Saving is the new buzzword as prices rise in Thailand

[brianthainess]

Saving is a new buzz word ?. I started saving when I was 12yrs old as a milk boy, at weekends and selling news papers in the evenings after school, If i wanted something i saved. I brought my first second hand M/C when I was 16yrs old cash, Unlike todays generation who want everything new now. I am still frugal at 71.

[MrJ2U]

Most Thai families have little or nothing left towards the end of the month.

 

I'm lucky my wife is good with money. Hopefully instills it to our children. 

[NorthernRyland]

 

51 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Soc Sec has threatened insolvency forever, and the pension is guaranteed by the union, which also could go belly up as the airlines did, and stop at any time.

 

SS is funded by current taxation, hence the endless mass immigration. It's a ponzy scheme of course but they can keep it alive as long as they can get fresh bodies paying taxes.

[RichardColeman]

49 minutes ago, Purdey said:

Savings count for a lot. Those who thought the UK pension would do and did not bother to save any extra are probably worse off. 

Not true. ASSETS in PROPERTY count for a lot. Your money in the bank is going down each year (rate of inflation does not match bank interest rate), my house has gone up something like at least 10%+ per year since I bought it. No bank is paying that and it is always above inflation. I have not touched what savings I have as I use my rental income, plus private pension income to live on. Savings in the bank count only until you can buy property with it in my opinion , otherwise its wasted and you need to save more to merely stand still !

 

As for pension. Only a fool would retire on a UK state pension. I retired at 55, company pension and annuity - uk pension will kick in in about 9 years for me.

 

 

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, Purdey said:

Savings count for a lot.

but in the context of inflation holding cash is a guaranteed lose. In fact the reason central banks and governments induce it through interest rates and deficit spending is to shift purchasing power out of the hands of savers and into the hands speculators. It's the most insidious tax because only so few actually understand what's happening.

[KhunLA]

4 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

 

SS is funded by current taxation, hence the endless mass immigration. It's a ponzy scheme of course but they can keep it alive as long as they can get fresh bodies paying taxes.

I was self funding.  No program works that the gov't controls / operates.  Soc Sec is proof of that.  Career thieves seems to be the only qualification for politicians.

[NorthernRyland]

Just now, KhunLA said:

I was self funding.  No program works that the gov't controls / operates.  Soc Sec is proof of that.  Career thieves seems to be the only qualification for politicians.

I have no faith whatsoever that the money I'm paying today for SS will be returned to me in 25 years when I'm 65. I just count the 15% FICA tax as lost income and try to budget around that fact.

[KhunLA]

2 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

I have no faith whatsoever that the money I'm paying today for SS will be returned to me in 25 years when I'm 65. I just count the 15% FICA tax as lost income and try to budget around that fact.

I have to apologize, as I've been a blight on society for over 20 yrs.  I think I got every tax dollar, and then some back ... ????

 

I almost feel bad about it.  I just consider my family's contribution to the system, as going directly toward me, so not to take away from others who needed it.  So 'justified', especially since I haven't used any gov't service or even driven on the USA roads in 20 ish years.

[huangnon]

53 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Aren't those countries experiencing economic collapse and actual war?  I would have thought that these were more important issues to show sympathy for. ????

????

Yep, "struggling with inflation" seems a bit nonchalant, tbh.

[Orinoco]

36 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

You are putting all Thai's in one basket, and  they are not all the same, and I am not saying give them all your money just help them if they need help in these bad times.

They are all the same when it comes down to hard cash.

But you can give food, water, pay a few bills for them if you wish.

Cash, NO WAY.

The cash will get used for other things.

and they will be no better off.

The my even be worse off if they go gambling !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

[JonnyF]

41 minutes ago, renaissanc said:

City life and countryside life do seem to be very different regarding food expenses when you can grow your own food, apart from rice, which is probably cheaper where we live than in a city. 3,700 Baht per week for food seems a lot to me. Most of that is processed food and chemical vegetables and fruit, I expect. If you have some land you can be self-sufficient regarding (chemical-free) fruit and vegetables, and water, which you can structure and store in large clay "ongs". We're adding chickens soon and later on a fish pond as we have 19 cats to look after. I couldn't live in a city again.

