Greenwanderer's Iq

[britmaveric]

Scampy comes to mind when I think of only eat westen food. (by far the most expensive option)

Any rate if you are willing to do so then who cares? (down to personal preference)

[greenwanderer108]

untill someone actually will post a daily food budget (not including social drinks) that make the 20k/month and confirm that it is their average budget for the year as an expat in Thailand, I will leave this debate alone...

now it seems that i'm not even arguing that 20k/month is excessive but more arguing that the expats who say they easily make such a food budget actually don't and haven't tooken the time to actually calculate their budgets to confirm so...

back to my ego please

[moonoi]

Well my food budget works out at 200 per day on average

I don't eat much western food (just the odd pizza once or twice a month)

Breakfast - 30 baht

Lunch - 50 baht

Dinner - 50 baht

Drinks for the day - 70 baht (with meals)

EDIT: Forgot to add I don't cook food at home as I don't have a kitchen. Quite often have those 5 baht instant noodles though...but thats not cooking

Edited May 11, 2006 by moonoi

[bkkmadness]

Not that I do spend that amount of money on food but theres definately some that do mtch and exceed 20k. I think if I was given free reign in villa mart of the emporium I could quite easily pass 666 baht a day with all the imported food there and thats without a bottle of wine to go with it.

I tell you what greenie, you give me 240 k, and in a year I'll have that budget knocked up for you dude.

[Jai Yen Yen]

Well my food budget works out at 200 per day on average

I don't eat much western food (just the odd pizza once or twice a month)

Breakfast - 30 baht

Lunch - 50 baht

Dinner - 50 baht

Drinks for the day - 70 baht (with meals)

Wow! 70 baht on drinks! Steady on, old chap.

[moonoi]

Well my food budget works out at 200 per day on average

I don't eat much western food (just the odd pizza once or twice a month)

Breakfast - 30 baht

Lunch - 50 baht

Dinner - 50 baht

Drinks for the day - 70 baht (with meals)

Wow! 70 baht on drinks! Steady on, old chap.

Thats a lot of drinks Can of coke/sprite/lipton lemon tea/green tea etc etc is just 5 baht from my office and coffee is free. Take some cans' home too.....I'm mr cheap

[britmaveric]

Now if you really want to piss off greeny lets post what we spend on lager/spirits a month.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

For you Jd, I don't think it's about the education of why you value degrees, IQ tests, Menstrual clubs, etc..

Freudian slip there greenwander108?

[Ijustwannateach]

People who mention extravagant budgets for things are usually either very innocent (they're so rich they have no idea what money is usually worth to most people) or very vain (they do know how much things cost and they want to brag). However, I can see some of the expats on good salaries or who are local business owners having fairly extravagant lifestyles... one of the people in my social circle is a local business owner and he probably spends 1000-2000B per meal at least once a day, largely because he is a heavy wine drinker. That said, he doesn't need to buy other alcohol and he already is "married" so he doesn't have huge social expenses; plus, I'm not really sure that he saves all that much money. However, he would be far from average even among foreigners, much less among Thais.

Once you get past about 70-80K (I'm not talking from personal experience but from what I see with other people ) if you don't have a family to support or major mortgage or car payments or Taj Mahal scale rents, you have either a lot to save or a lot to spend... personally, I'd try to do better with it than food, but a lot of people like their cheese and wine... And 70K is not out of the realm of possibility in BKK, even without a degree- I think it would take a few years and it might be ###### hard, but it wouldn't be impossible.

Intelligence, whether or not it is measured by IQ, is only a part of the success story. You need a lot of luck, education and training, hard work, help from others, and a suitable range of opportunities. GW, I think you should consider more education sooner or later, but you'll survive without it if you work hard.

"Steven"

[dantilley]

untill someone actually will post a daily food budget (not including social drinks) that make the 20k/month and confirm that it is their average budget for the year as an expat in Thailand, I will leave this debate alone...

Well, it will prbably be left alone for a while then. Sure, there are loads of people out there who spend 20,000 a month on food, and many more who'd spend closer to 40K - but most of them probably don't even know what thaivisa.com is.

[greenwanderer108]

...

I tell you what greenie, you give me 240 k, and in a year I'll have that budget knocked up for you dude.

dude...my gross income for the year is around 240 k

[chonabot]

...

