Don't buy any health insurance -- it's only for suckers.

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Unless you've got kids and insufficient resources to cover major crisis events like head injuries, meningitis etc

Just look for policies with very high deductible/co-pay, won't cover routine stuff, but very high upper limits for the big stuff.

Wealthy relatives back home may suffice but at your own risk and shame. . .

Fly economy rather than business class but truthfully who could be bothered with that.

Right I'm only kidding.......the sister question to the OP is, how do you earn more in Thailand or overseas? Surely maximising your income is as important as cutting your expenses?

(Well at least for the Crab):

Move to the sticks.

Yep, works for me:-)

Fly economy rather than business class but truthfully who could be bothered with that.

Right I'm only kidding.......the sister question to the OP is, how do you earn more in Thailand or overseas? Surely maximising your income is as important as cutting your expenses?

I'm not going to get into that bucket of crabs.

Don't buy any health insurance -- it's only for suckers.

-

Unless you've got kids and insufficient resources to cover major crisis events like head injuries, meningitis etc

Just look for policies with very high deductible/co-pay, won't cover routine stuff, but very high upper limits for the big stuff.

Wealthy relatives back home may suffice but at your own risk and shame. . .

Here here.

To really live on the cheap cheap do this:

1. Sell everything you have.

2. If you can't sell it... give away to Temple to make merit.

3. Take money a buy one really big meal and enjoy evening by splurging.

4. Take rest of unspent money wrap in plastic wrap and stick up A**.

5. Rob bank and give up.

6. Thais will give you place to sleep, food every day. and even a shower once in awhile.

7. Use money in A** to stay alive in hospitality suite.

8. You will not need to worry about spending money for least least 20 years.

9. Enjoy your vacation.

One more: make sure all your cash assetts are working as best they can, not just some of them.

Plenty of <6000 baht rooms around,

eat thai food at mom & pop shop, or buy take away

skip ladydrinks & paid female companionship,

skip being white knight as well,

yes, go-go was my biggest expense, by far !

plenty of <2000 Baht rooms around.

I rent a complete house for 6000 Baht

My greatest saving was getting a credit card that charges 0% for transactions and withdrawals abroad.

Hunting around for a place to live that does not cost a fortune. I pay 7,000 a month for a 2 bed house.

Cook it yourself (not always easy in a condo).

Get the g/f / wife to buy things - always cheaper.

Thai markets often a lot cheaper.

Torrents are cheap.

A carton of cigs in Tesco is cheaper than 7/11 (so I discovered the other day) saving 40 Baht.

Shower together

edit

Add to that, use the local clinic to see the doctor. It can save a lot on medicines. I get a lot of mine at half the price of a pharmacy. That includes the cost of seeing the doctor.

Quit smoking. That will save you around 3,000 to 5,000 baht per month. Commute by bicycle (not even a motorcycle). Cycling in Bangkok was a lot of fun - did that for three years. Cook your own food. Not difficult to pack a ham, bacon or chicken salad sandwich. Buy secondhand vehicles (provided it is in tip-top condition). Ask yourself - do you really need designer products? Live in smaller towns or in the province. This may not be as exciting as living in the metropolis but if you want to cut down on expenses - you many have to make sacrifices.

A wise man said - "It does not matter how much money you earn each month. What matters is how much money you have left at the end of the month."

Fly economy rather than business class but truthfully who could be bothered with that.

Right I'm only kidding.......the sister question to the OP is, how do you earn more in Thailand or overseas? Surely maximising your income is as important as cutting your expenses?

Providing practical advice to TV forum members who are, on average, 50 years of age and over seems a bit odd to me. Perhaps the best advice I could give people would be to get counseling before coming over here, possibly saving your marriage thus avoiding a costly break up in turn saving you from having to come to Thailand to live cheap.

Or use the energy saving button on your AC unit to save a few baht.

Le

Don't consider a GF that

has ever left home or worked outside the family farm fields or in construction

has learned any English

has been with a foreigner

ever touched a computer

From a money saving perspective, I would think you could save more money by having an educated GF who has lived out of home and does speak English. She would be earning her own money, so your contribution would be less. She would have experience of earnign her own money and having had to budget that salary to live month by month. Her being able to speak English (if you cannot speak Thai - I cannot) will also save you money every day on purchases, negotiations, transport etcetera.

Even the most basic phone these days has internet capabilities and access to computers is cheap and readily available.

