Budget Spreadsheet

[klikster]

I'm working on a rather involved "Budget Spreadsheet" that I hope will take most things into consideration. One problem I have is that I'm an old bachelor with no kids, don't smoke, don't drink and don't chase the ladies .. or boys.

My spreadsheet has quite a number of functions but before starting on the formulas I want to resolve some factors.

One of the biggies is rent. I want to use multipliers for locations, with downtown BKK being the baseline.

What I have so far is:

bangkok party zone - 2

bangkok metro - 1

bangkok outskirts - 0.6

chiang mai downtown - 0.5

chiang mai outskirts - 0.4

phuket - by the beach - 2

phuket - inland a bit - 0.7

koh samui - by the beach - 1.5

koh samui - inland a bit - 0.5

hua hin / cha-am - by the beach - 1.25

hua hin / cha-am - inland a bit - 0.4

most other places - 0.4

I have lots of other items to resolve, but one thing at a time.

Feedback and guidance appreciated. /\

[ashacat]

Busy day then...

[Buckwheat]

You forgot Pattaya - 74.6

[PeaceBlondie]

I don't get it. To me, a budget spreadsheet would be for a specific location. Rental costs are just too variable, even from house to house, to even have a factor. Just yesterday, somebody from Chiang Mai said you can't get a decent sized condo for less than 10,000. And, he said housing in BKK is about the same as Chiang Mai. Then, how come I got an 85 sq.meter one for 6,500?

How are you going to coordinate all this? I think you need a separate spreadsheet for each city. But there are no set numbers. You won't even get a cocky Bangkokian to agree with the next one.

[Firefan]

He,he - this is certainly an interesting task you have given yourself!

A newer 2 bedroom(say 100-130 SQM), "western style" condo, with pool/gym/security in BKK can cost from 20k/mth up to 150k/mth(just recalling listings from memory). Such a big range is hard to cover with your "factors".

I think your budget sheet is an exercise in futility... - but hey; as long as you are having fun and it takes your mind of work!

Cheers!

[chiang mai]

I'm working on a rather involved "Budget Spreadsheet" that I hope will take most things into consideration. One problem I have is that I'm an old bachelor with no kids, don't smoke, don't drink and don't chase the ladies .. or boys.

My spreadsheet has quite a number of functions but before starting on the formulas I want to resolve some factors.

One of the biggies is rent. I want to use multipliers for locations, with downtown BKK being the baseline.

What I have so far is:

bangkok party zone - 2

bangkok metro - 1

bangkok outskirts - 0.6

chiang mai downtown - 0.5

chiang mai outskirts - 0.4

phuket - by the beach - 2

phuket - inland a bit - 0.7

koh samui - by the beach - 1.5

koh samui - inland a bit - 0.5

hua hin / cha-am - by the beach - 1.25

hua hin / cha-am - inland a bit - 0.4

most other places - 0.4

I have lots of other items to resolve, but one thing at a time.

Feedback and guidance appreciated. /\

I have a different kind of spreadsheet I put together about seven years ago and it has proved to be very reliable and accurate. In a nutshell it allows you to enter the amount of money you have in savings/investments (it caters for baht, Sterling and the Euro), allows you to plug in your fixed annual costs (anticipated monthly spend, rent etc) , an annual rate of return on your investments and an annual rate of inflation - you can input different numbers for each of the next twenty years. When you are finished entering your numbers you will be able to see the effect all the factors have on your capital and where you stand at the end of each of the twenty years. I call it my time to die spreadsheet, (joke, in slightly bad taste). PM me if you want a copy.

But just a few words on your spreadsheet - I'm afraid that is an exercise in futility since it is possible to find similarly priced properties in each of the locations you describe, albeit I suspect you would not wish to live in many of them. choosing a place to live in Thailand is driven more by a set of factors that are not primarily cost driven. But good luck anyway if it keeps you occupied.

[London Crocodile]

You forgot Pattaya - 74.6

You are joking are you not? Pattaya is hardly 'the place to live'.

More likely it should get a +2 as you would have to pay me to live there.

Though i think you just mis-understood the way it works and that was what you were getting at?

[Buckwheat]

You forgot Pattaya - 74.6

You are joking are you not? Pattaya is hardly 'the place to live'.

More likely it should get a +2 as you would have to pay me to live there.

Though i think you just mis-understood the way it works and that was what you were getting at?

No,

He didn't say anything about "wanting to live" anywhere.

I just pointed out he forgot Pattaya and I put an outrageous cost factor in as a joke.

All his numbers are entered with a - (dash) not a - (minus)

Good luck finding someone to pay you to live in Pattaya

[klikster]

You forgot Pattaya - 74.6

Sure did! *grumble* .. thanks, Buckwheat.

[klikster]

I don't get it. To me, a budget spreadsheet would be for a specific location. Rental costs are just too variable, even from house to house, to even have a factor. Just yesterday, somebody from Chiang Mai said you can't get a decent sized condo for less than 10,000. And, he said housing in BKK is about the same as Chiang Mai. Then, how come I got an 85 sq.meter one for 6,500?

How are you going to coordinate all this? I think you need a separate spreadsheet for each city. But there are no set numbers. You won't even get a cocky Bangkokian to agree with the next one.

