Living on 1000 baht per day

[Johnnywastaken]

Again I apologize if this question has been breached before...I searched and found nothing so...

...Supposing you were a single male....with only an occasional girlfriend and not a punter lifestyle.... and after Rent, hydro, internet and tier 2 health insurance was paid, no car but a mountain bike.... could an expat in HH live on 1000 bhat per day...?....and if he could...would it be a meager existence... ?

[Dr Mike]

If you eat two meals a day and eat in the markets you can eat for 200b a day or even less, but it would get monotanous after a while.

[advocate]

I know people who live on 30,000 Bt per month. They usually only pay 3-5000 Bt rent per month to maximise their spending money. Or, get a roomate in the same situation and share a larger place. If you do this, you can still eat in the restaurants. But cheaper to cook yourself and have more $ for entertainment.

You should have health insurance just in case of illness or accident or you could be in dire straits.

[bcrglobal]

yes, you can. No, it would not be meager at all. BUT it depends on you.

Do you like to cook? do you like Thai food, or need Farang food?

In the scenario you outline let me throw out a realistic budget for you (Making some assumptions on your tastes in food and company):

Breakfast: Monthly Budget: 2750
25 times: Milk and Cereal with Coffee at home: 50THB each time.
5 times: Big breakfast out, with coffee: 300 THB each time.

Lunch: Monthly Budget: 3200
10 times: Sandwich and soft drink at home: 70THB each Time
10 times: Fried rice/noodles and a soft drink: 50 THB each time
10 times: McDonalds: 200 each time.

Dinner: Monthly Budget: 8250
15 times: Curry/Rice and a small beer: THB150 each time
15 times: Nice dinner out with a small beer--farang food. 400THB each time

14200 THB in total for meals
2000 THB: 4 cases of large beer to drink at home
1000 THB: Electricity (You didn't list this)
1500 THB: 3 Bar Fines
4500 THB: 3 overnight girlfriends
800 THB: Laundry & Ironing
6000 THB: Money to spend in bars, massage, on other things, etc.

I wouldn't call this a meager lifestyle, but it's not exactly living "High on the hog" either.

[hhfarang]

He said after rent, hydro (water? or electric?), internet, and health insurance... so I guess he's only talking about food, drink, non-food consumables (paper, cleaning supplies, etc.), cell phone bill, gas for his bike, and entertainment. If you keep entertainment (girls) and drinking (alcohol) to a minimum and do not expect to travel much, I believe that is easily doable. That (30k to 35k) is about what two of us spend on food, drink, entertainment, and non-food consumables each month. We don't go out much but I do drink a lot at home. The only other item that you didn't mention is TV. If you watch that a lot and want a good TrueVisions package that will cost another 2k per month.

[LolaBeltran]

hydro?

[Johnnywastaken]

1000 THB: Electricity (You didn't list this)

Yeah I did actually...but I referred to it as hydro....

bcrglobal....thank you for that list...it's exactly what I needed to read...
According to my calculations... it totals 30 grand...and equates to what my original question was...
Granted...our life styles differ but still pretty close....

I too will insist on Burger King at least once a week... I'm just a creature of habit I guess..
Breakfast consists of coffee and cigs...occasionally fruit..
I smoke so that adds 4 bucks to my daily tab so subtract 130 bhat a day...
I also drink considerably more that 4 cases of large....but mostly at home...
I'm a big fan of Sangsom and coke light...at home...
I Don't need a tv when internet is mine....I would watch the Superbowl or Stanley Cup at a bar...
On the topic of bars...well that novelty has sadly worn off over the years... and frankly short of a few nights out to converse with fellow expats.... and yes I would also cook at home very often by choice...
the barfines you mention seem rather high to me...or maybe times have changed... and those might be limited to say one or twice a month...but ya never know...could be 6...realistically...

I've been giving this whole thing much thought lately.... and honestly after crunching the numbers...
it's doable...even though my budget allows for double....I'm not a big spender.... I can relax on both sides of the tracks.... It's clearly evident that a single person could enjoy a good quality of life in HH on 1000 bhat per day....

[advocate]

If your budget is actually double than you can afford to save for extras such as the occasional emergency, flights, and the odd indulgence.

[bcrglobal]

Glad that was helpful Johnny.

Just to clarify--that's NOT my lifestyle, just the lifestyle that I would imagine a single guy in HH would probably want to have. I'm married with a kid, don't drink much, don't do the short-term girlfriend thing at all, and eat mainly at home....

I'd actually built that around your 1k a day request.....easy to spend more, possible to spend less...depends on the desired lifestyle.

[JW]

Great thread here, I really need to look at my spends!

[Johnnywastaken]

Yeah I understand bcrglobal..... I have a ball park figure.... you aren't far off the mark here in your calculations....

I have a friend in Jomptien who does everything on 20,000 per month.... and he appears to do well...
so it's not impossible...

I admit that my vices are more than you spend but your list has set a benchmark for me and it seems very plausible....

Thank you again and all who contributed...

[Homer]

You could, but why? 30k baht would go a lot farther in a less expensive town. Is something about HH that appealing?

[Spitfire]

If you are talking about 1000 baht a day to spare after unavoidable expenses like rent, water, electricity, TV subscription etc and you are a single guy that doesn't need a frivolous accommodation solution, that just get's involved with the fairer sex occasionally with just a passing responsible attraction to restaurants....then yeah, maybe.

Guess it's all about whether you can exercise recreational activity control.

I would guess then that you are really asking about living in HH on 50-60k ish baht a month. Many do, but it's 'horses for courses' and depends on what you are satisfied with, and what floats your boat under your circumstances.

But, yes, do-able for sure, if you want to or if you fit the jigsaw for that MO.

As an aside, there are cheaper places to live that HH though that aren't that far away.

[Johnnywastaken]

You could, but why? 30k baht would go a lot farther in a less expensive town. Is something about HH that appealing?

One could tack on 5 % to live in HH rather than say..... Kanchantaburi....correct..?

I seem to recall a thread about cost of living.... people there with houses and family's.... were quoted on spending an average of 100,000 bhat per month .... so 50 to 60 thousand for a single renter shouldn't be far off having not to incur most of the expenses with children and houses to maintain..

[dtaai-maai]

50 to 60 thousand for a single renter shouldn't be far off having not to incur most of the expenses with children and houses to maintain..

On the basis of what you've said, you could get by perfectly well in HH on that overall income.