40K A Month Isn't Enough Anymore

[norrona]

the glory days of early 2000's I survived on B20k a month retainer when I first started working....good times indeed....not having much money made me appreciate it when I started to earn more

that was just me on my own and the occasional gf, mind you I was a young handsome man in those days with a car(provided by work) and a mobile phone so I suppose I looked the part....

if you not including rent then surely B40k a month is suffice for 1 person....as long as you not on the razz in the bars everyday then surely it has to be?

I would say that 30k a month without rent is fine,1,000 baht a day is ample for anyone,spend less in the week and more at weekends.

exactly.....you not on the booze every night and have 1 or 2 nights a week out then is all the better....

some people need to decide if they are actually settling or on 1 big long holiday till the cash runs out?

[kevvy]

If I couldn't do that I would be unhappy.

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If circumstances were such that you had to make do on less, I would hope you'd find a way to still find happiness.

Just to give some perspective, some of the Jews waiting to be exterminated by the Nazis found ways to be happy.

or people running away from their rent

[mrtoad]

the glory days of early 2000's I survived on B20k a month retainer when I first started working....good times indeed....not having much money made me appreciate it when I started to earn more

that was just me on my own and the occasional gf, mind you I was a young handsome man in those days with a car(provided by work) and a mobile phone so I suppose I looked the part....

if you not including rent then surely B40k a month is suffice for 1 person....as long as you not on the razz in the bars everyday then surely it has to be?

I would say that 30k a month without rent is fine,1,000 baht a day is ample for anyone,spend less in the week and more at weekends.

I think that could be done for a single person. But, what about medical insurance , savings etc, etc? I must be getting old

[phutoie2]

Whats this 40K THB a month crap, I know of OAP's here surviving on 26K a month. Back home its called austerity.

[Keith67]

Many of the thai guy's don't have to worry about anywhere near B40k per month because the salary that the rich farangs are paying their "sister" usually helps no end.

[GuestHouse]

I first came to Thailand in 1990 ... 40K was not enough then, 2013 it barely covers transport and fuel costs.

[GuestHouse]

You're right if you've got an impatient mercenary wife, wrong if she has faith you're going to turn thing around.

Right if she's young and cute, wrong if she's older and/or unattractive.

Right if she's been raised with high expectations, wrong if she's straight off the rice farm.

Right if you're fat and old or a miserable old git, wrong if you're young and hansum or she really really loves you (whatever meaning you attach to that ambiguous term).

Bottom line - too many variables to say, each girl makes her own decisions and sometimes depends on the time of the month or on what side of the bed she got up this morning.

Wise words from a man leaving these shores with unpaid bills.... Tosser!

[Nautilus05]

None of the Thai guys I know on the estate I live in are getting anywhere near 40k a month.

The combined wage of most Thai families I know is 24-28k a month.

Generally the wife seems to have a better education (degree) and wage (14k) than the man (10k).

This is in a middle class, Thai only, estate just outside CM, bank staff, office workers, teachers, nurses, police, etc.

Another really odd happening

When the men get paid, end of month, they are expected to bring their wage packet home, unopened, and hand it to their wife. She will then open the wage packet, count the money and hand the guy 200-400bht for him to spend. She keeps the rest to pay household bills.

Nowhere close to a middle class income.

Yeah, I have to agree. I have no idea what my neighbors make, as it's rude to ask, but I'm quite confident it's higher than 28k/month. And they're just typical middle class as well. There's no way they could afford their lifestyles on 28k/month though.

