Welcome to my monthly spend report. This month I’ve decided to change things up and edit the style slightly as it was becoming a little repetitive.
Income – 72,000 baht
Spending – 83,000 baht
Fixed Costs
Accommodation: My 81sq meter condo is 17,000 baht per month.
Bills: 5,500 baht between water, electric, phone, internet, Netflix and Spotify
Transport: 1,500 baht for a mix of buses and taxis.
Investments: 10,000 baht per month goes out on investments each month.
Variable Costs
Food: 10,000 baht on a mix of restaurants, supermarkets and food delivery.
Travel: 17,000 baht for a six day trip to Cambodia.
General Shopping: 6,000 baht for clothes and other bits and pieces for my trip.
Others: 16,000 baht for installment payments on furniture / electronic goods and a few presents for birthdays. This section also includes entertainment such as going to the cinema and playing sport.
Unexpected Costs
Every month I seem to have some unexpected costs. This month it was in the clothing department. My work shoes seemingly disintegrated in the Bangkok heat and I had a hole in my trousers. A visit to Seacon Square for replacements came to around 3,000 baht.
Unusual Expenses
This month I went away on vacation with my girlfriend. Between us we spent around 22,000 baht and I picked up the tab for 17,000 of that. We usually split the costs of our trips roughly 75/25.
I normally have three trips per year but for my next trip in July it’ll just be me going back to the UK alone for a short visit.
Rent Expense
17,000 baht per month is probably about the average rent price I’ve paid during my time in Thailand. My most expensive condo was 30k per month, the cheapest was 3,300 baht.
My current rent is roughly 25% of my income so it’s a level I’m happy with. As I live with my girlfriend, the 81sq meters we have gives us a good living environment. I could find a smaller place but it would affect my quality of life so I’ll stick with what I have.
Could I have saved more this month?
I certainly could have saved a few thousand baht on my vacation but what’s the point of doing that when it cuts back on the enjoyment of the trip?
My electric bill is over 2,500 baht and I’m looking at ways to bring that down a little. I have two massive AC units which eat up power for fun so I’ll probably be investing in a good fan to use during the day.
What do you invest in?
I have an LTF investment and a provident fund from my work. My company matches up to 9,000 baht per month.
I also put a few baht into other investments such as crypto currency.
What’s the minimum a foreigner would need to live comfortably in Bangkok?
In my experience I’d want to be making at least 50,000 baht to live comfortably as a single foreigner in Bangkok. This would allow you to have a small condo, pay your bills, go out once a week and save enough for a few trips and cover unexpected costs.
If you like the nicer things in life then certainly 100,000 baht would allow for that. I make around 70,000 a month on average and sometimes have to cut back as my paycheck doesn’t cover everything I’d like to do.
What’s happening in May?
I’ve got the first two weeks of May off on vacation but I’ll be staying at home in Bangkok. I’ve been working on a few projects and hopefully they’ll bring in some extra income.
I’m not expecting any major costs in May but I’m sure something will come up.
May Savings Goal
At the end of May, after all my costs and investments, I hope to save 5,000 baht in cash.
In case you have not read it, I’d like to recommend the book Millionaire Expat by Andrew Hallam. Cheers.
It’s a good book JD thanks for recommending it.
I mention it because you said you were invested in provident, which I assumed was Friends Provident.
Andrew talks a lot about it in his book, and also mentions it a number of times on his site andrewhallam.com
There’s also a menu item about it under the “warning” menu up top.
Cool.
Actually I’m part of a provident fund here which is a scheme where my employers match my contribution into a fund which also reduces my tax bill.