TainanF4s, what hours/type of job are you working that you can save that much? As I am preparing to goto Taiwan, I want to put myself in a position to do this ahead of time so I don’t get there and waste away the cash…What advice do you have? What type of job/hours will I need to save that amount?
50-70k would equate to 1 full time job. After you’re settled (having bought a computer, scooter, digi camera, furniture, etc.) your cost of living should be pretty low. I’ve met a lot of people that have been here for over 3 years already and are still bouncing around between apartments and jobs (not a good way to save money). If you can get here, settle down and make a stable income, you should be able to save a nice amount of money (like I said before, true anywhere). I met one guy that was saving near 3,000 US/month (with an insane teaching schedule that I wouldn’t be caught dead doing). It really depends on what you want to do.
Advice:
- Some other posters have said the cost of living in the south is much lower (and I know it is) and the pay should be about the same. 1 way to save more.
- Don’t blow your cash on going out on the weekends and other wasteful things.
- Save up some back up money as quickly as you can so you won’t feel like you’re forced to work somewhere.
- “Don’t stay up late, eat all your greens. Remember I love you. I’ll see you soon.” - Mr. T
I second that.
My salary is pretty much devoted exclusively to rent, debt, and travel. Though, my benefits are far better than they would be teaching English.
My wife teaches at an international school and makes ok money. In the 5 years we have been here we have saved very little. Mind you we tend to travel a great deal, at least 3 times a year. We are both in our 30’s and no longer want to live like we did when we were students - but we are not extravagant. We don’t drink or smoke or got out on the weekends (too busy working). We do go see movies as much as we can and rent dvds quite a bit. I pretty much dislike American fastfood so no money sent on that. We live a normal life, like we might in Canada, within the Taiwan context.
Of course as has been said, it all depends on your goals. My goals do not include making a great deal of money. I work hard for other reasons. If I truly wanted to devote myself to making and saving money while I am able to live in Asia then I am confident that many of the claims made would be entirely possible. It’s just not how I choose to spend my time here.
I work hard, and I’m a big advocate of playing hard to balance it out.
Add an extra NT$5,000 to 10,000 in your monthly budget, and you can have a great time Friday and/or Saturday nights. I like to party with friends one night a week. I might get drunk, or at least drink until I’m really happy.
One thing you can do to economize but still have fun is to eat at home first, and drink a couple of low priced beers and or a few shots before you go out. That way, you only have to buy one drink per hour to keep your buzz on. At NT$150-200 per drink, you can party until 2am on about a thousand NT.
Seems crazy to those who prefer the home life, but some of us just aren’t in that mode.
Booze economics from Tomas.
There are a lot of us who usually have pretty good salaries (60-100K), but still manage to save nothing or close to it every month. 
Brian
did anyone of u big spenders ever wonder how taiwanese people get by with an average salary of 30-40000nt a month?
I know exactly how they do it. And if I had to live like that, I’d take the next plane out of here. They don’t drink wine, don’t go to concerts, don’t buy books, don’t see movies. Mom and Dad sleep with their kids in one cramped bedroom, often with their parents in another room. They drive a 6 yr old scooter, and take a budget shopping tour every 4 years or so to HK or Phuket. They eat the same old food every day. When they buy bread, it’s the cheapest variety. Same goes for everything else in their refrigerator. Their house is filled with green plastic appliances with cute decals on them. They have lives that are less-fulfilling than that of most prisioners in a minimum security prison in North America. If we all died tomorrow, I would have no regrets about the quality of life that I have bought. I have no idea if they would. Maybe they are happy. Maybe they feel fulfilled. More power to them.
I know exactly how they do it. And if I had to live like that, I’d take the next plane out of here. They don’t drink wine, don’t go to concerts, don’t buy books, don’t see movies. Mom and Dad sleep with their kids in one cramped bedroom, often with their parents in another room. They drive a 6 yr old scooter, and take a budget shopping tour every 4 years or so to HK or Phuket. They eat the same old food every day. When they buy bread, it’s the cheapest variety. Same goes for everything else in their refrigerator. Their house is filled with green plastic appliances with cute decals on them. They have lives that are less-fulfilling than that of most prisioners in a minimum security prison in North America. If we all died tomorrow, I would have no regrets about the quality of life that I have bought. I have no idea if they would. Maybe they are happy. Maybe they feel fulfilled. More power to them.[/quote]
thats asia (and other places too) for you. meanwhile their bosses and whatnot are driving around in bmws and benz, own multiple houses, evading taxes, whatnot, and their kids are damn spoiled.