Similar story here, our farm now has Papaya, banana, coconuts, dragon fruit, lemon, lime, Mango, Rose Apple, Tamarind, Guava, Mangosteen, plenty of vegetables and 3 lakes full of fish. When I retire I'll get a few chickens as well. Surrounded by rice farmers so decent rice is available for trading with any of the above.

 

Trouble is, unlike you - I love living and working in Bangkok too much so I'm not sure I can ever make the move permanent ????.

 

Price rises are increasing like crazy right now. It doesn't affect most of us too much (apart from when they keep the price the same and reduce the portion or remove things from the menu altogether) but it must be pretty bad for Thais that were already struggling by, living hand to mouth. I don't see this as a short term thing either, those lockdowns savaged the economy and it's not going to be a quick fix. I think we might just be scratching the surface.

[paulikens]

cost of living.  cost of lockdowns is the real reason obviously and anyway who says otherwise is deluded.  you cant shut the world down for 2 years and not expect it to have any effect on the world economy. 

[SpanishExpat]

Guess the guy who wrote this article would live under a bridge in the UK, if his pension is that miserable that he starts saving with AC costs in Thailand? 
 

Everything got more expensive and I pity minimum wage locals who have to pay 20 THB for a portion of moo yaang.

 

However, 3700THB/week for groceries and 1000THB for gas a still so cheap compared to Europe! 

[Purdey]

31 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

holding cash is a guaranteed lose

I agree, saving cash if inflation rises eats interest. Saving money for retirement also means long term use of your spare cash to work for you through several asset types. But many people don't understand the concept of saving at all.

Compound returns are greater the earlier you start investing and the longer you leave it. Some take early retirement though, which is great if you've saved more than just the typical pension.

Savings rates haven't always been this dire, while inflation in the UK peaked in 1975 and declined after.

 

[Bday Prang]

 surely there is no real reason to actually "save" during inflation  that would not be to your advantage as interest rates for savers would never be equal to true inflation rates, so your savings steadily depreciate over time ,I think he should have written "economising"

Not sure how true it is but a woman at the local market tels me leccy is due to go up by 5 bt per unit soon if its true that's a hell of an increase  and everything else will soon go up too

Any one surviving off a frozen pension will soon be struggling  (unless its a very large pension)

[chickenslegs]

11 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

Not sure how true it is but a woman at the local market tels me leccy is due to go up by 5 bt per unit soon if its true that's a hell of an increase  and everything else will soon go up too

Electricity prices will increase to 5 baht/unit soon.

[shackleton]

I thought reading the headline it was about saving money

Most Thais can just about manage putting food on the table plus buying the essentials 

Myself buy what I can afford and need essentials wise 

[Bday Prang]

36 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

Electricity prices will increase to 5 baht/unit soon.

Thank god for that,  I'll edit my post 

[Bday Prang]

7 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

surely there is no real reason to actually "save" during inflation  that would not be to your advantage as interest rates for savers would never be equal to true inflation rates, so your savings steadily depreciate over time ,I think he should have written "economising"

Not sure how true it is but a woman at the local market tels me leccy is due to go up by 5 bt per unit soon if its true that's a hell of an increase  and everything else will soon go up too

Any one surviving off a frozen pension will soon be struggling  (unless its a very large pension)

Sorry I  was wrong about the leccy (thank god) I am reliably informed that it will go up TO 5bt and not BY  5bt   still a hefty jump ! can't give you an exact % coz to be honest I've never known what a unit costs I just pay the bill

[spermwhale]

7 hours ago, vandeventer said:

This is very sad for Thai people who hasn't ever got a cost of living increase in their wages, ever. So I would say if you have Thai friends or family to help them as much as you can in these hard times, because it's not going to get better any time soon.

My Thai friends seem to be doing just fine . They don't need handouts

[huangnon]

1 hour ago, paulikens said:

cost of living.  cost of lockdowns is the real reason obviously and anyway who says otherwise is deluded.  you cant shut the world down for 2 years and not expect it to have any effect on the world economy. 

There is always hundreds of billions to spend on wars, though. Proxy, or otherwise.

[StevieAus]

7 hours ago, madmitch said:

The headline bears no correlation to the narrative whatsoever.

If he added the words “ on costs “ after the word “ saving” it would have been better but made sense to me.

[Chongalulu]

3 hours ago, Andycoops said:

UK expats here are no different to the other 500 thousand who if non resident have their state pension frozen.

Essential to have a company/private pension that increases yearly with the CPI index.

The OP rises here seem disproportionate.

