Something I’m curious about… After you’ve paid rent and bills, what do you think is a liveable amount of NT dollars for a month in Taipei?
I’m trying to budget to save money and while asking other people is obviously not the way to base your own plan, I was hoping to read a few “ballpark” figures to see what others feel is a good chunk of cash to live on for a month in Taipei.
Granted, there are sure to be a few of you with stories about living off Nt$10 a week and I admire you, I guess. But, I’m hoping to hear from people who live full lives here, go out, buy stuff occassionally - what do you think?
well it depends doesn’t it? How much do you want to spend on rent? I think nt$10,000 is a fair figure…actually a little higher than what I pay. Utilities, IMHO, should never go higher than NT$3,000 a month…internet ADSL is about NT$1,000, my cell phone bill is about NT$500 a month…roughly I spend about NT$20,000 to 25,000 a month…I think…
But I don’t go to bars or clubs very much and I only eat at reasonable places…not Western style places…
Living very modestly; NT$15-20k/month (note: this will not be pleasant!)
Living well; NT$30k and up.
Depends what kind of lifestyle you want. If you don’t mind sharing an apartment or living in the suburbs, this will dictate how much you pay for rent. Same with food; if you enjoy eating out at nice places and like the occasional bottle of wine with your meal, you’ll have to budget a lot more than if you plan on eating biendang and noodles three times a day.
It can be very, very inexpensive, but the creature comforts that most westerners enjoy can be pretty dear.
I’m sure you’re right about people making it on far less; take a walk around the dorms on the Tai-Da campus and you’ll see some pretty creative ways that the students scrape by.
citizen k, which creature comforts…well aside from a car (I have a second hand scooter)? Yes, I share my apartment with a roommate - 30 pings. We bought (50/50) a washing machine and refrig.
There is a/c (in the bedrooms), color tv with cable, telephones, ADSL hook up, etc. so I am not sure what creature comforts you are refering to.
As I said, maybe in a convoluted way, my housing expenses are NT$13,000 average a month, I spent from NT$7,000 to NT$12,000 a month on everything else.
Just because I don’t go clubbing or it at fancy places doesn’t mean I stay home all the time or am starving either…
I pay about 12,000 for everything - rent, electricity, water, ADSL, land line and cell phone bill.
I’m budgeting spending 1000 NT a day on everything else. Groceries, eating out, going to occasional movies, going out to a bar or club every couple of weeks, buying clothes, music and books, etc…
So, looks like total expenses will be under 45.000 NT. And that is not going to be painful at all. I just wonder if this seems like excessive spending to anyone.
This made me look at my budget!
Right as a “single”, I have 10000 to put in the bank monthly-my nest egg. I spend about 23000 on all bills including my share of household food, bills, rent,& drygoods.
As for play money I have about 7500 per week which I pretty much use, even though I have cut some of my more expensive habits in two.
Am I spending excessively?
Creature comforts: good cheese, fine wine, single malt scotch, the occasional cigar - not necessities, but they do put a smile on your face after a hard days work.
A car? Once you factor insurance, parking, gas and maintenance, not to mention the initial purchase cost, that alone could run you around $10k. Definitely not a creature comfort; more of a luxury. But makes for nice weekends out of town.
So, looks like total expenses will be under 45.000 NT. And that is not going to be painful at all. I just wonder if this seems like excessive spending to anyone.[/quote]
[quote=“rooftop”]
So, looks like total expenses will be under 45.000 NT. And that is not going to be painful at all. I just wonder if this seems like excessive spending to anyone.[/quote]
I’d say you could be quite comfortable on that, depending on your lifestyle.
45K is plenty as long as you don’t go to clubs often and run up large tabs. To put it in perspective, college graduates get paid about 30k a month here. Working full-time at a gas station or McDonald’s nets under 20k a month.
Unless you’re living lavishly, I think 2500nt/week for food and incidentals is good. (More if you have a car/scooter)
Damn… gonna have to revist the monthly budget. Currently spending an average of 60K pcm, admittedly does include 2-bed apartment, car, scooter, wife, baby, cleaner, ADSL, cableTV, etc… oh to be single again
Many moons ago I used to get by on 25K comfortably, including beer money…
Just another opinion.
Rent: 6000-8000/month including utilities.
Motorbike: 1000/month including insurance, fuel, oil, …
Food: if you eat bread twice a day and once a hot meal a day: 150/day
and go out in the week-ends 500/week-end
5000/month
Clothes, shoes, …: 1000/ month
Entertainment: ADSL, going to a pub, hiking, sports: 5000/month
Various expenses: 2000/month
7000 + 1000 + 5000 + 1000 + 5000 + 2000 = 21.000
Remarks:
*A visa run once every 2 months might cost approximately 10.000 to go to Hong Kong.
*If you study Chinese, you pay 9000 every 3 months (CLI) and don;t even have to attend classes. That way, you stay in Taiwan for 6 months without any paper hassle.
*Rent can be anywhere from 3000 and up (especially in Taipei County).
*Transport costs can vary a lot.
Always taking the bus, MRT, taxi, … You easily could spend a few thousand a month on it.
You could rent a motorcycle (2500/month insurance and repair included).
*If you try to enjoy Taiwan by visiting the temples, going hiking on week-ends, going to coffee-shops, etc…, then you easily can have a lot of fun for a reasonable price.
You could perhaps register certain things (ADSL, motorbike, bank account) on the name of a Taiwanese person, who you can trust.
It surely helps if you are able to speak a little bit of Chinese.
That is an awful lot.