Le

Don't consider a GF that

has ever left home or worked outside the family farm fields or in construction

has learned any English

has been with a foreigner

ever touched a computer

From a money saving perspective, I would think you could save more money by having an educated GF who has lived out of home and does speak English. She would be earning her own money, so your contribution would be less. She would have experience of earnign her own money and having had to budget that salary to live month by month. Her being able to speak English (if you cannot speak Thai - I cannot) will also save you money every day on purchases, negotiations, transport etcetera.

Even the most basic phone these days has internet capabilities and access to computers is cheap and readily available.

He just means that those girls ask less of a salary of an older farang then the educated ones. They are easy to please so for a sexpats point of view those girls are cheaper. The girls you describe would want a guy that looks ok, has some manners, humor ect. They are not the typical play things he looks for

Le

Don't consider a GF that

has ever left home or worked outside the family farm fields or in construction

has learned any English

has been with a foreigner

ever touched a computer

From a money saving perspective, I would think you could save more money by having an educated GF who has lived out of home and does speak English. She would be earning her own money, so your contribution would be less. She would have experience of earnign her own money and having had to budget that salary to live month by month. Her being able to speak English (if you cannot speak Thai - I cannot) will also save you money every day on purchases, negotiations, transport etcetera.

Even the most basic phone these days has internet capabilities and access to computers is cheap and readily available.

He just means that those girls ask less of a salary of an older farang then the educated ones. They are easy to please so for a sexpats point of view those girls are cheaper. The girls you describe would want a guy that looks ok, has some manners, humor ect. They are not the typical play things he looks for

That's the type of girls that BigJohnnieBKK used to recruit to his Perverted Pygmalion Prep School in Bangkok. What a coincidence.

Le

Don't consider a GF that

has ever left home or worked outside the family farm fields or in construction

has learned any English

has been with a foreigner

ever touched a computer

From a money saving perspective, I would think you could save more money by having an educated GF who has lived out of home and does speak English. She would be earning her own money, so your contribution would be less. She would have experience of earnign her own money and having had to budget that salary to live month by month. Her being able to speak English (if you cannot speak Thai - I cannot) will also save you money every day on purchases, negotiations, transport etcetera.

Even the most basic phone these days has internet capabilities and access to computers is cheap and readily available.

He just means that those girls ask less of a salary of an older farang then the educated ones. They are easy to please so for a sexpats point of view those girls are cheaper. The girls you describe would want a guy that looks ok, has some manners, humor ect. They are not the typical play things he looks for

That's the type of girls that BigJohnnieBKK used to recruit to his Perverted Pygmalion Prep School in Bangkok. What a coincidence.

He turned them into the girls they he could not afford.. the irony.

Install a bar in your house like I did.

If people want to live a western-style life here, stop bleating about the cost, you have made your choice.

If living a slightly more restricted (and maybe healthier) life-style is below you, then stop bleating about the cost...... your choice again.

If all you want to do is drink and monger, then stop bleating about the cost....... choices blah blah blah

Some people would not be able to stop complaining, no matter where they lived. No matter how hard I try, I cannot understand the mentality of people who come to Thailand and then continually look down on Thai people and things thai. There are simple cut-backs we could all make, and the advice on maximising income in LOS (or anywhere else for that matter) is sound. In fact, I was discussing exactly the same point with someone just the other day. It is called self-help, people...easy to do with a little thought and effort.

And as an extra piece of advice, make sure you don't burn your bridges. No one can be sure that we will continue to afford to live here (for those of you experts that are actually IN Thailand), so we need a clear plan B. I have mine.... I made d@mned sure I had it in place before leaving my home country, then the continual discussion of "Can you live on X,000 baht .... X-10,000..... X-20,000 baht" becomes so much less important.

Prioritise, budget, plan ahead and do something positive to improve your life if you are dissatisfied with it.

In short, make your bed and lie in it.

Don't consider a GF that

has ever left home or worked outside the family farm fields or in construction

has learned any English

has been with a foreigner

ever touched a computer

-

From a money saving perspective, I would think you could save more money by having an educated GF who has lived out of home and does speak English. She would be earning her own money, so your contribution would be less. She would have experience of earnign her own money and having had to budget that salary to live month by month. Her being able to speak English (if you cannot speak Thai - I cannot) will also save you money every day on purchases, negotiations, transport etcetera.

-

As an old fat poor guy who couldn't settle for an older unattractive gal nor willing to deal with an assertive equal partner, I think the odds of my getting what I want from your profile to be pretty miniscule. As I said what works for me, not claiming a universal formula.

