Spending Money Back Home

[PigDogg]

It looks like there's a good chance I'll be moving to the LOS at least for a couple of years.

I'm trying to decide if I should be as frugal as possible in final days in farangland or whether to live it up cause it may be my last time living in Gotham City.

So a question for you guys living in Thailand. Do you wish you had saved more or lived more back in the West?

[stogie bear]

LISTEN TO ME! SAVE YOUR MONEY FOR LOS!

Sorry for the rude capitals! I broke my own rule!!!

How on earth are you going to "live it up" in the US when you are focused on moving to LOS! That should be your natural high - the looking forward to your new life here!

Stick as much money in the bank as you possibly can - you never know when you might get sick, have an accident or need to fly home etc...

What exactly would you do anyway? Go to expensive restaurants, throw a party, go to Las Vegas?

Can't you do all those things when you go back... (if you decide to go back!)

Over the first few months of living in Thailand you'll be frustrated at not having what you are used to in the US! Service in restaurants is different, the TV sucks (even - no, especially the satellite!) You'll slowly get use to less things and worse things...

Gone are the days of Taco Bell and Sunday football! No more 24 hour supermarkets and 5am Dunkin' Donuts! Life isn't 'fair' anymore and you'll have to live with it!

You'll acclimatise eventually but this takes dedication, and of course money!

If you live here you'll be amazed at how quickly you will haemorrhage money.

Save what you can! Make it part of your looking forward to coming here!

[katoeylover]

I agree, save all your money for the LOS.

In the first few months there will be lots of unseen expenditure, and you will want to go on weekend trips and travel around; all these cost money.

[dummy_plug]

I'd save my money for LOS, but it doesn't mean you can't compromise. You don't have to live like a hermit or hobo for the rest of your days in the US. You can cut back and still enjoy the time you have left before you leave. After all, there's many wonders available here that LOS doesn't have! And yes, that's a direct reference to Taco Bell.

[PigDogg]

(dummy_plug @ Jun. 12 2006,07:00) You can cut back and still enjoy the time you have left before you leave.

I am in the savings mode right now and it seems to make sense to continue.   It's actually quite comfortable to be in savings mode; it doesn't feel like a sacrifice.  

With my free time, I'm happy cause I'm not working.
I'm completely sick of my job.

[SamplerDoc]

and how much dough would one need to make a stay of it in LOS  

Like a guesstamit of a conservative lifestyle, excluding the ho dough

[dummy_plug]

It would vastly depend on the lifestyle you would want to live. If you can live the 'Thai' lifestyle - i.e. not having a car, a modest single room apartment, eating Thai food, etc... then perhaps you could do it relatively cheaply. I won't even begin to guess the numbers, but for example, I've heard that English teachers in BKK can make about 30k/month and will be able to lead this kind of life just fine.

If you want to live better, more akin to what you're probably used to in the West, be prepared to pay significantly more. Perhaps you'd want to start a thread about this if its an interesting topic for you. I'd be kind of curious do how much the expats pay per month to live in this place.

[Guest]

Hi,

Wot dummy_plug sed in 'is last paragraph.

Spedius

[BAM]

(stogie bear @ Jun. 12 2006,01:42) the TV sucks (even - no, especially the satellite!)

This will give you an idea of whats on TV in Thailand:
http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/ubc.html

There are other systems you can pick up from other countries if you have a large enough dish like this system in the Philippines... I heard "Dream TV" is very easy to hack into too: http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/dream.html
Dream Cinema runs porn movies  
Not that you need porn in Thailand... you can just make your own there!