Some things have indeed gotten better. Those roaches weren’t cheap.
Hey, in the olden days, I paid 4000 NTD for the privilege of living in Shida in a balcony that was not big enough for me to stretch my legs when lying in “bed” - a wooden plank BTW.
Luxury. I used to sleep in a paper bag in middle of the road.
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you rented a balcony with a bed for 4k? 
Were each room rented out? living room, hallway, bedroom etc?
Up to you but I would never pay 90k a month especially if I was living alone, with 50k you can easily find something very good.
At least you had a bag. All we got was a newspaper.
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Like everyone said:
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Check 591, using Google translate if necessary. No other websites matter for housing.
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Your budget is huge, even for Taipei. 50k get you something very nice in most areas of Taipei. 70K got my old boss a multi-storey luxury apartment for his whole family (neihu). 90K most likely get you an unbelievably awesome apartment in the best areas, with view of 101.
Talking of engineers: the experienced hardware/BIOS engineers in my team spend around 25-40k for their apartments, including family. They do have a car commute, though. Their annual pay is around 1.5-2 million - so pretty ok for Taiwan standards. I’m an expat engineer, and I always try to keep my rent below 40K - but in newish, westernish apartments. And my colleagues think I waste money 
So maybe just save a bit each month and get a great apartment for “only” 50-60K. I seriously wish you good luck, and am sure you’ll enjoy Taipei!
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Here’s another thought. Get the largest place you can and then rent out rooms on airbnb for some extra income.
You had a paper bag!? And a road?! Decadent living indeed.
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How much is annual bonus at those salaries?
Well when I say road it was just a track through the shantytown really.
I’ve never even had a place to sleep at all. I’ve just been riding the MRT for the last 92 years. And I’m grateful for it.
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If I was single, I would budget 60-70k for an apartment. That gets you something quite nice, especially if you don’t pick Xinyi. Use the extra 20-30k for other luxuries like massages and clubbing. Or be smart and save/invest that money.
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It makes no sense to spend all that money on rent when you can get something good with way less than half of it.
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All bonuses are included in this annual figure
Buy an apartment and rent it to yourself.
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Those types of girls - I would not take to my abode. They are for love hotels. You can make them go away.
I’m imagining a situation where you could share a big house with a few attractive young ladies. $5,000 a month with 4 roommates will help out with the groceries and such.
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That sounds like a nightmare. The first time the shit hits the fan…
You’re right, but 4 is unlucky. Get something bigger and go for 8, it’s the only way.
BTW, expat housing budgets are often use it or lose it. There is nothing to save, so he only enjoys that budget if he tries to use as much of it as possible
We saw something with ‘personality’ in a good location, 75k. We asked the agent if we could negotiate a 100k+ rent if she’d agree in the contract to a few renovations. She’d looked at us like we’d broken quarantine.
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