Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand October 2018

Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand October 2018

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

Total Earned:   71,000 THB

Total Spend:   55,380 THB   

Invested:  10,000 THB    

Saved: 5,620 THB

Breakdown

Accommodation – 13,000 THB

My condo is on Sukhumvit 105. It’s a great little area with a mixture of local restaurants and a few more upmarket joints. Within a 100 baht taxi ride there are loads of great places to visit and eat at.

The room itself is 41sq meters. I’ve got four nice sized rooms and a little balcony with a washing machine. I used to use a laundry but to be honest it’s so much better having my own washing machine. In three condos I’ve lived in the landlord has purchased a washing machine as a way of getting me to sign the contract on the place.

One of the best things about my condo is the kitchen. There’s room for two people to walk around it and it’s next to the balcony so all the cooking smells go straight outside rather than into my living room or bedroom.

My rent and utilities work out at around 25% of my basic income so overall I’m quite happy with this. In my time in Thailand I’ve lived in 3,000 baht apartments and a 20,000 baht room and I have to say my current place is my favorite.

Utility Bills –   3,480 THB

Water: 180 baht

Electricity: 1,500 baht

Internet: 805 baht

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

Netflix: 440 baht

My bills don’t vary much. The AC is on pretty much all the time I’m home. I sometimes forget to turn it off when I go out too. I’m considering changing from AIS to Line Mobile next month as I think I can get a better deal.

Transport –  3,450 THB

I’ve started to get into Grab taxi more and more. The extra 20 baht fee means no hassle with being rejected and the ability to pay for taxi rides on my credit card. I don’t use it for short local trips but when going across town it really works out. In the past I had problems with Grab but the drivers seems to be behaving much better recently! the only negative with Grab is they seem to send about five million notifications to my phone every day…

I use normal taxis to go to and from work each day. The total amount is close to 150 baht a day. I sometimes split this with a colleague who lives near me.

I use the BTS probably half a dozen times a week. I use trips which means I pay around 33 baht. The problem is these trips are only valid to On Nut so I pay an extra 10 baht to go from On Nut to Bearing. It’s a bit of a joke really and hopefully something the company will look into.

The occasional bus adds a few baht to my overall spend.

Food –   12,500 THB

I went out to nice places about once a week this month. I even managed to go to an old favorite place on Nawamin road I haven’t been to in over a year which was great.

I treated myself to a few western meals too and spent more than usual on food at work.

I don’t actively try and save money on food but I don’t buy a lot of imported products in the supermarket either. This is probably one area where I could cut back on my spending but I enjoy the food here a lot and feel, in general, that it’s great value for money.

General Shopping –  1,950 THB

I went on to Lazada and bought a few bits and pieces for my computer. I love this site and I’ve never had any problems with delivery or payment.

I also purchased a few clothes from AIIZ at Mega Bangna. I go back to the UK once a year and do most of my clothes shopping as prices tend to be lower and quality higher.

Entertainment –  2,500 THB

This month my main form of entertainment was going out for a few beers. I went to a few interesting places including one which did unlimited draft beer for 299 baht.

I also hit the driving range which cost 120 baht including a drink. I imagine I’ll be playing more golf in the upcoming weeks as the rainy season has now stopped.

Travel – 6,500 THB

I’m going back to England for Christmas and on the way back I’ll spend a few days in Sri Lanka. I had to pay for just a one way flight back to Bangkok which cost 6,500 baht. It will be the first time I’ve flown with Thai Airways. I’ve heard a lot of positive and negative feedback about them so it’ll be interesting to see what they’re really like.

Others –   12,000 THB

This month I made the last payment towards my computer. I’d been paying 5,000 baht for the last 10 months via my credit card. It was the first large purchase I’ve used a credit card to pay monthly for. Overall it’s been a positive experience and I’ve done the same with a couple of other purchases in this section.

The first of those is my flight back home for Christmas with Air India which costs 2,500 per month for six months and the second my gym membership which is 1,800 per month.

I also have a maid who comes in once a week. It comes to 2,250 a month for the month. The maid washes, irons and puts everything in order. It’s worth paying for someone to come in as previously I was spending a small fortune on washing and ironing services anyway.

Finally I bought a couple of little presents.

Invested –   10,000 THB

I invest 10,000 baht of my salary into a LTF here in Thailand and my company add an extra 6,500 or so on top of that. At around 16,500 a month going into the fund for at least the next five years I hope to have a nice lump sum saved. After five years I’ll be able to withdraw or keep the savings going. Based on historic performance I should be looking at just over a million baht in 2023.

Saved –   5,620 THB

Ah saving money, it’s been a few months since I’ve done that!

Actually it was a good feeling to get some money in the bank as I’ve got a couple of trips coming up that I need to pay for. After the last few months of losing money each month I was looking at ways I could spend less. I feel that apart from my food budget there isn’t too much I could cut. If I wasn’t investing 10,000 baht per month I would find it pretty easy to have cash in the bank at the end of the month.

Next month I’ll get some money in from overtime and also the first payment from my book which was delayed from this month. I’m hoping I’ll save around 10,000 baht. This should be easier as I’ll have paid off my computer.

It’s also getting towards the end of the year and I’ve been thinking that this year I’ve found Thailand more expensive than previously. Beers are creeping up to 120 baht a bottle in most places and mid range restaurants are adding an extra 10 or 20 baht to each dish. Right now I’m OK with this but if this keeps changing then I’ll need to try and make an extra 5-10% next year compared to this to keep up with inflation.

Overview – Monthly Cost of Living in Thailand October 2018

This month felt busy as I worked some extra shifts and had a few tasks to do like helping people move house and going to a couple of parties.

My job also determines my lifestyle. As a teacher here I get 13 weeks holiday a year. October was one of the months when I had a few days off but then had to work solidly. I’ll be full steam ahead until the 16th December when my Christmas break starts. I imagine November will be quite full on in terms of work and other commitments.

I’m also going to start thinking about editing my article on the minimum monthly income to live in Thailand as I feel I need to increase my recommendations. Previously I’ve said 50,000 baht should be the minimum but now I’m thinking that should go up.

I can honestly say that despite making 70,000 baht this month it’s not easy to do everything I want, save and travel. I’ve always said I want to be making closer to 100,000 baht a month to feel comfortable here.