My recent spending is certainly up but only slightly.

While the U.K. state pension was never designed to be the sole income for retirement (more of a safety net) it will increase by over 10% in April (circa £970 per annum)under triple lock - not that retirees here will benefit! However ,most occupational/private pensions you reference put a cap of 2.5% on their CPI based increases. 
As far as the article is concerned,it’s very poorly written by an economically challenged individual.

[Almer]

5 hours ago, Orinoco said:

Some posters just don't understand Thai people.

There is nothing wrong going and paying the electric bill or rent for them if you feel the need, !!!!!!!!!

But to hand over cash , no way !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Food and water, will go a long way, cash.

will be,  booze, cigs, gambling, party time.

And if you think the money will come back to you

when / if, the good times come, forget it.

Handing over cash to friends and family will just bring

resentment down the road.

But feel free to run your bank account down for them.

 

You could always ask yourself,  why they never plan for a rainy day ? answer, they care not about tomorrow, well tomorrow has just started to come.

and it will only get worse before better.

 

 

Unless it’s an emergency keep your cash because if you give cash today and say No tomorow they will never speak to you again 

[Lacessit]

I have enough baht banked here to last me for 2 years. That excludes the 800K required for retirement extensions. Plus a 500K fund for medical emergencies. Meantime, my age pension gets paid every fortnight into an Australian bank.

 

The last time I owed anyone any money was 1974. I simply don't understand why people have the stress of debt hanging over them, just so they can impress friends, relatives and neighbors with possessions. Cash has always been king for me.

 

I have noticed some increases in restaurant prices, the biggest is in gasoline. In the local fruit and vegetable markets, no change.

I live simply, as I want. Wake me up in NY 2025, please.

[San Fran Dan]

Chinese Economy is Collapsing 15 major companies worth Trillions have defaulted on Loans , 2 provinces had Riots because banks won’t release funds to Citizens 

[chilli42]

Nobody seems to be asking why all of this is happening.  It’s not happening by accident or coincidence. Who has an interest in destabilizing the US and global economy? What is the outcome(s) that they are trying to achieve.  If you take a broader perspective I think you will find that the price of petrol is not such a big worry as the avalanche of s$&# that is rushing toward us.

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, chilli42 said:

Nobody seems to be asking why all of this is happening.  It’s not happening by accident or coincidence. Who has an interest in destabilizing the US and global economy? What is the outcome(s) that they are trying to achieve.  If you take a broader perspective I think you will find that the price of petrol is not such a big worry as the avalanche of s$&# that is rushing toward us.

It's happening because a Russian thief thought he could get away with stealing Ukraine from Ukrainians. IIRC, it was Tom Clancy who said all wars are theft writ large.

 

Certainly, the US and the EU are suffering damage. Having said that, the US dollar is the safe haven for many. It's much less than Russia's self-inflicted damage, they will be going backwards for the next ten years. Foreign investment and know-how has fled the coop.

 

The only way Putin can survive is by doubling down. Appear weak in Russia, and it is signing one's own death warrant.

[onthedarkside]

Several off-topic and news trolling posts and comments have been removed.

 

[geisha]

Thé poor in Thailand are going through very bad times.  There are many who have lost their jobs due to the lack’ of tourists. These are your poorest. Maids, cleaner, kitchen staff, gardeners,,pool cleaners , waiters and shop girls , street sellers. They already had a hard life before Covid. Low wages, small shared rooms, cheap street food. When I left Jomtien as Covid started, I gave all my belongings to Thais I knew from my favorite  restaurant and cleaners and pool staff from my condo. I felt so embarrassed as they just couldn’t believe the stuff I was giving them.  We’ve all seen how hard they must work and the hours they put in.,

On the other hand, I don’t feel sorry for  the ones with relatively well paid and safe jobs , or the wannabe rich. They should have a minimum of good sense , but don’t. Like the office girl who bought a brand new car , she was really proud. I said she was lucky to get such a nice company car, and she said no, this is my car. I am still in touch with them all, on FB and Line. The poor are poorer still, and the office girl lost her car and her savings to a bank. I think things will definitely get worse for the unlucky ones who nobody cares about and has no family to help them. I’ll never forget an old lady in Patong who slept wherever she could. I was told she had no children to help her out, and after a hard life and too old to work was put out on the streets. I won’t say what I think about Thai authorities I might be banned.