Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand April 2018

Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand April 2018

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

Total Earned:  76,000 THB

Total Spend:  68,400 THB   

Saved / Invested:  7,600 THB    

Breakdown

Accommodation – 13,000 THB

I finally moved to my new condo a couple of days ago. My new, smaller, one-bedroom condo costs 13,000 baht a month. I’m saving 7,000 baht compared to my old place.

I’m now located near Bearing BTS so have moved right to the other end of town. So far the area seems nice and I’m now a 15 minute taxi ride to work compared to the 1 hour 20 minute journey I had before. I hope it will improve my quality of life here a lot!

I was keen on having somewhere with a separate living room and bedroom, I cant live in a studio condo. Also 40sq meters was my absolute minimum. As you can see the kitchen is a decent size and has enough room to walk around it unlike some condos where you can barely squeeze into the kitchen.

I’m still getting used to living in a smaller space (41sq meters). I really like my new room, the only downside is the sofa isn’t so comfortable and there isn’t as much natural light as my old place. I’ve also had to buy some extra bits and pieces which I have listed in the general shopping and others sections below.

I had a few problems trying to find a new condo mainly due to bad Bangkok property agents. In the end I eventually found an agency which helped me out – let me know if you want their details. 

Utility Bills –     3,500 THB

Electricity, water, internet, Netflix and my phone bill comes to around 3,500 baht every month. It rarely changes by more than a few baht each month. It will be interesting now that I am in a smaller condo to see if the electric bills do go down.

Transport –   3,500 THB

I only worked for two weeks this month and had another few days out of the country but still ended up spending quite a bit on transport. Taxis to the airport and to my new condo were the main cause of these I guess.

I use the MRT and BTS a fair amount but these days I’m happy to pay 100 baht and get a taxi as and when I need one. I worked out the taxi fare from my new condo to work is round 90 baht. There are also a couple of my colleagues who live nearby so I’m sure we can share and split the cost a few times a week.

Food –    10,000 THB

I ate quite a bit when I was on holiday but included that in the travel section below. Here in Thailand I didn’t go out to any fancy restaurants but just to a few local places. I’m not a fan of street food and would rather pay an extra 10-20 baht per dish to eat in a local restaurant.

I did a big order at the Tesco Lotus online store to stock up with beer and water for my new place.

General Shopping –   11,400 THB

I have known about Lazada for quite a while and use them maybe once or twice a year to buy things. This month I bought a new smart watch for 3,900 baht. It was actually quite an impulse buy but I did need a watch for when I’m teaching and I enjoy technology so it caters for both.

I also chose to buy new things for my apartment. Bathroom and kitchen stuff came to 7,500 baht. I went to IKEA at Mega Bangna for most of my items and then to Robinsons for the rest.

Entertainment –  7,500 THB

This months entertainment, outside of my holiday, was playing golf and going out for a few beers with friends.

Golf normally costs around 1,500 baht per time with the on course beers, caddy and tip afterwards. It’s not the cheapest of hobbies but I really enjoy it and playing once or so a week it isn’t going to break the bank.

Beers and food with friends normally costs between 500-800 each time I go out. I don’t go out that often , maybe twice a month on average.

Travel – 7,000 THB

I went away for a few days to Laos just before Songkran. In my report for last month’s spending I included some costs which had been pre-paid. During the trip I spent around 9,000 baht on hotels, food, a visa, activities and going out. Overall I found Laos to be a bit boring. It had lots of similar things to Thailand but I’ve seen enough temples, waterfalls and rice fields already to make those in Laos look a bit plain. Myanmar is now the only local country I have yet to visit. I guess I will get there sometime but I’m planning to go somewhere a bit further away for the next trip.

Others –   12,500 THB

I had to renew the domain and hosting service for this site. The three year package was just under 8,000 baht.

I am still paying off my new computer which is just under 5,000 baht per month via my credit card.

Invested –  0 THB

Nothing invested this month. I was hoping to have confirmed an investment in the provident fund offered through my company but the details are still to be finalized. Hopefully sometime in May I will get this approved and the company will match up to 7,500 baht per month.

Saved –  7,600 THB

A few baht added to my account this month. I’ve been co-writing a book over the last nine months and hopefully it will be published by the end of May so I’ll use my cash resources to pay for the printing.

Overview – Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand April 2018

The start of the month was all about my holiday and the end was about my move. A bit of extra work in the middle of the month helped me to bring in a bit of extra cash.

I hope that the 7,000 baht per month that I save on rent will make a difference in the long run. Hopefully I will save / invest at least 15,000 baht per month from now on. I think my transport costs will be a bit lower too but I don’t expect a huge decrease. I will be employing a maid once a week to come in and the cleaning and ironing. I looked at getting a maid in Bangkok in this article and will be contacting the agencies and talking to local maids this week to find someone.

In the second week of May I go back to work full time after a long Songkran holiday. It’ll be good to start the new academic year and have new classes to teach.