How Much Do You Spend Per Month ?

[rixalex]

The matter of what someone else spends in a month certainly shouldn't make anyone angry. It does however affect your opinion of a person if they are telling you that they couldn't possibly live on anything less than what you consider to be an unnecessarily excessive amount. It all depends on what you consider excessive. For me, i just don't see the need to spend 100k a month, and if i did, i'm pretty sure it wouldn't make me any the happier.

[jaiyenyen]

I find that every month I spend a bit less than I would like to, but a bit more than I should.

[JimsKnight]

100 - 200 k per month!

Jeez, the sugar daddies are alive and well reading this thread! Go get em sugar daddies!

For me, I live very comfortably on about 1,000 baht per day! So 30k baht per month. I could live on less if I went on super keeneow mode!

Apartment sorted, mia noi allowance sorted, all the bells and whistles. Eating well and have 2 bikes (one rented the other bought outright), out drinking every night. Good times roll on

Life in the UK? Nah!

Life in Thailand? Yo!

Sometimes I think some of the expats here still play the tourist groove the prices they are spending money on!

[YoungFarangNa]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071026/dollar.html?.v=4

The US dollar has hit a new record low yesterday. So who didn't take my advice earlier this week? Haha.

[Gary A]

i spend 500 Baht a month. 150 for a haircut (tip included) and 350 for manicure and pedicure (tip included). otherwise no expenditure at all.

Dr. Naam, you are my hero.

did i mention that my wife does all the spending?

The cost of my haircuts has gone up. It was 20 baht and is now 25 baht. I go to my favorite watering hole about once a week. A big bottle of Archa beer costs 30 baht there and I normally drink three bottles. If I am in a festive mood I will drink four bottles. I used to get a haircut once a month but since the price has gone up, I get it cut every five weeks. I reckon for a month I have change left over from 500 baht. I almost forgot, sometimes I run out of cigarettes when I am drinking so I must buy a pack there. That adds another 46 baht so there is no change left from my 500 baht. That's how much I spend.

Life is way too short to drink Archa beer, even at 30 baht a bottle.

I beg your pardon SIR! Archa is my favorite beer in the whole world. You are insinuating that I have bad taste?

[Naam]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071026/dollar.html?.v=4

The US dollar has hit a new record low yesterday. So who didn't take my advice earlier this week? Haha.

your "advice" came SIX YEARS LATE haha so nothing to brag about "earlier this week".

[chiang mai]

Hmmm. It looks like the classical ratio's of poor, middle and upper income ratio's of farangs living in Thailand are similar to elsewhere! Just an observation, that's all.

[TopDogger]

Less than 100k pr month to live off, i'd go home.

[kangeroo]

well i spent all my money on beer, girls and gambling . And i wasted the rest . cheers

[JimsKnight]

George Best came out with some gems didn't he?

[mellow1]

This poll doesn't take into account people who are family oriented, or own their homes. People who spend money on insurance for their family, schooling costs, vehicle and home maintenance and insurance for both. Doctor and dental costs, fuel costs, and utilities.

Somehow the pension amount gets spent, without going to bars, much less the women rental fees. If I was still getting the same income as when I was working, we wouldn't even be here. I can understand a single guy coming here on vacation and spending 200K/MO for a while, indulging themselves partying. I cannot however understand someone living here, even with a mortgage for a very nice home, spending this amount. Furthermore, anyone throwing that kind of money around on a regular basis in the LOS, has to be mentally imbalanced, or making it up. I cannot see how anyone, who is so financially irresponsible, can have any money to start out with, unless they inherited it, and don't know what it is to work for it. Furthermore, I cannot see what it is that you are doing here in the first place, if you can afford to throw 200K/Mo around, there has to be other places to visit and party in besides the LOS. It's OK here, but I have traveled to a few other countries( not 3rd world) and all are more beautiful than here. You can party equally well in most, with much better facilities, infrastructure, laws, easier visa, medical care, should you be drunk and hit a tree, or have a heart attack due to overdosing on viagra while trying to hump some young thing. Maybe your just too loaded to find your way back out of the country.

