Should You Really Be Here On A Budget?

[Soutpeel]

lets hope that the young non ex patriots dont feel the same way when you have spent out and have to leave shangri la to return home without a pot to piss in and they have to change your nappies 4 times a day in a TAX PAYERS nursing home! lets just hope hey

[canuckamuck]

As far as enjoying the company of younger woman, Oscar Wilde wrote of the person who " ... knows the price of everythging and the value of nothing."

I believe Oscar was referring to 'cynics' knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. But I see where you are coming from.

[StreetCowboy]

As far as enjoying the company of younger woman, Oscar Wilde wrote of the person who " ... knows the price of everythging and the value of nothing."

What did he write of them?

Or did you mean that he wrote them off?

I'm not sure I would rely on Oscar Wilde to back me up...

SC

[somtampet]

Im living quite happily on 27K BHT a month including my rent in BKK.....

easy......

I dont have a leach though, could be different if I was paying for company...

You hit the nail right on its head. Many guys have to pay for company especially the older crowd that want a 20 something girl. Saves a lot of money if you don't have to do that or have a girl that brings in some cash and share the costs.

Do you hate your dad also.

I have older and younger friends,you seem to have a problem with older guys.Did something happen in your childhood,spill it out dont be shy

[somtampet]

I’m sure the majority of us who moved to Thailand, well planned their future here, foreseeable and long term.

But over the last few years’ things have taken a downturn that even the wisest of us could not have predicted.

Massive decreases in the bank exchange rates, crap bank interest rates, crashing worldwide economies, hyped up consumer prices and now the political crisis.

If this continues on with no end in site, than sooner or later we will all be living on a strict budget and struggling to make ends meet.

These are exception times and we cannot blame anyone’s financial downfall on bad planning.

Maybe in the not so distant future, we will all have to bugger off, having to become economic refugees in our own countries.

Very true and the workers here dont have to worry about their baht.They do seem to worry about the expats living better than them,sweating away earning a few quid in Bangkok.Many people all over the world are spending more money or losing money in stocks and shares so why pinpoint farangs in Thailand

[billd766]

If it's a temporary stay for a few years to have fun and make memories, sure. If the plan is to have a family, raise kids, and retire here. I would be wary. I won't say it can't be done.

Remember, everyone here has a different standard of living. 200k/month might be extravagant for some and barely making it for others. Location also comes into play, much cheaper in Chiang Mai than Bangkok.

200.000 Baht a month? What palace you live in ? !

Only 200,000 baht? Gawd, is that all? I use more than that just to start up my yacht's diesels.

Nice toy.

I have a fishpond that I could float that in (if there was any water left in it).

Trouble is I am in the central region about 500 km from the nearest beach and boat park.

Edited April 29, 2010 by billd766

[Naam]

You don't need to either spend or earn 65K per month for retirement extensions! What a silly misconception. You can spend 10K per month if you want to or even less. Don't believe me, check the rules,

that is correct. but i am convinced it is only a matter of time till these rules change and the government will ask that a minimum amount (not necessarily 65k) is spent. the present rule 65k income or 800k in the bank but no income tax is far from any logic. but then... This Is Thailand!

[CaptHaddock]

As far as enjoying the company of younger woman, Oscar Wilde wrote of the person who " ... knows the price of everythging and the value of nothing."

Although my much appreciated Oscar had very little experience in enjoying the company, so-to-speak, of any women, younger or older!

Oscar Wilde was married and had two sons.

[enginerevision]

If it's a temporary stay for a few years to have fun and make memories, sure. If the plan is to have a family, raise kids, and retire here. I would be wary. I won't say it can't be done.

Remember, everyone here has a different standard of living. 200k/month might be extravagant for some and barely making it for others. Location also comes into play, much cheaper in Chiang Mai than Bangkok.

200.000 Baht a month? What palace you live in ? !

Only 200,000 baht? Gawd, is that all? I use more than that just to start up my yacht's diesels.

