000dollars where to retire/live?
01-02-2013, 12:42 AM
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Thailand – When I spent a stretch of time teaching English in the northern city of Chiang Mai, I shared an apartment with a friend of mine. I believe we paid about $200 USD each for our seventh floor pad that had a clear view to the beautiful Doi Suthep mountain behind the city. We ate all of our meals out (most of them at a random place called “Mr. Smiley’s” that was indeed owned by the happiest person on Earth), took frequent day and overnight trips all around northern Thailand, enjoyed daily foot massages and again, never paid much attention to how much we were spending. In the end, I had an incredibly rewarding, fun-filled experience for approximately $500 per month. And if you’re yet to be convinced that living in paradise doesn’t have to be expensive, just last year I spent a month on the absolutely perfect Thai island of Koh Mak, where a simple but super-comfortable beachfront bungalow set me back only $300 for four weeks!
Calling bullshit on this. Not saying it isn't possible, but zero chance in hell that he "took frequent day and overnight trips all around northern Thailand, enjoyed daily foot massages and again, never paid much attention to how much we were spending. In the end, I had an incredibly rewarding, fun-filled experience for approximately $500 per month."
If he payed $200 for rent, that leaves him with $300 for the rest of the month. You CAN live on that, but you are definitely not having no "fun-filled experience" and not watching your budget. I lived in Chiang Mai for 3 months, I know.
If he at 3, 30 baht meals a day (which would leave him looking like Mick Jagger after a month long heroine binge) and a daily foot massage, he is spending roughly 200 baht a day. That is 6000 baht a month, or $200. So that leaves him with $100 for the month. Which includes "frequent day and overnight trips all around northern Thailand", not to mention little shit that adds up like tooth paste, new pair of socks, a hair cut, soap, beer, an extra 30 baht meal so he doesn't die of starvation, etc.
You can live a ok lifestyle in Thailand for $1,000 a month, but trust me, you want at least $1,500. If you are serious about retiring on $1,000 a month, I would say you should find a way to earn an extra $500 a month. You will be much happier.