[Keith67]

B20k a month is not an unreasonable amount to live on in the villages if your main expenses are already paid for i.e. house built and paid for, car bought and paid for, my bills in the village are exceptionally low in comparison to tourist areas:

• Elec TV all day, computer 5-6 hrs a day plus lights and fans (my choice don't like aircon) B500 per/mth
• Water - all uses including washing car and motorbike and water the garden B65 - 80 per/mth
• no rent
• fuel for car and motorbike B1 - 2000 p/mth
• Food - weekly trip to the big supermarket in town and local market shopping B10 - 12000 p/mth

Based on these main expenses it would leave around B5000 p/mth for things i have forgotten. It is possible if it was needed, my expenses in the village are low i don't scrimp and check all the prices of everything when i buy them but some months i only spend B25 - 30k, if i leave the village and go and stay in Bangkok or elsewhere for a month as my escape from village life then cost go up, rent alone for me in Bangkok is B17k a month although i don't spend time in the girly areas we do eat in nice places and a few drinks would mean yes B40K would be not be enough.

[mrtoad]

I first came to Thailand in 1990 ... 40K was not enough then, 2013 it barely covers transport and fuel costs.

Agree that 40k barely covers fuel, transport costs. I reckon I am spending between 4-6k a week on fuel. Add in the other bits, n surface, tollways, ferry tickets and its soon gone.

[MrHammer]

I don't agree. Anyone that can't be content at 40K will not be content at 400K

Happiness isn't getting what you want, it's wanting what you have.

Completely disagree. There are certain minimum levels of comfort that anyone over 20-25 will start craving. I've stayed in 100 baht guesthouses once too, but no way I will ever stay in one now. In fact, your statement sounds like something in a womans magazine.

Happiness is fleeting. The journey carries its own reward. If you never strive how would you know.

[jbrain]

I first came to Thailand in 1990 ... 40K was not enough then, 2013 it barely covers transport and fuel costs.

Agree that 40k barely covers fuel, transport costs. I reckon I am spending between 4-6k a week on fuel. Add in the other bits, n surface, tollways, ferry tickets and its soon gone.

Maybe you should go live closer to your work, for the 20.000 Baht/Month you spend on fuel I guess you can have a nice house or condo near your work.

[pattayadingo]

A discussion earlier today in this household might lend some reason to how they manage on so much less and this is only a simple example.

The g/f gave me a number 1 haircut with the electric clippers today and she was talking about her father getting a haircut. He pays 20 Baht. The boys pay 10 Baht at a barbers shop

.

Yes it is only one simple thing but still a very cheap example of what they pay compared to us.

[arthurwait]

None of the Thai guys I know on the estate I live in are getting anywhere near 40k a month.

The combined wage of most Thai families I know is 24-28k a month.

Generally the wife seems to have a better education (degree) and wage (14k) than the man (10k).

This is in a middle class, Thai only, estate just outside CM, bank staff, office workers, teachers, nurses, police, etc.

Another really odd happening

When the men get paid, end of month, they are expected to bring their wage packet home, unopened, and hand it to their wife. She will then open the wage packet, count the money and hand the guy 200-400bht for him to spend. She keeps the rest to pay household bills.

Nowhere close to a middle class income.

Yeah, I have to agree. I have no idea what my neighbors make, as it's rude to ask, but I'm quite confident it's higher than 28k/month. And they're just typical middle class as well. There's no way they could afford their lifestyles on 28k/month though.

Yep Mortgage or rent, car payments for a middle class standard car, school fees for a middle class level school, food, bills, estate fees all on 24 K . I doubt it.

A bangkok taxi driver and his wife on a minimum wage would make that would make that. My wifes cashier and his wife are on almost that and they are Laos.

Times that by 4 to 6 times and then it maybe lower middle class, but it is rather hard to define class by income here. Some of the richest people are the little old Chinese ladies who many live in their shops that were born into poverty who have built a business and reinvested everything in land in certain areas. While many rice farmers who are now very poor used to be the land owners and the little old Chinese ladies or her parents employer.

[yoslim]

A discussion earlier today in this household might lend some reason to how they manage on so much less and this is only a simple example.

The g/f gave me a number 1 haircut with the electric clippers today and she was talking about her father getting a haircut. He pays 20 Baht. The boys pay 10 Baht at a barbers shop

.

Yes it is only one simple thing but still a very cheap example of what they pay compared to us.