Yup, the babyboomers did just fine

[Ijustwannateach]

^Was about to point out what Captain Haddock did, myself!

He was a good Victorian- had to get married for appearances sake and all.

I agree with DO above- everyone's on *some* kind of budget, so it's pretty well advised to stick with it!

But to take the meaning of the OP - it's pretty likely that costs will keep going up, here and in the outside world- so if you've planned a whole retirement around this year's prices and income, you might face some unpleasant future changes in living conditions. Especially given present conditions it would behoove everyone to put off retirement as long as possible for insurance (and in Thailand, I find it keeps people saner to have something to do).

[BlackArtemis]

If it's a temporary stay for a few years to have fun and make memories, sure. If the plan is to have a family, raise kids, and retire here. I would be wary. I won't say it can't be done.

Remember, everyone here has a different standard of living. 200k/month might be extravagant for some and barely making it for others. Location also comes into play, much cheaper in Chiang Mai than Bangkok.

200.000 Baht a month? What palace you live in ? !

I made 70-80k/month with my wife via teaching and tutoring and sorry but it wasn't enough.

We returned to the US to get further degrees and will return to Thailand later.

If I return I won't have social security, a roth IRA, etc etc.

So if I plan monthly:

20-25K for a mortgage

10K for Cars

5k for internet/phones

We plan on having children, nothing but an international school will suffice. That's 200-400k/semester. That's unless the school I work for gives free or discount tuition for children of teachers.

30k/month in savings. That would give me roughly a few 100K USD to retire on.

Then you have misc bills.

I want to be able to afford trips around the world and back home for vacation etc.

200k/month would be what I and my wife would need to be even reasonably close to the lives we are used to.

Just because I am used to more extravagant living doesn't mean anothers life style is worse or beneath us, but I don't plan on settling :shrug:

[galvheim]

There are many ways we young (and handsome) can enjoy Thailand, without being on a strict budget. It depends what lies in your cards and how you use them. There are always opporunities and ways to live here, without having either trouble with visa, or with money. I personally went here when I was 23 years old, and now I'm 29. I live very well, and can afford most of what I want to live a normal life without complaining. My monthly income is around 110k THB.

When I'm in Pattaya, I actually hear A LOT of complaining coming from retiered brits, and I've seen a few of them been kicked out of here after loosing all they have and going back to nothing.

For me I just return back home, start work in my old job. Save some moeny, and return every half year, earning money from a somwhat special deal with the govewrnment of Norway, so I don't lose any pension points either, and it is in practise exactly as if I where working up there in the cold north.

Also I can not expect myself to go on and slave for you baby-boomers to pay your pension. I would rather like to be here and piss you off by my presence, and hope that I wont have to pay too long for you. The way the world is going at the moment with clear signs of contraction both in the economy and resources, there is not a real future pension waiting for us. Somewhere along the road before I am 60, things will have changed in such an extent that I can not expect to get any of my pension. All might be used on you, the baby boomers, or lost in a big economic meltdown, or the money I get have gotten so deflated compared to price inflation that it will practically not be worth shit. Its not even sure that we can afford to use oil for intercontinetal pleasure-flights that we today can enjoy at a small cost.

So I will rather live in the moment and enjoy and experience this country within my means. Learning their language, adjusting yourself a bit and having healthy hobbies, can get you very far on this budget. I invest slowly but surely in the things I need for can live a normal life here. And also if I went to Norway and started to work for a pension "in style" I might get killed by some idiot driving into my car, and thus not being able to experience this world anymore. So why wait?

[longstebe]

I'm on a budget no matter where I am.

It's were you draw the line.

[simon43]

200k a month does not equal a palace....200k a month gets you a decent house, decent car, + all the "normal" stuff and not have to worry about waiting for the end of the month to get paid and be able to put some in the bank, thats all

This amount is typical of expats who do a "normal job", as they would in West..= $6250/m or $75k/year, but this is not an "Expat package"......Typically persons on Expat packages are on a lot more...

