVENKEEL]

I'm impressed that none of the posters here discuss what money is allotted to the lady's family. Guess I'm the only one. When I was working I turned a blind eye except on occasion. But, when I retired I settled on an amount monthly, no surprises. I have a decent monthly deposit of 90ishK/mo. and don't care about saving any money.

 

As a single guy 50K/mo would be fine.

 

How much do you give the lady's family monthly??  

[Kanada]

3 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I'm impressed that none of the posters here discuss what money is allotted to the lady's family. Guess I'm the only one. When I was working I turned a blind eye except on occasion. But, when I retired I settled on an amount monthly, no surprises. I have a decent monthly deposit of 90ishK/mo. and don't care about saving any money.

 

As a single guy 50K/mo would be fine.

 

How much do you give the lady's family monthly??  

We help out here and there if someone’s short or there’s an emergency but my wife made it very clear to her relatives…we have our own family and we aren’t a bank ???? 

 

[jacko45k]

10 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

How much do you give the lady's family monthly??  

Is this obligatory?

In my case I give my lady money and what she does with it is her business, of course some goes to her family. I am fortunate my lady does not have kids and her family do not scrounge at all.... I said early on in the relationship I did not want to hear of begging, or borrowing. In reality they are decent people. 

[Mike Teavee]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

That's why they invented cable tv and internet.

Now that's really depressing!!! 

[Kanada]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Is this obligatory?

In my case I give my lady money and what she does with it is her business, of course some goes to her family. I am fortunate my lady does not have kids and her family do not scrounge at all.... I said early on in the relationship I did not want to hear of begging, or borrowing. In reality they are decent people. 

Same same…I have four sons back home and she has one daughter three months out of uni. and working at a ?$&@!!>%# job but she’s now pulling her own weight (and sends her Mum presents every month).

We buy her things for her place once in awhile…some groceries etc. but that’s just because we want to!

Wife's family all works and my family all works and as you say all are really decent people….there are no expectations of others????

 

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, EVENKEEL said:

How much do you give the lady's family monthly??  

- 0 -

Why would I give her family a monthly income ?  Certainly wouldn't do that in the home country / USA.

Or did you agree to rent your spouse when meeting ?

 

My wife's family, since she's the baby of, her siblings, most of, are better off financially than us.  Maybe we should ask them for a monthly income ?

Edited October 4, 2021 by KhunLA

[EVENKEEL]

16 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

- 0 -

Why would I give her family a monthly income ?  Certainly wouldn't do that in the home country / USA.

Or did you agree to rent your spouse when meeting ?

 

My wife's family, since she's the baby of, her siblings, most of, are better off financially than us.  Maybe we should ask them for a monthly income ?

Please read my entire post and your question will be answered. Me, we never discussed anything about the money as the family is decent. But, even decent people in Isaan are needing occasionally.

 

If her family is better off financially than you are, then you are lacking in the money making dept. Maybe you should instead say I'm too poor to help so I don't.

[EVENKEEL]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Is this obligatory?

In my case I give my lady money and what she does with it is her business, of course some goes to her family. I am fortunate my lady does not have kids and her family do not scrounge at all.... I said early on in the relationship I did not want to hear of begging, or borrowing. In reality they are decent people. 

Nothing is obligatory, the only difference I've done is make it part of budget. I's assume many inlaws are retirement age and we know few have income besides some small jobs. Their kids are their retirement plan.

[BritManToo]

26 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Why would I give her family a monthly income ?  Certainly wouldn't do that in the home country / USA.

Or did you agree to rent your spouse when meeting ?

I give my MiL 3,000bht/month not to live with me.

Well worth the money, and my misses never gets to complain to her mom about me, mom is always on my side.

If she comes to visit it's -100bht/night.

[KhunLA]

3 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

If her family is better off financially than you are, then you are lacking in the money making dept. Maybe you should instead say I'm too poor to help so I don't.

We're far from what I would consider rich, but even farther from what I'd consider poor.  Wife and kid (22 yr old) are set for life if I <deleted> out, so finances aren't an issue, and we have way more than enough.

 

Far from lacking, the family, most siblings are just better off on paper.  Savvy investors, a good thing.  

[Boarn]

On 10/1/2021 at 7:27 AM, Kerryd said:

Many of them ignored that of course, only to end up being disappointed when they realized that they couldn't afford to live in a hotel and eat in restaurants everyday and going to the bar every night is really, really expensive and gee - the TV in the hotel is really small and doesn't have many English channels and the fridge is tiny and I have to wash my dishes in the bathroom sink.
 

Great post, for me when I moved here at 16 in 2005 with basically no money (maybe my version of no money may differ from that of a Thais), I could spend 1000 pounds a month which at the time was 75k baht or there about's I spent until 2008 nearly every day in lower Sukhumvit, eating only Western food and basically living it up. You can't do that anymore. In pound terms you would need probably 5000 a month to live the same lifestyle now. A 5x increase in GBP terms.

