Budget Check Taichung

Taiwan Moving to Taiwan
1

Thinking about moving to Taichung from US. Did I estimate costs correctly?

20501 townhouse

2050.1 utilities

1103.9 cell phone

473.1 internet

7885 groceries

946.2 consumable goods (toilet paper, toothpaste, etc)

0 health insurance and doctor visits/ medicine, dental cleaning and glasses/contacts

473.1 public transit

1261.6 three drinks per week

473.1 clothes (i spend $25/month in US)

2050.1 dine out twice per week

3154 sunday activities (i spend $50 per in US)

945 dog food/treats

475 dog medicine

315 dog insurace

475 veterinarian (twice per year $180each in US)

What about the cost of taxis or scooter ownership like repairs, parking, registration? Or gym membership? Don’t need someplace fancy. How about flights/hotels to China/Korea/Japan? How much AC can I use on this utility budget?

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Assuming one person:

Utility expense seems high unless you have old AC units and leaving them on 24/7

Health insurance is not free, it’s almost free. Glasses/contacts are not covered

Food budget sounds reasonable if eating alone and not going to fancy places.

Cell budget is a little high, you can get 5G unlimited at that rate

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3

Is Townhouse same as rent? Should be ok.

Doctor visits you need pay something, its not free (I think it went up recently), insurance you need pay something. Not all services are covered, should keep some money for that. (You can buy extra)

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I’m not really sure what you’ve done there - why are the numbers so weird and given to like five significant figures? Assuming they’re monthly amounts in TWD, I would say:

Might be a bit low for the summer, depending on the place and how much you use AC.

Seems a bit high to me. You can probably get plans costing that much, but they’d be on the high end. (I probably pay around NT$250-350 per month on average, with a prepaid plan.)

Might be a bit low. My plan is NT$937 per month (I could probably pay less, but I haven’t bothered looking into it.)

I think a bit low, if you’re cooking mostly at home with “Western” tastes. Probably doable though.

I don’t know why you’d assume this to be zero. Maybe a mistake?

Seems way too low. I’d count on NT$200-250 per drink as a minimum (for beers in bars), depending on what you’re drinking, so easily more than that for 12+ drinks a month.

Seems low for 8+ meals a month, unless you restrict yourself to eating in local places.

No idea.

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What do those numbers mean?

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Monthly in twd or yearly in usd? Looks confusing

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What would you expect to pay for a primary care or specialist visit? How about antibiotics? Cost of glasses or monthly contacts?

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Figures are in TWD, monthly.

Dont mind the decimals, its the currency conversion from excel.

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I second @Andrew’s response on every count, except utilities. 2k sounds about right if you have a job so you don’t have to have AC running 24/7.

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ill have a dog though so i will need to run ac 24/7. what would it look like then?

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$20,500NT for renting a townhouse? I would question this. I’m assuming this is out in the boondocks somewhere? Anywhere near the actual city is going to be much more expensive for pretty much anything. My newer 3 bed concrete apartment in Beitun is $25,000NT per month, and that’s relatively cheap for the area. I’ve been living in it for a while, and they haven’t upped the rent yet.

If someone can find a newer 透天 for $20,000 per month in Beitun, please let me know so I can move there ha.

The rental cost is going to vary widely depending on the area, age, and size of the place you want to rent.

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12

Majority of the things depends on a lifestyle. I’ll share my experience .

20501 townhouse

Depends where , check 591 website , I doubt you’ll get that for that price but I’ve heard some people managed to find something in that range unfurnished.

2050.1 utilities

Depends largely on your ac unit . Winter months you’ll be good with that budget, summer most likely not enough ( as you planning to use it 24/7 ) . During Covid I’ve worked from home and my AC was on 70% of the day, I’ve paid just for electricity 4k.

1103.9 cell phone

Cheaper . 吃到飽 with 2 year plan might cost you 5-700.
I use prepaid 80gb/120days for 1399.

473.1 internet

Most likely more , I’ve only paid for my home internet once , around 800nt.

