My Monthly Spend in Thailand – August 2015

My Monthly Spend in Thailand – August 2015

Welcome to the August 2015 report on my monthly spend in Thailand. To start with check out the about me page to learn a little about me and my circumstances. It will also explain the high accommodation prices below.

Total Income: 71,000 THB ( 51,000 from Thailand, 20,000 from the UK )

Total Spend: 57,544 THB

Saved: 13,456 THB

Breakdown

Accommodation – 30,000 THB

My standard monthly repayment towards my  2 bedroom 64 sq metre condo. This money is from the UK, not a Thai bank.

Utility Bills – 2,495 THB

Electricity 800, Internet and cable TV 750, Sports365 package 600 , Mobile phone 300, Water 45.

My electricity bill was back to normal this month after my holiday in England the previous month. I don’t use the air conditioning that much, normally just 30 minutes before I go to bed, which really keeps the cost down. I have my fridge, TV, internet and phone plugged in most of the time so no major uses. If I totally avoided using the air conditioning I could probably save 200 Baht a month.

My water bill was 45 baht and I find the cost of water is shockingly cheap. I’m certainly not running a swimming pool but I do use quite a bit of water so I’m not sure why my bill is so cheap. The highest it has ever been is 245 Baht which is still a steal compared to the UK.

My Internet/TV, Sports365 package and phone bill are set at these rates so never change month on month. I have 20MB internet access with 100 Thai channels. Sports365 gives me access to UK sport and my phone gives me 100 minutes of calls and unlimited data.

Transport – 895 THB

A quiet month for my transport costs as I didn’t really travel anywhere special.

My main transport method is the bus which I take to work and for local trips. Bus trips cost from 6 – 21 Baht depending on the bus type and length of journey. However, there are also a number of free buses you can take. I don’t wait to take the free bus but if it turns up first I will jump on. My total spend on buses this month was 450 Baht.

I was also in the city center to apply for my new passport which meant taking the BTS / MRT a couple of times. I spent a total of 145 Baht on 4 journeys.

I normally avoid taxis but sometimes I have to use them. If I go somewhere without public transport or if I’m in a hurry I will take a taxi. I took 4 journeys this month coming to 300 Baht.

Food –  9,075 THB

I’ve decided to try and be healthier and eat better food. I find its quite challenging to come up with ideas of meals to eat. I’m not a great chef and I have limited cooking space. Also most Thai street food is made with sugar and I’m sure many other things that aren’t good for me.

Also I made the decision to cut down on the beers to just 2 or 3 a week. I have been guilty of drinking too many in the past which has been one of the main reasons for my previous high spends at 7/11. This month I spent 1,200 Baht at 7/11 which also includes buying bottled water and snacks.

I love somtam and salad but I get bored eating the same thing all the time. I’ve started buying chicken to eat with salad or to make other meals. Looking around the supermarkets there are healthier products but often imported ones are very expensive so I tend to avoid them.

Toast and pineapple for breakfast costs 25 baht a day and on the weekends I normally get a couple of croissants. My breakfast total was 775 Baht this month.

For lunch I normally cooked at home and had something light like a sandwich. My usual lunch spend is around 40 Baht a day so 1,200 Baht for the month.

For dinner midweek I normally get some street food at around 50 Baht so 1,000 Baht for the month. Somtam, salad and fried rice are my normal choices.

On weekends for dinner I will either cook at home or go to a restaurant. I have a fantastic local Essan restaurant on my soi which costs me around 300 Baht for 4 plates of food and a beer.I actually went a couple of times midweek too so I spent about 3,000 Baht on eating out this month.  I also picked up food from the supermarket to cook at home. I normally get some pork or sausages to cook and spent 1,900 Baht at Tops this month.

General Shopping – 6,379 THB

My phone has had a cracked screen for a year but this month a part of it fell off. I decided to try a replacement screen and for 2,500 Baht its much cheaper than buying a new phone. So far it seems like money well spent.

I decided to buy a rug for my condo to break up the tile flooring. I had been looking for a few months when I saw a sale at the local mall. I got a high quality rug for 3,400 Baht which makes the living area nicer to look at and feel more homely.

A quick trip to Watsons saw me stock up on toiletries, spending a total of 479 Baht for razor blades, hair wax and deodorant.

Entertainment – 0 THB

This month I didn’t go to the cinema or out partying so there isn’t an expense here. I went out for dinner a few times with friends which I included in my food costs for the month. I guess it sounds like I had a boring month but I was quite busy with work and ended up spending my free time either chilling out at home or with my friends. I was also lucky to play some football and golf , the cost of which was covered by my company.

Travel –  0 THB

This month I didn’t travel anywhere or book any trips.

Others – 8,700 THB

There were 2 big “other” expenses this month. The first was the renewal of my UK passport.The total cost was roughly 6,400 Baht. The payment was made in GBP and with the Baht being weak at the moment I paid maybe 10% more than I would have done a year ago.

I decided it was time to get my Thai driving licence this month. The process was very easy and cost me 350 Baht including medical check up, photocopies and the fee.

I also had to buy a present for a family member back home. I find this really difficult as I pretty much have to either send money / a voucher or order something and get it sent. It’s not the same as buying something and wrapping it for them. I spent 1,750 Baht on this.

The other extra I have this month is 200 Baht towards laundry. I get 50 items of clothes washed, dried and folded for 200 Baht and this normally covers me for a month.

Saved  13,456 THB

A better month for savings this month. A mixture of working a lot this month and free time sports being paid for by my company kept costs lower.

I will try to save between 10,000 – 15,000 THB a month – usually the extra income I receive from the UK. I am planning a trip to Europe next April but as you can see from my blog on Ajarn.com it is proving to be very expensive with the weakening Thai Baht.

Overview

Overall this month was a good saving month. I worked quite a lot which meant fewer updates on this site and also less time to go out. I have a holiday planned for the end of October so I will probably be quite quiet until then in terms of going out.

By looking through my monthly spending I can see that the “others” section always has a few surprise additions. It’s the little things that we don’t plan for that can really affect our budgets. Buying people presents, renewing passports / visas are expensive and maybe we don’t think about these things when looking ahead.

Next month I have a few events planned which could increase my spending. I will go play golf a few times and have to do some holiday shopping. I also don’t think I will work as many extra hours as I did this month so my total income might be a bit lower.

If you have any questions feel free to comment!