Penny pinching

[greentea]

which reminds me, i seem to have a lot more spending money ever since i broke up with my last girlfriend...

yeah, having a gf depletes funds.

[minya]

Hell, he cooks for the other 2 housemates as well.

Saves me alot of hassle really.

I wanna move in with you >_<

[modern77]

Quit smoking, and drink in moderation. Used to purchase unnecessary amounts of alcohol on nights out, now drink just enough to feel the vibes. Wallet's a lot heavier the next day and less of a hangover to contend with also.

[herpsky]

"finding" food is my biggest problem

i wanna stay away from fast food and avoid cooking as much as possible...

i wish i could hire a maid / cook

[denimdestroyedmylife]

a man needs a maid

[greentea]

a man needs a maid

and a concubine.

[Kasper]

wow. the one thing for me that i noticed about tokyo, in my short brief time in Azabu Juban is that everyone in that area has a fucking lambo but the refreshing thing for me was that i didn't think it was very expensive to get some amazing japanese food for not too much money.

how the fuck is moscow so high on the list?

Mercer conducts the survey to help multinational companies and governments determine how much to pay their expatriate employees.

basically, the survey are done to see how much it would cost to send an expat to a given city. to be able to compare cities, they take a north american lifestyles (big house/apartment, eating out a lot, tons of taxi, international school for kids etc...) and then check how much would that cost in every city. although it's a good mesure because it allow you to compare, you have to keep in mind that very few people live an expat life. Mercer (the company that do the survey) say that the bare minimum for housing for an expat in Tokyo is 10 000$ a month. for exemple,i knew a couple people ppl in that situation in tokyo and the life they live has nothing to do with anybody else. knew some some ppl at the canadian embassy and they had a 18 000 dollars a month house in Hiroo (fucking waste of my taxes) and they were still quite young. very few japanese ppl can afford a huge house in Hiroo. but on the other hand, i was paying 3000 $ a month for a 800 sqr feet apartment in shinjuku, which is still freaking expensive...

i guess Moskow is so expensive cause they factor in security costs (bodyguard, driver etc...). as for Seoul, everyone i know that has been there (including ppl living there) told me it was freakin cheap...

[darkanimal]

a french maid who vacuums topless.

[mizanation]

pay yourself first. have money automatically taken from your paycheck and into some kind of investment fund. you won't miss it.

[familyman]

I live a lifestyle far below what I can afford. Drive a 10 year old minivan, live in a house that worth 1/2 of my wife's yearly income (I dont' work) This lets us fully fund 401K's, IRA's kids college funds and invest in other ways. After all that is done I give myself $100 a month to spend as I wish so I have to save up my money if I want to buy something fun. When the kids are old enough to be in school full time and I go back to work my whole paycheck will be invested except another $100 a month. My allowance will be doubled!

I understand that not everybody can live way below their means, but do it when you can, it's worth it.

[keri]

I wanna move in with you >_<

I'll cook for you minya, all I can cook is Tex Mex, Itialian, and hamburger helper though. I can freeze it and ship it out.

[keri]

[qoute=familyman]

I live a lifestyle far below what I can afford. Drive a 10 year old minivan, live in a house that worth 1/2 of my wife's yearly income (I dont' work) This lets us fully fund 401K's, IRA's kids college funds and invest in other ways. After all that is done I give myself $100 a month to spend as I wish so I have to save up my money if I want to buy something fun. When the kids are old enough to be in school full time and I go back to work my whole paycheck will be invested except another $100 a month. My allowance will be doubled!

I understand that not everybody can live way below their means, but do it when you can, it's worth it.

exactly how i like to live, who needs a new car if the old one runs? who needs a bigger house if the old one fits? not to mention, it's comforting to know if your house gets flooded or soemthing happens, you have a back up plan.,

[familyman]

exactly how i like to live, who needs a new car if the old one runs? who needs a bigger house if the old one fits? not to mention, it's comforting to know if your house gets flooded or soemthing happens, you have a back up plan.,

What's entertaining about your response is that my wife and I are both engineers.

Interesting eh?

[keri]

that's what I am studying for, even funnier.

[Fuuma]

A offer services in exchange for credits called "money" that I use to purchase goods, including clothes. You guys should try it, loads of fun.

