Expats living on 20000baht per month

[sinkorswim 80]

I have been living here for 15 months now. For the first 12 months I went crazy....as you do. I was spending approx 150000 baht per month.

 

Now I have calmed right down (bored of going out all the time) and this month my expenses are approx 45000baht for everything. I do own my own car. Fuel bill is 2000baht per month....dont really use it that much. Condo rent is 9000baht (very nice 2 room penthouse condo with no rooms either side), UBC 2200 baht, internet 1000 baht, electricity 700 to 2000 baht (average 1300 baht), telephone 1000 baht. 5000 baht for my wife to buy shit that she doesnt need. So that is 21500 baht before you eat or buy any other essentials.

 

I live in chiang mai.........cheaper up here.

dont go out anymore

keep fit every day (membership already paid for the year so cost nothing)

eat healthy thai food

dont smoke

 

My 45000 baht includes all rent for condo, bills, food and misc.

 

 

My question is some expats on here say they live on 20000baht.............HOW????

 

This is a genuine question I am curious to know how you do it. I am married dont drink or butterfly and still spend 45000 baht per month. I just really cant see how it is done on that ammount especially if you go out to as some BM's seem to do.

 

Please enlighten me as to how you do it with cost breakdown.........really would like to know how it is done.

Edited July 22, 2006 by sinkorswim

[elef 0]

If you own a condo or a house I think it's possible to live on 20,000 even in Pattaya. Else I have met some guys staying in rural areas living on even less than 20,000 and they have very low pensions and moved here years ago.

 

Still you must remember the rules for the NON-IMMIGRANT VISA "O-A" (LONG STAY) - visa for retired persons

A copy of bank statement showing a deposit at the amount equal to not less than 800,000 Baht or an income certificate (an original copy) with a monthly income of not less than 65,000 Baht, or a deposit account plus a monthy income totalling not less than 800,000 Baht.

Source

 

So they can expect big problems renewing their visas.

Edited July 22, 2006 by elef

[sinkorswim 80]

Ok. So say you take of the 9000baht I pay rent that still leaves outgoings of 12500 baht without food or essentials.............HOW???????

 

no aircon usage

no TV

no telephone

no internet

no wife/girlfriend

forgot to add water bill in my equation. So no showers too

 

If that is the answer I would rather be in the UK.

Edited July 22, 2006 by sinkorswim

[elef 0]

You must live like a thai to manage it on 20,000

 

electricity 1,500 baht

water 500 baht

internet 1,000 baht

food 3,000 baht

mobile 500 baht

 

gives you 13,500 baht for GF and nightlife.

[ting_tong 63]

me:

electric 800

water 200

internet 200

mobile 300 to 500

food varies 3000 to 5000

GF 5000

 

right now, no rent. planning on buying my apartment

 

lets what soi 7 says

[elef 0]

ting_tong,

 

how big is your apartment? Just use aircon in the nights and fans rest of the time?

[kolobos 0]

I have a good mate who lives on Soi Khao Noi and lives on less than 20000 baht PM.

 

Owns his home so no rent

 

Electric 800

Water 200

Internet & Phone 1000

Food 3-5000

TV 2500

 

Total Overheads 9500-11000

 

He only goes out drinking though one week in every four (due to cash obviously and his health)

 

He is one very happy man with a great family life

[kolobos 0]

Still you must remember the rules for the NON-IMMIGRANT VISA "O-A" (LONG STAY) - visa for retired persons

A copy of bank statement showing a deposit at the amount equal to not less than 800,000 Baht or an income certificate (an original copy) with a monthly income of not less than 65,000 Baht, or a deposit account plus a monthy income totalling not less than 800,000 Baht.

Source

 

So they can expect big problems renewing their visas.

Not really an issue Elef as you can borrow finance required for a day from certain sources for a nominal fee

[sinkorswim 80]

me:

electric 800

water 200

internet 200

mobile 300 to 500

food varies 3000 to 5000

GF 5000

 

right now, no rent. planning on buying my apartment

 

lets what soi 7 says

Internet 200 baht...........I am getting robbed, pay 1000 baht per month for 1mb broadband with tot.......never get anywhere near that bandwidth but good for downloading torrent files

 

What about other things like....grooming supplies and how can you live on 100 baht per day for food. I am genuinely interested as to how people do it. I am happy with 45000baht per month but that is my absolute bottom line where I would be happy. I have only been out 1 time this month and spent 1000 baht.

