Saving is the new buzzword as prices rise in Thailand

[geisha]

17 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

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.

In the old days, people would have a nest egg. Cash under the mattress, Or a piece of land, or a gold watch , whatever. When times are bad, and it happens often , they would sell something to see them through. This is saving, just as people put a few pounds a month in a post office account. We are not yet at the point where a thousand euros buys a loaf of bread ! 

[hotchilli]

On 7/15/2022 at 3:01 AM, webfact said:

Thailand's 2022 headline CPI is projected to rise between 4 to 5%, compared with 1.23% in 2021. 

Double that and it would be neared the truth.

[jvs]

In Thailand i blame the big companies,CP is one of them.

They are getting so big they can control nearly all the prices.

When illegal imported pork from Europe is cheaper then the pork produced here

it raises a few questions.

 

[jacko45k]

20 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

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

Mine seems to think it will go out of fashion if not used immediately. Fortunately when she has none she just gets on with life until she gets some more,,,,,( I budget and cover day  to day expenses).....

[Stargeezr]

I do not know how low the interest rates have been in Thailand, but in Canada the rate have been super low

for quite a while. Now the banks have risen the rates by a couple percent, and people are already saying

that they may lose their houses, etc. It seems that people did not understand that the rates would not stay this low.

It seems that people have forgotten that interest rates are usually more than 5 percent.

  Maybe there are more stupid people in the world today. That is my guess.

[AnotherFarang8]

Green policies preventing investments in traditional energy infrastructure and limitless money printing to counter the crash created by nonsensical economic restrictions during covid. Result is shortage of resources but abundance of cheap money chasing those resources. Predictably this leads to high inflation. The only entity that couldn’t see this coming is Fed who admitted recently they had little understanding of inflation.

[smudger1951]

On 7/15/2022 at 3:55 AM, 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.

vandeventer, I support my wife up country and I think things will get worse for thai people if jobs start to wobble as they tighten their belts. Most thais in the villages are on a slim budget buying their small requirements each day.

[KIngsofisaan]

On 7/14/2022 at 10:45 PM, 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.

You hit the nail right on the head.

 

You have one group of folks that come here and try to replicate their full western life on a pension and complain all the time about cost.

 

Then you have the country folk smart enough to garden and raise lots of their own food and vegetables.

 

Not only that, there are lots of folks just too poor in Isaan (not the cities) to afford much of anything materialistic so one one cares about brand names or anything else. These folks feel lucky to have anything.

 

I know because I have a boatload of them in my extended family

 

I save so much money living in Isaan, I don't know what to do. Massive 401K that I saved and then rolled over into a Roth IRA.

 

I save at least another 70% of a huge corporate pension added with social security each month.

 

Everything paid for, no debt what so ever. Have a western house, 26 rai, car and trucks, farm vehicles all paid.

 

No drinking, although I seem to buy a lot of the local Isaan rot gut for the relatives, don't smoke, etc.

 

No bars, no hookers to blow money on. Buy clothes local market, all clones. No one cares.

 

For all I know, this could be out the boonies in Nebraska.

 

Just the way it is, don't need to impress anyone. Therefore can save a ton.

 

Everyone has a choice on the way they choose to live in Thailand.

 

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

 

Isaan Life, not as bad as people think. If you have a wonderful family, a roof over your head and food in your belly, what else do you need?

 

Some people grow up, some never do it seems...