Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand August 2018

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Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand August 2018

Welcome to the August 2018 report on my monthly spend in Thailand.

Total Earned: 74,650  THB

Total Spend:   68,225 THB   

Invested:  10,000 THB    

Saved: loss 3,575 THB

Breakdown

Accommodation – 13,000 THB

I live in a one-bedroom 41sq meter condo on Sukhumvit 105 (La Salle). It’s a new room and the building is about a five-minute walk from BTS Bearing. It’s also around 15 minutes by taxi to my office so all in all it’s a great location for me. The rent is 13,000 baht per month which I think is reasonable considering the size and facilities in the room.

I find 41 sq meters to be just about right for me as I have enough room for all my things and don’t feel claustrophobic. I spend a fair amount of time at my place relaxing and working so I value having a nice environment to call home. I wrote a little guide about what it’s like to live in a condo and how it feels to live in different size rooms.

I’m now five months into my year long contract and will soon have to start thinking about what my next move will be. I’ve tended to move every year I’ve lived in Bangkok. I love this area and with a few new condos being built this year I may look at moving to another place nearby to get a brand new room. I’ve had a couple of problems with neighbors and management at my current condo which might make the decision to move easier.

Utility Bills –   3,325 THB

Water: 165 baht

Electricity: 1,350 baht

Internet: 805 baht

Phone Bill: 555 baht (includes monthly subscription to Joox)

Netflix: 440 baht

I use the air conditioning around 7 hours a day and have a few appliances constantly plugged in. I wrote an article about paying your electric bill online which is worth a read .

Transport –  3,000 THB

My attitude towards taxis has changed so much from when I first lived in Thailand. In the past taxis were reserved for last resorts and times when there were no other options. These days taxis are my first choice when it comes to transport. Gone are the days of traveling everywhere by bus or songthaew.

I use the BTS or MRT a couple of times a week but if I’m not alone a taxi is often the same price or cheaper than using the sky-train. I did take a bus to China Town from Bearing which only took 25 minutes and cost just 9 baht – that was a bargain and it took the expressway.

Food –  9,500 THB

I went to the newly-opened Villa supermarket down my road and spent 2,000 baht. It’s good to have a proper supermarket round the corner from my place and I’m sure I’ll end up there once a month at least. It’ll help me achieve my aim of cooking more at home. Products in the supermarket may seem expensive but then if you spend 250 baht on a meal in a restaurant it probably costs more than making the same thing yourself at home.

On a work day I’ll buy lunch and dinner at work (I work from midday to 9pm). On average I probably spend 150 baht on the two meals combined. On my days off I’ll spend 500-1,000 on a day’s food. I’ll go to a nice restaurant at least once a week.

General Shopping –  3,450 THB

I lost my headphones and bought a new replacement pair. At 2,450 baht they weren’t cheap but they are good quality JBL headphones. I’ll be a bit more careful with this new pair! I also bought a few books from Asia Books this month.

Entertainment – 7,000 THB

I’ve been a bit boring this month. I probably went out once a week and maybe had a few beers after work twice a week. I knew that my budget would be a bit tight come the end of the month so I didn’t do anything too extravagant.

Travel – 5,000 THB

I had a bit of a nightmare with travel this month. I’m going back to the UK for Christmas and had booked a flight a few months ago. I got an email from Expedia saying my flight had been cancelled and I had the option of changing the date or getting a refund. The date change option was four days earlier and meant I would still be working so I had to go for the refund. Unfortunately my original flight was such a bargain that I couldn’t find anything remotely close price wise. The cheapest option was with Air India and was an extra 5,000 baht. I’ve flown with Air India before and vowed never again but the next cheapest option was an extra 5,000 baht on top of this! Fingers crossed I have a better experience this time around…

Others –  23,950 THB

I’ve got two more monthly payments of 5,100 a month before my computer is paid off. This was done via my credit card. I use KTC if you are looking at getting a Thai credit card, I’d certainly recommend them.

I pre-paid for my maid to come in four times in September – this comes to 2,250 baht.

I paid 16,600 baht towards the cost of my book – Settling in Thailand. Hopefully by the end of September all the costs will be paid off and I’ll start making some money from it.

Invested –   10,000 THB

I pay into a provident fund at work. It is a five year fund where my company match up to 9% of my salary. Also I should note that the amount I pay into this fund is locked for a year, it can’t be changed regardless of how much I save / lose in a month.

Another benefit of this fund is that it reduces my monthly tax bill. My figures here are all after tax but I pay 750 baht a month social security and 2,200 in tax. It’s quite a big reduction compared to before when I was paying almost 4,000 baht a month in tax.

Have a look at this article on FireInThailand for more information on these types of funds and the tax benefits you can get from them.

Saved –   Loss of 3,575 THB

August went the same way as July with a loss. Again the primary reason for this was paying for the printing costs or my book. Hopefully next month should be back to making some savings.

As I said before I’m going back to England for Christmas so need to get some spending money together. Last time I went home I only spent around 15,000 baht. I imagine the same again will be about right as I don’t plan to do anything too crazy or overly exciting whilst there.

Overview – Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand August 2018

I’ve done a lot of work this month in terms of writing for this site (and a couple of new sites which will come soon). It’s helped me to save a bit of money compared to going out playing golf or doing other activities. Something that did help this month was that I got a 3% pay rise. I’d actually forgotten about it but it means I invest slightly more in my provident fund and my company add a little extra too.

I’m not sure what September will bring. I don’t have any exciting plans yet as I know I will have a ten day holiday in the first half of October. I think I’ll just focus on work and writing for this site.

I also plan to have paid off all the costs of my book and will start to hopefully make some money from it! I’ve not set goals for how much I’ll make but will see over the coming months how it gets on.

About Richard 176 Articles
British guy living and working in Bangkok, Thailand since 2013. Running LifeInANewCountry.com teaching and writer of Settling in Thailand expat book.