Revisiting: Comfortable Living in Japan (2017 Edition)

[Rusty Trombone]

Be wary of the court auctions!! Get an expert to go over the documents for you.
Make sure you know the status of the person who had gone under, and also exactly what is included.

If some one is still living there then they can claim squatters rights. Can be a bitch to get them out.
If they are not there, then the auction only includes the bldg, not anything inside. SO you may have to store the furniture for several years in case the owner comes back and demands it.

As for comfortable living... I presume all you guys posting are single.

I have things like university fees, high school fees, sports club fees, juku fees etc for kids. I imagine (as I don't handle any of this stuff) it would amount to 200-300,000yen / month.

On the other hand, my house, car etc are company owned, so none of the costs come out of my pocket.

Where we live, most people think jpy5 mill p/a is a good life.
You hit 10 mill p/a/ her and you are loaded.

 

[nedar]

yeah I think 70k is a lot for food for 1 person if you don't count Izakaya. do you cook french food at hme and always eat french bread instead of rice ?

Cooking at home ? What's that ?
Work hours and travel time means that I usually end up eating kombini food for breakfast and dinner, and lunch is with colleagues at cafes and such.
I'd say I spend 2.2K ~ per day on food. * 30 = close to 70K. Yes it's a little pricey and I could save more by cooking at home, but grocery shopping + food prep + actual cooking + clean up when I'm reaching home at 8 - 9pm is time I'm not willing to spend.

 

[Sudsy]

I'll probably need tires, but next Shaken doesn't cycle back until July 2018 for both.

Tires actually aren't inspected as part of shaken.

My own primary expenses are similar to your own - except my housing costs are significantly lower because I'm paying off a mortgage instead of renting.

Housing: 120k (outside Yamanote but near a convenient station, 10 minutes to a major Yamanote station)
Power: 20k
Gas: 5k
Internet/Phone/TV: 6.5k
Cell phone: 10k per unit
Vehicle Insurance: 67k (actual: paid yearly)- combined policy for three vehicles, does not include maintenance/shaken which I mostly do myself.

 

[Sudsy]

Have you ever tried court auction property?

Those are tricky - you can end up inheriting the back tax burden, which can be significant, or even worse, the previous owners/tenants may still be occupying the property, requiring you to go through lengthy and expensive legal procedures to evict them. Even when that's accomplished, if they have left any property behind, you legally have to store it - you cannot dispose of it even if it's left on what is now your property. A friend bought a place, cleaned out the house and disposed of the trash - and found himself in court being sued for disposing of the previous owner's "sentimental" belongings (insert eye-roll here, it was trash).

 

[justhavefun]

Those are tricky - you can end up inheriting the back tax burden, which can be significant, or even worse, the previous owners/tenants may still be occupying the property, requiring you to go through lengthy and expensive legal procedures to evict them. Even when that's accomplished, if they have left any property behind, you legally have to store it - you cannot dispose of it even if it's left on what is now your property. A friend bought a place, cleaned out the house and disposed of the trash - and found himself in court being sued for disposing of the previous owner's "sentimental" belongings (insert eye-roll here, it was trash).

I am fully aware of the problems associated with these types of properties and would always recommend that those who consider this route carry out a full search and not bid on any property/land until they have completed such searches.

 

[Frenchy]

Au contraire.... I love my profession. I just wish it could be done outside a big city!

Edit: What I need, is a helicopter. That'd be perfect. /dreaming

Why Not? Make your choice here, i would be happy to introduce you the right people for a discount. Franco-German quality. No commission taken .

http://www.airbushelicopters.com

 

[e-smile]

Cooking at home ? What's that ?
Work hours and travel time means that I usually end up eating kombini food for breakfast and dinner, and lunch is with colleagues at cafes and such.
I'd say I spend 2.2K ~ per day on food. * 30 = close to 70K. Yes it's a little pricey and I could save more by cooking at home, but grocery shopping + food prep + actual cooking + clean up when I'm reaching home at 8 - 9pm is time I'm not willing to spend.

now it makes sense, of course it will cost more if you never cook at home.

 

[majimekun]

I'm paid 350.000 yen/month and since I'm lucky enough to be spared from wife/kids, I live in a furnished Leopalace apartment in a very nice spot close to station, river, temple and commerces. I pay a monthly 80.000 yen for
- rent
- electricity
- water
- internet

The rest is for
- transportation (I don't own a car and never I will)
- food

.. which means that I save almost 200.000 yen each month.

 

[Frenchy]

now it makes sense, of course it will cost more if you never cook at home.

In Tokyo, I'm not so sure. I find restaurants relatively cheap (and in general good) here compared to many other big cities , but groceries bills higher.

 

[e-smile]

In Tokyo, I'm not so sure. I find restaurants relatively cheap (and in general good) here compared to many other big cities , but groceries bills higher.

I agree that restaurants are cheap compared to other countries
I also agree that kaimono are expensive compared to other countries (was shocked by tomatoes prices the first time I came in Japan)

but still, cooking at home in Japan costs less than eating out in Japan.

 

[Frenchy]

I agree that restaurants are cheap compared to other countries
I also agree that kaimono are expensive compared to other countries (was shocked by tomatoes prices the first time I came in Japan)

but still, cooking at home in Japan costs less than eating out in Japan.

Yes you're right. It's just that I buy expensive stuff like wines, cheeses etc when grocery-shopping but more reasonable at restaurants, so can't really compare

 

[e-smile]

Yes you're right. It's just that I buy expensive stuff like wines, cheeses etc when grocery-shopping but more reasonable at restaurants, so can't really compare

eating french stuff in japan is expensive of course. I like wine too and you have to buy an expensive one in Japan to have a decent one.
I guess that cooking the japanese way in France would be expensive too.

so yeah, in Rome you have to do like the Romans, and when I was talking about cooking at home I was meaning cooking Japanese stuff.