how much would you have to make in taiwan to be comparable to

[danpire]

I spent a month in Taiwan and found I could have a decent time vacationing for about USD$1000 or NT30,000 a month.

Is that realistic? It seems I can do it here in Thailand too. About 500 baht a day for living expenses without housing. And 500 baht is about 500NT.

Rental here is about 200 baht a day (6000 a month) for a bachelor's for a month. Or even cheaper if a six month commission.

Can a place be rented for about that price in Taiwan?

--
Sabai Sabai. Hakuna Matata. Chillax.

[jp_mtl]

Can a place be rented for about that price in Taiwan?

Yes.

[danpire]

Can a place be rented for about that price in Taiwan?

Yes.

Where and what kind of place? I had asked a friend previously and he said 10,000NT. But he is a big budget kinda guy.

For that 6000 baht, you can get a/c, and washroom and fully furnished (bed only I think) room. Is that comparable in Taiwan?

I am thinking of doing the WenHua Chinese course. I think the thread about it mentioned the language school near Shi-Da if I am not mistaken.

[Feiren]

I think Tommy's estimate of NT$100,000 per month is about right.

You can't rent a place like in Thailand for NT$6,000 a month. At least in Taipei, you will have to pay around NT$13,000 for a studio apartment and it will not be as 'nice' as one in Thailand in terms of furnishings etc.

[jp_mtl]

Can a place be rented for about that price in Taiwan?

Yes.

Where and what kind of place? I had asked a friend previously and he said 10,000NT. But he is a big budget kinda guy.

For that 6000 baht, you can get a/c, and washroom and fully furnished (bed only I think) room. Is that comparable in Taiwan?

I am thinking of doing the WenHua Chinese course. I think the thread about it mentioned the language school near Shi-Da if I am not mistaken.

Where: outside of Taipei. Kind of place: shitty.

[Icon]

Just a bit of comparison with the locals, so that we know that yes, the cost of living is on teh rise, and yes, it can get pretty expensive:

The majority of office workers in Taiwan are finding it difficult to live on their salaries and hope to get a pay increase to keep up with the rising cost of living, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The survey of office workers aged 25-50 found that 77 percent usually have little money left after paying their bills.
...
The poll also found that 45 percent of single employees spend between NT$10,000 (US$338.9) and NT$30,000 per month on living expenses, while 64 percent of married employees spend more than NT$50,000 per household.

The average regular salary in February was NT$37,054 per month, according to data released in April by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.

The poll found that the main areas of monthly expenditure among office workers are food as claimed by 80 percent of the respondents, transportation (59 percent) and utility bills (49 percent).

From CNA

Kind of tight, isn't it?

[Taiwan Luthiers]

I question the expenditure on food and transportation, I mean they must be taking a taxi to work everyday and eating at Carnagie's daily.

I spend 50nt a meal at those 50nt biandan place, and if you want to have a safer estimate, I would say 100nt a meal (this is eating out, for a single person), so if you spend 300nt a day on average on meals (which is very lavish in my opinion) your food budget should be around 10,000 a month. Most Taiwanese spends that a month for a family.

If you take the MRT from Danshui to Taipei main station and beyond, it's 50nt per trip (average), over a month you shouldn't be spending more than 3000 a month on transportation. I don't know how expensive are scooters but most people say its cheaper than MRT.

I can believe it if people say they spend most of their earnings on rent and utilities. Rent in Taipei can be expensive, but to say they spend most of their money on food and transportation is a little silly.

I survived in Taipei with a 9000nt a month rent, and had about 6000nt a month in discretionary spending, my income was 24,000 a month which was a bit below average for a Taiwanese.

I think the bigger problem is crap wages than high cost.

[GuyInTaiwan]

That's office workers in Taiwan. It didn't say where. They're saying 30,000NTD for a single person or 50,000NTD for a family? I call bullshit on that. I lived on less than 30,000NTD/month before I was married and that included a decent lifestyle. Maybe if they cooked at home or made their own lunches they'd save some more money. My wife, our two dogs, and I currently spend 5,000NTD/month on food and I'm hardly wasting away. Accommodation is dirt cheap outside of Taipei and outside of Taipei, most people probably live less than 20 minutes from work by scooter, which means they'd be spending hardly anything for transportation.

Also, if Taipei is that tight, why not get a job somewhere else? Surely, if that meant earning 5,000NTD/month less for some shitty job, but spending 10,000NTD/month less living in a cheaper city (and a lot of jobs probably don't pay that differently), that would be the way to go. I don't get the point of being poor in Taipei when you could be better off elsewhere.

[headhonchoII]

It depends on if you have family, mortgage, income tax, health insurance, labour insurance , decent clothes for work, money for eating and socialising with colleagues, phone bills, internet bills, electricity bills, fuel, bus/train tickets to visit family, money for purchasing a scooter and laptop and mobile phone etc. etc. Most of the people in Taipei who can afford to go out to restuarants and properly socialise are living in their folks homes.

None of the above are really discretionary in my opinion, they do not include extra costs incurred in this society including New years Hong Baos, wedding Hong Baos, contribution to parents and siblings. Don't pay them...forget about including in society here.

Accomodation is not 'dirt cheap' outside Taipei , it's still 10-20 NTD/mth rent for a small apartment, then most people . Cheap compared to most places of course.

There are some people who refuse to live in Taipei due to the cost, me included at the moment. But you must be aware of how dismal office jobs pay is outside of Taipei, 20-30k/mth is common. That's just 700-1000 USD/mth. Before tax and contributions. It drops really quickly outside of Taipei and Hsinchu. Yes don't be an office worker in Taiwan. There are some relatively well paid workers but they tend to be engineers or technical or professional people.

Yes it's possible to save some money in a place like Taipei, but only living a very stringent and boring type of life and ignoring the expected social aspect of work and your own family.

[Confuzius]

Accomodation is not 'dirt cheap' outside Taipei , it's still 10-20 NTD/mth rent for a small apartment, then most people . Cheap compared to most places of course.

My 3bdr, furnished, 3 airconditioner, washing machine, 2 balcony, small kitchen apt is 11k NT/month...and I am pretty sure I am being a bit overcharged. I can imagine what a studio would be...especially if I wasn't being overcharged.

I have a friend who lives on the other side of town and pays 9k nt/month for a studio. However, he lives in a building filled with foreigners (I do not) and his landlord pretty much only rents to foreigners...so the prices are HELLA jacked up.

I am pretty sure you can get a studio for around 6-8k nt a month if you do it right. This IS Taichung however, not Taipei. So I still think Taichung is hella cheaper than Taipei for rent, unless you rent from someone who only rents to foreigners.