 

I now have to resort to cooking most of my own food, substituting mince beef for mince pork for bulk lasagne and chili con carne with beef flavored oxo cubes. 1000 baht for a 2.2kg bag of poor quality cheddar cheese from makro has to be made to do. I left Bangkok and wish I have never seen the place. Bangkok gave me all I wanted on a pittance, I was sold a lie and will never forgive. I would not be here if I was not already set in. If I arrived here now and saw it as it is now I would not move here. But there you are.

 

To me Thailand was Lower Sukhumvit, and yes the odd trip to Koh Samet every month, yet this place has been ruined as well. As an off road motorcycle enthusiast they basically paved all the roads and ruined it, not been back since 2014.

 

But to quote, yes going out every night is very expensive now, and those that find out now are OK and not set in. For those of us who built lives on the expectation that Bangkok would not become so expensive (normal inflation is fine and to be expected) its a life wasted.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Boarn

[BritManToo]

5 minutes ago, Boarn said:

1000 baht for a 2.2kg bag of poor quality cheddar cheese from makro has to be made to do.

Not true,

Makro own brand cheddar is 309bht/Kg (a bit plastic), and NZ Mainland vintage is 265bht/500gm (quality cheese).

 

But these are all trivial complaints compared to house prices.

My 3 bed home repayments are 9k/month, in the western world it would be at least 4x that.

Edited October 4, 2021 by BritManToo

[Boarn]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Not true,

Makro own brand cheddar is 309bht/Kg (a bit plastic), and NZ Mainland vintage is 265bht/500gm (quality cheese).

OK I rounded it up its actually 800 and a bit for the dark orange cheddar cheese in the 2.2kg bag, cant remember the actual price but it's not what I would consider quality cheese. The NZ mainland is indeed better however I'd be using 100 baht of cheese on every meal.

Edited October 4, 2021 by Boarn

[Boarn]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

But these are all trivial complaints compared to house prices.

My 3 bed home repayments are 9k/month, in the western world it would be at least 4x that.

I'm not complaining about house prices, or prices of essentials.

 

Everything you NEED in Thailand is still relatively cheap, this is not my issue.

 

It's everything you WANT or that I want that has gone up by such unusual proportions that has spoilt it for me.

 

When I moved I rented for 4,500 a month, a single room, was never there apart from to sleep, the same place is now 4,500 a month, went to check the last time I was in Bangkok. In pound terms it has gone up but let's forget that for now.

 

The BTS ride from Prakanong to Nana is 33 now I think, can't remember what it was back then I think 25 or something. A fair increase.

 

A meal in a mall, eg MK I used to spend 500, now maybe 650 for similar things, a fair increase.

 

But a meal in a restaurant in lower Sukhumvit, I used to spend 200 to 300, the same thing now would be 1000 plus. Something wrong here.

 

A beer in a bar from 60 to 80 baht depending on place, not happy hour.

 

The same places, those that have not been torn down for a new condo, go from 120 to 250++ a beer. Again something wrong here.

 

In simple Baht terms the increases would be a hit, but increases and Baht strength has blown things way out of proportion. 

 

Theres also a certain American franchise on Soi 4 that has absolutely no place in Thailand in my opinion, the smaller single owed, run down, gritty places were where the thrills could be had.

 

 

[BritManToo]

6 minutes ago, Boarn said:

In simple Baht terms the increases would be a hit, but increases and Baht strength has blown things way out of proportion.

Where I live (just outside Chiang Mai) everything is much the same as it was.

Apart from them serving beer in buckets with a straw, still 80bht for a large one.

[Will B Good]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Where I live (just outside Chiang Mai) everything is much the same as it was.

Apart from them serving beer in buckets with a straw, still 80bht for a large one.

80 baht for a large one!!!

 

I have got to move out of BKK.

[vukovar77]

5 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I'm impressed that none of the posters here discuss what money is allotted to the lady's family. Guess I'm the only one. When I was working I turned a blind eye except on occasion. But, when I retired I settled on an amount monthly, no surprises. I have a decent monthly deposit of 90ishK/mo. and don't care about saving any money.

 

As a single guy 50K/mo would be fine.

 

How much do you give the lady's family monthly??  

What are You talking about?My wife family never-ever ask me something like this.It is not poor family to need extra money and besides my wife and her sisters work and have decent jobs .

Maybe some poor Isaan families need a help and if it is neccesary we could help them,but with working traditional girls it is not the case as far as I know.As I know this is often with bar-girls,massage girls etc.

[keith101]

On 10/1/2021 at 1:42 AM, georgegeorgia said:

I'm looking at the aged pension from Australia and it's around 50,000 baht a month.

That is incorrect , the pension is only the basic rate + part supplement ($906.90 per fortnight) so in fact my last payment was 42,700 for the 28 day payment and well short of the 50,000 you talk about . 

