Hi! Our video this week has been inspired by your requests. Are you budget conscious? What's the secret to your success? Leave a comment below sharing your experiences! Thank you for joining us this week! Please feel free to leave us feedback about our videos and/or requests of what you'd like to see.
I enjoyed the financial breakdown of the expenses. The both of you are funny as hell! It was good to see the genuine reactions that the both of you had towards each other. It was especially funny to see Justin’s reaction to the resulting numbers that you Leah had prepared.
Hi, I'm on day #11 of my quarantine, so I've been binge watching your channel. (I came across your channel yesterday after searching online for apartment advice.) I'm glad that I caught your warning about the landlords taking a tax write-off. But, yeah, this video was especially helpful to get an idea about prices and all. Keep up the great work! BTW... please tell me that at least some schools have A.C.
🎉 congrats🎉 you're almost free!! Do not plan on your school having air conditioner if you're working for a public school. In fact one of Leah's public schools built a brand new facility from the ground up and did not install air conditioners. We're happy to hear that you found the videos useful. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to DMS on Instagram
Just subbed. Also a 40 something Nomad and amongst other things, English Teacher. I am very familiar with Vietnam and absolutely love it there however it is still closed for now. I appreciated this video and your cost breakdown because I have been researching places to teach in Asia. Did you go through the Teach Taiwan programme? Does the salary and cost of living allow for savings? Thanks.
Thanks for the comments so happy to hear that beautiful :-) do you use instagram? It's easier to share DMs over on our Instagram . @getupgetoutgetgone. They're certainly is not enough opportunity to save as much here as you could in Vietnam but we do enjoy the quality of life here so much more. Certainly there's things we miss from every country in which we've lived. Yes we both came in under the teach Taiwan program.
I try to make a budget and reevaluate it every 4 months or so. Admittedly, though where I have problems keeping to the budget is on food it fluctuates the most. Although, I can stay closer to the budget when I am aware by writing down daily my spending or there are many free apps out there too. When like this you actually add the total it is scary because almost always I tell myself I spent less than that before I see the numbers.
I used to have an app where you could take a picture of your receipt and it would add up your daily spending total. I couldn't live with so much shame I had to get rid of it. LOL ~JB
We would make that video but we keep blowing our budget trying to travel to improve our RUclips videos. Lol But honestly, everything has stayed mostly the same with a slight increase in groceries and coffee by about 5%
You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you. --Maya Angelou/././
You two are so cute together!! My husband and I both come originally from Mainland China and now gaining citizenship in US since we have lived here for more than 10 years. We have young kids and we still need to make plans for our parents since we both were born at only child policy era, so it is not about recent plans. But just out of curiosity, do you think we should at least consider and research on retirement in Taiwan? We have no language barrier and we should have okay savings (not wealthy at all, but could have decent lives). Especially for winter time, do you think Taiwan is good for winter bird type of living? Like many Americans consider Thailand or Indonesia for retirement, Taiwan might be more expensive but have less of language or culture problem for us.
Thanks for the compliment☺️! Southern Taiwan is gorgeous on the Winter, much drier than the north. I think perhaps the most important thing to consider is what kind of visa would you enter on to stay the winter here? American passports can enter for 90 days with no visa. So if you limit yourself to 3 months, it wouldn't be much of a need to worry about a visa. If you want to stay for longer than that, I'm not sure what options are available because we haven't really researched retiring here. Having lived in Vietnam, it's been a lot of time in Thailand. The US dollars certainly goes a lot further there than it does here in Taiwan. But, as you mentioned, there are some advantages regarding language and culture that might make up the difference. Thanks for watching! Do you have any more questions? Feel free to DM us over on Instagram.
I can imagine! We've seen the headlines over here and are grateful every time knowing that we can avoid such expenses. Apparently we need to reevaluate our indulgences ... 😬~JB
Oh! Did we not mention what part of the country we were living in? I can't remember. Certainly in other videos. We have mentioned that we are living in the south though. In fact, one of the major reasons why we live in the south is because of the expenses being lower. You get so much more apartment for your dollar down here! Thanks for watching. Thanks for commenting.
