How much money did you save up in your home country before applying for a visa and moving to Japan, and how far did that money get you in Japan? Do you think you didn’t save enough, or did you perhaps save too much? Really curious about people’s experiences!
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**How much money did you save before moving to Japan, and how far did that money get you?**
How much money did you save up in your home country before applying for a visa and moving to Japan, and how far did that money get you in Japan? Do you think you didn’t save enough, or did you perhaps save too much? Really curious about people’s experiences!
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6-8 months estimated rent in advance.
Me and my partner are both saving about $5k each. I think it’s a bit much considering there’s two of us and we aren’t planning on being lavish.
I think bare bare bones would be $3k for someone moving alone, but I’ve heard stories of people pulling off $2k, that’s really desperate though.
It also depends heavily on when your new income would be first hitting your bank account. Take with a grain of salt though as I obviously haven’t done it yet and everyone’s situation is different
Got here in 30s with enough passive income to replace working: never actually had to work
20k USD, it paid off 2 years of Language school, and 1 year of rent (due to the currency exchange thing going on back then, and now), but I had to find a part time to make up for the last year of rent, and of course, food. Granted, I did not go out much to blow cash on anything, but this was just my personal experience. I was 19 and just winged it and made it back fine.
This really depends on your personal situation. We were a family of three, moving to Japan from a job with a good salary to a job with a good salary.
We had a cushion of about $20K USD when we moved, which was good for making the moving period during the first six months more comfortable. We probably spent a third of that securing housing, and then there was the cost of temporary housing, and then furnishing the place, paying startup costs for childcare, buying bicycles, waaaay too much eating out due to being busy with moving stuff, etc.
Can you do it in less? Of course! But more money will give you peace of mind and help if there are any emergencies/issues that crop up.
30,000 saved up over 3 years before making it back.
I’ve got 2 paychecks here and I’ve managed to save 1 fully, but only by dipping into my prior funds because relocation cost is more than living cost. Once you get past that things are a lot smoother and more simple, but having lived here in the past before coming back in my current apartment and visa, I’d warn to stay outside the Tokyo wards or major hubs.
A longer commute to work, but you’ll save a lot of money by not paying enormously on rent alone
I saved a grand total of 0 yen before moving to Japan (first job straight out of college). My employer gave me 100,000 yen to cover the expense in the first 2 months before I received my first pay check, which I paid back in installments.
30k AUD was how much I budgeted for my working holiday when I first moved there. I paid my entire year’s rent upfront with about 1/3, and the rest pretty much lasted me the year. I didn’t spend all of it, even, as I ended up having to go back about 10 months in. I didn’t work during my time there, just travelled and chilled.
When I moved back for work a few years later, I didn’t save anything specifically for moving but moving probably cost me close to 20k all in. Mostly buying new furniture, appliances etc.
I didn’t, I had just graduated and was extremely broke. See if your Japan-based employer will give you an advance on wages?
I saved around $35k. Burned through $10k pretty quickly between the startup costs” plane ticket, hotel, apartment signing, a washer, bike, transportation, food, a temporary sim card with a voice number. The remainder of the money should be a much slower burn since I live fairly simply.
I honestly wish I had saved for 1 more year so that I could’ve budgeted some nice trips in as well without really having to worry about how much I’d spend.
Shipped the entire furniture for 5k euro
About 8k on the bank
Structural income from real estate
I had a spouse visa and no job upon arrival, but there was no stress because of the income from my tenants.
This shit is super individualistic and personal.
I had about $500 + my scholarship’s stipend and I got the first job I applied for at a tuna cannery.
IF I had to do it and I had to cover everything, I think I could do it for about $2000US, but I don’t mind a micro sized apartment, I know how to spend very little on food and all the other tricks until I got paid. Possibly I could do it for less. (This assumes a job vs schooling.)
Other people might need $100kUS because they have full families, an entire life to move, need a car, **must eat pizza 21+ times a week**, and other shit like that.
$3,000~, and not far AT ALL
I’ve heard generally 5k usd is the norm
I have had access to a large savings pool that I’ve been building for a few years since before coming here. What I allocated from that was funds for immigration were about 6 months of rent.
I don’t think I needed to have that much, but it certainly didn’t hurt to have that safety net especially since discovering the large upstart cost such as your real estate agency fees (some you can negotiate to wave) utilities, and just basic daily necessities, pans, utensils, etc.
I also factored in transportation and living expense till first paycheck because depending on the timing and your conpany’s policies I guess it could take longer than one pay cycle. Talk to your HR department about that if you’re coming here for work.
Of the initial allocation, I think I spent 3/4’s but people’s situations vary so this is just my experience
I didn’t save for that cos I already had some general savings that I use for that. But my experience living in Fukuoka by a year rn may help you to find the right for yourself.
Well, about renting I live in a 2ldk apartment which is kinda expensive in Japan, but still cheaper compared to many countries (in Brazil, if you live in São Paulo you will pay at least the double, but if you live in BH, which is better lol, it’s around 20-30% less costly). For it, I pay 60k yen monthly with all the utilities included (even a really fast internet).
For food, since I mostly make it by myself BUT I eat a LOT of meat (which isn’t cheap at all around here), 20k more monthly (daily I don’t eat less than 700g of lean meat cos of my diet, but regularly the double).
Since I came to really live the best of here, I spare 30k monthly for going out (like pubs and parties) and 100k for a small travel 3 times a year (it can be on long holidays like the golden week or just a 三連休, which is a weekend when a Friday becomes a holiday), and I never travel for more than 3 days counting the travel itself.
I also will count other expenses, as cellphone (3k), car expenses (including gas), new clothes, new shoes (twice a year, generally), well, everything else that I spend over a year, then I sum it and divide by 12, and it’s around 20k monthly also.
So, in total, I spend 130k monthly. But I like to take 20k more every month to make an emergency savings, so count it a solid 150k.
I’m not gonna say how much I get but I can save really a lot. If I didn’t have a car, I would save 25k around for the emergency savings lol, but this 5k yen is super worthy in the area I live in.
In the end, for anyone that have a regular job, you can save really A LOT around here. Btw, basically if you go to hospital, the invoice is also pretty cheap, especially compare to US (but not free as in Brazil for example). Even that, avoid the need of going to the hospital by have a health life style and you’ll save WAY more than eating cup noodles every day and needing to go to the hospital.
See ya.