I reward myself with CDs (that I can’t download from Internet), Chan 
el no 5, etc. at the end of each month but basically make it a rule to saving 50 - 60 % of my monthly salaries.
But salaries in Taiwan generally s*ck and I have a couple of part-time jobs, too, to make up for them.
How about you guys??
Save money? After paying rent on entire apartment, electricity, cell phone, telephone and ADSL, gas, water, cable, maintenance fee in my apartment complex, food, transportation, pet costs, education costs (masters), and so on, I can only save about 1/3 of my normal salary (main job), and most of my supplemental salary (part time job).
IF I’m not greedy and go out and buy computers, digital cameras, or take trips to Europe, etc.
[quote=“spacegal”]…at the end of each month but basically make it a rule to saving 50 - 60 % of my monthly salaries.
[/quote]
50%-60% is a good number, spacegal…you are right on target.
Yeash!
After rent etc, car payments, insurance, wife going shopping, payments back to my home country, credit cards, my young son, and eating, I save very little. But early next year I should be able to save about $30-50 000 NT a month, I hope. Then there will be the temptation to buy a house. 
It never ends.
You guys get enough salary to be able to save ? :shock:
To be able to save as much as you lot, my outgoings would have to be negative 
Buy a house ? I’ll be lucky to buy a cardboard box.
[quote=“matthewh”]You guys get enough salary to be able to save ? :shock:
To be able to save as much as Boss Hogg, my outgoings would have to be negative [/quote]
Baby, I work like a mad man, I really have to slow down and real soon.
I am a workaholic. Everytime I get a chance to have more time to relax I always end up filling it up with another opportunity.
If you are living in Taipei city it will be difficult to save. In the small towns it is much easier and cheaper.
Salaries, if you have a normal job that pays somewhere in the mid 50’s you should be able to pick up an extra 20 - 25K a month without too much trouble. If you are single then you have it made in the shade. When I first came to Taiwan I made about 40 - 65 000 NT a month, depending on the flow of students. I spent about $1000NT a week. I managed to save all the rest. Sometimes I went all out on entertainment but in general I was a squirrel hoarding the cash away. If I were single I would be ready to retire by now. 
At that time everything was free. Rent - free Power, water, gas - free, food - free. Internet use, just like now - free.
If you have a really great deal then you can save a mountain of cash. For me Taiwan is the best place to save but right now I get to save about 0% unless you are going to count retirement insurance as savings.
I used to save about 30 percent, I guess. Now I save, over the long haul, about 5 percent. Some months it is hand-to-mouth.
If I run into the red, Omni loans me money.
If you are saving 60 percent then a couple of questions spring to mind.
Are you paying taxes?
Are you living in a hovel and not spending anything on any form of life accessories (furnature, clothes, cookware, towels, etc)?
a target savings of 50,000 NT a month. i bank it and live off what is left(about 10,000).
[quote=“wolf_reinhold”]I used to save about 30 percent, I guess. Now I save, over the long haul, about 5 percent. Some months it is hand-to-mouth.
If I run into the red, Omni loans me money.
If you are saving 60 percent then a couple of questions spring to mind.
Are you paying taxes?
Are you living in a hovel and not spending anything on any form of life accessories (furnature, clothes, cookware, towels, etc)?[/quote]
I understand about the some months being hand to mouth thing.
Taxes - Yes
Hovel - in the past YES! then Lived in luxury and NOW, well not that bad. But spend too much on life accessories.
Everyone should have a plan to save at least 50% if they can.
Used to have a nice place, cats 
savings. Until life took a great big dump on it all from a great height, now the 2 of us live in a 3 ping hovel.
That’s hardly enough room to swing a cat!
Boss, you spend NT$1,000 A WEEK? :shock: I’m lucky if I have change out of that for a normal weekday!
I know, that’s why we can’t have any, not even enough room for a small hamster
Not even enough room to swing a hamster, now that’s small.
I get $100NT per day, $5000 for my hobby, and $2000NT "drinkin’ and whorin’ " money from the Mrs. every month.
I saved quite a bit the first year, and also got rid of the student loans. But then my father had that heart attack last year and since then my sister and I have been supporting my family back home. It’s a bit depressing as I’ll now be in Taiwan without that annual trip to wherever that I’ve gotten used to (Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong), probably won’t be able to make it home for a visit either, and I have to wait a bit with painting my apartment, etc…
But on the other hand, I probably wouldn’t have been able to help them out at all if I was living back home. And I’m definitely not starving. Definitely is a good place to be if you want to save some money and still have a good time.
No, I spent, in the past, NT$1000 a week give or take.
Now, I think we all know that drinkin’ and whorin’ IS your hobby. You are misleading us with the splitting up of that NT$7000 
I have a lot of respect for what you are doing.
I wish I could make a trip back home myself. That will be on hold for a wee while. It’s already 2 years and counting since I’ve been back home.
Spacegal, how can you save so much in this fun city where everything is so cheap and there are so many places to go!!
Every time when I am starting to save (as my bank account increases) I will have an urge to spend it on something…
As for now, I am saving it for a trip or a car…
[quote=“MiakaW”]Spacegal, how can you save so much in this fun city where everything is so cheap and there are so many places to go!!
Every time when I am starting to save (as my bank account increases) I will have an urge to spend it on something… As for now, I am saving it for a trip or a car… [/quote]
Hey, girl~ When I got my first salary, I used UP literally all of it. After trials and errors, I learned to save a certain percentage of my income regularly every month, learned about investment and stuff a lot from my mom and books. Now I don’t find saving 50 to 60% that hard. Besides, I simply can’t find much time to spend money…
One of my tricks is to withdraw only the amount of money I am planning to spend a month and try to live within that range. I think the biggest lesson I learned was NOT to buy UNNECESSARY things.
But I reward myself for my hard work at the end of each month with some luxury treats. 