I'm using the spreadsheet to get my factors and formulas so I can make a budget tool. Yes, lots of variables on each and every item.

Co-ordinate?

Edited November 29, 2006 by klikster

[klikster]

He,he - this is certainly an interesting task you have given yourself!

Yes, it is a little tedious but there is a method to my madness.

A newer 2 bedroom(say 100-130 SQM), "western style" condo, with pool/gym/security in BKK can cost from 20k/mth up to 150k/mth(just recalling listings from memory). Such a big range is hard to cover with your "factors".

There are several layers of factors, but working them over one at a time seems the best approach. Another multiplier considers "quality" (bad choice of word but ..) .. like "budget" = .5, "normal" = 1, "living well" = 2, "living really well" = 4

I suppose I'll need a set of multipliers for "size" as well .. but that is yet another factor.

I think your budget sheet is an exercise in futility... - but hey; as long as you are having fun and it takes your mind of work!

Cheers!

I have a pretty clear vision about the application. I'm just getting the numbers set up so I can hand it over to a PHP coder.

[PeaceBlondie]

Don't forget to factor in the length of the string, the thickness of the thread, the strength of the thread, the color of the thread, its origin, its destination, and 987 other factors.

[klikster]

Don't forget to factor in the length of the string, the thickness of the thread, the strength of the thread, the color of the thread, its origin, its destination, and 987 other factors.

Including a line item for string won't be necessary as I do so little shipping / tieing that the cost of string is covered under incidentals.

[PeaceBlondie]

Don't forget to factor in the length of the string, the thickness of the thread, the strength of the thread, the color of the thread, its origin, its destination, and 987 other factors.

Including a line item for string won't be necessary as I do so little shipping / tieing that the cost of string is covered under incidentals.

klikster, that was my failing attempt at British humour, as in "How long is a piece of string?"

Enjoy.

[leisurely]

I understood it PB . Didn't think it was funny, but I understood it. don't understand the OP's budget thing, but money was never my strong point. if this was 1806 I would be in debtors prison:rolleyes:

[lordofdelusion]

Well, if you don't smoke, drink or like ladies or boys, you should consider Kansas.

[klikster]

Well, if you don't smoke, drink or like ladies or boys, you should consider Kansas.

Didn't say I don't like ladies .. said I don't chase them (throwing wads of hard earned cash at them).

Smoking. That's a no brainer.

Booze .. almost as destructive.

Kansas? Hardly.

Although I do realize that a lot of expats consider a person doesn't belong in Thailand unless he lives a 24/7 hedonsitic lifestyle.

[klikster]

Don't forget to factor in the length of the string, the thickness of the thread, the strength of the thread, the color of the thread, its origin, its destination, and 987 other factors.

Including a line item for string won't be necessary as I do so little shipping / tieing that the cost of string is covered under incidentals.

klikster, that was my failing attempt at British humour, as in "How long is a piece of string?"

Enjoy.

I did get it. My attempts at humor are often a layer or so deep and sometimes .. um .. arid.

[klikster]

don't understand the OP's budget thing, but money was never my strong point.

Sort of like: assuming "normal" "baseline" rent is Bt 7, 500 in Bangkok Metro. In the party zone it's 2X=Bt 15,000. For "living well" = 2x resulting in a budget figure of Bt 30,000.

The spreadsheet isn't for my budget .. I have a very good handle on that .. it's for an online tool I'm making.

Has about 20 line items .. rent is only 1.

[tom_a]

Hi Klikster,

I admire that your taking the time to develop a budgeting system that can not only help people already living in Thailand, but it will also be an extremely important tool for people who are considering moving here. This idea of yours is in my opinion, the one best tool that will be on this site. Please don't let anyone deter you from your goal. I can offer you a few styles from another site for you to review. This site is a Philippine site that I'm talking about, so I think it will be okay to state it here because thereis no dirrect competion or anything like that with this site and theirs. you can find the site on yahoo.com and go to the list on their that says groups and highlight thst, and then type in the nameofthe group you want, which is cebucitytoday . That board actually works together for allfellow members, andjust maybe, you can turn this siteinto something personal, and very useful for all of us.. Please let me know of how I can help;

Tom

[klikster]

Hi Klikster,

I admire that your taking the time to develop a budgeting system that can not only help people already living in Thailand, but it will also be an extremely important tool for people who are considering moving here. This idea of yours is in my opinion, the one best tool that will be on this site. Please don't let anyone deter you from your goal. I can offer you a few styles from another site for you to review. This site is a Philippine site that I'm talking about, so I think it will be okay to state it here because thereis no dirrect competion or anything like that with this site and theirs. you can find the site on yahoo.com and go to the list on their that says groups and highlight thst, and then type in the nameofthe group you want, which is cebucitytoday . That board actually works together for allfellow members, andjust maybe, you can turn this siteinto something personal, and very useful for all of us.. Please let me know of how I can help;

Tom

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the nice words. I'll have a look at the Philippine group. And I'll be getting in touch via PM.

Regards,

[klikster]

For those several here who had worthwhile comments about this project, a first version of the calculator is on the web. If you are interested in seeing it, please PM me and I will send you the URL.

Thanks and regards.