7885 groceries

Depends how much you eat , how much you crave for western food , and how snacky you are .
I spend more than this on groceries .

946.2 consumable goods (toilet paper, toothpaste, etc)

Some months more , some months less .

0 health insurance and doctor visits/ medicine, dental cleaning and glasses/contacts

Every time you visit it’s gonna be 100-200nt plus you might need to buy some extra medicine . For premium you’ll pay .

473.1 public transit

They have tpass, everything included for 599 in Taichung or 999 including changhua , miaoli, Nantun . Can’t say much since I don’t know how much you’ll commute .

1261.6 three drinks per week

As someone mentioned it’s 12drinks/ month . Maybe from supermarket at home or at 7-11 is doable.

473.1 clothes (i spend $25/month in US)

You’ll see that you spend more .

2050.1 dine out twice per week

8times/month so around 250 per meal . Ramen will cost you 300nt , brunch 500nt and more . So dunno what kind of dine out you talking about.

3154 sunday activities (i spend $50 per in US)

No one knows your hobbies so no one can tell you . A hike can cost you nothing , a climbing trip can cost you 500nt, a trip to Taipei on hsr can cost you 1500.

945 dog food/treats
475 dog medicine
315 dog insurace
475 veterinarian (twice per year $180each in US)

I would highly recommend googling other forumosa posts about dogs , people talked about it and you can get a better idea. From my personal experience and people around me , owning a dog is expensive.

What about the cost of taxis or scooter ownership like repairs, parking, registration? Or gym membership? Don’t need someplace fancy. How about flights/hotels to China/Korea/Japan? How much AC can I use on this utility budget?

Taxis depends where you going , download Uber and put random addresses it will show the price . I pay 1k/month for the gym , some people pay more some less depending where they go .
Flight , hotels check skyscanner .
Ac you will only know after you live in your place for a month . Depends on ac unit , depends how much you pay per watt , depends how old is the house and so on .

Good luck

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Does your dog have a health condition? What kind of dog are we talking about? Does he need constant grooming?

Pet insurance is not so extended here. Taichung in general is cheaper overall than Taipei. But pet care is yes, expensive. Vet visits would be around 300 to 600 to whatever NTD if tests required. They have good specialists in Taichung, for example, there is a pretty famous pet dentist doing dental implants.

I’d budget more for food. Good quality raw feed if possible, if not, include wet food somehow, maybe something you can cook.

Budget the flea/tick medicine of your choice. I expect doggie will not be locked up all day and outside you’ll need him to be protected. There are too many mosquitoes here, so heartworm is a serious issue. Budget about 2000 NTD every 3 months at least.

Budget doggie day care - better for socializing - rather than AC on all day. Grooming and pet sitter as required - especially if you would like to travel around say Japan or Thailand. Be aware dog’s hotel will be more expensive than yours.

Taichung 's weather is cooler and overall better than Taipei 's. So AC use might not be as required. Dehumidifier though, is a must.

As for people issues, medical care is way more affordable than the US but not free. A portion of your salary will go into NHI. You usually pay about 200 NTD per visit at a clinic, at least 350 NTD in a hospital. No need to be referred, very quick service, plenty of choices.

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Yeah I checked 591 under the old houses section and that seemed to be the average price. Most of them were 2-3 miles from city center

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Thank you!!!

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Thank you very much! My reading comprehension is terrible or Id look this stuff up, but do you have any idea what I can expect to pay for a dog walker, dog daycare or dog hotel?

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Why so restrictive? Eating out in Taiwan is very different from eating out in the US. You don’t have to spend a ton of money. I eat out at least 20 times a month, spending between NT$100 and NT$1,000+ per meal… Eating with a group at a mid-range restaurant is around NT$500-600/person on average.

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Depends on the hotel/services. I expect Taichung to be more affordable but I’d say 500 NTD for day care, about 1000 NTD per day for pet sitter.

Dog walker there are several platforms but I am sorry I do not know any in Taichung. There should be but I live in Taipei, so I am not familiar with them.