I pay even less, I do it myself. Once you cook your own food and buy local products or wait for the imported stuff on promotion the food bill gets cheap. As a foreigner I have some added expenses a Thai doesn't have:

Visa cost (expensive when under 50)

Proper health insurance

+ Home insurance as otherwise you will always be guilty

and of course as a farang not much chance finding an attractive gf who won't expect any money in return

Edited April 16, 2013 by yoslim

[mrtoad]

I first came to Thailand in 1990 ... 40K was not enough then, 2013 it barely covers transport and fuel costs.

Agree that 40k barely covers fuel, transport costs. I reckon I am spending between 4-6k a week on fuel. Add in the other bits, n surface, tollways, ferry tickets and its soon gone.

Maybe you should go live closer to your work, for the 20.000 Baht/Month you spend on fuel I guess you can have a nice house or condo near your work.

Maybe I also have that as well, but I also have a lot of traveling to do, so my expenditure won't come down, as I have several locations that I work from.

[soi41]

More importantly than how much/little you spend every month, is IMO if you have a buffer, should something unexpected happen. If having to change a timingbelt on your car, means you have to live on noddles for the rest of that month, then you are on thin ice. Personally I could easily live on 40k a month, no rent, don't drive alot, dress poorly and don't drink! But I do it by choice, not out of necessity.

So yes you can survive on very small money here, but I would not like to be without the safety of a little in the bank-account.

[NeverSure]

I am completely unable to parse this topic. How can anyone say how he will live? Some guys don't drink at all, don't like bars, and never wanted a bar girl. Others spend their first 40k on those things alone.

Some need a car and a scooter. Others are satisfied with a scooter and others with just public transportation. Many are avid bicycle riders.

Some spend 20k at the grocery store each month, and others buy from street vendors. Some eat out and some cook most meals and prefer it that way for health reasons and personal preferences.

Some get married and have kids and others don't even have a steady GF.

Some marry a teacher in Isaan who has a master's degree and makes 30k herself so together they have 70k. She may have a home on land the parents gave her and already have a car or pickup. She may already own a "robber" plantation.

Some marry a girl who's family members are leeches and have too many buffalo. The wife has no education and no income.

Some are very happy alone in a studio apartment staying single with the occasional GF who gets dumped if she wants too much money.

Some don't think they are living well unless they have a 6 bedroom home and a Merc.

A single guy with no debts who moved to LOS to save money can do just fine on 40K if he has no debts, even if he rents, and lives within his means. He simply must make proper choices in line with his income.

[kennedy]

This thread is another useless exercise. Why would anyone that can live on 40k or less a month give damn how much I spend? All I can say is, good for them.

[HardenedSoul]

I am completely unable to parse this topic. How can anyone say how he will live? Some guys don't drink at all, don't like bars, and never wanted a bar girl. Others spend their first 40k on those things alone.

Some need a car and a scooter. Others are satisfied with a scooter and others with just public transportation. Many are avid bicycle riders.

Some spend 20k at the grocery store each month, and others buy from street vendors. Some eat out and some cook most meals and prefer it that way for health reasons and personal preferences.

Some get married and have kids and others don't even have a steady GF.

Some marry a teacher in Isaan who has a master's degree and makes 30k herself so together they have 70k. She may have a home on land the parents gave her and already have a car or pickup. She may already own a "robber" plantation.

Some marry a girl who's family members are leeches and have too many buffalo. The wife has no education and no income.

Some are very happy alone in a studio apartment staying single with the occasional GF who gets dumped if she wants too much money.

Some don't think they are living well unless they have a 6 bedroom home and a Merc.

A single guy with no debts who moved to LOS to save money can do just fine on 40K if he has no debts, even if he rents, and lives within his means. He simply must make proper choices in line with his income.

Thank you for having the patience to type that out.

These threads can get ever so tedious

[FunFon]

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>> If I couldn't do that I would be unhappy.

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If circumstances were such that you had to make do on less, I would hope you'd find a way to still find happiness.

Just to give some perspective, some of the Jews waiting to be exterminated by the Nazis found ways to be happy.

