Places to live like a peasant?

AdamC

AdamC

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Jun 10, 2012
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I'm looking at taking advantage of working online, and leaving the UK for a bit, for a few reasons, mainly:

to save money
to live in a better climate
to "travel".

Right now, Thailand looks pretty good, seems a simple studio apartment can be had for around $160/mo inc utilities, so just the cost of actually living on top. This would save me quite a bit of money, over living here in the UK.

As I understand it, internet connections are "OK" in cities in Thailand, reasonable speeds and fairly reliable, which should do fine for work purposes.

I don't want to spend forever there though, so does anyone else have suggestions for else where in the world?

inb4 peasant spotted etc, yep i'm a peasant ;P
 


You can sleep on my couch for free if you give me daily sponge baths.


Midget-bath_1269389862_1269389910.jpg
 
Eastern europe/thailand/philippines

1. cheap coders, designers, etc.
2. cheap hookers, lady boys availiable
3. cheap english speaking jack-of-all-trades type of workers for hire
 
Question to those of you who have lived in SE Asia, how do you find the internet connection? Is there a notable delay connecting to sites on US servers etc? I know most of SE Asia pings at 200-300 ms, a 2-3 second delay wouldn't be ideal for productivity.
 
What's your monthly budget? Depending on what city you're in, you can get a whole 4bdrm house for $160/month, instead of just a studio. You'll have to learn at least basic Thai though, as those houses aren't available in the tourist areas.

I don't know, but to give you an idea, I'm in one of the cheaper cities in Thailand, and I blow through a good $3000/month, and my life is nothing special. I'm not some cheapskate who washes his ziploc bags, but I keep a close eye on what I spend, and don't just throw money around needlessly. That's simply what it costs for me, and I have no clue how these English teachers live off $1000/month. I guess they don't have air-conditioning, and eat deep-fryed chicken feet for dinner.

The good part is, the quality of life I have here is far better than I'd have in Canada for the same amount. In Canada, this level of life would cost me at least $9000/month.
 
bauss said:
Question to those of you who have lived in SE Asia, how do you find the internet connection?
Click to expand...

Thinking about it, excellent now. A few years ago it wasn't great, and always up and down. To the point I ended up with 2 broadband providers to the house, plus a 3G aircard. I figured I'd at least one of them would be online at all times.

Thinking about it though, I haven't experienced more than probably an hour of downtime in the past 12 months. Economy here is booming, so apparently they've fixed whatever infrastructure problems they were previously having. Speed is totally fine too, and just as good as Canada, etc.
 
How do you get through $3000 in Thailand? I dont even spend that here in the UK :)

I know western stuff, including food etc is expensive there (isnt it?), but just sounds like a lot to me..
 
Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador in this order of preference

Go for Peru - great organic food, super cheap and clean

You can also explore the possibility of getting a permanent residence permit and subsequently a second citizenship in Chile or Uruguay if you make like $600 a month.

Just my 2 cents

Disclosure: This opinion is entirely based on extensive online reading and stuff.
AdamC said:
How do you get through $3000 in Thailand? I dont even spend that here in the UK :)

I know western stuff, including food etc is expensive there (isnt it?), but just sounds like a lot to me..
Click to expand...

Curious to know too. Can you type out a rough breakdown of expenses? Food/rent/health/transport/employees if any
 
jacky8 said:
Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador in this order of preference

Go for Peru - great organic food, super cheap and clean
Click to expand...

What are things like Health care like there? Thailand seems to be pretty decent, modern hospitals etc.

Is Peru particularly cheap? What would a simple studio apartment cost me not too far from a city?
 