I know exactly how they do it. And if I had to live like that, I’d take the next plane out of here. They don’t drink wine, don’t go to concerts, don’t buy books, don’t see movies. Mom and Dad sleep with their kids in one cramped bedroom, often with their parents in another room. They drive a 6 yr old scooter, and take a budget shopping tour every 4 years or so to HK or Phuket. They eat the same old food every day. When they buy bread, it’s the cheapest variety. Same goes for everything else in their refrigerator. Their house is filled with green plastic appliances with cute decals on them. They have lives that are less-fulfilling than that of most prisioners in a minimum security prison in North America. If we all died tomorrow, I would have no regrets about the quality of life that I have bought. I have no idea if they would. Maybe they are happy. Maybe they feel fulfilled. More power to them.[/quote]
Absolutely spot on. And while you’re at it, wonder about those living in Shanghai on RMB1,000 a month when I couldn’t make ends meet on RMB20,000 ! Twenty times the average salary !
I have met Taiwanese people here (in their twenties) who swear blind they can live on NT$5,000 a month.
I used to have a student (30-something in a government job) who, after accomodation, lived on a thousand a week!
I actually made her account for her expenses, to see if I could turn up anything else she spent money on. But no, she didn’t have a life. Not by any reasonable definition of the word. All she did was worked two jobs and saved money.
I told her my story about the guy who was too sick to go to his own retirement party, but that just reinforced her obsession with saving for the future. Living today? Forget it!
I spend about 35000 a month, btw. That’s with an unnecessarily expensive apartment and a weakness for binge drinking.
my friend from taiwan told me i would need 20,000 NT a month to cover everything…all expenses…
sounds accurate?
Not at all. I would reckon for at least NT$1,000 a day for expenses in addition to rent.
My teaching salary was NT$50,000 a month working 24 hours a week. As I have posted elsewhere, by the time I figured in grading students’ homework, required meetings and office time this quickly worked out to be around NT$350 an hour. Of course I haven’t deducted my taxes (because I should get all that back this year) or the fact the company charged me NT$20,000 when I decided to leave them for a non-teaching job. Anyway, aside from this - my monthly expenses here come to about NT$30,000 (NT$9,000 for rent, NT$3,000 for utilities, NT$1,000 for cellphone service. The rest breaks down into a couple of dates a week - usually one is a movie and dinner (at an inexpensive place), going out to drink once a week, cigarettes, beer, renting two DVDs a week, buying a book every month, and cheap clothes. I don’t have cable, a motor scooter or DSL).
That’s my NT$2 worth.
BlueAvatar: Everything is cheap here except socialising. Whether you work it by scrimping during the week and having a big blow out at the weekend, or pacing yourself throughout the week, going out is costly.
Boring old married farts like me who nearly had a heart attack when you posted your avatar live in the sticks or in traditional old 3 bed apartments, play golf, and only venture into the city to listen to impromptu jazz and complain about breakfast. So my advice may be way off beam.
I have a sneaking suspicion you may want to prepare a fund for your first few months in Taipei during which you won’t know whether your arse is bored or punched, and you’ll be going out every night and not noticing how expensive the clubs are. I know you’ve been here before and all that, but if you’re asking whether NT$20,000 a month is enough, then it must have been a while ago.
As you probably know the food (local) is good and cheap. Rent is as cheap or expensive as you want. Taxis are still cheap. I was a student at both Zheng Da (National Chengchi University) and Shida, and the only significant expense I can remember was going out at night. I think the NT$1,000 a day plus rent is still a workable figure, and will allow you a social life.
If you’ll be teaching fairly shortly after your arrival (when?) then I’d bring about US$2,000 for your first month. Remember if you’re going to be paying tax, that the deadline for getting a refund this year on the 20% witholding tax has passed.