[maipleur]

I personally spend about 200k per month. I like to live life and go to nice places, eat nice food and travel every chance I get.

I hopefully will retire one day and that spend will go down considerably.. But until then! life is to short to sit on the sidelines.

[maipleur]

This poll doesn't take into account people who are family oriented, or own their homes. People who spend money on insurance for their family, schooling costs, vehicle and home maintenance and insurance for both. Doctor and dental costs, fuel costs, and utilities.

Somehow the pension amount gets spent, without going to bars, much less the women rental fees. If I was still getting the same income as when I was working, we wouldn't even be here. I can understand a single guy coming here on vacation and spending 200K/MO for a while, indulging themselves partying. I cannot however understand someone living here, even with a mortgage for a very nice home, spending this amount. Furthermore, anyone throwing that kind of money around on a regular basis in the LOS, has to be mentally imbalanced, or making it up. I cannot see how anyone, who is so financially irresponsible, can have any money to start out with, unless they inherited it, and don't know what it is to work for it. Furthermore, I cannot see what it is that you are doing here in the first place, if you can afford to throw 200K/Mo around, there has to be other places to visit and party in besides the LOS. It's OK here, but I have traveled to a few other countries( not 3rd world) and all are more beautiful than here. You can party equally well in most, with much better facilities, infrastructure, laws, easier visa, medical care, should you be drunk and hit a tree, or have a heart attack due to overdosing on viagra while trying to hump some young thing. Maybe your just too loaded to find your way back out of the country.

mentally imbalanced? making it up? financially irresponsible? man, thats a bit rough.

When you have been to all the other countries you end up back in Thailand. I hope me being here is ok with you?

you sound very sour.. might be time for you to rethink YOUR life and not worry about everyone elses.

[mellow1]

I'm not sour,and our life is fine. We live very well, have a beautiful home, with all the toys. Just can't imagine someone spending 100%, more than what it takes for my entire family to live well.

I've seen a couple of Farangs who live in a comfortable manner comparable to us, but I can count them on one hand, and won't have to use all my fingers. Thats in the last 12 years. So I have no clue what they are doing with this money.

[JimsKnight]

I hear you mellow man, I know of 2 dudes who are oil workers (permanent staff) on a rig off Nigeria. 1 month on, 1 month off. Guess where they spend all their free time.. Bangkok

They live in Bangkok and must be spending 200 k baht per month banging away like a big bass drum in Bangers

I'm an oil worker but I'd have to be on full-on sugar daddy mode to be spending that amount of cash!

I know another guy who is the same age as me, in a Nat. Min. Wage job and is now living in Moss Side on krumpence money!

Swings and Roundabouts Mellow man, Swings and Roundabouts....

[mellow1]

I hear you mellow man, I know of 2 dudes who are oil workers (permanent staff) on a rig off Nigeria. 1 month on, 1 month off. Guess where they spend all their free time.. Bangkok

They live in Bangkok and must be spending 200 k baht per month banging away like a big bass drum in Bangers

I'm an oil worker but I'd have to be on full-on sugar daddy mode to be spending that amount of cash!

I know another guy who is the same age as me, in a Nat. Min. Wage job and is now living in Moss Side on krumpence money!

Swings and Roundabouts Mellow man, Swings and Roundabouts....

Obviously someone took me wrong about what I said. I was making the big money too a few years back, till I got busted up messing with a big chain I was using on my crane(no ground man), sure am glad I had money invested in a couple of properties. I did that before being married and continued after. Still managed to have a lot of fun, including nice vacations. I don't wish anyone any harm, but if one day the shit goes down, you'd better have some bucks. The one person who stood by me was my wife. No one else. No one should throw that kind of cash around, cause one day they gonna need it, one way or another. Do it on a month's vacation, but not 12 months out of the year.