Question........ Why all these save-save-save-cheap-cheap threads?

Give credit - some readers have set themselves up with a lifestyle plan yonks ago.
Easily enough to see them off this mortal coil.

Their house - It's paid off at a great fx rate many years ago... yes?

It's small, with no spare rooms or 14 toilets - because that's all ya need ( some folk know - some folk show)
The wife is the owner - so no rent, no taxes, no accountants, no factors, no water or refuse charges...
no recycling fines. Not even a swimming pool- just a quiet garden pond. Also the electric bill will be proper domestic rates.

The ubiquitous diesel truck - again bought new at a generous fx rate ....yes?
It doesn't need any add-on-toys as it's a family workhorse & part of rural life.The wife is the owner/ driver - so no fines/bribes, no breathalisers, no accident hassles or lawsuits to ever bug ya.

With 800,000 for immigration untouched in an account for many years - the fx rate shouldn't be a calamity.
The other daily current account is run on Wilkins Micawber's principle. Yes?
They can just eat, drink and enjoy life within that personal allowance.

The internet trumphs any cable or dish offerings - in price, content and quality, and they've been collecting torrent goodies.. right?
Fits in with their own home HD cinema - it's private, comfortable and quiet - [or loud].

They've planned ahead, haven't they ? No nanny state and no one to answer to [except the wife].
They enjoy the freedom and the money they have already saved in a working lifetime.

Seldom stupid. These guys are independent and self sufficient. They know value for money in Thailand,
and don't need to read yet another TV thread about it......................

..........is Songkran finished yet? I need to get out more.

Elitist faffle

-

Question........ Why all these save-save-save-cheap-cheap threads?

...

These guys are independent and self sufficient. They know value for money in Thailand,

and don't need to read yet another TV thread about it.

-

So like you said, therefore don't need to read them, much less bother to comment questioning the reason for their existence as if everyone who isn't as clever and lucky should just shut up and disappear off the face of the earth?

Most of people's financial problems in LOS can be tracked back to simple naivete.

There's not many pensioners in the UK saying to themselves yippee, now I'm retired I can go get a new young family.

On top of that, most people have never been great earners in the first place. To me the expectation / reality equation is all wrong, and the fault behind that lies with the individual. You need to have realistic expectations as to what you can afford in Thailand, and have a deep think about the commitments you're taking on.

If I was staying here long term I would be in one of those modern condos that are dotted about CM at 4-5000 baht a month, driving a motorbike, and basing my life on the Thai economy. I could live so cheap here it's unbelievable, use CM as a base to explore Asia, and have the occasional fancy blow out.

That's how I live my life now and I don't see why it should change greatly after retirement.

if ( big if ) I got captured by some Thai enchantress, she'd be working for a living. One of the best ways to ruin a relationship is to encourage unsustainable expectations. I haven't worked all my life to blow all my money on some Thai lazy *rse, and you can guarantee that there is no way that I would drop a coin of my family wealth into an unrecoverable position.

Could you imagine me telling my parents, " after all the effort you put in to build the family fortune, I blew it on a scally "?.

Be realistic about your expectations and defend your assets with your life and you're in with a chance, do the opposite and it will be all over before you know it.

Cut the booze. Save a fortune there for many guys

Come on, the Lao Kaow at 60 Baht a bottle can't be a deal breaker.

It's not the cost of the alcohol itself so much but the consequences of the "decisions" taken while under the influence.

And for many the side effects of long-term abuse, examples of ultimate costs there abound.

Fly economy rather than business class but truthfully who could be bothered with that.

Right I'm only kidding.......the sister question to the OP is, how do you earn more in Thailand or overseas? Surely maximising your income is as important as cutting your expenses?

Fly economy rather than business class but truthfully who could be bothered with that.

Right I'm only kidding.......the sister question to the OP is, how do you earn more in Thailand or overseas? Surely maximising your income is as important as cutting your expenses?

I'm not going to get into that bucket of crabs.

I don't understand that.......when do you intend to live in Thailand full time? Surely maximising you're income would be important to you?

when you buy your caviar and champagne don't use your Honda Wave. walk and save on gasoline as well as on motorcycle wear and tear.

Don't leave the room except to buy groceries or in case of emergency. Not sure why but I find it hard to spend money when I'm at home

when you buy your caviar and champagne don't use your Honda Wave. walk and save on gasoline as well as on motorcycle wear and tear.

Only if you have medical insurance. Knee replacements are expensive!