Cost of student living in Taipei for Taiwanese

Our son, born and raised in Taiwan, has just left home to go and study for a degree in Taipei. My wife and I have different ideas on what is a reasonable amount of financial support for him. So, I’m looking for the opinions of others to gauge wether I should dig even deeper into my pockets. I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea of the cost of living in Taipei. I live in the sticks, far far away from the capital.

In 2019, what would be the cost of typical off-campus student accommodation in the Zhongzheng District of the city?

What would a reasonable amount be for the basics be? Food, electric etc?

Thanks.

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does he need to live in the Zhongzheng district? If I were a student, my budget for a room would be 5000~8000 NTD.

15k NTD per month may be enough?

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Happy to help. Students, young males especially, newly arrived to Taipei typically require a 7 11 beer every 30 minutes, averaged out. Luckily we’re going into winter so this will reduce a bit.

Newbies tend to hit the local cheap beers which go at about 35-40nt a can. Applying some basic math we get around 37nt x (16 waking hours / 30 minutes = 32) = 37nt x 32 = 1,184 NTD per day on beer.

Let me know if you have any questions

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Fify

Oooops thanks!

I just did a straw poll of 37 actual students and the average is 8000 a month excluding rent. However, this is in Jhongli, so just outside Taipei.

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Congratulations on a kid going to Uni! I sent two kids to Texas A&M and grateful that I could send them to university.
Your son can live in a shared house with common living and cooking areas very nicely for 15k in Zhongzheng district. Living alone may be 25k and more isolated. There are cheaper options for sure. He needs to come check the places himself as there are a few people who try to take advantage of foreigners not knowing the market. This is a search from the 591 website which everyone including real estate agents use. It also has a map function.
https://rent.591.com.tw/?kind=3&region=1&section=1&pattern=1&rentprice=0
Test everything before he rents. AC, lights, electric, hot water, refrigerator, stove, and their junk cleaned out.
Breakfast and lunch food is cheap ($2 or so) and good here. Beef noodle soup in Taipei is about $4-5. (half price in the south) Western meals will run about $5, 10 to 20, so most of us either cook this kind of food at home or go out occasionally.
The subway/bus has an unlimited monthly pass system for about $40 USD geared towards commuters, but if he lives close to the school, i’d just get the metro card and recharge as needed. Explore the bus/subway routes before choosing. The buses can be really time efficient.
Living close to the school will be a better choice for finding things to do, friends, and more time. Businesses that cater to students set up shop nearby.
Electric really depends on the type of AC unit they have in the unit. Look for the newer split type units. I bet a one room AC bill would be $50-75 USD for 2 months tops.
If he is coming here to study Chinese at Shida, spending time with the locals will benefit him more that hanging out with foreigners only. (I also like 7-11 beer drinking @Kavalan but gotta set some limits for myself! Isn’t this true for students in the US too?)

It seems 8k ~10k NTD in Taipei, without the rent.

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25k NT per month should be enough for rent, food and everything etc scholarships are that

15k for a living place is too much for a student depending on parents, imo by my standard.

I’m sure it can be cheaper. I spoiled my kids but they do appreciate it. I just rented out a bedroom in my apartment for 15k per month in Daan. The OP was asking if 15k would be enough for near the university and I believe a good place can be found for this. Near the university, I bet the range could be from 9k and 16k. If you really want to reduce expenses, you can find shared rooms for 5k.
Since he grew up in Taiwan, maybe they have a relative or friend with an extra room?
In Tainan, I rented much larger spaces in new buildings at half the price. I could have a 5 storey house with a driveway and a garage for what I pay for an old walk-up in Taipei.

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So, it seems thst 5K rent + 8K for the rest should cover the basics, even if that means living outside of Zhongzheng. Which is about what I expected.

Sincere thanks to everyone that responded.

There is a bit more to this story, which I will post in a new thread when I have time. For reasons which will become apparent when I do write that next post, I’m trying to keep the budget as low as possible.

I said he was Taiwanese and 18. He’s asleep for 16 hours a day, not awake for 16 hours a day! Try again.

I’ve heard if you live in the dorms, you don’t need much at all. My brother studied in Taipei (our parents paid for the dorm and tuition) but as far as pocket money, he said he lived very comfortably for under 30,000. At NTU and NTNU there are plenty of cheap places to eat so you can eat for 100 and under most meals, but let’s be generous and say $150 a meal. So that’s $450 a day on meals, and maybe $50 for snacks a day. That comes to $15,000 which leaves another $15,000 for anything else you want to do. As long as you’re not going clubbing every night you should be OK.

Ah say no more. I hear you loud and clear :tumbler_glass:

Guys, sorry to disagree but 5000 NTD in Taipei is not doable, not even New Taipei City. In our times, when we were students, 20 or 15, maybe 10 years ago, yes. Take it from someone who assists students every year. Niet. Nope. Nada.

Unless you live in the dorms, budget 10k as reasonable, bit less, bit more, depending. Sharing a house is the best second bet.

100 NTD places are also going the way of the dodo. Normal people at the student cafeteria do 120 NTD at least. Snacks might be 50 if you buy them wholesale.

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I guess it’s a budget for foreign students. Many of my taiwanese colleagues live somewhere less than 10k, sometimes with family.

What in my mind is a dorm or a sharing house, though a simple room just to sleep could be an option.

students are rich often. Young boys may eat a lot, so they may easily eat 8k NTD per month, though.

5k + 8k may be close to the lowest for the reasonable amount of budget. He could work part-time to support himself. 30k without rent is a luxurious support for students imo.

That is why I was saying like a typical Taiwanese young male will require certain amount of calories, meaning a reasonable amount of food. They are specialists in McDonald’s combo sales. Now that is a 50 NTD snack.

Sharing a place for 5k implies say 3 to 4+ roommates, as apartments go for 18 to 25k average. And yes, we foreigners cram 6 to a place, to stretch the money.

Still, best bet is college dorm.

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5k for rent + 8k spending is really very low, and it will be not so fun to stay in Taiwan. If you can only afford that much, maybe it is better to stay away from here, imho.

Minimum wage in Taiwan is like 23000 TWD and people living of that are living very frugal lifestyles.