EhimeAJET.com - Finance

Budget / Currency Exchange / Tips and Tricks

The salary for JET participants is approximately 3,600,000 yen per annum after Japanese incomes and resident's taxes are deducted. In general, your monthly income should be somewhere between 250,000 to 280,000 yen depending on your situation.

From there, here is a typical budget:

Expenses	Average Price / month (yen)
Rent	20,000
Water	1,500
Electricity	5,500 (+ if air conditioning)
Gas	3,000
Telephone	7,000
Mobile Phone	4,000

The biggest variables are rent, transportation, and...beer. Other expenses include long distance calls, internet connection, and cable/antenna TV. One more important variable to consider is that if you rely on an aircon for your heating and cooling, you will likely spend a great deal more on electricity with spikes in the hottest parts of the summer and coldest parts of the winter.

Traveling is also expensive, especially within Japan. Plan long in advance and avoid peak seasons.

Remember to put some money on the side for unexpected enkais (5,000 yen each on average), a speeding ticket (10,000 - 50,000 yen), or the NHK collectors (2,000 yen per month). You should be able to live on 100,000 yen a month with plenty of opportunity to have fun, saving about 50,000 to 100,000 yen a month.

Currency Exchange

Don't play the currency exchange market - sometimes you will reap the benefit of a good rate, but the reverse can also apply. Send money home at the same time every month and take advantage of the averaging effect. For accurate rates, you can visit XE.com.

Tips and Tricks
At the Store

Try the 100-yen shop first.
Shop after 8pm: Many supermarkets cut prices on perishable food. Buy it then and put it in your freezer.
Use your freezer: Instead of making spaghetti for one, make enough for three, and then freeze the remainder in two microwave safe containers. You've then got easy meals to reheat for when you're too tired to cook.
Don't, under any circumstances, pay 800 yen for a beer.

Buying Items

Try the 100-yen shop first.
Buy used: Know how much a new one costs so you can compare the money saved versus the risk of buying second hand. Sometimes you can get a one-month guarantee on used electronics.
Ask other JET's if they have anything to sell. Around re-contracting time is best.
Buy out of season: Tennis racquets in December and snowboards in July.

Transport

Buy a kei car: A "yellow plate" car is much more economical than a standard sized car. Fuel economy is much better, and tax and shaken (car inspection fees) are much less.
Buy a scooter: if you can suffer the elements, and you don't intend touring.
Buy a bicycle: see scooters.
IC I~Card : Usable on Iyotetsu buses, trains or trams. IC-I~cards are rechargable on buses, trams and at stations. ("Sumimasen cha-ji onegaishimasu." Excuse me, charge this card please. Hand the driver the money and specify the amount if you want change back). I~cards are available at the main stations from the office.
Stick to the back roads: Expressways may save time, but they also have high tolls.
Fill up a discount petrol station: Some stations have lower fuel prices because they don't give that nostalgic 1950's driveway service.

Pay Yourself First

On payday go straight to the post office and send money home. Do it straight away or you will invariably spend your intended savings. Once you are used to surviving on 'pay minus savings' you will find it easy to do, but get in the habit of spending all your pay each month and it will be a hard habit to break.

Use Discretion
Exercise discretion if the subject of your pay comes up, and if someone does find out how much you earn (and in a small town this is not exactly a highly guarded secret) and makes something of it, just mention the fact that you don't get a bonus.

Don't Forget to Enjoy Life
By all means save money, but be careful not to make yourself miserable in the process by depriving yourself of a real life. It is entirely possible to have a social life, experience Japanese culture and save money - you don't have to spend the whole year in your apartment.