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Words fail me, what a comment to make, what utter B*llSh*t

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"Naturally only a few people were capable of reaching great spiritual heights. But a few were given the chance to attain human greatness even through their apparent worldly failure and death, an accomplishment which in ordinary circumstances they would have never achieved. To the others of us, the mediocre and the half hearted, the words of Bismarck could be applied: Life is like being at the dentist. You always think that the worst is still to come, and yet it is over already.” Varying this, we could say that most men in a concentration camp believed that the real opportunities of life had passed. Yet, in reality, there was an opportunity and a challenge. One could make a victory of those experiences, turning life into an inner triumph, or one could ignore the challenge and simply vegetate, as did a majority of the prisoners."

-- Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

Very very highly recommended reading for those subscribing to the myth that one's happiness depends on external circumstances

Edited April 16, 2013 by FunFon

[GooEng]

10/10 for tasteless irrelevance FF - what are you on?

[jonnyscot]

Depends how much you're prepared to piss up against the wall, pay for one of the pretty ladies or whichever way you swing,,,

I know when I was single a number of years back I spent far more then than I do now supporting my wife and 2 children

[NeverSure]

10/10 for tasteless irrelevance FF - what are you on?

He's "on" a runner to avoid unpaid rent bills.

[rsokolowski]

Why are expats always comparing a Thai salary with Farangs ?

If you want to live like a Thai middle class , and only eat Thai food most of the week , share a small room and pay 3000 in rent , yes you can afford it with 28k per month if you like for your whole family!

But you are not a Thai , you need to keep your western habits , so forget it.

Why does anyone "need" to keep western habits? You may "want" to keep western habits or maybe not and that is fine. I eat only Thai food most of the week and I currently live in Hawaii. I cannot comprehend living in a foreign country and not eating the local fare more often than not, but to each his own.

[FunFon]

10/10 for tasteless irrelevance FF - what are you on?

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I find it disturbing when people claim they "couldn't be happy" unless they had a certain minimum standard of material comfort, when they already have more than 90% of the people in the world, maybe 99%, many of whom somehow manage to find at least their fair share of happiness from the more important things in life.

[Neeranam]

Your joking right ? 40k a month!!! More like 120-200k a month when you add eating out 7 days a week, shopping, bar bill nightly for the man 2k. The wife drinks water.

Villa staff costs 20k ,

Then bills such as car fuel ,

I've met people out here who say they live on 30k their lives are very fugal (right word ?)

I'd love to know how you accomplish that!

I assume you're a tourist?

What's wrong with eating in - probably 90+% of the world do exactly that.

2k a night bar bill is throwing money away.

Frugal is the word you're looking for and it'd the wrong word - economical is better.

I used to live on 35k a month with 2 kids, car payments of 7000 and rent 3500. Actually, I look back on those days with very fond memories.

[Gweiloman]

I first came to Thailand in 1990 ... 40K was not enough then, 2013 it barely covers transport and fuel costs.

Agree that 40k barely covers fuel, transport costs. I reckon I am spending between 4-6k a week on fuel. Add in the other bits, n surface, tollways, ferry tickets and its soon gone.

To both the above comments, <deleted>.

If you are spending this amount of money on transportation, then this is a business related expense and does not count as normal day to day expenses. If you don't believe me, check out what GAAP says.

[Neeranam]

I first came to Thailand in 1990 ... 40K was not enough then, 2013 it barely covers transport and fuel costs.

Agree that 40k barely covers fuel, transport costs. I reckon I am spending between 4-6k a week on fuel. Add in the other bits, n surface, tollways, ferry tickets and its soon gone.

To both the above comments, <deleted>.

If you are spending this amount of money on transportation, then this is a business related expense and does not count as normal day to day expenses. If you don't believe me, check out what GAAP says.

Get LPG - I only spend about 1000 a month on fuel. I agree, total BS.

[Gweiloman]

40k a month is very little money to have any decent sort of lifestyle. It's hardly sufficient for a single guy, so if such a guy earns only this and still have a gf, then he should consider himself very lucky in being able to score.