I’ve read some of the old threads but would still like some personalized information, b/c I need to prepare. This is for one year:
One BR apt. (centrally located)
Cell phone bill
Internet bill
Other types of bills that are typical (e.g. gas, electricity, water, etc.)
Dining out @ medium quality restaurant once daily
Groceries
MRT
Go to a club twice/week, order three drinks/visit
How much do you think I would need for all of that?
NT$40,597 :neutral:
The biggest variable is the apartment.
well 15k on the flat (remember 2months deposit)
500 on your phone (presuming you are talking about regular phone, if smart phone about 700)
600 on the net
4000 a month on bills (not including any maintenance fee if you have to pay one in your apartment building)
Define “medium quality”. I’d say about 300 a day on that
hard to guess on groceries (e.g. cheaper to be a vegetarian, but meat isn’t that expensive) also if you go local and don’t eat Western stuff all the time all i can say is “cheap”.
MRT I’d say 500-700 a week
clubs about 500 a go (although I’m not sure) and allow for 250 a drink inside.
so roughly 35k a month.
[quote=“Funk500”]well 15k on the flat (remember 2months deposit)
500 on your phone (presuming you are talking about regular phone, if smart phone about 700)
600 on the net
4000 a month on bills (not including any maintenance fee if you have to pay one in your apartment building)
Define “medium quality”. I’d say about 300 a day on that
hard to guess on groceries (e.g. cheaper to be a vegetarian, but meat isn’t that expensive) also if you go local and don’t eat Western stuff all the time all i can say is “cheap”.
MRT I’d say 500-700 a week
clubs about 500 a go (although I’m not sure) and allow for 250 a drink inside.
so roughly 35k a month.[/quote]
I think that’s unrealistic as you haven’t added anything for groceries or twice weekly clubbing. I pay NT15,000 for rent, and if I don’t go out at all for the month I can live on NT35,000.
I’d say 60-70,000 is more realistic for the type of comfortable downtown lifestyle the OP is suggesting he wants.
well I said 500 a go going to clubs. Sorry I should have been clearer, I meant to get in.
He didn’t say he wanted to be comfortable. That would change everything!
Second biggest variable is groceries… I’m not sure how much they charge for lithium.
By “medium quality,” I suppose I meant places that are perhaps a tad pricier than fast food, but not so upscale that you’d feel the need to dress business casual. I’m really not looking to live a posh lifestyle at all, by the way. I just want to be centrally located. And lithium is super cheap…and I have insurance. Big thanks for the posts so far.
NT$40,596
What’s your typical breakfast?
When you go to the super, what are the most common items that you buy?
Do you wear clothes? Explain.
I would say one of the biggest variables to this is how much you earn. When I earned $40,000 I spent $40,000, when I earned $60,000 I spent $60,000.
NT15,000-18,000 rent.
Bills: NT3-4000
Eating one meal out daily and occasional dinner with friends: 12,000
Clubbing twice weekly: at least 10,000
Groceries: 6-10,000
MRT: 1500
Taxis: 2-3000 (how is he going to get home from a club?)
Misc: 3000-10000 (depends how long he lives here but setting up an apartment and buying clothes, books, computer parts, traveling on weekends, etc, adds up)
So easily NT60,000 a month.
Aint that the frickin truth !! However, some of us, tend to spend 50,000 when we make 40,000 and 70,000 when we made 60,000 and get our butts in debt.
Aint that the frickin truth !! However, some of us, tend to spend 50,000 when we make 40,000 and 70,000 when we made 60,000 and get our butts in debt.[/quote]
I had a friend whose tax statements to canada showed he made NT20,000/month but he still managed to send NT30,000/month for his mortgage. Now that’s some potent savings plan. 
[quote=“zender”]NT$40,596
What’s your typical breakfast?
When you go to the super, what are the most common items that you buy?
Do you wear clothes? Explain.[/quote]
I don’t eat a lot of breakfast foods, mostly b/c I like them too much. I go straight to the lunch stuff, generally. I’ve been eating a lot of fruits and vegetables lately, and am starting to get into eating seeds. For one meal/day, I’m content to eat those Indian packets (curry dishes, etc.) that you can boil on the stove…but I don’t know if those are popular in Taiwan. I guess you could say that my diet would basically consist of one to two pre-packaged meals per day, a bunch of fruits/vegetables/seeds and a sit-down meal.
Nope. I don’t wear clothes. 
I’m bringing clothes with me. 
How long do you plan to stay? You do need to budget for setting up an apartment. Towels, bed sheets, lights, dishes, cleaners, etc. That’s why monthly averages should be higher. You’ll spend the first six months spending more than you think just getting the basics down where you live.
One year. So I know, are the quotes I’m being given for unfurnished apartments?
Transportation is extremely convenient in Taipei; if money is an issue at all you are better off living out a little bit than getting a “centrally located” apartment. You can easily find an apartment with a separate bedroom and a kitchen for $10k or less in Banqiao, and you’ll still be on the same metro line as the Taipei 101 area. You’ll be living like a Taiwanese, not like an American, but you haven’t specified exactly what you’re looking for. If you don’t need the kitchen and your definition of “one bedroom” includes “one room, a bedroom,” you can get by on much, much less than that.
Going to clubs thrice a week will be by far your biggest expense.
First off tell us what you want? Sounds like a furnished one-bedroom with a kitchen.
NT$40,175
Do you go for the fruit that’s in season, or do you have to have that mango in December? 
I hope you don’t mind a little bruising on your banana. I’m trying to get you under NT$40,000. :neutral:
odysseyandoracle makes a good point. If you could live outside of Taipei City, say . . . just across the river in *Sanchong, you could approach Funk 500’s NT$35,000 budget.
If you’d like to smash through the NT$20,000 barrier (and keep smashin’), I suggest a copy of “Possum Living” by Dolly Freed. My family and I swear by it. :neutral:
my calculations were just based on what was given btw.
Seriously, you guys are out to (a cheap Taiwanese lunch) if you think this guy can get a furnished one bedroom with kitchen after spending NT10,000 a month on meals, at least NT5000 on groceries, NT10,000 on clubbing, NT4000 on bills, and some NT3000 on transportation.
You are leaving him with NT2000 for rent which not even Wugu would allow.
How about you actually break down your figures?