I tell you what greenie, you give me 240 k, and in a year I'll have that budget knocked up for you dude.

dude...my gross income for the year is around 240 k

What would that be net ?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

...

I tell you what greenie, you give me 240 k, and in a year I'll have that budget knocked up for you dude.

dude...my gross income for the year is around 240 k

What would that be net ?

It wouldn't last all that long in downtown London Chon

[phibunmike]

... (but higher than I would expect from "aloud")

that's my point about being away from home for so long...spelling is something that takes on new forms once you've been away from 'reality' for so long...you get the flow yo?

Mensa state? What the heck is that ? Is that supposed to be common knowledge for someone who can score 129 on a fake IQ test, that happens to be advertising for the US military?

Anyway, I know the IQ test is a bunch of ballocks...Anyone who takes a Critical and Creative Thinking Class and get an A grade will automatically score 100+ on the IQ test from mastering the Deductive / Inductive rules-fallacies of western logic...

That's why I referred to Gardner's Multi-Inteligence test....though I haven't a clue if there is free online tests for that...

IQ is nothing to do with knowlege or education, it is innate intelligence (at least that is what they try to measure, but it is hard to remove sociological factors).

100 on the scale is supposed to be "average", so of course anyone who can get an A in anything should score above that.

But why am I bothering. Just write more and give us all laugh......

[Sing_Sling]

Have they dropped yet?

Seriously, though - he does write well and can defend himself verbally - judging by his astral physique he could probably do in the odd overweight expat as well.

[Dakhar]

GW

You seem to insist on justifying your choice to be poor. As though trying to achieve financial freedom/greatness is a bad thing.

Well, the day your kid nocks his teeth out, and you can not afford to take him to the hospital, or the day your kid needs new shoes, and you have to tell your child to wait a few more months...

Remember your postings here, remember the vast amount of time you used to create those posts... rather than hunkering down with the text books. Remember how you scoffed at those that have achieved. Then pat yourself on the back, and tell yourself, you were a high school genious. That should make everything better. Pat yourself on the back, and remember how a company tossed 30K into the trash investing in your academic future in the form of a scholarship. I hope you take the time to reflect back, and think about how smart you are.

[jdinasia]

some people would just rather be poor! <not many people ... mind you .. but some!>

It's rather amazing the exptremes people will go to to justify their "stuff"! The whole food budget argument is based on someone that THINKS ... I only make 20k a month how can someone spend that much for food! Tmw I'll be off to the buffet .. at Shangri la .... with a moderate bottle of wine it'll be about 2200pp Based on the model of 666 a day ... that means I have to starve the rest of the day ... and about 2.25 more days. Or simply reducing the next 6 days budget accordingly makes that 410baht/day. Now ... assuming not even ONE more decent meal in the week then 20k a month is a doable budget! But if you add in a Fri night out at a GOOD place then you'll blow the budget by about 12k a month ... If you have a 300 baht lunch every day and no brekky ... and eat streetfood at night you could still maintain the 410 a day ... except then you'd not be able to eat anything on the day you went to Shangrila ....

Now ... that we know it is easy to blow out the OP's budget can we let it rest that even though one persno thinks it is extreme ... that in fact it is reasonable?

As for the Original question of the OP's IQ ... well he could actually get it tested By a real test .... But that might blow the monthly budget too! It is a shame to see someone with some real potential (not in anything that requires spelling though) struggling by on 20k a month and raising a kid. Where's the home ownership gonna come from later? Where are the school fees for a decent school for the child going to come from?

Oh well ... certainly not my problem Hope the OP thinks it all through though!

[Donz]

Im starting to get tempted in posting some pics now.

[psychedelix47]

Nothing wrong with being poor and thick.

I'm a happy man!

[LaoPo]

Im starting to get tempted in posting some pics now.

Forget 'modesty' for a moment....

LaoPo

[oopapasan]

Not bright enough to understand the IQ Test you took (and the link you posted) is little more than an Email Address Gathering Scam.

Just read the posts on TV and you will see the reaults of a low IQ

[dantilley]

Now ... that we know it is easy to blow out the OP's budget can we let it rest that even though one persno thinks it is extreme ... that in fact it is reasonable?

