Can you afford it?
Page: 1/5
Now that I've been in the Land of Rising Sun for over 3 months, I have a good handle on how far I can get on what few yen manage to fall into my bank account each pay day (which comes once a month, remember). I've made a budget for myself and have compared it to what my budget in the USA was. I will gladly share those details with you all so that you can see for yourself how affordable (or unaffordable) living in Japan can be.
The Figures Side-by-Side
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#
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3.
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T
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Line Item
Rent:
Car Insurance:
Electricity:
Gas Heat:
Cell Phone:
Cable/Internet:
Water:
Health Insurance:
TOTAL
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Japan Cost (in USD)
$500.00 (2-room apartment)
$59.50
$15.00 - $30.00
$35.00 - $50.00
$40.00
FREE
$20 for all-I-can-use
$55.00
$760.50 - $790.50
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America Cost (in USD)
$500.00 (6-room house)
$91.00
$35.00 - $75.00
$35.00 - $250.00
$40.00
$99.00
$15.00
$50.00
$863.00 - $1,10.00
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Making Comparisons
1). Rent - it's tough to say which deal is better. Though I paid exactly the same in both countries, my place in America was 3 times bigger. However, I was only paying $500 because I owned 1/3 of the house. Anyone else living there would have been paying at least $1,000/month.
2). Car Insurance - winner is definitely Japan in my case since not only is the price lower, but the coverage is a lot better. However, my case is special since car insurance rates in Massachusetts were ridiculously higher than all the other states at the time I left. This past summer, they changed the laws to allow private companies to compete for customers, so I'm sure the cost in that realm has dropped back home.
3). Electricity - the price per kilowatt/hour is probably almost the same, but my numbers here are skewed since when I was living in the US, I was using lights and tv (plus clocks and other household appliances) nearly 16 hours a day. In Japan, I just have one light and a laptop (which I alernate between wall-use and battery-use). I also don't have to pay for outdoor lighting now that I'm in an apartment building.
4). Gas - my home in America was heated by gas, and being a small house, it took a lot of energy to keep it warm, especially in the winter (which in New England, lasts from early-November to mid-April). In Japan, my apartment is electric-heated (though that's a rarity... most places are kerosene-heated) so all I use the gas for is hot water for my showers, dishes, and laundry.
5). Phone - probably a dead-tie; I used both phones generally the same amount (which isn't really a lot, actually). I think both plans provided for about 100-200 talk-minutes a month, plus some 10-cent TXTing plan. In Japan, cellphone users don't pay for incoming calls, unlike in America where if you're talking, you're paying.
6). Cable/Internet - no, not all cable/internet in Japan is free. I'm on my village's network, so I get a decent broadband connection (albeit guarded by their super-strict firewall) and 11 tv-channels (2 of them are weather, 1 is a local news bulletin board). If I had one of the pay-services here, I'd probably be paying about the same amount as I was in the US. Advantage goes to the US since even basic cable plans still give you about 80 channels.
7). Water - another hard figure to compare. In Japan, most apartments are a flat-fee that allow for all-you-can-use. Granted I pay slightly more for the convenience of not having to be stingy with my water-use (read... bath every night!), but I wonder if I were on the pay-for-what-you-use plan if the numbers wouldn't be the same anyway.
8). Health Insurance - the cost is roughly the same, but I'm on the crap-basic plan that my company has dug up here (which I've heard from other teachers doesn't work all that well since most doctors and hospitals haven't even heard of the company). When I was in the US, I had government-employee health insurance that covered basically everything any reasonably-healthy person could need (one of the perks of working for the gov). Advantage here goes to the US.
Other Items to Consider
The following is the list of items that vary too greatly from person-to-person, whether based on their situation or their preferences. I'll include my numbers just as an example of how I live, though I can't guarentee they will work for everyone.
- Automobile gasoline (right now, gas is $1.69/gallon in MA... it's about $3.97/gallon ($1.06/liter) in Okayama, but cars are far more fuel-efficient here)... $100
- Food (groceries and restaurants)... $200
- Household items, cleaning supplies, and pet care... $50
- Entertainment/hobby (read: "anime")... $100
- Travel fund... $200
- Savings... $200
- Emergency fund (home/car repairs mainly)... $100
- Loan/credit/mortgage payments (phew, luckily I never fell into this pit)... $0 for me, but for others, this would come out of the "travel" and/or "entertainment/hobby" budgets
Hope my numbers have not only helped you get a handle on what it costs to live in Japan, but also given you some sage-advice on living in America. A lot of the readers here are college-kids and high school students, so my advice to everyone is to make a budget for yourself as early as you can AND STICK TO IT!!! The whole world is in recession right now, but if you stay away from credit-cards and impulse-buys on things you don't absolutely need, you can live quite comfortably. I've only been making about $600/week for the last 4 years, and with the budget outlined above, I've been able to pay all my bills on time, live comfortably, buy myself some cool toys, travel to different parts of the country (and Japan!!) at least twice a year, if not more, and STILL be able to stow away about $200/month into my savings. Don't let the woes of the economy drag you down this early in life!!
Okay, enough lecturing from Great Teacher Xeno... let's talk a little bit about Japan wackiness. Read on...
