Saving money in Japan

Good tips! Another tip for those living in the countryside (and maybe some in the city): find a good farmers market. You can get produce for about half the price and fresher than the supermarkets.

And NEVER turn down that free tissue they often offering up near train stations.

There are some good tips here, but saving the money by doing yoga argument doesn't cut it for me. Yoga is how I enjoy exercising, but only exercising to DVDs or making up my own asanas grew a little stale and I looked long and hard for a class. I also wanted an activity I could do with others - perhaps make some friends - without having to go drinking. So, now I have 1 yoga class a week a community center for 7000 yen a month.

Your other suggestions are good though.

Buy McDonalds, don't eat? I need a raise, can't remember the last time I got one.

Buy a cheap six-pack and take it to the park to drink? Well, it really goes to show that the expat bubble has well and truly burst ... How about learning a bit of Japanese and learning to get the supermarket bargain buys? Online special offers? Cheap outdoor public pools? Fleamarkets? For that matter, renting a flat without paying key money or haggling out the renewal money, or furnishing your place from sayonara sales? Tokyo Freecycle? Livlis? In terms of saving money, this article seems to set the bar pretty low. Makes me wonder who the "expat" is that the article is supposedly aimed at.

If you want to buy 'comfort' foods from back home, try and find a Costco. They sell bagels, cheese, salsa and a whole lot of other more familiar foods at around the same cost you would expect to find back home. I usually buy a 1KG block of cheese which only costs around 650-700 yen. The price fluctuates. Don't eat that much cheese in one go? The marble kind freezes quite well.

i must be lucky, the local gym here only costs about 5000 yen for 3 months membership. other than that though, the situations are the same. another money saving tip is to avoid the vending machines, which are sometimes more convenient than a combini! if you thought that the combinis were marked up, the vending machines are marked up even higher.

Flea markets are definately a good way to get some house supplies. You can get cheap dishes, pots, pans and such. It also makes for a great treasure hunt if you are into that kind of adventure.

Also, if you miss food from home, try making it from scratch. I have learned how to make tonnes of food from scratch over the past couple of years. I even made home-made perogies the other night that turned out way better than the frozen ones I get in Canada. If you can't find a specific ingredient, search the internet for alternatives (e.g. sour cream = yoghurt and lemon?...forgot now that the store has sour cream!)

most ku's have gyms which you can enter for 300-400 yen a pop. some even have aerobics and other programs. not bad, if they are conveniently located.

Good basic advice no matter where you live.

As fds mentions, most local wards or cities operate reasonably priced gyms and pools around the city. They may not be as well equipped as private ones, but perfectly fine if you are on a tight budget.

The cost of living where I am in Okayama is much, much cheaper than the cost of living in my home town of Sydney, so I have no complaints.

I signed up at a local sports club for a year...which brought the price to Y11,000/month. Given that there was no other way to get regular exercise, I consider this a terrific bargain. Those little ku gyms were generally very small, with limited equipment, and kind of depressing. Plus, the music from a cheap cd player was too awful. Anyway, I am fine with the local place, which is not that much more than a full membership back in the States. Best of all, losing significant extra weight, making new friends, and feeling a lot better!

Going "cheap" all the time is not really a satisfying way to live here long term, but avoiding conbini as a way of life is good, cooking at home is always best, and adding some lemon to a bottle of water from the fridge is the best way to avoid daily use of the vending machines. Still, sometimes they are really great to get something if one is stuck, and thirsty, especially as the heat kicks in as in today.

Overall, a helpful article, especially for people new to Japan living.

Pretty much if you need to do the things above to sustain your living here then you're either in the wrong country, have the wrong job, youre doing something wrong or its time to leave. Or youre just a total Tight Rsss .

@export expert

Lol. You're getting thumbed down but I thought it was funny.

@ ProbablyWrong: lol, you forgot the one with the restaurant, have a good meal, then run, run, run. It is the ultimate win-win situation. A nice meal plus you get enough exercice and no need to pay for fancy gyms.

Whether you’re a newcomer to Japan, or an old pro....

