…rent…
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When I lived in Boston there was one Indian eatery in the whole metro area that offered $12 box lunches (no tipping) which included rice, prata, and three curries. It happened to be downstairs from my office and it was phenomenal. I ate there every day. 
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Bubble tea was more than 5 dollars plus tax back in 2016, it was the small 500cc cup AND the pearls are soggy as hell. That cup would have been rejected by customers in Taiwan.
If indian food was available here in same quantity and price as thai or vietnamese food, i will be one very happy person.
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it requires more Indian wives 
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Yes, similar places existed in SF and Atlanta. In India it’s called “tiffin” or “Dabba” (which means box) service, common option for lunch for salaried persons. Great value for money and tasty too
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I’ve given up on Indian restaurants here and started making it myself. Already think it tasted better than what 90% restaurants here make, and I just blindly follow a YouTube recipe and have no experience.
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I keep reading in places that you want to make at least 4x your rent in order to live comfortably. Means if you pay 20,000 a month on rent you should make at least 80,000 a month. In the US landlords often require that your income be at least 3x rent before they will rent to you.
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We would save so much $$$ if we could do so. 
Guy
Meanwhile the original poster @jackcsprat appears to be missing in action, despite some sensible queries being posed to them . . .
Guy
I am very curious to see what living in Taiwan ends up costing us when we come in November. We have adopted an even more frugal lifestyle since we have been in Canada due to the insane costs of eating out at a non-fast food restaurant ($100+CAD for a family) and the ridiculous cost of groceries now. It will be interesting.
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Wow, alot of replies…more than I expected.
There will be two of us…me and my wife. While she could work, I don’t really expect her to unless she finds something of interest to her.
Her family does not have any property that they can rent to us (let alone give to us).
Her parents are elderly and in a home. Wife has a few siblings, in-laws, and nephews in Taiwan, but we really don’t want to impose on them.
Seems the $800,000NT is way too low of a figure for the teaching job I spotted and I need to keep looking for something that pays better it would appear based on the majority of you.
Wife and I do most of our eating at home as opposed to eating out here in the states and I imagine that would stay pretty much the same in Taiwan to save on expenses.
My definition of living in “comfort” is the ability to pay rent, utilities, food, and the incidentals that everyone needs to get by on like clothing, medical, etc.
I hope this helps to clarify on my original question and thanks so much for all of you who took the time to reply.
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Standard salary for a high school position for an FET with bachelors degree. NHI Medical is super cheap in Taiwan and quality of services is exceptionally good. In most countries people depends on a joint family income to live. 800K before taxes and NHI plus the fact you pay 18% in taxes for first six months of the year means you do get forced savings as taxes are refunded.
The “refund” part is ONLY true if the new arrival spends more than 183 days in Taiwan during that calendar year. If not, none of that withheld tax is refunded—and no deductions at tax filing time either, leading to a very harsh financial first year.
Guy
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You still didn’t mention where . Anyways, I would say in Taipei is gonna be harder to live comfortably on this income for two if you expect modern house , while in other bigger cities you might fit the bill , just don’t expect much savings . Good luck
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If it helps solidify your decision, most foreign ESL teachers in Taiwan are single. The salary really isn’t enough for couples.
Or both work, and/or the Taiwanese wife has access to a free or cheap place to live…
Being married to a Taiwanese and having open work rights also gives the option to do multiple jobs; with a “full time” buxiban gig, and a few private tutoring gigs, and some subbing or part time or editing work, I’m sure some English teachers do alright
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Nearly all the ESL teachers I know except for one or two are married. A few divorced but have custody of their children.
Which also can be anything outside of teaching.
Sure, though if we’re talking specifically about foreign ESL teachers, which we were, seems the easy money is probably in teaching
