Hi! This is my first post this sub. I will start working for an IT Company in Japan starting November 2022. I have started looking at apartments already and have talked to a real estate agent today, so I am now familiar with the initial move in costs (4-5 times the rent) plus furnitures (washing machine, tables, chairs, pots and pans and utensils), and all the other fees included (some are just ridiculous). So, here is the breakdown of my estimates:
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* Rent – **60K to 70k** for 1K unit (in any of the following places, ota, setagaya, kawasaki or yokohama)
* Transportation will be reimbursed
* Food – breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided in the office, however, I would say that I might have dinner at my apartment instead at the office since there will be fewer options of food at dinner time, so for dinner plus weekend food around **50K**
* Utilities – gas, water, electricity around **10K**
* Tax and Insurances like medical and pension will be deducted from salary
For internet, I will be using mobile data for my phone plus my laptop for connectivity. I am looking at Sakura Mobile for data plans + sim card. I like their data plan which is priced at **4K** including tax. Is sakura mobile good?
Total of Estimates around **130K – is this feasible?**
My Other Questions:
* I would like to ask if you can suggest other sim + data plans that are expat friendly since I can barely talk Japanese. I know that mobile number is critical to open a bank account, which I need so the company can pay my salary.
* Once I get the mobile number, what banks are good? It would be nice if I can do mobile/online banking with them plus be able to transfer money back to my home country
* I’ve read that you can buy second hand / used appliances in good condition, how is your experience with those? Are the appliances in good condition for its price? What stores should I look or visit to check those out? I’ve also heard about sayonara sales, and all items are good, albeit you have to do the pick up.
* I have asked the real estate agent, he doesn’t drink water from tap but according to him it is good for drinking, he does buy drinking water from Amazon. What is your opinion about this?
7 comments
sony bank is a nice bank. But, we cannot withdraw coins
Pretty scary that they expect to feed you for all 3 deals. Sounds black af!
You won’t find anywhere in Setagaya for that budget. Kawasaki and greater Yokohama is doable.
Bills are probably more like 12-14k these days. Don’t forget the residence tax in the second year (unless your company deducts this).
For mobile, I use GTN, costs me just under 2k/month for 2gb of data but i don’t make any calls and very rarely text actual text messages (thanks LINE).
I’m in Tokyo and I drink the tap water, but I do have the little 500yen replaceable filters you put on the tap.
>I have asked the real estate agent, he doesn’t drink water from tap but according to him it is good for drinking, he does buy drinking water from Amazon. What is your opinion about this?
I drink pretty much only tap water (mixed with sports drink/protein powder). It’s fine.
(Sorry for double comment!) Re secondhand things (kanji for searching that is 中古 by the way), generally I’ve had decent experience with stores here, almost all in person since I’m picky about used stuff. (And no car or Japanese license so no driving to pick stuff up from Sayonara Sales.)
THE OFF CHAIN
Off House – used furniture and appliances. Bed, mattress, desk etc. Can get white goods here.
Hard Off – used everything else except books; some appliances. Got used clothes, a router for 1100 that works just fine; you can find some rice cookers, kettles, microwaves etc here too.
Book Off – used books. Found an English section, quite small but that’s only to be expected, was delighted they had any at all.
For white goods I went on Rakuten and got a cleaned three-piece set, fridge washing machine and microwave for 30k. You specify the rough year range and the approximate dimensions (more recent models are more expensive), they’ll pick you out a set and deliver + install as part of the price. Keywords to search: 中古, 家電セット (home electronics set), 一人暮らし (living alone – a big targeted market sector here!)
Would give an 8/10 for cleanliness, nothing super gross like stains or needing heavy duty cleaners, but I still gave all the stuff a good wipedown to get specks of crumbs out.
All up I spent about 100k furnishing my completely empty 1K, and I probably could/should have gotten away with less in hindsight.
Make sure to search for “Sayonara Sale” groups on Facebook for the area you’ll be moving to, and the general surrounding area. Lots of good deals for secondhand furniture/appliances/etc. “Mottainai” groups on FB are also cool cause everything is free.
For sending money back to your home country, I recommend Wise. It’s easy, quick, and transparent about whether or not you’re getting the best rate by sending money through them. You just download the app, follow the steps to register, and choose the method you’ll be depositing. I do transfers through an ATM machine by depositing to Wise’s account. My fastest transaction was being able to receive my money within 2 hours of transfering funds.
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