[PunctualAlex]

What's entertaining about your response is that my wife and I are both engineers.

Interesting eh?

Most engineers I know live way below their means... but most engineers I know never learned how to have friends and they just can't spend their huge engineering paychecks on anime DVDs and comic books fast enough (jesus I wish I was kidding, I'm an engineering student too)

But familyman, I'm confused... what's so great about living below your means? I mean, you only get one life, why go through it without making the most of it? unless you're saving that investment so that you can live more enjoyably later on down the road, in which case, more power to you.

[familyman]

I read that earlier in the thread, engineers tend to be group think sorts of animals. I'm not sure what it is, but the engineers I know tend to make some very conservative financial decisions and many of them have been like that their whole lives. Engineering is in your DNA.

[keri]

^i know i am, if i dont have the $$$ i dont spend it, and I have one account of "hidden" money, it's money i put back and forget about, i dont know how much it is, or even have a checkbook for the account, but it's there, hiding, incase someday i need it.

[familyman]

But familyman, I'm confused... what's so great about living below your means? I mean, you only get one life, why go through it without making the most of it? unless you're saving that investment so that you can live more enjoyably later on down the road, in which case, more power to you.

I have everything I want and need to any practical extent. Would I love a Porsche? Yea, but I've done enough living to know it won't make my life any happier. We own some vacation property and we take some long family vacations. We fly when it would be cheaper to drive because we can.

We'll be retired when I hit 50. I know, you never know when you're going to die so you might as well live for now instead of retirement, but I already do that. I'm a stay at home dad which is a job I truly love, nothing else I'd rather do in the world. My wife is happy and smiling when she goes to work every day as well, she loves her job in the same way I love mine. We could buy more stuff but we've got no holes to fill.

I really annoy people when I talk about this by the way.

And I don't own any anime, I never understood it, why look at cartoon boobies when real boobies are out there? Weird.

[darkanimal]

^i know i am, if i dont have the $$$ i dont spend it, and I have one account of "hidden" money, it's money i put back and forget about, i dont know how much it is, or even have a checkbook for the account, but it's there, hiding, incase someday i need it.

One Sunday afternoon you'll have an amnesia and you're fucked. bye bye $$$

[denimdestroyedmylife]

And I don't own any anime, I never understood it, why look at cartoon boobies when real boobies are out there? Weird.

why read Death in the Afternoon when real bulls are out there waiting to be killed?

[englandmj7]

I save two grand a month and am looking to save a little more to put into investments (most likely $500 a month or so). The only thing that drains my money is going out to drink as most people have noted......good thing my best friend is in Iraq (maybe not so "good") and I just moved to a fairly "slow" area; I have saved so much money on not going out.

[faust]

I do have a full time job, but that goes to support my family. I buy my clothes SOLELY from proceeds I make by selling clothes on Ebay. Sometimes it gets as good as buying two identical things, and getting mine for free as a result of selling the other at a profit.

[masuerte]

I'm a stay at home dad which is a job I truly love, nothing else I'd rather do in the world. My wife is happy and smiling when she goes to work every day as well, she loves her job in the same way I love mine. We could buy more stuff but we've got no holes to fill.

I really annoy people when I talk about this by the way.

I really admire that familyman. Seriously looking forward to living a more enjoyable life that isn't dependent on material posessions and the insatiable appetite they can inspire.

[masuerte]

Has anyone ever seen Kyoichi Tsuzuki's work "Happy Victims"?? It seems like there are alot of rabid style fans that earn well under-40k. It just shows that you can love and own expensive clothing even if you're not one of the "95% of supertalkers" that get money from their parents.

I also think those on supertalk that spend their own hard earned money are pre-disposed to being more discriminating about the things they purchase.

[Sid_vicious]

You guys made me re-evaluate my life. Thanks

[faust]

You guys made me re-evaluate my life. Thanks

Care to elaborate?

[r_mutt]

just live in moderation. its not that hard.

[darkanimal]

I've read an article about that Tokyo Style book.I remember that they have a hierarchy for what they regard as more prestigious:

1. books collection

2. records collection

3. clothes collection

[damnIam]

"why look at cartoon boobies when real boobies are out there? Weird."

In total agreement!!!