[Gary 4,119]

When I moved over here this time about three years ago I was retired and a little worried about what it was going to cost me. I kept very accurate record of everything I spent on a spread sheet. My budget would allow no more than $1,500 per month. After four months I quit keeping track because I was averaging about $1,100 per month. About half of the was for bed partners, bars and booze. Knowing I could comfortably live on $1,100 I bought a condo and got a live in girlfriend. That dropped me down to about $600 per month. She did the laundry and cooked great food.

 

Since then I have moved into her house up country. The amounts are now in baht. The major bills are, and these are maximum amounts, electricity 1200, water 100, Ipstar shit Internet 2,500 and UBC 1600. I give my wife 20,000 baht a month and she pays everything except the annual insurance premiums and my occassional trips. She has about 5,000 baht per month left over to put in her savings account. I won't put up with cheap food so we eat well. The insurance premiums would come to about 3,400 baht per month so I'm sure I could live on 20,000 per month without giving up anything.

[Soi7 1]

This was posted on another Board a month ago.

 

 

In a few days I will have been here 1 year. I have kept track of the moneys spent to do so and give or take a couple a couple of thousand Baht 265,700 is what the year has cost me all in. yep 22,142 Baht a month.

 

This includes 3 Cambodia trips and 3 overnights in Bangkok. so removing that from the equation. Leaves 193,700 or 16,142 baht a month or 539 Baht a day.

 

Before moving here I planned on living on 40,000 a month so things have worked out better than planned.

 

Having a live in was the Key for me as well as not smoking or drinking. Also an important point is that I do not have any insurance as I have been twice refused. This would have added to the costs as well.

 

I did not have to change my style of living much at all that was another big factor. Lived pretty much the same in the states.

 

Living here on a budget can be done and a good time still can be had question you must ask your self is can you do it

[elef 0]

kolobos,

 

I know that but authorities have signalled that they in future want proof that money is there all the time. For most not a problem I think but some of the old guys retiring here more than 5-10 years ago can have serious problems if this new rule is enforced.

[BigDUSA 71]

For one month I lived on 30K. I had a liv in girl friend, stayed at Sky-Top and went out a couple of nights a week drinking. I had a good time but it was tight. If I cut out the drinking and cigarettes, I could get it down to 20K.

 

Thank God I don't have live on that amount but it can be done.

[Rex7777 0]

Don't forget, you can also qualify with proof of income, or some combination of income and a bank account.

 

I'm going to try to go the route of just proving the monthly income. I might put some money in a Thai bank, but I'd rather avoid it.

 

At least for the Americans here, I think you can get some sort of letter from the US Embassy certifying to your income.

 

Rex

[ting_tong 63]

ting_tong,

 

how big is your apartment? Just use aircon in the nights and fans rest of the time?

in feet:

15 wide 11 tall 30 long

2 stories

2 bedroom, 2 bath

bedroom in back where its cooler, aircon on at night only.

 

I hangout downstairs where its cooler.

[ting_tong 63]

Internet 200 baht...........I am getting robbed, pay 1000 baht per month for 1mb broadband with tot.......never get anywhere near that bandwidth but good for downloading torrent files

 

What about other things like....grooming supplies and how can you live on 100 baht per day for food. I am genuinely interested as to how people do it. I am happy with 45000baht per month but that is my absolute bottom line where I would be happy. I have only been out 1 time this month and spent 1000 baht.

I eat a lot of thai street food, and go out to nice restaurants 2x a week.

That keeps the GF happy.

 

I use wireless internet, 200 baht for 60 hours.

 

I am not on a budget, but not worried on what I spend (kinda)

[Chivas 0]

I'm sure people certainly can and do live on 20,000 baht a month but I personally cannot see the point of being in Los (apart from warm weather) on the equivalent of £65.93 a week.

 

 

As you start to get seriously older PROPER medical cover alone will take this amount from you ??

 

IMO and I do respect that others have a different outlook but the minimum I would be happy with is 70,000 a month and I would need to be sure that this amount is "inflation/index linked" by whatever method, before I considered dropping anchor.

