Discipline - Budget - Lifestyle

[OCgringo]

The_Munchmaster said:

OCgringo said:.......Don't waste money taking Thai girls to expensive resturaunts, most would rather have street stall food

Teddy, please take note of this piece of OC advise.

 

one of my regular girls was happy when she wanted a "Hambugler" for 70 baht and she got one

 

She would have not enjoyed a 500 baht plus meal and would have left half of it or more ......

 

Thats how they stay 40kg , and we try to "plump them up"

 

OC

[The_Munchmaster]

It's all about willpower (something I have very little of when in LOS). The willpower not to go out to the bars during the week, or if you do go out during the week the willpower to go home at a reasonable time. Limiting yourself to a daily budget will never work, every day is different and you should be in a position financially to take advantage of whatever happens when it happens, not find that an opportunity passes you by because you've only got 50 Baht left out of your budget and no credit card. As others have said, if you spend a lot one night, just offset it by spending less the next few nights. Bangkok is a city to be enjoyed, not lived in with the restrictions of a fixed daily budget. If you need a budget then make it a monthly budget, which will be determined by your monthly income. Set aside what you can afford to spend in a month and then go with the flow and if that means that you can't go out for the last week of the month then so be it, at least you will have done what you wanted to do when you wanted to do it in the other three weeks.

[zob65]

Munchie how can you budget for lobster dinners at La Brushcutter every night!

[shygye]

Drink less alcohol, never get , and everything else will be alright.

[JJsushi]

Dude, just go out and make more money and your cashflow problem will be solved.

 

How can u maximize your "fun" if u always have to keep adding up the costs and budgeting during the night?

Better to party like a rock for one night and stay @ home for the rest of the month, than go out ever week with a miserly mentality wishing u could cut loose. Who the heck wants to sip on a cheap beer when u have a taste for Grey Goose or Louis Roederer Cristal?

 

If u going to spend the dough then u gotta go hustle to make the dough baby!

 

Just remember the chorus of Let's Get It by G-dep:

 

Make this money

Take this money

Ain't no way you can take this from me

Ain't shit funny

Shake it honey

Take it money

Now let's get it

 

[rookie]

While I've not used the 'envelope' method, though it's not a bad idea, I've been keeping expense records since moving to Thailand.

 

I've an MS Excel blank I created with columns for many different types of expenses. I use the blank to make a copy for the current month/year and input my expenses daily. When traveling I write then down and enter later if I hadn't brought my laptop with me. I also have two other linked spreadsheets, one for year with columns for each month, and another for any durable good purchased. All expenses from the individual monthly spreadsheets are automatically transferred to the latter totals spreadsheets.

On the annual spreadsheets I have a running total of all my expenses and listed by average for all the months and an average including durable goods purchses.

 

This may sound complicated...it isn't. I'm no computer guru...and once set up it only a matter of concientiously entering all money spent. Anyway..this works for me...

[mai_pen_rai]

Hi,

 

I think the question that you should ask yourself is, what do you want to do in Bangkok while you´re there.

If you just want to stay there for a long term, then you must learn to limit your daily expenses to the amount you can affort.

 

I´ve tryed this in 1994 when I stayed in thailand for 9 months at one piece. The only question for me is,... why Bangkok?

This polluted city isn´t the best place if you want to stay cheap and relax, isn´t it?

Why don´t you go to the beach, doesn´t matter where it is. There are so many nice places, like pattaya or phuket.

 

Cheers,

 

Wolfgang

 

[buddha]

It isn't really a cash flow problem as much as it is a "I get drunk and do stupid shit" problem. I am more than a little disappointed in myself and with the way my first week back here played out. I spent too much and didn't really enjoy my nights out.

 

I think your comment was spot on, I should be 'hustle-ing' instead of sitting at a bar and speaking the same pigeon thai night after night to a bunch of BG's.

 

Safe to say that once 'lubricated' I tend to make poor choices. This weeks poor choices included several trips to the ATM in an effort to resuscitate some nights out that weren't really meriting the fun level I expected.

 

Maybe the nightlife scenes of nana, cowboy, 33, and patpong are no longer that attractive to me. I can still enjoy them, but I do not really want to log any amount of time there.

 

Maybe I need to stop drinking...for a while at least...

 

My first week at work went very well. I went running almost every morning. I didn't get back on the 'cigs'. And I have gotten some good commentary from you guys. Lets see what next week brings...

[Mekong]

kojis69 said:

 

 

"That is 132 Mornings / Year I dont have to get up for work.

Just that simple little thought keeps me in check. "

 

And that's one of reasons why we are not hiring.

 

 

And if your lot were hiring I wouldn't want a Job where I didn't get every weekend off, plus paid vacation and selected national holidays.

 

The point I was trying to make is there are 132 nights / year when you can go out and have a good time without it interfering with your work, over 36% of the year.

 

Or to put it another way, nearly 19 weeks a year you are on Holiday in Thailand without having to travel here, pay for flights and in most cases accomodation, unless you decide to travel around.

 

As others have said, self control, and in my case this line of reasoning is what helps me maintain self control.

[buddha]

Mekong...be assurred i knew exactly what you meant...thanks for the comment.