[blizzard]

this is wot i no understand.

why is their a wrong way to live. if everyone live same same , where would this world be.

if one makes big baht and wants to spend it so be it. i personally wouldnt........lol.

[Naam]

1. anyone throwing that kind of money around on a regular basis in the LOS, has to be mentally imbalanced, or making it up.

2. Furthermore, I cannot see what it is that you are doing here in the first place, if you can afford to throw 200K/Mo around, there has to be other places to visit and party in besides the LOS. It's OK here, but I have traveled to a few other countries( not 3rd world) and all are more beautiful than here. Maybe your just too loaded to find your way back out of the country.

1. finally i know what's wrong with me. i am mentally imbalanced (although i don't party and don't pay any rent).

2. what would you say if i tell you that i'd pay much more than 200k Baht monthly just income tax if i lived in my home country Germany? not to talk about the fact that nearly all other running expenses are double and a bunch of the goodies like domestic staff are completely out of question.

perhaps you just lack any experience what the real world is about? my friends think i am a stingy bastard because i live in Thailand but the fact is that i couldn't financially afford the life style in Europe which i am enjoying here.

to sum it up: before you insult others by calling them mentally imbalanced do some research on what exactly some of us "idiots" spend our hard earned money.

[Naam]

if one makes big baht and wants to spend it so be it. i personally wouldnt........lol.

if somebody's income is 200k and he spends 200k i'd call him irresponsible. if somebody's income is a million and he spends 200k i'd say "why not spend 250 or 300k?"

[blizzard]

what do they call someone who doesnt socialize?

get the point!

not all SAME SAME!

irresponsible is when u spend wot u dont have. if oil man want sweet thai gurls, well............lol. look at it this way, many an isarn vilge would shrivel up and go away wo the free spending farang.

Edited October 29, 2007 by blizzard

[lazeeboy]

what do they call someone who doesnt socialize?

get the point!

not all SAME SAME!

irresponsible is when u spend wot u dont have. if oil man want sweet thai gurls, well............lol. look at it this way, many an isarn vilge would shrivel up and go away wo the free spending farang.

my biggest layout of cash is at home ,no rent but have a maid maintainance man /guard ,ubc ,internet ,there always seem to be something needs replacing ,its never ending .but i like luxury so you have to pay ,if i didnt have it i could'nt do it .

[mellow1]

1. anyone throwing that kind of money around on a regular basis in the LOS, has to be mentally imbalanced, or making it up.

2. Furthermore, I cannot see what it is that you are doing here in the first place, if you can afford to throw 200K/Mo around, there has to be other places to visit and party in besides the LOS. It's OK here, but I have traveled to a few other countries( not 3rd world) and all are more beautiful than here. Maybe your just too loaded to find your way back out of the country.

1. finally i know what's wrong with me. i am mentally imbalanced (although i don't party and don't pay any rent).

2. what would you say if i tell you that i'd pay much more than 200k Baht monthly just income tax if i lived in my home country Germany? not to talk about the fact that nearly all other running expenses are double and a bunch of the goodies like domestic staff are completely out of question.

perhaps you just lack any experience what the real world is about? my friends think i am a stingy bastard because i live in Thailand but the fact is that i couldn't financially afford the life style in Europe which i am enjoying here.

to sum it up: before you insult others by calling them mentally imbalanced do some research on what exactly some of us "idiots" spend our hard earned money.

You are of course absolutely right. Would you please be so kind as to help out with the research part, on how you spend this kind of money on food and pleasure, since rent is of no concern due to home ownership, I presume.

[astral]

I spend about 450,000 per month 400,000 of which goes on drugs, women ,beer and gas.

I do hope you mean medically prescribed drugs?????????

[Naam]

You are of course absolutely right. Would you please be so kind as to help out with the research part, on how you spend this kind of money on food and pleasure, since rent is of no concern due to home ownership, I presume.