 

 

Chivas

[Owen` 2]

Perhaps a new tidbit of sorts I haven't babbled about before.

 

The quotes of monthly living expenses vary because guys have different tastes, ages, drink/smoke or don't drink/smoke and like to take trips or don't. But one thing that can be addressed explicitly is the concept of :

 

I own my condo so I don't have any monthly housing expense.

 

No, gents, it doesn't work that way.

 

Let's take the case where your condo does not appreciate. You buy it and someday can sell it for what exactly what you paid for it. No gain; no loss.

 

You ante up maybe what, 400,000 baht for it? Maybe that's a snazzy condo. Maybe not. Don't know the square footage. Don't know what that equates to as the going price. That's $100K USD but lets talk baht for the Brits.

 

So: did you pay cash? No mortgage? Let's assume so. You took 400K out of your bank account and took possession of a condo.

 

Now you pay no monthly rent. But. What you do pay is what that 400K would have earned in interest if it was still in the bank. At 5% annually that's 20,000 baht per year. / 12 = 1666 baht per month.

 

So owning that 100K condo costs you 1666 per month in lost interest. Yes, it's likely rent would be more than that, so you're ahead, but your cost is not zero. It's just less than it would be renting.

 

Now let's look at the case of having a mortgage. Say you borrowed 300K baht and put up 100K baht of your own money. That cost above just described is now 1666/mo divided by 4 or 416 baht per month. Added to it is your mortgage rate on the 300K borrowed. Call it 6.5% (??). That's 19500 baht/yr or 1625 baht per month. Add those two together and you get 1625 + 416 = 2041 baht/mo.

 

Yes, no question now you have to deal with upkeep, maintenance, plumbers, broken refrigerators, everything that a landlord used to deal with. That is all part of housing expense -- but no way anyone can put firm figures on it.

 

The point of this is owning the condo does not mean one's monthly housing expenses (aka rent) is zero. Some kind of avg monthly number needs to go in that blank on the piece of paper -- and it's not 0.

 

I'm not addressing risks of not being able to sell. Not addressing risks of property tax (if ever). Not addressing lots of stuff in the buy vs rent decision. I'm must addressing this one tiny matter of a few thousand baht a month that may be inappropriately absent from budgets.

Edited July 22, 2006 by Owen`

[wannabeexpat 0]

Its good to read everyones figures. I am moving to los in about 2 months. I read everything about living costs and work out the figures all the time. The most I will have to live on is 70,000 baht per month without dipping in to savings. I think I can manage it but I do worry if it will be enough. Some months it could be half that. One of the figures I can never work out is food. Everyone says 3000 to 5000 baht. I think it will cost about 300 per day(3 thai meals and a soft drink in a restuarant as I cant cook). so thats 9,000. It might only be a 6000 difference, but thats almost 10% of my maximum budget.

Is car or motorbike insurance expensive? Never seen any figures for that.

[ting_tong 63]

You ante up maybe what, 400,000 baht for it? Maybe that's a snazzy condo. Maybe not. Don't know the square footage. Don't know what that equates to as the going price. That's $100K USD but lets talk baht for the Brits.

 

So: did you pay cash? No mortgage? Let's assume so. You took 400K out of your bank account and took possession of a condo.

 

Now you pay no monthly rent. But. What you do pay is what that 400K would have earned in interest if it was still in the bank. At 5% annually that's 20,000 baht per year. / 12 = 1666 baht per month.

 

So owning that 100K condo costs you 1666 per month in lost interest. Yes, it's likely rent would be more than that, so you're ahead, but your cost is not zero. It's just less than it would be renting.

 

Now let's look at the case of having a mortgage. Say you borrowed 300K baht and put up 100K baht of your own money. That cost above just described is now 1666/mo divided by 4 or 416 baht per month. Added to it is your mortgage rate on the 300K borrowed. Call it 6.5% (??). That's 19500 baht/yr or 1625 baht per month. Add those two together and you get 1625 + 416 = 2041 baht/mo.

Do you mean $10,000 (10k) or 100k ($100,000)

 

A thai bank aint going to lend you shit, unless you have the money to cover the full amount in your account.......so why would you borrow in the first place?

 

I dont know if you ever sat in the chair and talked to a thai banker, they will treat you like you are a crook, dont have money, and you are equal to a Lao or Cambodian.

