Monthly Outgoing Estimation

[Bmouthboyo]

Hi guys,

My wife and I will be heading to Bangkok to work for 2 years next week and I have been trying to put a cash flow estimation in place so we know roughly where we stand. Obviously everyones spending is subjective but I was wondering if you could cast your eyes on this and say if you think it is about right.

We will have our accommodation and health insurance provided but think all bills etc we will need to cover. We will living in a suburb near a BTS station.

Transport THB 4,000 Food THB 10,000 Gas ?? Electricity THB 4,500
Internet THB 700 Water THB 250 Phone X 2 THB 3,000

We will obviously be spending more at first but just wondering what a young married couple with no kids generally spend on bills / services each month.

Thanks

[Swiss1960]

Up your food expenses. 10'000 Baht, 2 persons, 30d will give you 166 Baht per day for 3 meals per person... nowhere enough, except if you always eat home or from food carts on the street. put in at least double

young, married, without kids => add few thousand for entertainment (drinks, cinema, bowling, pool, eating out, weekened travel to see things etc.)

[i claudius]

whatever figure you eventually come up with ,double it .

[amykat]

I agree with Swiss1960, your food budget is too low, unless you are crazy frugal. Even if you eat at home a lot, if you are Western, you will tend to make Western food, which isn't cheap here. I spend at least half your daily (one person) budget on drinks, at home, (not alcohol), just some diet coke, a coffee, a real green tea, each day, etc.

You could live off your budget, it you really needed to, but if you both have jobs, I doubt you need to, so you probably won't.

[Bmouthboyo]

Thanks guys. At present we are living of one salary and part of this journey is to save some money. we basically have a surplus after savings and then when bills are paid split the remainder for personal spending money, gifts. We have always had our own money so this way we retain some independence and not feel guilty when buy a PS4 or she buys some shoes lol

So looking like 20000 TBH is in order. We do like cooking in the west but am sure we will be tempted out more to eat out. We are not food snobs however and are looking forward to eating local food.

I do however like to Lash, however that will have to come out of my personal allowance (circa 10000 tbh a month).

[h90]

Up your food expenses. 10'000 Baht, 2 persons, 30d will give you 166 Baht per day for 3 meals per person... nowhere enough, except if you always eat home or from food carts on the street. put in at least double

young, married, without kids => add few thousand for entertainment (drinks, cinema, bowling, pool, eating out, weekened travel to see things etc.)

Well as you tell, if you cook yourself it is easily enough, if you eat outside not.

As well do you drink water or do you drink orange juice at 80 Baht a liter. I sometimes drink 2 packs in the evening=160 Baht.

If you like a good bottle wine on the evening, your budget for food for one week is gone.

[Salapoo]

We always eat at home 5or 6 days a week.

Spend 4000b a week in the local Tesco and Big C, this also covers basic household items.

[amykat]

So looking like 20000 TBH is in order. We do like cooking in the west but am sure we will be tempted out more to eat out. We are not food snobs however and are looking forward to eating local food.

I do however like to Lash, however that will have to come out of my personal allowance (circa 10000 tbh a month).

Are you saying that 20,000 baht is enough for your regular expenses? Because your original budget adds up to more than that, and everyone is telling you that your food budget is unrealistic. Or are you saying that 20K baht for FOOD is now "in order"?

Just checking. And what is Lash? It seems expensive, in comparison to your regular budget of expenses anyway! As much as your food??

[Bmouthboyo]

So looking like 20000 TBH is in order. We do like cooking in the west but am sure we will be tempted out more to eat out. We are not food snobs however and are looking forward to eating local food.

I do however like to Lash, however that will have to come out of my personal allowance (circa 10000 tbh a month).

Are you saying that 20,000 baht is enough for your regular expenses? Because your original budget adds up to more than that, and everyone is telling you that your food budget is unrealistic. Or are you saying that 20K baht for FOOD is now "in order"?

Just checking. And what is Lash? It seems expensive, in comparison to your regular budget of expenses anyway! As much as your food??

Sorry i should have been clearer. 20000 seems more like what we will allocate to food for us both now bith formeating out and in, althouth that seems bit high given we are OK eating cheaper street food. Lashing is the art of consuming alcohol in a proffesional manner ( nights out in beer) lol. That will be covered by our seperate "allowance" of 10000 just for personal stuff.

[theblether]

50,000 a month and your in with a chance, and if your not careful you'll do that in easily.

[Nana Cowboy]

Wow another cost of living thread. OP you can gather the info from this thread and also research the other hundred threads on this topic. a wealth of info on here regarding this

[oldsailor35]

Did you budget for a monthly trip back to watch the CHERRIES ?

[homeownership]

My monthly outgoings for a comfortable existance in Chiang Mai (cheaper than most cities) is between 50,000 tbh to 65,000 a month, I do eat out a lot, just because cooking here is not pleasant, sweating like a dog every meal time, when there is ample tasty treats to eat everywhere you look.

You can live in less, of course but I didnt move to Thailand to live frugally. I came to live.

[rct99q]

Ah homeowner, see they have let you out again to play with the others for awhile. Yes we all know your excessive monthly budget, you are the sultan of chiang mai.

Desr OP not sure how long you have been in Thailand but just think a bit on a budget like food.

30 baht for a rice and anthoer item say three times a day say times 2 people times 30 days about 5400 baht. Now not sure if your wife is Thai or not but my wife enjoys the odd snack every two hours or so plus a cha yen, maybe a fanta some fruit, the odd trip to the local 7 and so on.

Search monthly budgets in the forum and you will get plenty of info.

Good luck in Bangkok it should be a lot of fun.

[h90]

We always eat at home 5or 6 days a week.

Spend 4000b a week in the local Tesco and Big C, this also covers basic household items.

But no alcohol or smoking, or?

I think with local market it could be even less.

[Salapoo]

We always eat at home 5or 6 days a week.

Spend 4000b a week in the local Tesco and Big C, this also covers basic household items.

I think with local market it could be even less.

Probably.

Thanks for the comment, I forgot my wife mainly buys her food from a local market she pops out to every morning. No idea how much she spends, but it isn't inc. in the 4k p/w we average at Tesco/Big C. Also doesn't cover weekend cooking when I take over. Spent 800b on the way home today in Villa just getting the stuff for a big lasagne tomorrow. Still to get some baguette and a bottle or two of red.

So perhaps the 4k p/w was a bit misleading.

Edited August 2, 2013 by Salapoo

[Salapoo]

My monthly outgoings for a comfortable existance in Chiang Mai (cheaper than most cities) is between 50,000 tbh to 65,000 a month, I do eat out a lot, just because cooking here is not pleasant, sweating like a dog every meal time, when there is ample tasty treats to eat everywhere you look.

You can live in less, of course but I didnt move to Thailand to live frugally. I came to live.

50-65k sounds about right.

Don't you have an aircon kitchen and living room? Cooking and eating at home should be a joy, not a chore.

[Bmouthboyo]

Did you budget for a monthly trip back to watch the CHERRIES ?

Haha luckily I am a rugby boy so no interest in them toe tappers!

I appreciate there are lots of threads in cost of living, i was more just wanting to focus on if my bills and food expenses were about right. We really want to not only explore asia with this new job but save some money for a future deposit on probably a UK home, as back in blighty it is almost impossible to save at the moment. As a result we want to live on as near to 50000 baht a month as possible (accommodation already provided).

If however proves we are missing out we could save less but not ideal. She is British btw.

[Salapoo]

50k for two, accommodation provided will be fine for level headed people.