Cost of Living

Now that we've been here over 18 months where has the time gone I realised I have not shared our living costs. Whilst we are no longer "rich" in monetary terms, we live a reasonable life. It's simply a matter of choosing where our money goes. I think of it as an "either / or" situation. We can either eat out seven days a week or we can go on holiday a couple of times a year.

Before we get to the figures, I think I should explain some of them. Our rent includes internet access and TV. So why choose to have additional expense? Well, the internet is shared between the other 14 apartments and when everyone is at home it slows right down. The TV includes "free to air channels" which, of course, are all in Thai. The TV package we have is the mid-range and is mostly the choice of Mr John as it includes his favourite rugby channel. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining because it also includes Australia Plus which means we get to watch Australian Rules Football as well. The point is, this cost is purely our choice.

The electric cost is representative of a fairly high average for us. The most expensive bill we had was 950 and the cheapest 520. It's the air-conditioning that seems to impact the most so April and May tend to be expensive. There were times last December when I didn't even have a fan on during the day so one of our cheapest months. This differs to the water cost which is a minimum 85 baht and we've never gone over that figure even though some days I shower five times!

Food and Drink includes coffee and alcohol and covers all our household staples. I've included eating out separately and although we tend to eat at Tom's across the road, we usually spoil ourselves at least once on the weekend with western style food.

Personal Expenses is the money Mr John and I have for ourselves to spend or save as we see fit. For me, it's mostly to fuel my caffeine habit whereas Mr John saves his for bigger treats I should also point out that he has less opportunity to spend his being at work all week.

So, there you go and here's the figures.
* rates are approximate and have been rounded up or down
Weekly costs can vary
Savings (minimum quoted) covers holidays and bike registration / repairs etc
Wifi / TV / Mobile costs are with True Vision