Attention English teachers in Shanghai: We want to know about all the ways that you save money!!! Most ESL teachers get paid once a month and by the end of month we're struggling(or at least I am.) How do you prepare yourself for the end of the month money blues? Post Below (please!)

Get a foreign boyfriend.

We are looking for genuine money saving tips for ESL teachers

This is discriminating. I want also money saving tips for non ESL teachers.

kamala wrote:Get a foreign boyfriend.

That's hilarious. But seriously, after 6 years in this place, money-saving tips in general include:

1: eat at Gil Wonton. (Or its equivalent). It's cheap, it's delicious, and they are everywhere. 12 rmb fills you up. Avoid Element Fresh like the plague. Or, better yet, buy a rice cooker and visit the wet market regularly.
2: don't buy drinks at Big Bamboo, Camel, Geisha, etc. Seriously, what a waste of money. Three or four drinks and you could have eaten for a week. 60 rmb for a crappy rum-coke pour (you can buy a whole bottle of smirnoffs for slightly more than that in the Quik-E-Mart)? This is where most expats (English teachers and otherwise) seem to piss away most of their money.
3: take the subway. Yeah, it's easier to grab a cab but those 35 rmb taxi rides add up, and honestly the metro probably takes only a few minutes longer.
4: Buy the Chinese equivalent. For years I bought Tide at City Shop for 180 rmb a bottle. Then I realized Lianhua sells the exact same shite for 35 rmb. Yeah. My clothes are just as clean.

This is all simple stuff, but I consistently see my friends making 15k a month avoiding doing all of them, so there's that.

Stock Up On Ramen Noodles

Early known as noodle on natural broth, recently was busted in media for using chemical powders.

PS:Cheapest imported drinks in german supermarket Metro, wines from 30 rmb and wiskeys from 60 ..

Don't drink alcohol at all.

phantasmalmirth,

Budget your expenses based on your current income and don't compare the local costs/prices to those back home. If you justify your currrent expenses as "they're cheaper than back home," then you will tend to spend more than you actually should.

First, prioritize your expenses as "need to" verses "want to" and make the necessary adjustments. Second, always spend below your means instead of "within" your means.

Good luck!

Stark

Right on, I can buy 5 days worth of dinners for me and the lady at the local wet martket for the price of two pints of beers at these said watering holes. Don't get me wrong, I love the taste of nice beers, but I really enjoy the RMB 3.8 bottles of Suntory at Family Mart.

people always ask this question, 'how to save money?'

It's pretty simple. Spend less than you earn. Cut out your bad habits that cause you to spend on overpriced crap. Cut the habit (s) first, and then you'll find money accumulating in your bank account.

If you make 12,000 rmb a month, you should not be in a bar drinking 60 rmb cocktails unless it's your once a month party night. Or go to windows twice a month instead.

Create a budget, write it down. Write down how much you're spending and on what. If you shop smart, LianHua/Carefour/Wet Markets, you can easily save 5000rmb or more per month.

hand it over to ur gf and lock her in ur room.

Not an English teacher but I am fed up of spending twice what I would in the UK on groceries in City Shop. Does anybody know a relatively laowai friendly wet market? My Chinese is poor but I am fluent in the international language of pointing and smiling. The one nearest my compound on Zhaozhou lu is inpenetrable!

all of them laowai friendly. just point and use your fingers to say the amount or how heavy.

learn your Chinese numbers.

Or go to the Avocado lady for fresh vegetables, Wulumuqi Lu, WuYuan Lu.

Stop paying Rabbit for the bestiality........

I have been in Shanghai for about 3 years and gone to bars 4 times. Main reason i don't go is that 60rmb for a beer can buy a lot of beer at the local lian hua and can be drunken in the comfort of ones home. If you are just going out to get laid then, shock horror, hookers are probably going to be cheaper for you.
Any place you buy drinks bars, cafes etc you are effectively just pissing away money.

Taxis are stupidly over priced when the subway goes everywhere and you can work out buses by just tracking the numbers on google maps or on the street. One taxi ride is going to be at least 4 trips on the subway. Get out and walk you lazy bastards, it is good for you.

The centre of any city costs more so if you can't afford it (wait for it).... move. Oh no, you are no longer paying out your ass for rent in an over priced apartment, instead you are 3 or 4 subway stops away from the centre of town where things are cheaper. Oh the horror of having to spend 15 to 30 minutes in the subway to get to peoples square or xujiahui.

disconbobulated wrote:Stop paying Rabbit for the bestiality........

Hey, stubble jumper - don't try to horn in on my franchise.

txaggie07 wrote:all of them laowai friendly. just point and use your fingers to say the amount or how heavy.

learn your Chinese numbers.

Or go to the Avocado lady for fresh vegetables, Wulumuqi Lu, WuYuan Lu.

I go to Avacado lady occasionally (it's a bit far out). Better quality by far than City Shop but not a huge amount cheaper. Are the wet markets usually around the same price?

txaggie07 wrote:all of them laowai friendly. just point and use your fingers to say the amount or how heavy.

learn your Chinese numbers.

Or go to the Avocado lady for fresh vegetables, Wulumuqi Lu, WuYuan Lu.

I go to Avacado lady occasionally (it's a bit far out). Better quality by far than City Shop but not a huge amount cheaper. Are the wet markets usually around the same price?