Exactly... I mean why is this figure of 20K such a banchmark figure? Why not try to argue against a really large figure like 50K? Although even that's prefectly doable for people who have enough cash.

Funny how not one person's written in even slight agreement to GW on this food budget issue...

[slackula]

Not bright enough to understand the IQ Test you took (and the link you posted) is little more than an Email Address Gathering Scam.

Just read the posts on TV and you will see the reaults of a low IQ

If you are all so worried about giving out an email then [snip ]

[Nawtilus]

forget the iq test - you got any more hulk hogan-esque photos?

Don't go there, certain individuals around here just do not have a sense of humour. Butt never the less, I would love to see the reverse angle pose, see if we got a natural wedgey happening

[greenwanderer108]

GW

You seem to insist on justifying your choice to be poor. As though trying to achieve financial freedom/greatness is a bad thing.

<bla bla bla blank rants and woes>

Where do you get the idea that I'm poor? I'm not justifying anything. I said I'm content with my career and lifestyle as of now.

You prove my point that (most) expats who make twice, three, four times as much as me and live in Thailand are ignorant and don't know the actual value of money / life. If I'm poor, 95 percent of the world is poorer than I. Almost every government official that has worked less than 15 years in Thailand also makes less than me...and you have the nerve to call someone (who independently makes more than such people) poor...???

And your points about the kid losing his teeth or needing new shoes....give me a farking break nimrod! Private dental work and medical service in Thailand is affordable even to someone who makes half as much as me. Not to mention, my son is a Thai citizen so in the event I'm not capable of affording bizarre doctor fees for some major emergency, he qualifies for government medical schemes..

And shoes (and the rubber industry in a whole) are mass produced in this country for export and domestic use, you have no point...there are plenty of shoes to go around for every body and their second couzins.

What you need to do Darka is get out from your air conditioned imported car, take a walk outside and actually meet and talk to 'real' Thai people. You will be surprised that people who don't make tens of thousands of baht per month actually aern't starving, scraping the rice pot with their hands, toothless, shoeless, suffering of mass diseases, or whatever else misconceptions you seem to have about Thai people (and other foreigners who are content).

some people would just rather be poor! <not many people ... mind you .. but some!>

It's rather amazing the exptremes people will go to to justify their "stuff"! The whole food budget argument is based on someone that THINKS ... I only make 20k a month how can someone spend that much for food! Tmw I'll be off to the buffet .. at Shangri la .... with a moderate bottle of wine it'll be about 2200pp Based on the model of 666 a day ... that means I have to starve the rest of the day ... and about 2.25 more days. Or simply reducing the next 6 days budget accordingly makes that 410baht/day. Now ... assuming not even ONE more decent meal in the week then 20k a month is a doable budget! But if you add in a Fri night out at a GOOD place then you'll blow the budget by about 12k a month ... If you have a 300 baht lunch every day and no brekky ... and eat streetfood at night you could still maintain the 410 a day ... except then you'd not be able to eat anything on the day you went to Shangrila ....

Now ... that we know it is easy to blow out the OP's budget can we let it rest that even though one persno thinks it is extreme ... that in fact it is reasonable?

As for the Original question of the OP's IQ ... well he could actually get it tested By a real test .... But that might blow the monthly budget too! It is a shame to see someone with some real potential (not in anything that requires spelling though) struggling by on 20k a month and raising a kid. Where's the home ownership gonna come from later? Where are the school fees for a decent school for the child going to come from?

Oh well ... certainly not my problem Hope the OP thinks it all through though!

JD, despite you lavishly justifying an excessive food budget with your bottles of wine, etc....let me remind you that one bottle of wine for one day/meal, for one man is everything but moderate and can only be described as excessive. If you are drinking a full bottle of wine to yourself, that's not food budget anymore, that's fits into the social drink / entertainment / alcohal addiction budget.

For an executive from London, New York, or Tokyo visiting Bangkok for a conference / meeting, I could expect he / she to dine at the Shrangi la with a glass of wine with his/her peers/executives/coworkers/partners, etc....Five star hotel dining is reasonable for special occasions, etc...

but for a supposed expat living here long term, who insists that he must dine shrangila buffet with a bottle of wine to himself on a regular basis is simply a chump who doesn't know how to spend his/her money...the same guy who would never be caught dead having a drink of whiskey with any locals while they joke around eating somtam...better than everyone else

If this sounds like you Jd, all I have to say is GET THE F#CK OUT OF ASIA ! If you can acutally admit that you are better / smarter / more worthy than people who don't throw money around like it's growing from a mole on their ass, then I simply do not have one drop of respect for people like you to put it lightly.

