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Q: What are your monthly expenses?
I think im pretty responsible, but i see others saying they save like 70-90% of their earnings. Is that possible? Or do they live like crap?
Mine:
Rent & Bills = 3500
Car& gas & maintenance & insurance. = 1000
Food= 2500 ( we usually spend 3-400 a week for cooking stuff then go for dinner once a week for like 250 )
Shopping& entertainment = 3000 go see friends once or twice a month, date night, clothes, or treats ect.
Total= 10,000 a month
I cant really make the rent much cheaper, its a one bedroom not in the city center of shenzhen unless im living in a shack.
Same with the food, cook 6 nights go out 1, im not doing that any less.
I guess i could cut down on the entertainment, but whats the point of living here if your just gonna stay at home. I could just move back home if I wanted to do nothing. And it wouldnt add uyp to much anyways.
So how do people save such a high percentage and how do your expenses compare??
University teacher, so expenses are as follows:
Rent - 0 (on campus top security prison)
utilities - 0
Food - 400 per week
Entertainment - up to 1000 a month if i don't travel
misc shopping - varies per month
not a drinker or smoker, so this saves some money
so i do manage to save a large % every month
ScotsAlan:
I think you should include traveling expenses to the above if it's a planned expenditure you save for each month. I see savings as money put in the bank and not to be touched.
sorrel:
no travel expenses for work, minimal for entertainment.
most of my salary goes in the bank every month as savings.
Living in Suzhou, I include only the regular expenses
Rent - 2100 per month
Food - 300 per week (1200 per month)
Utility bills - 100 per month
Entertainment - 500 per month (rough estimate, does not include holidays)
Transportation - 20 per month
I save the vast majority of my income. I don't eat meat and I eat local mostly, move around by bike and eventually bus. We don't use heating or air-con at home. Entertainment is mostly walking/biking outside, running, cinema here, cafe there.
Surely it depends on what you earn. If you are paid 50k a month it should be easy to save a large proportion of that. 
My expenses are similar to the OP, and like the OP I live in an expensive coastal city area, so there are lots of temptations here.... such as downtown pubs with draught beer 
. I don't live downtown so that draught beer can be rather expensive when the transport to get there and back is included. If I lived out in the sticks I would probably head to a city once a month or so and stay in a hotel. So my expenses would probably work out the same for country living as opposed to metropolitan living.
I could cut back on the beer to save some more money but that would make life rather too grim...
I get paid less here than I did in the UK, but I can save here whereas I couldn't there.
mh lets see:
rent: 0 (employer pays)
food: 2000-2500 for 2 persons (cooking during week and weekend usually eat out 1-2 times)
entertainment: cant calculate that but we dont go to bars and i do sports at home so its mostly about snacks or some clothes
utilities etc, gas, electricity: 0 (employer pays)
so i dont really have any expenses but travelling home or buying tons of presents every year for spring festival and christmas kills my purse
anyways i dont live a fancy live but i always lived like that and i buy what i want. the problem is i really dont know what to buy with my money lol
so yeah i can save more than 90% of my salary.
But to be honest? I have to because i have to buy some houses to secure my living when i m old :/
Rent - 9000 per year Gas and Utility around 100 per month
Food - 2000 per month
Gas for Scooter - 200 per month
Outing - say around 1500 per month
I live in Suzhou. As part of my benefits package I get 20,000 RMB a month living expenses. I live on that and save all of my salary, bonuses, etc.
I lease a large villa, 380 sq meters and really don't worry about money. The only items not covered by the living allowance are alcohol, electronics, and clothes.
I have saved >100,000 USD each year I have lived in China. Nov 2013 was my 4 year anniversary.
Don't hate the player, hate the game.
paulmartin:
What are you a spy 20,ooo Living expense,living expense maybe 10% usual wage so you get 200/000 a month
mike695ca:
haha he just said he saves all earnings and bonus, so salary is about 600 000 a year. plus living, not a bad gig. Good on ya!