We've never taken a note of the actual price and we just paid our bill today. We don't have a bill around to check and see what the price is 😞 What I do know is that it can vary between Independent housing and housing complexes. But when negotiating your lease, you should certainly ask what the standard rate is and if that's what you're paying for electricity if you're paying a higher than standard rate.
There are certainly plenty of foreign English teachers in Taiwan doing just that! Lol However, those of us an hour age demographic are trying to tuck away a little nest egg so retirement can actually be an option.
We feel that the cost of living here is high relative to pay. The price is go up every new year and the salary is do not match the rate of inflation. In fact, for an English teachers getting paid the same rate now that they were 10 years ago.
America has its mentally programmed to accept things that I think we shouldn't. Food should not be as expensive as it is in America. Rent should not be as expensive as it is in America. Should not go to put in a roof over our head.... Join us in liberation! 😁~JB
@@Justin_Leah Yes, I consider it spending because it comes out of my wages bi monthly or monthly or weekly and can not be accessed until retirement and therefore can not be counted as spendable income. Saving, I view different, as savings is spendable income that can be accessed in case of emergency.
We are certainly enjoying a higher quality of life! But, the work life balance is quite different here so we have less free time. But in general, yeah I'd say we're happier in Taiwan then Vietnam. What a great question 😄~JB
Thank you for the kind words. The people of Tainan say bubble tea started here in Tainan. My research says no one knows the sure. 😅 www.goldthread2.com/videos/who-invented-bubble-tea/article/3001018
Your utilities are so cheap! We were spending $40-$60 a month in Nicaragua and we hardly use any electricity. Probably good that you're saving on utilities as you need it to support your coffee and tea addiction 😂😂😂
The electricity rate can actually vary from building to building because of how they negotiate the the service with the power company. We were paying so much more for our electricity when we lived in the studio apartment. It also helps that this place is also newer and therefore more energy efficient. ~JB
@@Justin_Leah Ah, yes energy efficiency helps a lot. We were trying to get our landlord to upgrade to LED bulbs. That would have helped saved us heaps!
... and you guys think this is "expensive"? Your utility bills rounded up to like barely $70 for two people and your rent is less than $700 also for two people. Are you kidding me? Vietnam is a very poor country, of course it's much cheaper in Vietnam. In Taiwan your income is similar to what average Taiwanese ppl make, in Vietnam your pay as English teacher is would be 10 times higher than an average Vietnamese.
Yes. Expensive is a relative term. so, given that we make less $$ here and the cost of living is greater than our previous host countries, we do think it is more expensive.
Hi! Our video this week has been inspired by your requests. Are you budget conscious? What's the secret to your success? Leave a comment below sharing your experiences! Thank you for joining us this week! Please feel free to leave us feedback about our videos and/or requests of what you'd like to see.
I enjoyed the financial breakdown of the expenses. The both of you are funny as hell! It was good to see the genuine reactions that the both of you had towards each other. It was especially funny to see Justin’s reaction to the resulting numbers that you Leah had prepared.
It was certainly an eye opener for me! I learned so much! 😆~JB
The washing machine thing is hilarious 😂
Yeah, we just go to the laundromat. 😆
I've never been so entertained by watching a budget video. This was a good reminder to revisit my budget!
We revisit the budget often. We just know how to discipline to keep it. 😅
Have yourselves a wonderful staying new home in Taiwan & bringing yourselves a new hoping life.
Hi, I'm on day #11 of my quarantine, so I've been binge watching your channel. (I came across your channel yesterday after searching online for apartment advice.) I'm glad that I caught your warning about the landlords taking a tax write-off. But, yeah, this video was especially helpful to get an idea about prices and all. Keep up the great work!
BTW... please tell me that at least some schools have A.C.
🎉 congrats🎉 you're almost free!! Do not plan on your school having air conditioner if you're working for a public school. In fact one of Leah's public schools built a brand new facility from the ground up and did not install air conditioners. We're happy to hear that you found the videos useful. If you have any other questions don't hesitate to DMS on Instagram
really enjoyed the video! thank you
Aww, thanks 🙏
LOL glad your washing machine didn’t take flight during the spin cycle! I also really miss those cheap utilities from living abroad
Any plans on living abroad again?