How to save ? Don't go bars. During my studing in Uni there was not so much restourants ,

so we did home-made-party's , like today in Joe's home, tomorrow - in Lilia's etc.

The only case what neugburgs don't like loud music etc ..

Magical_Trevor wrote:Not an English teacher but I am fed up of spending twice what I would in the UK on groceries in City Shop. Does anybody know a relatively laowai friendly wet market? My Chinese is poor but I am fluent in the international language of pointing and smiling. The one nearest my compound on Zhaozhou lu is inpenetrable!

I echo the comment that all of the them (at least that I've seen) are laowai-friendly. Yes, you'll get a laowai-price but it will still be less than CityShop or even Carrefour. And the quality can be quite good, at least for fruit + veg (the meat and fish I find a bit worrying but that might be just inexperience). I've until recently had zero Chinese beyond ni hao and xie xie but it works. If you get the numbers down don't forget your 'counting word' ge.

Even for non-wetmarket goods the local supermarkets will often have local equivalents cheaper than City Shop

winexz wrote:Don't drink alcohol at all.

Come on, now.... We are talking about English teachers, no? Suggestions should be doable.

where are you living, the french concession? how can you not be living comfortably (affording to drink/eat out on a near-daily basis) with an english teacher's salary? even after dropping 4000 on rent you probably have around 8000 which is about 260/day - anyways the only suggestion i can make is to make more local friends. They figured out a way to live off of 3000-5000 (granted they dont pay rent) and maintain adequate social lives, so maybe they can teach you a couple things

wagnett wrote:

Magical_Trevor wrote:Not an English teacher but I am fed up of spending twice what I would in the UK on groceries in City Shop. Does anybody know a relatively laowai friendly wet market? My Chinese is poor but I am fluent in the international language of pointing and smiling. The one nearest my compound on Zhaozhou lu is inpenetrable!

I echo the comment that all of the them (at least that I've seen) are laowai-friendly. Yes, you'll get a laowai-price but it will still be less than CityShop or even Carrefour. And the quality can be quite good, at least for fruit + veg (the meat and fish I find a bit worrying but that might be just inexperience). I've until recently had zero Chinese beyond ni hao and xie xie but it works. If you get the numbers down don't forget your 'counting word' ge.

Even for non-wetmarket goods the local supermarkets will often have local equivalents cheaper than City Shop

Wow, really? You buy ALL of your groceries from city shop...??? I only go there to buy stuff I really need and can't find anywhere else... like tetleys teabags haha!
Otherwise I go to Carrefour or a local supermarket that's a 5 min walk from my house and has everything I need pretty much.
Apart from that I eat at home/ eat lunch at Chinese places with work colleagues. Don't go out much, use the metro instead of taxis. Honestly, it's not difficult to save money here at all and I'm still enjoying myself.

Fleurette7 wrote:

wagnett wrote:

Magical_Trevor wrote:Wow, really?

I think it is more about idiots being idiots. Nothing else. They are everywhere

Magical_Trevor wrote:Not an English teacher but I am fed up of spending twice what I would in the UK on groceries in City Shop. Does anybody know a relatively laowai friendly wet market? My Chinese is poor but I am fluent in the international language of pointing and smiling. The one nearest my compound on Zhaozhou lu is inpenetrable!

I speak ZERO chinese and I buy at the wet market near my house in JingAn all the time.
The other day I bought tons of veggies, tofu and a little bit of meat worth probably 4-5 days of meals -lunch and dinner and I spent less than 100 rmb. I doubt I can get that amount of food for that money at City Shop and in terms of quality City Shop cannot bit the veggies of the wet market.

Not an English teacher myself but I think is kinda stupid to blow your money at City Shop
and if you want to blow your money there are more fun things to do than buying overpriced toilet paper.

Just Saying

hypochondriasis wrote:They figured out a way to maintain adequate social lives

Refering to locals. Ha ha! Joke of the year right there!

condesa wrote: I think is kinda stupid to blow your money at City Shop
and if you want to blow your money there are more fun things to do than buying overpriced toilet paper.

Just Saying

Haha

Shitty Shop is the Marcus Neiman of supermarkets Fashion food

I had a look at their web just now and for less than the price for local sirloins I can buy imported Australian sirloins

For each it's own ..

in supermarket you can buy coffee, chees, sugar, salt, yogurt, milk, species, napkins, etc

on flea market: fruits, veggies, meat..

IMHO

KopyKatKiller wrote:1) Work in the suburbs.
2) Live in the suburbs.
3) Cook at home.
4) Never go to bars or restaurants not in the suburbs.
5) Never go to places laowai go.
6) Make at least 20k a month.

If you move far enough out you should be able to survive on 5k a month; rent, internet, electricity, and gas included.

There have been months here where I've done that, if I didn't go shopping. Many months I spend 7 to 10k shopping. Outside of rent and shopping, I find it completely feasible to exist on 500rmb a week... but I don't most of the time. Just dropped almost 8k on 2 camera lenses and it's only the 3rd day of the month

buying expensive stuff means you know how to not be an idiot. well done. you have proved you are not a fool unless you borrowed the money of course, then shame on you. (*sorry I just realised that sounded cynical about you Kopy. didn't mean it too*)

There are two type of people in this world.....


men and woman and most of both are stupid.