Hmm, I earned $7,000 last month and I paid just 8,000 baht for my house monthly rent

Do you think it's time I upgraded my property, perhaps a house that is not on stilts

Simon

[tartempion]

Alwaysright he?

You sound more like an idiot to me

[Scully]

I am 21 have 2000K baht to spend every month and retired when I was 19.

Its easy to talk sh ite on the internet.

Life is too short to worry about money as many of us know.

[Alwaysright]

Alwaysright he?

You sound more like an idiot to me

Only an idiot would live in Issaan.

[PhilHarries]

We are all here, "here' being wherever you are, on a budget. If you ain't got it you can't spend it. When the spondulaks run out you follow suit one way or another.

Simples.

[Chaimai]

Alwaysright he?

You sound more like an idiot to me

Only an idiot would live in Issaan.

I beg your pardon ?

[Thakkar]

<snip>

i can only imagine the old fart that started this topic wishes he was young again

seeya

Sigh... we all wish we were young again. But not young and stupid. Just young.

[Thakkar]

I aqree 100%,the reason for my post.I retired at 46 and am set for life.

That kind of cockiness is what inspired the phrase "famous last words"

[Thakkar]

My retirement(pension) is 120,000 baht a month,investments another 120,000 baht a month,I can live on one or the other.I never spend my monthly income no matter how hard I try=====PARADISE.

If you can't spend a measly 240k Baht a month, you're just not trying hard enough.

[Thakkar]

As far as enjoying the company of younger woman, Oscar Wilde wrote of the person who " ... knows the price of everythging and the value of nothing."

Although my much appreciated Oscar had very little experience in enjoying the company, so-to-speak, of any women, younger or older!

Made-up Oscar Wild quote:

Oscar Wilde on Space Travel

"One doesn't need a large rocket to send a probe to Uranus." ~ Oscar Wilde

[geronimo]

Earning 40,000 baht a month seems a waste too when one can make more money in Uk or Europe.Who wants to work for 200 gbp a week totaly crazy

What you earn isn't important .... what you can buy with it is!!!!

[joorakee]

This is actually a topic that concerns me when seeing young expats in Thailand. And by young, I mean under 40. Unless you've already made a bundle and are simply enjoying life here, then you are squandering your most productive earning years. Let's face it, if you've come to Thailand with little to no net worth, you're going to be in trouble later in life. It's rare to see a working expat who's making enough to actually save for the future (unless you're working for a foreign company/govt). And since no job will qualify you for a pension, you're pretty much on your own to build a nestegg of some sort. It's rather foolish to be working here at age 28 when you can be working in the west doing the same job for probably 10 times the pay. Maybe some of these young guys don't look past tomorrow, but I'd never come here to live unless I was already financially sound. A no-brainer, in my mind. Foreigners don't become rich in Thailand unless they bring it with them!

I think that it depends on where you come from. F.e., in my home country (Poland) there are many young people working for very low salaries (those who neither want to emigrate nor have sufficient qualifications to earn decent money in Poland). They will never be able to get a pension of an equivalent of 60k baht allowing them to obtain a Thai retirement visa because they don't earn even a half of it despite being in their "most productive earning years".

The same could be said about citizens of richer countries who for some reasons also cannot count on a good salary or success in their own business.

IMHO it might be better for such people to spend their best years in Thailand (or another place in the world they love) and maybe go back to their countries after having enjoyed the life before getting old. By 'enjoying the life' I mean - among other things - living in a warm climate (instead of spending those frosty winters in Europe - that is one of the reasons why I migrate seasonally ).

[lazygourmet]

Earning 40,000 baht a month seems a waste too when one can make more money in Uk or Europe.Who wants to work for 200 gbp a week totaly crazy

What you earn isn't important .... what you can buy with it is!!!!

[Heng]

Depends.

Probably couldn't have found a better place to get my business off the ground when I was 21-22. Low wages to be paid out, not much in the way of red tape, no worries as to zoning/fire codes/etc.