I love the video’s ❤️❤️❤️ (😂😂Ford Focus😂😂😂) I want to come visit!
It's a Kymco Racing King 180! 180cc! Leah's "motorcycle? Is only 150cc!! I get mad respect from the young bucks! 😆
Charrae it would be so lovely to see you ♥️. You and your beautiful family are always welcome here.
Just subbed. Also a 40 something Nomad and amongst other things, English Teacher. I am very familiar with Vietnam and absolutely love it there however it is still closed for now. I appreciated this video and your cost breakdown because I have been researching places to teach in Asia. Did you go through the Teach Taiwan programme? Does the salary and cost of living allow for savings? Thanks.
Thanks for the comments so happy to hear that beautiful :-) do you use instagram? It's easier to share DMs over on our Instagram . @getupgetoutgetgone. They're certainly is not enough opportunity to save as much here as you could in Vietnam but we do enjoy the quality of life here so much more. Certainly there's things we miss from every country in which we've lived. Yes we both came in under the teach Taiwan program.
You guys are really entertaining
That's great! We appreciate the comment!
I try to make a budget and reevaluate it every 4 months or so. Admittedly, though where I have problems keeping to the budget is on food it fluctuates the most. Although, I can stay closer to the budget when I am aware by writing down daily my spending or there are many free apps out there too. When like this you actually add the total it is scary because almost always I tell myself I spent less than that before I see the numbers.
I used to have an app where you could take a picture of your receipt and it would add up your daily spending total. I couldn't live with so much shame I had to get rid of it. LOL ~JB
I try to follow a budget, but priced are soaring here in Pa.
Please make an updated version for 2023. 🙏
We would make that video but we keep blowing our budget trying to travel to improve our RUclips videos. Lol
But honestly, everything has stayed mostly the same with a slight increase in groceries and coffee by about 5%
You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you. --Maya Angelou/././
You two are so cute together!! My husband and I both come originally from Mainland China and now gaining citizenship in US since we have lived here for more than 10 years. We have young kids and we still need to make plans for our parents since we both were born at only child policy era, so it is not about recent plans. But just out of curiosity, do you think we should at least consider and research on retirement in Taiwan? We have no language barrier and we should have okay savings (not wealthy at all, but could have decent lives). Especially for winter time, do you think Taiwan is good for winter bird type of living? Like many Americans consider Thailand or Indonesia for retirement, Taiwan might be more expensive but have less of language or culture problem for us.
Thanks for the compliment☺️!
Southern Taiwan is gorgeous on the Winter, much drier than the north. I think perhaps the most important thing to consider is what kind of visa would you enter on to stay the winter here? American passports can enter for 90 days with no visa. So if you limit yourself to 3 months, it wouldn't be much of a need to worry about a visa. If you want to stay for longer than that, I'm not sure what options are available because we haven't really researched retiring here.
Having lived in Vietnam, it's been a lot of time in Thailand. The US dollars certainly goes a lot further there than it does here in Taiwan. But, as you mentioned, there are some advantages regarding language and culture that might make up the difference.
Thanks for watching! Do you have any more questions? Feel free to DM us over on Instagram.
I try to follow a budget but it's hard to do sometimes, food and gas prices have skyrocketed since the pandemic.
I can imagine! We've seen the headlines over here and are grateful every time knowing that we can avoid such expenses. Apparently we need to reevaluate our indulgences ... 😬~JB
would help if you prefaced with whether this is Taipei or not as the differences are huge.
Oh! Did we not mention what part of the country we were living in? I can't remember. Certainly in other videos. We have mentioned that we are living in the south though. In fact, one of the major reasons why we live in the south is because of the expenses being lower. You get so much more apartment for your dollar down here! Thanks for watching. Thanks for commenting.
way cheaper than living in Canada. Can you tell me the electricity and gas rates, i.e. $/KWH, $/m3, etc.
