Saving money in Mongolia
One of the reasons that we decided to take jobs teaching in Mongolia was because it was a wise financial move. With the job market too uncertain back home having a two year contract for both of us was a good move.
But there are all sorts of other financial benefits that are showing up…
Cell phones – we brought our phones from home. It cost over $400 to cancel the contracts that we had with AT&T. And we were paying over $100 per month for the two of us. We signed up for pay-as-you go plans over a month ago and to date have spent less than $40 for service for a month. We don’t know how much more credit we each have on our phones but we’re certainly saving money on this!
Transportation – I was fueling up my car twice a month in Alaska. That ran from $50 to $75 each time – $100 to $150 monthly. Plus the cost of vehicle insurance and maintenance. Right now we take taxis to work and ride the school’s staff bus or the public bus home. On the most expensive days – when Pepper and I go to school at different times and leave separately too it costs a total of $8. it is usually less – about $5 a day. The savings here isn’t huge but does add up.
Housing and utilities – Our apartment and utilities are paid for. We have some rental income coming in from our Alaskan home but still have a mortgage payment to make. I’d say we’re probably saving about $900 per month right now on that!
Vacationing – We’re planning to escape the bitter cold for a few weeks this winter. We have three weeks off and the cost for a flight to Thailand is $800 for both Pepper and I and Jordan’s ticket would be $600. We couldn’t get back to NY for the holidays from Alaska for that much. Once we’re in Thailand or Laos the living expenses will be even less than if we stayed in Mongolia.
Banking – We’re earning 6% interest on our bank accounts here!
you should do a satellite savings account, APR here is 1%. you could offer 3-4% return.