I can live quite well on this including paying a 15,600 baht car payment every month but i live in my own home no rent .

[EVENKEEL]

2 hours ago, vukovar77 said:

What are You talking about?My wife family never-ever ask me something like this.It is not poor family to need extra money and besides my wife and her sisters work and have decent jobs .

Maybe some poor Isaan families need a help and if it is neccesary we could help them,but with working traditional girls it is not the case as far as I know.As I know this is often with bar-girls,massage girls etc.

It's not about asking, life happens even to good folks. Decent job probably equates low paid, am I right.  So I doubt your wife can help much regularly. It's better to address the elephant in the room and make an arrangement. If you were to go to her village in a new shiny 2Mil car bought with cash, do you honestly think they wouldn't like a hand up, something? I could cause I don't give a fork anymore. 

[georgegeorgia]

4 hours ago, keith101 said:

That is incorrect , the pension is only the basic rate + part supplement ($906.90 per fortnight) so in fact my last payment was 42,700 for the 28 day payment and well short of the 50,000 you talk about . 

I can live quite well on this including paying a 15,600 baht car payment every month but i live in my own home no rent .

May I ask what part of Asia your in ?

[ozfarang]

Is that a trick question @georgegeorgia?  ????

[FalangJaiDee]

On 10/1/2021 at 3:11 AM, The Cipher said:

Honest question, how much do you guys save a month? Or like, what would you consider a normal amount of monthly savings?

 

I'm not trying to come across like a jerk, but I'm always a little surprised that there are so many people who are in the situation quoted above.

 

if you save just $1,000 a month ($12k/yr) starting at age 30 and invest it at 8% net, you'll retire at 65 with over $2M in savings. If you change that $1,000 to just $500, you'd still make it to over $1M in the same timeframe.

8% net is an extremely optimistic scenario

[The Cipher]

11 minutes ago, FalangJaiDee said:

8% net is an extremely optimistic scenario

Is it tho? Most of you guys are boomers, so during the relevant period in question, dollar-cost-averaging into the SPX would probably have gotten you there (source). Might not be so easy for the generation coming up, but we'll see.

 

My assumptions were also conservative in other ways. Assumed lump sum savings at the end of the year (ie, no intra-period compounding of new savings), assumed zero inheritance, assumed no net worth from primary residence.

 

Again, not trying to be a dick here. I just meant to note that I'm surprised by people's general lack of savings in retirement.

Edited October 4, 2021 by The Cipher
Made hook more punchy.

[bkk6060]

Living below the poverty line in many western countries.

Any western male in Thailand age 60 or above who does not have an income of at least a couple thousand dollars a month and a few million baht in savings are either foolish or certainly seem to lack financial common sense.

Sadly,  there certainly are a lot of these folks in Thailand.

Edited October 4, 2021 by bkk6060

[georgegeorgia]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Living below the poverty line in many western countries.

Any western male in Thailand age 60 or above who does not have an income of at least a couple thousand dollars a month and a few million baht in savings are either foolish or certainly seem to lack financial common sense.

Sadly,  there certainly are a lot of these folks in Thailand.

I guess not everyone was in high paying jobs though,some may have been clerical workers or factory workers just working Monday to Friday on basic wages .

 

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Living below the poverty line in many western countries.

Any western male in Thailand age 60 or above who does not have an income of at least a couple thousand dollars a month and a few million baht in savings are either foolish or certainly seem to lack financial common sense.

Sadly,  there certainly are a lot of these folks in Thailand.

I fall into that category..... you really should have said OR, rather than AND. I worked and saved but only have a small pension.... my point is savings will suffice if well managed, can't take it with you. 

[EVENKEEL]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Living below the poverty line in many western countries.

Any western male in Thailand age 60 or above who does not have an income of at least a couple thousand dollars a month and a few million baht in savings are either foolish or certainly seem to lack financial common sense.

Sadly,  there certainly are a lot of these folks in Thailand.

I find myself in an opposite dilemma, I always lived below my means. I never had a new car, only paid cash for used. Didn't have a credit card till age 45. Retired at age 62 with a healthy savings and 401K which I maxed out for over 10 yrs. On top of that I get rent for 2 properties.

 

Here in Thailand I've paid cash for 2 homes in old lady's name, we have a kid together. My problem is I've got to get busy spending money.

 

I could very easily been one of the guys you describe with little monthly money had I always had a car payment, eaten out, not worked so hard, never tried to better myself. Didn't do to bad with a HS diploma.

[itsari]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Living below the poverty line in many western countries.

Any western male in Thailand age 60 or above who does not have an income of at least a couple thousand dollars a month and a few million baht in savings are either foolish or certainly seem to lack financial common sense.

Sadly,  there certainly are a lot of these folks in Thailand.

I have food on the table , roof over my head and 3 to 4 bottles of Chang beer a day on 12000 of the local inflated currency .

Your estimate of a minimum 66000 seems way over the top in my opinion .