We've never taken a note of the actual price and we just paid our bill today. We don't have a bill around to check and see what the price is 😞 What I do know is that it can vary between Independent housing and housing complexes. But when negotiating your lease, you should certainly ask what the standard rate is and if that's what you're paying for electricity if you're paying a higher than standard rate.
Thanks for this. The apartment is how many rooms and is it located in the city centre?
Thanks
We have a 3 bedroom and it is about a 20-minute train ride to City center but within a 15 minute walk to the train station.
@@Justin_Leah that is nice, I am currently considering moving to Taipei, I got a job offer as academic research editor.
Rental prices in Taipei are certainly higher than they are here in Tainan. The type sure is a great City congrats on the placement
That's not bad
I agree especially since Justin thought we spent $3k a month. -LM
My budget is fantastic. My goal is to have a positive number when the bank sends me my statement. $.01 is the best I have done this far...
Lmao 🤣😆
Just over $850 each still pretty decent considering the teaching wage. I bet a young teacher with a taste for partying would wax their whole salary!
There are certainly plenty of foreign English teachers in Taiwan doing just that! Lol
However, those of us an hour age demographic are trying to tuck away a little nest egg so retirement can actually be an option.
@@Justin_Leah haha I feel you. I'm almost 40 and in the same position
Is really affordable living in taiwan
We feel that the cost of living here is high relative to pay. The price is go up every new year and the salary is do not match the rate of inflation. In fact, for an English teachers getting paid the same rate now that they were 10 years ago.
Me looking at my expenses as a single person in the US: omg that's so cheap T-T
America has its mentally programmed to accept things that I think we shouldn't. Food should not be as expensive as it is in America. Rent should not be as expensive as it is in America. Should not go to put in a roof over our head.... Join us in liberation! 😁~JB
I make a budget and stick to it.
🤓 smart!
You guys didn't include life insurance, 401k or other retirement and other investments.
Do you consider that spending Elijah? We thought that was more in the side of saving. -lm
@@Justin_Leah Yes, I consider it spending because it comes out of my wages bi monthly or monthly or weekly and can not be accessed until retirement and therefore can not be counted as spendable income. Saving, I view different, as savings is spendable income that can be accessed in case of emergency.
Money aside, are you happier in Taiwan than Vietnam?
We are certainly enjoying a higher quality of life! But, the work life balance is quite different here so we have less free time. But in general, yeah I'd say we're happier in Taiwan then Vietnam. What a great question 😄~JB
Did he say pron idea?
Best videos from so long ago. Not even sure. What was the minute marker? Or id it too late to even bother?🤔😬
Hi I love ur videos beautiful couple! BUT I have to clarify that bubble tea IS invented in my hometown TAICHUNG!!!!! 😂😂 thanks for making great videos
Thank you for the kind words. The people of Tainan say bubble tea started here in Tainan. My research says no one knows the sure. 😅
www.goldthread2.com/videos/who-invented-bubble-tea/article/3001018
Be careful riding !! It’s more dangerous than flying the F16 in combat
Once you have survived driving in Vietnam, I think you can survive anywhere. Lol
Your utilities are so cheap! We were spending $40-$60 a month in Nicaragua and we hardly use any electricity.
Probably good that you're saving on utilities as you need it to support your coffee and tea addiction 😂😂😂
The electricity rate can actually vary from building to building because of how they negotiate the the service with the power company. We were paying so much more for our electricity when we lived in the studio apartment. It also helps that this place is also newer and therefore more energy efficient. ~JB
@@Justin_Leah Ah, yes energy efficiency helps a lot. We were trying to get our landlord to upgrade to LED bulbs. That would have helped saved us heaps!
... and you guys think this is "expensive"? Your utility bills rounded up to like barely $70 for two people and your rent is less than $700 also for two people. Are you kidding me? Vietnam is a very poor country, of course it's much cheaper in Vietnam. In Taiwan your income is similar to what average Taiwanese ppl make, in Vietnam your pay as English teacher is would be 10 times higher than an average Vietnamese.
Yes. Expensive is a relative term. so, given that we make less $$ here and the cost of living is greater than our previous host countries, we do think it is more expensive.