I graduated college in August and decided to move here to teach English. This is my first time living outside of the states. I will try to post here regularly with whats going on in my life. Don’t judge me when 90% of my posts are about me getting drunk off Thai Whiskey and beer.

22nd February 2010

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The Low Cost of Living in Thailand

Prior to moving out to Thailand I was working at a bank.  I was working around 33 hours a week at an hourly rate of $11.50.  I was commuting from Fort Collins to Denver 6x a week in order to get to work (about 100 miles round-trip).

This post is to compare what I was paying monthly for my expenses back home and what I currently pay.  I have converted everything into US dollars.

All totals are monthly.  The Thai currency is ‘Baht’

$1 = ~33 Baht

AMERICA:

Salary:

132 hours a month @ 11.50 = $1518 / 50,094 Baht

After paying taxes (~16%) = $1276 / 42,108 Baht


Rent:

$400 / 13,200 Baht    = 31%  (31% of salary went to rent)

Health / Car Insurance:

$95 month / 3135 Baht = 7%

Gas:

$240 / 7020 Baht  ($3 gallon / 2400 miles) = 19%

Phone:

$33 / 1089 Baht = 2.5%

TOTALS ::


Money spent:  $768 / 25,344 Baht

Money remaining:  $508 / 16,764 Baht

So basically I spent about 60% of my income on expenses

Now lets move to Thailand:

Thailand:

Salary:

132 hours (60 real teaching hours)   $981 / 32,400 Baht

Rent:

$75 / 2500 Baht = 8%

Health Insurance:

Free = 0%

Motorbike / Gas:

$72 / 2400 Baht = 7%

Phone:

$15 / 500 Baht = 2%

TOTALS ::

Money spent:  $162/ 5,400 Baht

Money remaining:  $818/ 27,000 Baht

I spend about 16% of my income on expenses

Thailand is an extremely cheap place to live.  I spend 44% less on my expenses here than I did back home.

Along with this, everything else is dirt cheap.  Tonight I had pepper steak with steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy for 35 Baht (about $1).  Last night I went out with my friend.  We shared 6 liters of beer and I ate an omelet with rice.  The total for all of this was 330 Baht ($10).

After paying expenses I still have 27,000 baht to spend.  This averages out to about 900 baht per day.  On a Friday or Saturday night I will have a very hard time spending more than 1000.  Today for example I have spent 80 baht and I’m about to go to bed.

Also, my school provides free accommodation but I still keep my own apartment.  If I chose to stay at the school I would save an additional $70 / 2500 a month.

Tagged: Chiang MaiThailandBudgetingCost of livingExpenses

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