Expenses in Thailand

food, drinks (soft), soap, toothpaste, etc.............45

electricity...........................................................10

foreign health insurance....................................22

maid/cook, gardener, driver (all full time).............21

2 cars running cost (no depreciation).....................8

village fees.........................................................4

internet, phones, pay-tv......................................4

house/pool/pond maintenance.........................10 (estimated)

flights (400k p.a.).............................................33

restaurants........................................................0

bars..................................................................0

bargirls.............................................................0

parties..............................................................0

pocket money wife.........................................34

pocket money self..........................................34

unforeseen....................................................10 (there's always something )

total..............................................................235

with my pocket money i buy luxury items like wine or cigars and pay for normal expenses like haircuts or pedicure as well as once in a while a new computer. my wife spends most of hers buying presents for the children of her siblings.

[latelyo]

I give my wife 50000 Thb every month, she pays everything, gives money to her family in the village, every month she puts about 10000 to bank account. I think not bad.

[zorro1]

"...I'll give you my comparison between living in the USA and living in Thailand. I'm in a rather unique position to comment on it since I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for six months of the year and Bangkok the other six months.""

What does THAT have to do with how much you spend in Thailand?

"Santa Fe is on the high end of the cost of living scale in the USA, primarily because the city became "Californicated" a number of years ago. A number of Hollywood types live there, including Steven Spielburg, Jane Fonda and Shirley MacLaine. The Californians drove the property prices up so the average home in Santa Fe is now selling about about $425,000."

Just because some people from CA bought property in Santa Fe doesn't make it California. The average house price in Santa Fe is somewhat less than 300K USD. Since you didn't mention the price of YOUR home, we can assume that it is worth substantially less than the average. If you're going to compare Santa Fe to California, Santa Fe would be Modesto, a very modest farming community in the Central Valley. There is a big difference, though. If you drive a couple hours from Modesto, you're in San Francisco, and you can enjoy the culture. If you drive from Santa Fe, you can find yourself in Albuquerque. Woohoo! It's Modesto without the culture.

"My Thai partner and I..."

Oh, brother.

"I like expensive Scotch."

And rainbows and unicorns. Scented candles are a favorite, I bet.

"I'm a double-dipping retiree (military and U.S. law enforcement)..."

Semper Fi, bro.

"Those are a lot of numbers to digest..."

Frankly, I'm ready to throw up, much less digest your fantasy.

I actually threw up but cant afford a damp`cloth to clean my monitor

[farang prince]

Glad I could help a couple of you pukes with your digestive problems.

[dumspero]

Interesting posts about how some of the higher spenders actually spend their money. Certainly it can be on drinks and women, but there are plenty of other ways.

And this is yet another thread that offers insight into the bitterness of so many expats in places like Thailand. They're in Thailand feeling special, enjoying the many wonders of Thailand and tolerating the small discomforts, many of which are of course aggravated by lower spending levels. Then along come the higher spending expats and they feel the need to marginalize them, to make them somehow not quite right in the head or whatever.

But the fact is huge percentages of people from the western countries that contribute most of the expats to Thailand easily have in excess of 200k baht/month in pension/income from investments/etc. And this is the case with many even before they're 50. A retired Lt. Colonel from the US military with about 22 years would clear about 160k baht/mo in pension, plus whatever from his investments, the sale of his home, etc. Or a guy who worked as a plumber in a small town, bought a house, invested some money each year. Or the guy who worked as an engineer at the shipyard, bought a house. Farang Prince provided another typical example, with a double dipper retiree, altough that's a longer road than some of the other examples. And so on. So many examples.

It's so true that there's no one way to live. So how about a little more tolerance in all directions. And to those who would drop it all early and head out to an exotic life as an expat--look before you leap and consider whether you will be totally comfortable if, in 20 years, you're runing into expats from your country who have a lot more money than you and they throw it around. For those of you who are comfortable with that--my hat is off to you--you're truly self-actualized.

Cheers.

[Naam]

It's so true that there's no one way to live.

that's all there is to say.

[farang prince]

Very well said Dumspero.