nerdlinger wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 7:57 pm

theKid wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 12:19 pm

atst wrote: ↑Sun Nov 01, 2020 11:37 am If your spending over 10,000 a month what the hell you doing living here?

Not all expats are here to live on the cheap. I don’t necessary want to be in PP but my clients demand me to be here and I have responsibilities towards my staff here as well. I probably could live on 3,000 a month but why the F would I want to?

That question you are asking shows the problem with this thread: While I am sure that most expats on this forum came here because it’s a good place to live on the cheap, I would still argue that the majority of expats in Asia came for careers and to make good money.

My confusion isn’t so much how you’re earning that, it’s more the “Brewster’s Millions” question of how do you manage to spend five figures every month (5 years minimum wage) without straight up throwing money at ridiculous things?

At the risk of sounding overly sanctimonious, I can see myself living extravagantly in New York or London, but doing it surrounded by such abject poverty as one sees in Cambodia seems terribly gauche... I’m not sure I’d be able to enjoy myself doing that, I’d feel too much of a cunt. At the very least I’d put it away for retirement.

No that hard.

Google school fees in Phnom Penh for a family of let's say 5. Dad, mum and three kids aged 7, 9 and 11.

After paying school fees for a decent international school you're close to the five figures mark per month already. Add nice housing, two cars, two holidays a year and you're well over 10k per month.

Seriously, value judgements. What people want to spend on their lifestyle is their own business.
I had a good friend who told me I was rich because I frequently took international vacations. I pointed out that my car was more than 40 years old, I rebuilt it myself, and it got better mileage than his brand new whatever. Did I judge him for that? No. Did I point out that the $47k difference in our cars allowed me to take a nice vacation? Yes.
I like him a lot, but he, and especially his wife want to keep up with the Jones. Me, idgaf.

For what I spend I food I eat very well. I am fortunate to have a small plot, I’m also friendly with my neighbors, so, when I fixed one of their tractors, and refused payment, I got invited to his daughters wedding and he gave me around 2 kilos of water buffalo. Another neighbor gives me a dozen duck eggs and a duck every month for fixing his fucked up water supply. My local veg seller keeps corn that’s past its prime, and sells it to me cheap (instead of feeding it to the pigs) which I then dry, nixtamalize, and turn into Masa for tortillas. Another neighbor was always taking my coconuts, when I asked, he said his weren’t good young and his wife didn’t make coconut milk. So I told him to take what he wanted, but I wanted some of his old ones for the milk.
None of this is hard, just a bit of effort, and it keeps me busy, which I like.

Too much for quality of goods and services I receive.