As far as your curiousities about how someone can raise a family or be content and happy in life in my salary/budget range in Thailand, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Dahka...Go out, open your eyes to your surroundings, I assure you, you will meet millions of content Thais who have much higher living standards even than I with even lower salaries...it's not a matter or question of how it can be done---it is done by the masses...it's a matter of how it cannot be done by rich ignorant people who put themselves in a higher sacred box secluded from the majority of society.

For 42, you seem to be really close/narrow minded as well as oblvious to the world around you...But for someone who has never pro-created (so is the educated guess/assumption) and has spent his whole life following the path of his own father, I'm not surprised at all.

Now ... that we know it is easy to blow out the OP's budget can we let it rest that even though one persno thinks it is extreme ... that in fact it is reasonable?

Exactly... I mean why is this figure of 20K such a banchmark figure? Why not try to argue against a really large figure like 50K? Although even that's prefectly doable for people who have enough cash.

Funny how not one person's written in even slight agreement to GW on this food budget issue...

Funny, not one person (expat) has ever been able to confirm / prove that they actually budgeted 20k or more in one month as an average for only themselves...

Either they aren't daring enough to expose and prove my point how excessive 20k/month on food for one person actually looks written down in a daily/monthly/yearly budget,

or they simply don't spend that much for monthly average....which I'm starting to believe is most likely the case...

So rather than carry on a long arument of how it could / should / would be done, save everyone's time and don't post unless you actually show how it is done for you personally and confirm that you are an expat who lives here long term, and such an excessive budget is your average every month for the year...

[dantilley]

Funny, not one person (expat) has ever been able to confirm / prove that they actually budgeted 20k or more in one month as an average for only themselves...

Either they aren't daring enough to expose and prove my point how excessive 20k/month on food for one person actually looks written down in a daily/monthly/yearly budget,

or they simply don't spend that much for monthly average....which I'm starting to believe is most likely the case...

So rather than carry on a long arument of how it could / should / would be done, save everyone's time and don't post unless you actually show how it is done for you personally and confirm that you are an expat who lives here long term, and such an excessive budget is your average every month for the year...

Well, jdinasia did just that with his example including the Shangri La meal. Quite why you felt the need to shoot that down in flames is beyond me, as it's entirely up to him (or anyone else) what they do with their money. And, anyway, whether this spending is excessive or the behaviour of a "chump", as you so eloquently put it, is beside the point - that was a clear example given, as you requested, which disproved your point.

Edited May 15, 2006 by dantilley

[t.s]

Funny, not one person (expat) has ever been able to confirm / prove that they actually budgeted 20k or more in one month as an average for only themselves...

Either they aren't daring enough to expose and prove my point how excessive 20k/month on food for one person actually looks written down in a daily/monthly/yearly budget,

or they simply don't spend that much for monthly average....which I'm starting to believe is most likely the case...

So rather than carry on a long arument of how it could / should / would be done, save everyone's time and don't post unless you actually show how it is done for you personally and confirm that you are an expat who lives here long term, and such an excessive budget is your average every month for the year...

or they simply don't give a crap because 20k on food simply isn't outrageous

typical work week = 5 or 6 days

Daily breakfast: Starbucks triple grande latte, orange juice and quiche/croissant/salad for breakfast to be eaten at my desk. 250-70 baht depending on the food item chosen

At 250 baht daily x 5 that is 5000 baht a month for Starbucks alone.

Lunch, Japanese 3 times weekly -- Sashimi set salmon/tuna/salmon steak etc. - 400 Baht including green tea ( I like japanese though i often eat thai as well in the case of thai the expenditure is about 200 baht less weekly).

BTW: I eat japanese because it is healthy, convenient, and an option To the Au bon pain/macdonalds/thai food fair crap near to where i work. it is also really good and delivered to the office.

