Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand July 2017

Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand July 2017

Welcome to the July 2017 report on my monthly spend in Thailand.

Total Earned:  132,500 THB

Total Spend:    57,500 THB

Saved:    75,000 THB

Breakdown

Accommodation – 20,000 THB

I live in a 2 bedroom condo just off Bang Sue which is at the end of the MRT line. I have been here for a few months and I really think it is the best area I have lived in in Bangkok. The value for money is great, I see similar places to mine going for over 40k a month in the central Bangkok areas.

Transport wise I can be in Siam in 45 minutes and with Mochit around the corner I can be on a van out of the city within 15 minutes. It isn’t a trendy area but I have great local restaurants and other facilities at a lower price than elsewhere in the city.

Utility Bills –   3,600 THB

I leave the AC on pretty much the whole time I’m in which probably works out at around 8 hours a day. In total bill comes to around 1,750 a month for my electric. The water bill is a constant at around 200 Baht a month.

I am on the top level Netflix package which is 440 Baht a month. It gives me a ton of movies and series and compared to paying for the True Visions packages it is a bargain. The quality of shows is fantastic and everything is in English and subtitles are optional, unlike with True.

I’m with AIS for my mobile phone as I get 20GB of data a month and 200 minutes of calls for 350 Baht. I can watch videos on the go and don’t need to worry about data limits which is good. I also use it for talking online on Skype if I am away from home too. AIS is also my choice for WiFi at home and costs 750 Baht for a 50MB package. I also get around 50 TV channels with this internet package but I’ve never watched any of them.

Next month sees the return of Premier League football so I am currently on the lookout for the best option to see that so will add this cost from next month.

Transport –     4,500 THB

This month I decided to add 2,000 Baht on my MRT card to save time adding the odd 100/200 baht every few days. I also bought 30 rides on the BTS which will hopefully save me a bit over the month.

I used the taxi a few times as well and spent around 700 baht in total. I have also been a bit lazy and started using the motorbike taxis to get to the MRT so I guess this worked out to around 350 Baht for the month.

Food –    15,500 THB

I always spend a fair amount on food as there is a lot of great stuff here and it is my main form of entertainment.

I visited Makro for the first time since I moved to Thailand and they have some great deals. I got 12 Cumberland sausages for 250 baht and they were great! There was also a great variety of products, especially frozen stuff which was very reasonably priced. I’d recommend checking them out if there is a branch near you.

Eating out is something I really enjoy here. It is probably my favorite part of living in Thailand, the fact that it is affordable to go to a restaurant to eat every day. There are so many places to try and, although I have my favorites, I probably go to around 15 different restaurants a month.

My food bill above includes food for me and I normally pick up around 75% of the bill when I eat with my girlfriend. Sometimes we pay for each other but we both like to contribute.

General Shopping –  4,000 THB

I dropped into Central Ladprao this month to buy a couple of new shirts. I prefer spending a fair bit on these as the shirts in the 300-1,000 Baht range don’t really cut it and feel far inferior. The ones I picked up were valued at over 3,000 each but there was a big sale going on at the time. Personally, for work clothes I prefer to get better quality but wait for a sale to make the price more reasonable. I also use reward points from The One Card and my credit card to further bring the cost down on these items.

I also bought a few bits and pieces at the local pharmacy, Watsons, which cost around 1,000 Baht. They always seem to have a sale on and the value is pretty good.

Entertainment –   475 THB

My main form of entertainment is eating out which is included in the cost above in the food section. Other than that I had a trip to the cinema to see Spiderman which only cost 129 baht each as we went on a Wednesday when prices are much lower. Add on some popcorn and drinks and you get the total above.

Travel –  0 THB

I had a quiet month on the travel front. My big upcoming trip is in September and I have pre-booked most things already so I’ll just need a bit of spending money whilst there.

Others –   7,625 THB

I lent my girlfriend a few thousand baht to help her mum’s stall at the local market. She wanted to buy some new clothes racks and trial some new products there. My girlfriend is due to pay me back over the coming months but I’m not too fussed about getting it.

My usual monthly extras, Fitness First membership and UK student loans make up the rest in this section this section.

Invested – 1,800 THB

This is a new section for this month as I will start properly investing in savings for my future. I have decided to add this section separately from the “saved” section below just to show what will go away and be untouched whereas the savings will be money in a normal account used for things like holidays, purchases such as new phones etc and emergency funds.

This month I am starting slowly and opened an account through Allianz here in Thailand which allows me to put away 1,800 a month which will be locked away for 15 years at a guaranteed rate of 3% minimum. I will also be looking at similar options in the UK and Thailand where I can invest over the coming few months.

Hopefully next month I will have a few new things to add here and I am in the process of writing an article of what you can do to save for retirement whilst living here in Thailand.

Saved –    75,000 THB

I had a monster month of working and a few extra projects which left me with a record income and savings whilst living here in Thailand.

Some of this money will be put towards my family holiday in September and the rest in the bank where I will decide what to do with it. The likelihood is that I will use some of it as investments over the next few months.

Overview – Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand July 2017

I wont lie, I feel absolutely shattered at the moment, I worked so much and had a lot going on. I had a goal of saving a lot this month and I achieved that but in the end I think this level is not sustainable month on month.

I changed my role at work and work in a new location which has been difficult. Even with semi decent transport links I have to travel right across the city which takes a lot out of me. The benefit here is the long term rewards (private healthcare for all family and pension contribution)  which will be a great help and hopefully give me more stability going forward. In terms of traveling I take between 90-120 minutes to get to work which isn’t so much a problem going there but a huge issue coming back at night.

August should be a lot more chilled out I hope and I am starting a new exciting project which I hope to talk about soon.

As always feel free to ask any questions or leave a comment below!