CharlieB:
Haha, Paul I have been asked many times "are you a spy" find it funny. Actually I am a scientist conducting pre clinical Toxicology research for a contract research organization. (for profit)
ScotsAlan:
So your an expat on an expat deal. Hey, there are loads of expats about.
RENT ¥ 2,700.00STRATA ¥ 250.00PARKING ¥ 50.00WATER ¥ 100.00ELECTICITY ¥ 1,000.00GAS ¥ 100.00FOOD ¥ 4,000.00INTERNET ¥ 50.00TV ¥ 50.00 ¥ 8,300.00
beer and smokes another 500 ..money in the bank
BHGAL:
how nice of you to point this out ....I been questioning the wife about it too.... A/C 24/7 for 8 months and my little heater at my feet 5-6hrs for 2-3months ...... she stands by it.... and I pay the damned bill without ever seeing it...maybe I will double the beer bill over this discrepancy.
BHGAL:
I also question the 4000 bill for food every month for the 2 of us....I know prawns and oysters are expensive but damned if we eat them every day.
this question/answer may have just got my wife in financial trouble ...cut back on her allowance!!!! LOLOLOLOLOL
BHGAL:
yes ...strata is a f..ing thing fee that we pay for management of the property ... that's what we call it in Canada and I hated it there and I hate it here..........
DrMonkey:
A/C is a major electric power sink. If you bought your flat, insulate it. Start with roof and ceiling, then walls. An investment, but you will amortize it quickly ;)
rent + utilities = 0
food, phone and miscellaneous = ¥ 2,500
Bikes, clothes, Taobao = ¥ 400
Taxis to bars = ¥ 300
Not bad, no wonder I save too much.
Beer 1500/mth. No bars here so that's just in a restaurant or at home.
Food 1500/mth...restaurant x 20 per mth, give or take.
Nothing else to spend money on where I live, not that I mind. What else does one need other than food and beer?
Oh...cinema every other mth. Snooker about the same.
Next week heading to Yunnan for a 10 day holiday and air fares/accommodation alone are Y20,000. Add in food and drink and I'm sure we'll have been better off going to Paris for a week.
Oh well, chill out and make the best of it. Worse things happen at sea you know...
ScotsAlan:
That's an impressive beer intake . How much you paying per bottle?
DrMonkey:
For less than 20000 RMB, two people, we go to NZ back and forth :p
royceH:
Never drank vodka in my life. No, that's only for beer. I usually drink 500ml cans of red Wusu (the Prince) @ 6 kuai ea, or 500ml cans of Qingdao for 8 kuai. Same price in the restaurant or from the small shop. Sometimes I prefer the top drop of Wusu (the King) when in a restaurant and that's 10 kuai.
About once a month I have a bottle of dry white wine. Like tonight. It's very average and costs about Y40.
Yes, Yunnan is still China but China is a very expensive place in which to travel. There's three of us and it was a prerequisite for our hotels to have a real bathroom, proper toilet, and running water. Hot running water. And clean sheets.
Going to NZ....lucky bastard!
I live in a smaller city:
- 800 month /rent
- 2000 - 3000 food per month (two people including eating out occassionally)
- 500 on entertainment
- 100 transportation (motorcycle & taxis)
- 150 internet & phone
- 20 water
I make about 10-15k USD per month (depends on the number of projects I get). So I pretty much save 95%+. Nothing to complain about for sure, I do what I like, live well and enjoy life.
income: +5k
rent -1k
beer -4k
albino midget / monkey porn -3k
...darn, I better start cutting back.
Rent 2000
eating at home mostly, go to a restaurant and get drunk once or twice a week, power water etc about 3000
Sometimes I'll need to buy clothes, or pay for the internet or something but most months I'll save more than I spend.
Rent. 1350
Food. 1200 (300 Prr week)
Utilities. 400
Bills at home 2400