I might be wrong here.. and okay, you got two other reasons there too. BUT the first one... Man. I don't really believe that kind of thinking is smart to subscribe to. I'm probably going full on preacher mode for no reason whatsoever but if you are in this industry your thinking should always always be: how can I make more money. Not: how can I save money. Maybe it's just me, it probably isn't, but after 6 years in this, every single time I lost all my money and had to start from zero I always thought: "Okay I'm in shit now and now I need to make more money fast". Work more, develop more ideas, talk to more people, basically do anything to pull myself from a situation where money is an issue for me. But I digress, Thailand is probably good to see another culture and expand your horizons a bit. However if your main motivation is to save money I suggest you think about it and maybe work against the current, not with it.
 
jacky8 said:
Curious to know too. Can you type out a rough breakdown of expenses? Food/rent/health/transport/employees if any
Click to expand...

Rent = $900 (fully furnished house -- need a large yard for the dogs)
Utilities (elec / water / tv / internet) = $190
Dogs = $600 (I treat them better than I need to, but they're worth it).
Groceries = No idea -- $600 (imported food is expensive).
Drinking, Going Out = $500
VISA runs & Immigration = $80
Misc (taxis, bus / trains, new plants, dogs ripping their leg open, etc.) = $300

Oh, that's more than $3000 right there. I don't keep a strict record of what I spend, but there's a decent idea.
 
JoseArmando said:
I might be wrong here.. and okay, you got two other reasons there too. BUT the first one... Man. I don't really believe that kind of thinking is smart to subscribe to. I'm probably going full on preacher mode for no reason whatsoever but if you are in this industry your thinking should always always be: how can I make more money. Not: how can I save money. Maybe it's just me, it probably isn't, but after 6 years in this, every single time I lost all my money and had to start from zero I always thought: "Okay I'm in shit now and now I need to make more money fast". Work more, develop more ideas, talk to more people, basically do anything to pull myself from a situation where money is an issue for me. But I digress, Thailand is probably good to see another culture and expand your horizons a bit. However if your main motivation is to save money I suggest you think about it and maybe work against the current, not with it.
Click to expand...

It's not forever. This is right now, I know what I can afford, and what I hope to afford in the future.

I've no real desire to build a home, family. Also, the UK is OK in the summer, but in the winter its depressing as fuck.

If at any time I think I *need* to live better, I of course will, but right now, I have to live within my means and try to keep a bit back.

I'm a very minimal person, I dont need much, in fact I'm happiest when it just me and a backpack.
 
AdamC said:
It's not forever. This is right now, I know what I can afford, and what I hope to afford in the future.

I've no real desire to build a home, family. Also, the UK is OK in the summer, but in the winter its depressing as fuck.

If at any time I think I *need* to live better, I of course will, but right now, I have to live within my means and try to keep a bit back.

I'm a very minimal person, I dont need much, in fact I'm happiest when it just me and a backpack.
Click to expand...

Good to hear that. And you'll hit those sweet asian sugar walls. ;)
 
AdamC said:
How do you get through $3000 in Thailand? I dont even spend that here in the UK :)

I know western stuff, including food etc is expensive there (isnt it?), but just sounds like a lot to me..
Click to expand...

It's not really that much considering its $100 a day or ~3000 baht a day.

But having said that, you don't have to spend that much.

You easily get away with spending $800 a month if you don't mind living frugal.

Of course if you want to rough it, you could spend $300 to $400 a month a still be ok. But then most westerners dont end up doing that unless they fuck up royally.
 
bauss said:
Question to those of you who have lived in SE Asia, how do you find the internet connection? Is there a notable delay connecting to sites on US servers etc? I know most of SE Asia pings at 200-300 ms, a 2-3 second delay wouldn't be ideal for productivity.
Click to expand...

In Philippines it is far slower than Europe, you can usually find a decent enough connection but may need to pay extra or try different providers if not in a main city. Often at night my connection slows down a lot.
 
qualo said:
In Philippines it is far slower than Europe, you can usually find a decent enough connection but may need to pay extra or try different providers if not in a main city. Often at night my connection slows down a lot.
Click to expand...

TBH, majority of my work is editing PHP files and simple download/upload via sftp. I'll probably use a VPN via a VPS when abroad. As long as I can do this without too much hassle I'll be set, work wise.

I expect to lose out on 720p youtube etc ;P
 
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