So far we are at 4800 per month already on lunch and we have only covered 3 days per week.

monthly total thus far -- 9800 Baht

Lunch once a week khao man gai 25 baht, V8 drink 48 Baht -- 292 baht (what can i say i love khao man gai)

monthly total 10092

italian 1 x per week for lunch 350 with bottle of sparkling water -- 400

month total so far -- 12092

gym 3 times per week( I wish it were more) -- protein shake after exercise 120 baht each -- 1440 monthly

monthly total -- 13532

dinner -- 1 x per week pizza (basilico delivered) 380 or something similar. no pizza hut or pizza company sorry. that stuff is crap.

monthly total -- 15052

Villa/Foodland average trip is about 2000 baht includes, vegetables, cat food, salami, ham, cheeses, breads, snacks, yogurt, fruit, beverages V8, Milk, eggs etc 2000 bi-monthly. monthly total 4000 baht

Grand total -- 19000.

This is not a budget, this is an after the fact accounting of the way i eat/spend money on food. as such it is a realistic picture.

I have not yet included hungover lunches from food by phone, weekend bruches at restauraunts like crepes and co., cuppa. dinners with friends at guisto etc. Nor have i included the cost of any booze or incidentals.

Dont even get me started on thai seafood like hoi nam rong, gung che nam pla, pla tot nam pla, gung yang etc. that hapens at least once monthly.

need i go on? my sashimi is here.

[greenwanderer108]

t.s.,

first off, let me thank you for actually attempting to post a budget...

To sum it up, you are an expat living long term in Thailand who consistently

eats/drinks starbucks take out 240 - 290 times a year

eats at an itallian resteraunt atleast 50 times a year

eats pizza delivery atleast 50 times a year

eats japanese sashami set atleast 150 times a year

drinks about 150 protein shakes in one year

And this makes up about 75 percent of his budget...

The other 25 percent is spent on carbs from the supermarket...which I presume at 1000 baht / week, must mostly be imported foods, with the exception of eggs, dairy, and most vegetables...

Being a (semi) resident of the land of Thais,

you manage to have Thai sea food roughly 12 times

and aprox. 50 plates of kao man gai a year...

well, this suggests your girlfriend (or boyfriend??) is either ugly or can't cook or you don't have one at all...oh the speculations....

Even after totaling all such privilidged eating consumer habbits up, you are still 12,000 baht short of the 240,000 baht / month annual food budget/average...

Your right to earn and spend such money on corporate and popular brands for whatever health / social status benefits is earned for whatever reasons, and to you and others who feel justified to do so isn't outrageous...

And for those of us who are largening up with just as many calories / protiens, intaking similar foods, though perhaps different markets / brands (replace the carb and protein drinks with beer )

and only spend a quarter of your food budget do find such lifestyles outrageous and excessive..

Personally, I despise the laziness of those who choose to eat out 90 percent of the time (on top of my personal view that anyone who doesn't know how to cook / doesn't like to cook is a lazy chump)...particularly when they are ignorant / not concious of the effects of their lifestyles / habbits.

For your 20 breakfeasts a month (240 per year) at starbucks, and 150 sashami sets per year, how much plastic is waisted to the dismay of the environment? Since it's so frequent, I would hope you would be concious enough to atleast seperate your dry / wet plastics, foams, and other garbage for the sake of recycling, cause I can assure you most recyclables aren't actually recycled in Thailand due to the laziness of the consumers. SEE this for reference

T.S. is the closest to making the 20k/month...but still not there...

[Diablo Bob]

t.s.,

well, this suggests your girlfriend (or boyfriend??) is either ugly or can't cook or you don't have one at all...oh the speculations.... How do you get from trashing a posters food numbers to this? Greeny, in case you have forgotten, your topic on this thread is YOUR IQ! You are defending your position statement poorly.......

how much plastic is waisted to the dismay of the environment? Since it's so frequent, I would hope you would be concious enough to atleast seperate your dry / wet plastics, foams, and other garbage for the sake of recycling, cause I can assure you most recyclables aren't actually recycled in Thailand due to the laziness of the consumers. SEE this for reference Again, who fu_king cares........ start another thread if you want to discuss the environment.

T.S. is the closest to making the 20k/month...but still not there...

[britmaveric]

Greeny life is choices - if one doesnt want to cook why should they? I guaranteed you if you were in the position that most of us are - you'd have vast changes in your life whether you consider them improvements is up to a debate.