What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities? • Hacker News Board

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#81

Post by unimportant » Mon, Jan 05, 2015, 8:49 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #79

unimportant wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$100 in Chiang Mai is possible for nothing fancy, but only if you speak thai. A fresh of the boat foreigner will pay $250 rock bottom without thai skills for a very basic apartment. Visa costs are at least $50 a month and you'll also need a scooter or deal with pickup taxis, which will add about $80-120 to the expenses unless you enjoy walking or cycling through the heat on roads not made for either of that. Tokyo is…

Japan is much more strict than Thailand on immigration laws, be careful about that. They also have no problem with throwing foreigners into jail, whereas Thailand will usually just deport you for visa violations. Japanese companies also send young Japanese kids to work in Bangkok call centers, since they can pay them less there (the cost of living is lower? They would never dream of having non-Japanese staff the call…

If you're from western Europe you can easily get a 1 year working holiday visa and go from there.

Staying in Thailand beyond 1 year these days legally is also difficult, so it works out the same.

I have never heard about the call center thing and doubt it, but there are plenty of japanese expats in Bangkok that arguably get a lot more work done than 2-3 thais would do at an overall equal cost.

Thailand is really not much cheaper than Japan these days for a foreigner who doesn't speak the language, but it remains a developing country.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#82

Post by seanmcdirmid » Mon, Jan 05, 2015, 8:55 AM UTC

EGreg wrote: post #80

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, a person with a tourist visa isn't able to do any work in their own hotel room, no matter what it is or for whom? Yep. > Is it that they aren't supposed to do a service for anyone else (such as cook for a friend, or translate anything for a relative back home) or that they can't receive money? You just can't get paid. If you were cooking for a "friend" but you were actually their personal chef...you would need…

Interesting. But the article seems to suggest the exact opposite: In the end, the whole thing turned out to be a misunderstanding. Immigration officials thought that the nomads were actually Punspace employees, and, as such, would have been required to have work permits. After several hours of worry and hassles, everybody was allowed to go back about their business and nobody was fined or deported. Punspace’s owners…

Read the second link.

The literal reading of Thai immigration law is very strict, enforcement is another matter. Even if, as you say, Thai authorities casually say "it's ok", that isn't at all precedent and if they decide tomorrow to bring you in, they just will because it is easy to show that you are breaking the law. It is not like the USA or western countries where laws are more clear cut and more consistently enforced. Don't expect anyone to be reasonable.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#83

Post by seanmcdirmid » Mon, Jan 05, 2015, 8:59 AM UTC

unimportant wrote: post #81

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japan is much more strict than Thailand on immigration laws, be careful about that. They also have no problem with throwing foreigners into jail, whereas Thailand will usually just deport you for visa violations. Japanese companies also send young Japanese kids to work in Bangkok call centers, since they can pay them less there (the cost of living is lower? They would never dream of having non-Japanese staff the call…

If you're from western Europe you can easily get a 1 year working holiday visa and go from there. Staying in Thailand beyond 1 year these days legally is also difficult, so it works out the same. I have never heard about the call center thing and doubt it, but there are plenty of japanese expats in Bangkok that arguably get a lot more work done than 2-3 thais would do at an overall equal cost. Thailand is really not…

> I have never heard about the call center thing and doubt it

Well:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/business/global/22outsourc...

Bangkok is quite a bit cheaper than Tokyo. And there is a huge Japanese expat population as a result.

> Thailand is really not much cheaper than Japan these days for a foreigner who doesn't speak the language, but it remains a developing country.

I would agree that Thailand is not as cheap as people think it is, but looking at what my friends in Japan pay (not even in Tokyo!), I doubt cost of living in Japan is comparable to cost of living in Thailand.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#84

Post by unimportant » Mon, Jan 05, 2015, 9:33 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #83

unimportant wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're from western Europe you can easily get a 1 year working holiday visa and go from there. Staying in Thailand beyond 1 year these days legally is also difficult, so it works out the same. I have never heard about the call center thing and doubt it, but there are plenty of japanese expats in Bangkok that arguably get a lot more work done than 2-3 thais would do at an overall equal cost. Thailand is really not…

> I have never heard about the call center thing and doubt it Well: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/business/global/22outsourc... Bangkok is quite a bit cheaper than Tokyo. And there is a huge Japanese expat population as a result. > Thailand is really not much cheaper than Japan these days for a foreigner who doesn't speak the language, but it remains a developing country. I would agree that Thailand is not as che…

Everything in that article is dated 2008, but even then the minimum salary requirements for japanese people were 35k baht to get a work permit.

All the japanese expats I've gotten to know in Bangkok last year were well paid and no japanese person would normally work for that kind of money.

30k baht is what a company would get away with for a thai person fluent in japanese doing customer support.

