I allow myself a budget of 15,000 baht a month to cover my food, toiletries, cleaning materials for my condo and eating out, and generally come in at 12k without making an effort at shopping smart. Do you think 10,000 baht is do-able for a meat eating generally western diet with the odd thai meal thrown in ? I'm doing a little project pricing up things in the various supermarkets in Pattaya so I can shop smarter and with a possible retirement rota of 4 months Thailand / 2 months UK, the scope for good buying of expensive import products from the UK comes into the equation. The old favourites of tea, mustard, pickle, dried cooking sauces, confectionery still cost significantly more here than back home to make it worth it in my view. Can you freeze cheese ? I figure I can eat better at home than at western restaurants who I guess must make a 50% profit on ingredients alone. I enjoy cooking, getting out to the markets and shopping with recipes in mind and after extended travel periods prefer avoiding restaurants on too regular a basis.

Be interested to hear how others live practically in this regard. It may sound a low brow subject but it's my biggest monthly expenditure, ( since I've slowed down on the booze front ), and any savings I make without compromising a healthy diet, gives me flexibility elsewhere.

15,000 Baht was my planned monthly budget in Thailand, too. Most months I was right at that amount but once in a while I would need more. Rarely if ever was I below that amount, even if I made the concerted effort to save...and I am definitely not a big spender. I can't see how even a moderate drinker could get by on 15k.

Yeah I didn't think I was spending a lot on drink but it just seemed to effortlessly accumulate to a high amount that I wouldn't dream of spending in the UK. A couple of ciders after a game of golf, a few watching the football on the weekends. Beach road for a leisurely Friday afternoon session. Sunday lunch. I blame the climate. I decided to cut back when I realised I was spending as much on beer as I was on food which seemed a bit OTT, and to be honest I enjoy the more occasional thirst quenching drink now than doing it consistently for a night out.

Cheers Richard, good to see from you and Soi Dog's replies I'm not too far out the ball park.

I see now that you guys are not including housing in your budgets, as you both bought/built places. Yeah, if I took housing costs out of the equation, 10,000 Baht per month is borderline do-able. That still won't afford much eating or drinking out. Don't forget visa costs too. If you are doing border runs and tourist visa extensions, that adds up.

Yes, I was near 15k a month including room rental. It sure wasn't luxury living, but pleasant enough for me. It was things like the ED visa withThai language school fees that would break that budget on occasion.

phuketrichard wrote:he ONLY asked about

"cover my food, toiletries, cleaning materials for my condo and eating out"

SD: are u saying u live on 15,000 baht/month INCLUDING everything???


i spend 14-16,000 baht/month on what he asked

you will see in your original post you wrote " averages about $14-16,000/month "

are you talking dollars or baht?

If you buy Value Stilton from Tescos (for example) other supermarkets are available and put it in the freezer, after you take it out and thaw it it adds a creamy nice creamy texture, normally only sound in theFinest range

We're buying 2kg blocks of NZ's finest (well, family range) at $23 at the moment. Good value, when you compare it to those dinky little 200g packages.

I'm talking cheese, for those of you that just got excited at the thought of 200g.