Let's face it...if you're an "old pro", it's probably time to find alternative employment :)

if you search carefully, there are ku gyms pretty well equipped (but most of them are indeed crappy). The Odaiba one is good, so is Takinogawa. Gold's gym was pretty expensive, I've used it for one year or so. if you have the time or the wife to cook, that saves a huge amount of money. drinking out is unfortunately expensive and hitting hard my budget

In Japan you have a excellent public transporation. If you really don't need a car, get rid of it and you will save alot of money. You can move into smaller and cheaper apartment complex. Get rid of your dog, cat, and your mistress, but keep your wife and kids. Stand on the corner of the busy intersection with the empty coffee can, wear raggedy clothes and wear a sign that saids "been laid off, can you spare a change for food'. Somebody will give you money. This is a good way to save money.

For those that think that this is penny pinching gone too far: Why waste money when you can put it towards something better. Maybe you are rolling in the cash but a lot of us are getting by while paying off houses, cars, raising kids or saving nice vacations. If you do feel the need to waste some money though...I will gladly take it off your hands :D

I generally do this, but find a large chunk of my yearly savings wiped out by the citizen(?) tax, for which, we don't even get the suffrage to have a small input on how our money is to be spent. I've no problem paying the tax, I just don't like the double standards of "We'll happily take your money, but no, we don't trust you to make an informed decision on how we spend it for you."

SFJP330 - Forget public transport for most city journeys, and cycle; cheaper still.

DON"T bother saving your coins in those cans specially made for doing so. They charge you 17% at the bank to cash it in.

7-11 in-store brand goods are often the same price or cheaper than supermarkets. Used good stores (Hard Off, Off House, etc.) offer fun shopping and bargains galore, but check the dump behind the store before you buy: you'll often find what you need there for free.

Oh, and marry a person who loves the outdoors. Camping, jogging, hiking, whatever: the sea and mountains are free. If your squeeze displays any proclivity towards brand goods, move on, and fast.

Never use conbini as a rule of thumb. (cept emergencies). I am always surprised how the gf causally will buy anything from the conbini when the supermkt is just an extra 50meters away and 40% plus cheaper. And of course, never buy 500ml bottles of drink unless necessary! always big is better. Wish they sold 2L milk over here... Doing without cheese though - no can do. If you cant get out to Costco i think Hanamasa is the next cheapest for cheese. Get a bigger freezer, cook more, freeze more, will save a ton. Gym is the hard one- if the location is not convenient you never really will go..... I wish i lived near a Ku gym but im miles away so I go to Golds- they seem to be the most competitive out of the private ones in the central area. Drinking - go somewhere cheap first, then to cap it off with ONE drink in a nice place. end on a high note and still have money for the cab home. Cabs- get a bicycle.

Conbinis, as the name implies, sell time. And time is expensive. If you had the time you'd make greet tea from cheap bags or powder & mix at your office, not buy it drinks the conbini. Or you'd make your own healthy & cheap snacks, or bento, etc, etc. It is simply a trade off, saving time and trouble, you pay extra.

Actually, was hoping from the headline that this would be about how to seriously save and invest money while in Japan. Next time, perhaps?

If an old pro needs tips like these, any tip will be wasted on him or her - I read pretty much nothing here, that wouldn't be completely obvious to everyone after two or three weeks holiday in Japan. If for no other reason, because it's probably just as obvious in their home country.

Shop at the supermarket rather than the konbini? Cook your own food rather than eating out every night? Take up a hobby rather than going shopping? All it's really saying is, if you live in Japan, act as if you're living there, not as if you're on vacation.

Lots of people choose to ignore the obvious though, can't be helped.

Still, when in Japan, I do enjoy going out much more often, because it's so cheap.

Is thsi for real? IUnless you are a simpleton it is commons nese where is best to buy things and places to go.

Mind you some here come out with rubbish, like you don't need a car. Try that in the sticks, we ahve 1 bus a day to teh town centre, only wa;lkable shop is a Mini stop.

Let's get something for thsoe of us outside Tokyo.

@Simon B

DON"T bother saving your coins in those cans specially made for doing so. They charge you 17% at the bank to cash it in.

That might be true over the counter, but you can tip your coins in to many ATMS and they don't charge anything.