Although at work at home, what you may earn in 1 hour is what that guy makes in a whole day at his job

 

I am not trying to have a go at you, but you added the extra zero and possibly calculated at $100,000 USD and got your interest rates from that?

[ting_tong 63]

Is car or motorbike insurance expensive? Never seen any figures for that.

I think my motorbike was 230 or 440 baht a year? motorbikes are one of the deadliest things in pattaya......I am in issan, and its still deadly there.

[BigDUSA 71]

I'm sure people certainly can and do live on 20,000 baht a month but I personally cannot see the point of being in Los (apart from warm weather) on the equivalent of £65.93 a week.

Where else can a guy live on this amount with the added benefit of a beautiful Thai women as a liv in? If you know of any other countries with the same level of infrastructure as LOS and similar cost of living , I want to know where it is.

[Owen` 2]

Do you mean $10,000 (10k) clueless.gif or 100k ($100,000) clueless.gif

 

A bad error on my part Ting Tong. Good catch, and frankly that makes the situation more profoundly serious. The error derived from my difficulty accepting that a condo might only cost $10,000 USD. Turns out I should have trusted that it would be 100K USD and adjusted the baht total accordingly, not vice versa.

 

The calculations were done in baht. 5% of 400K baht is 20K baht per year, but that is now moot and wrong.

 

I suppose the example is very poor because no condo will cost that little. I'll scope the condo threads and see what is a typical number and re-present the numbers.

 

Okay, I'm back. Typical condo costs that people are looking at seem to weigh in at :

 

having seen the prices for rental it makes me doubt the wisdom of paying 12 million THB or so for a 2 bedroom in Northshore ....thats as much or more than some guys retire on

 

or

 

View Talay asking prices are 35,000 to 45,000 THB per m2

 

((the conversion from square meters to square feet is 1 sq m = 10.7 sq feet))

Americans think about living space in sq ft, not sq m.

 

Typical 2 bedroom seems to be 105 sq m (1020 sq feet).

 

This would make typical 2 bdroom ViewTalay about 4.2 million baht.

 

So, in general, everything in the previous post in baht should be ramped up by a factor of about 10 for what is typical. Purchase price 4 million baht. Lost interest per yr 200,000 baht at 5% (= 16666 baht/mo). Just because you own the condo doesn't mean you have no housing costs. That lost interest income is a housing cost and should be somewhere in the budget.

 

Y'all can repeat the calculations for the mortgage case.

 

Sorry for the very serious error and well done to TT for popping it. It's all about getting accurate data to guys. It's not about anything else.

Edited July 22, 2006 by Owen`

[Owen` 2]

Oh hell, since I f'ed that up, here's another tidbit I have noticed guys not paying attention to.

 

 

"I have a car. Gas costs me X baht, insurance is Y baht. Oil changes Z baht. My annual costs are therefore X + Y + Z and monthly /12 and I don't pay the bus or train or tuk tuk or mototaxi to go to BKK or up north or out of town."

 

No. You forgot depreciation. It's not some vague bullcrap thing. It's real.

 

You buy a car for 600K baht, you ain't selling it 3 years from now for 600K. In the US the depreciation rate would be about 300K of the 600K baht over 3 yrs for a brand new car. That car therefore cost you XX = 300K/3 years = 100K/yr.

 

So car annual costs are X + Y + Z + 100K. Don't ignore it. Don't pretend it's not there. It is. It is money every single year dropping off the car onto the ground and evaporating away. The car ages, it's worth less. It ain't an investment. It's an expenditure.

 

I left off maintenance on the presumption something < 3 yrs old won't need it. If you get an older car the depreciation rate is usually slower, but you'll pay more for repairs.

Edited July 22, 2006 by Owen`

[ting_tong 63]

owen', you know whats funny, there is almost no depreciation in a thailand car, those fuckers that are selling used cars want almost as much as a new car. And an old car is selling for 3/4ths of the original new value, even if its nearly 10 years old.

 

Its all because of the thai banks lending money for car buyers, and the buyers defaulting the loans. In a Thai buddhist culture, all is forgiven, and the buyer just goes and gets another loan from another bank, and gets a new car.

 

The mentality with cars is amazing, its not like in the USA, when you drive off the lot. Another one is motorbikes, they hold their value too.

 

ting