Allan
Working in Phitsanaloke
Monthly Earnings 30,000
Q1. How much do you earn from teaching per month?
25,000 a month plus about 5000 a month in extra teaching. Minus 1000 baht tax and 750 baht health care. I get a pay-rise to 27,500 next year and can earn more overtime if I wanted.
Q2. How much of that can you realistically save per month?
10,000 baht could be saved but I put aside 6000 baht a month into a separate account.
Q3. How much do you pay for your accommodation and what do you live in exactly (house, apartment, condo)?
4,500 for a one bedroom unit. Includes satellite television, cable internet, and cleaning once a week. Room is provided by school
Q4. What do you spend a month on the following things?
Transportation
200-400
Utility bills
Nothing
Food - both restaurants and supermarket shopping
4,000 - 6,000
Nightlife and drinking
2,000 - 4,000
Books, computers
800
Q5. How would you summarize your standard of living in one sentence?
Comfortable and relaxed. Where I live means I can travel to Bangkok or Chiang Mai for three days get away. These trips cost me 10,000 baht and I do them once every two months.
Q6. What do you consider to be a real 'bargain' here?
Food
Q7. In your opinion, how much money does anyone need to earn here in order to survive?
15,000 a month would mean you would not be struggling to eat and could have a night out at a restaurant. 10,000 would be bare survival.
Phil's analysis and comment
Allan manages his budget well and lives the kind of life he wants to lead....all on about 30,000 baht a month. He doesn't squander large amounts of money on beer, food and entertainment but he seems happy with his lot. He uses the words 'comfortable and relaxed' to describe his lifestyle. Who is going to argue with that? Nice to see that he's managing to stick 6,000 baht a month in the tommy tank as well. Probably to fund those trips to Bangkok every couple of months.
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