Normal office worker salaries in Bangkok are about 20-25k baht without any language skills and they live hand to mouth on that money.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#85

Post by seanmcdirmid » Mon, Jan 05, 2015, 10:20 AM UTC

unimportant wrote: post #84

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have never heard about the call center thing and doubt it Well: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/business/global/22outsourc... Bangkok is quite a bit cheaper than Tokyo. And there is a huge Japanese expat population as a result. > Thailand is really not much cheaper than Japan these days for a foreigner who doesn't speak the language, but it remains a developing country. I would agree that Thailand is not as che…

Everything in that article is dated 2008, but even then the minimum salary requirements for japanese people were 35k baht to get a work permit. All the japanese expats I've gotten to know in Bangkok last year were well paid and no japanese person would normally work for that kind of money. 30k baht is what a company would get away with for a thai person fluent in japanese doing customer support. Normal office worker…

Perhaps, but I find Bangkok incredibly cheap compared to say Beijing; especially the rents, but even cars are cheaper there. Wouldn't mind living there someday if I could get a good job.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#86

Post by hackerboos » Mon, Jan 05, 2015, 10:21 AM UTC

andyjdavis wrote: post #69

patio11 wrote: post #11

Pick a college town and rent an apartment, optionally with a roommate. In much of the American midwest this implies an all-in rent & utilities expense in the $500 range. If you wanted to try something more exotic, you can do the digital nomad thing and rent somewhere in Thailand for ~$100 a month, but honestly as a programmer I feel that optimizing sub-$500 expenses is not the best use of one's time versus figuring o…

>If you wanted to try something more exotic, you can do the digital nomad thing and rent somewhere in Thailand for ~$100 a month, I feel like I should point out that getting something that cheap in Thailand is difficult and certainly will not be pretty. I have previously lived in Thailand for just under a year and then gone on to be a digital nomad for three years and counting, mostly in south east Asia. Its pretty t…

I've stayed in 'remote' places in Thailand from Surin to Sukothai, electricity is pretty good wherever you are.

It's definitely cheaper staying in the North East and you will have internet access.

There are also small expat communities in places like Surin city and Khon Kaen due to foreigners marrying locals from this region. So you won't be totally isolated.

You can definitely live well for under $800 in these areas.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#87

Post by pjc50 » Mon, Jan 05, 2015, 10:37 AM UTC

jws wrote: post #13

Used travel trailers and RVs older than 15 years are ludicrously cheap. Arrange with the seller to drop it at your property if you don't have a big enough tow vehicle. You can find small patches of land in rural America for very little money. Say $10k for an acre in woods of no particular scenic beauty with power and water. Once you pick an area a real estate agent can help you find someone's old wilderness retreat o…

Caravans are not very well insulated, this is going to be location-dependent.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#88

Post by juliogreff » Mon, Jan 05, 2015, 11:11 AM UTC

toddrew wrote: post #73

Move to a cheaper country. I moved to Guatemala a few years ago and live for around $8000 a year which includes a nice wooden cottage on a lake with three volcanos, decent internet, and eating out in really great restaurants three times a day. 3:05 is the lake https://vimeo.com/87304272

To me this would be the way to go. I'm not really sure how all you people sort out visa situations long-term.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#89

Post by xacaxulu » Mon, Jan 05, 2015, 12:27 PM UTC

danjayh wrote: post #57

delbel wrote: post #14

I've been able to do this after re-arranging my life over the past 5 years. I bought 7 acres of bare land for $35k and built a 200 sqft tiny house for $4,000. I homestead as much as I can and my bills are approximately $40/DSL, $40/Electrical, $35/Car insurance (I drive a 90s Honda), and approximately $30 a month in property taxes. I spend about $40 in propane for heat in the winter and my air conditioning bill is an…

$35k for bare land? In Detroit, $35k gets you a lot with a newly renovated, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. Random example at $37k: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/487-W-Green... Edit: I can just keep going and going with nicely livable ~40k houses in Detroit: http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/13111-Grigg... http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/17593-Monic... http://www.realtor.co…

Except you'd be in Detroit. :-)

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#90

Post by HeyLaughingBoy » Mon, Jan 05, 2015, 1:19 PM UTC

maratd wrote: post #66

patio11 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the respect in the world for someone who wants to stride out into the wilderness and build a hobbit hole with their own two hands. If one enjoys it or finds it aesthetically appealing, great. If one simply wants to improve one's family's financial situation, trade solutions to business problems for money then trade money for living space, which is available from specialized providers who enjoy substantial economi…

> All the respect in the world for someone who wants to stride out into the wilderness and build a hobbit hole with their own two hands. Okaaay ... not where I was going. I suppose you can do that. You can also build yourself an office in your backyard, which is what I'm going to do in a few months. Won't save me any money, but I expect it to be fun. I feel sorry for those who can only think in dollars and cents. Not…

It probably will. I'm building a small 8x12 framed shed (should have been done by now but life intervenes...). I doubt it will end up costing me more than about $750 all in. Whereas, the 12x24 pole construction lean-to I had built by a "contractor" 8 years ago cost about $3k back then. And pole buildings are expected to be cheap

DIY can definitely save money. I'll probably build another 8x12 building in the next 24 months, but this one will be designed as an office with insulation, power, etc and likely cost a lot more than $750.