Monthly Spend in Thailand – July 2015

My Monthly Spend in Thailand

Welcome to the first 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: 66,000 THB  ( 51,000 from Thailand and 15,000 from  UK )

Total Spend: 61,730 THB

Saved: 4,270 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 – 2,250 THB

Electricity 600, Internet and cable TV 750, Sports365 package 600 , Mobile phone 300, Water 0.

I was in the UK on vacation in June so had a lower electricity bill than normal. I also have the windows open all day in my condo so it keeps cool and I get a breeze through all day. I normally sleep with just the fan on and stay cool enough.

My internet and cable is from True and includes 101 channels which I never watch but were free when I signed up. I get 20MB internet which is reliable 99% of the time – I can download at over 3MB/s. I also have the basic sports 365 package which gives me a lot of UK and American sport. At the moment the Premier League isn’t on so I didn’t watch a lot this month but for me its a great thing to have as I can watch the games on demand in my own free time.

I am supposed to pay for my water but when I checked with my juristic manager she said they had no record that I had used water this month. I guess a problem with their system and a lucky break for me.

I use DTAC for my mobile phone and have done since I moved to Thailand. All the network providers offer similar packages and prices. 300 Baht includes unlimited data and 100 minutes worth of calls.

Transport – 820 THB

I live away from the BTS and MRT so my main method of transport is the bus.

I spent 300 baht on buses in July, mainly my journey to and from work. With buses costing from 6.5 baht they are very cheap and can save you a lot of money. I live 10 minutes from my workplace and have 6 different buses I can take so it’s easy for me to do. I also use it a few times a week to go to the supermarket or the park. I am sometimes lucky enough to get the free bus so don’t have to pay anything for some trips.

I also took the van from my road to Victory Monument 3 times and the return charge is 70 Baht so 210 in total.

I normally avoid taxis but I sometimes have to take them, for example when I go to play golf. 4 taxi rides this month cost me 450 baht in total.

Food – 11,000 THB

I usually shop in the supermarket ( Tops or Tesco Lotus ) once a week and will always cook at home on Sunday nights. I have a basic kitchen and normally make something like spaghetti or pork chops with mashed potato. This is quite expensive compared to local food but I feel it helps me avoid going to international restaurants more often. When at the supermarket I normally pick up a couple of deals and get a few snacks too. This month I spent 2,700 Baht at the supermarket.

I am lucky enough to have a mini supermarket at the end of my soi which has a bakery. They make fantastic loaves of bread at 30 Baht each. I’ll get these with some eggs or beans ( local brand ) and that covers me for breakfast – total cost 600 Baht this month. Some days I will just get pineapple from the local street stall which costs 20 Baht,  so around 300 Baht in total this month.

7/11 does see a fair bit of business from me. Mainly water, beer and snacks. They started selling Cadburys chocolate recently and I am fond of it as a treat. 2,500 Baht total spend at 7/11.

For lunch and dinner I will get something from a street stall or food court. This on average is about 40 Baht a time so 2,200 Baht for the month.

I also go to a restaurant for dinner twice a week. Normally it is a Thai style place and 4 plates of food with 2 beers comes to 350 Baht total with my girlfriend. Once a month we will go to a higher standard restaurant, usually the live music, themed setting type of place. Here we will spend about 1,500 Baht. I split the bill with my girlfriend so total here is about 2,700 Baht for eating in restaurants.

General Shopping – 750 Baht

I’m not really a big shopper, I hate being in the mall longer than I have to be. As such this section is normally pretty low as I don’t go out and buy new clothes, electronics or decorations that often.

For toiletries I always go to Watsons. They seem to have sales and buy 1 get 1 free offers all the time. I picked up 2 tubes of toothpaste for 100 Baht and 3 new toothbrushes for 150 Baht.

I also bought a new bathmat for 200 Baht from Robinsons and also a couple of air fresheners for my condo at 300 Baht total.

Entertainment – 4,160 THB

My biggest entertainment expense this month was going to see Reading FC play the Thailand All Stars. 2 tickets cost 1,000 THB and then I spent an extra 1,000 on drinks, t-shirts and souvenirs.

A couple of Sunday night drinking sessions ( I have Monday off work ) cost me around another 1,000 THB.

I also went to the driving range twice which costs 120 Baht for 100 balls each time. Total here 280 Baht including club cleaning / tips.

Jurassic World was a must see for me so I went to watch it. I had a buy 1 get 1 free voucher so only paid 60 baht for my ticket. I made up for that by buying popcorn and drinks for another 240 Baht. Total 300 THB.

I also play badminton once a week at my condo and that costs 120 Baht an hour – 4 sessions 480 THB.

Finally I must admit to being a bit addicted to the basketball game at the arcade. Whenever I am out shopping or going to the cinema I’ll play a few games with my girlfriend and she usually wins. Total here 100 THB.

Travel – 11,400 THB

I booked and paid for 2 return flights to Krabi for my vacation in October. Air Asia had a sale on and at 1,700 THB each I was very happy with the price. Internal flights in Thailand are fantastic value if you are flexible on dates and book far in advance.

I had built up loyalty points with my credit card which paid for accommodation for 2 nights at a 4* hotel. The other nights will be paid for in September as I booked with Agoda.com who allow you to pay 1 month before travel. I have included their cost in this months report and for 5 nights I paid a total of 8,000 THB.

Spending money will be in my October report.

Others – 1,350 THB

I have my clothes washed at the local laundry shop. I pay 200 Baht for 50 items of clothes to be washed, dried and folded ( socks are free ). I then pay 1,000 Baht for 100 shirts to be washed, dried and ironed. This 1,000 Baht will last me for 6 months and makes me look a bit more presentable at work.

I’m in the process of applying for a new passport so I had to go to the local photo shop and get some new pictures taken. 150 Baht for 12 is pretty good value and will last me for my upcoming visa renewal too.

Saved – 4,270 THB

So as you can see I only managed to save 4,270 Baht this month. The 11,400 Baht on my October holiday was a major cost that I wont have every month.

Before I bought my condo I was saving around 25,000 Baht a month ( my rent was 8,000 a month ). Now I am aiming to save around 12-15,000 a month as I am going on vacation next year to Europe with my girlfriend.

Overview

My highest cost is my accommodation which is much higher than most people pay for their rent. I own my condo and will be paying it off over the next 4 or 5 years. After this point I will be living rent free and I’m lucky that I still can afford the standard of life that I want despite this high cost.

As you can see in this blog I wrote for Ajarn.com I have changed my lifestyle a lot in my second year compared to my first. I have already traveled around most of Thailand and don’t feel the need to drink and party as much.

So Thanks for reading about my monthly spend in Thailand. I hope this report is useful for you and if you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments section. The next cost of living report will be out at the end of August.