Comments on: Japan Standard of Living – MoneyNing Style

By: Wei Tien-Hao

Wei Tien-Hao — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:19:02 +0000

I understand it’s amazing that they have vending machine for cigarrates. Everything seems to be so expensive in Japan. But after staying in Japan for 2 years I found some ways to save money in Japan and still trying to DIG IN MORE! haha well nice post man

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 05:16:22 +0000

Savvy Frugality: I never knew the US had cigarette vending machines! I agree that Japanese it probably doesn’t make sense in Japan to sell convenient store type of products in a store because rent is probably very high there.

By: Savvy Frugality

Savvy Frugality — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 04:06:24 +0000

I think vending machines are so popular in Japan because space is at a premium there. Real Estate is very expensive in Japan, with some small lots going for $1 million or more, so it’s cheaper just to sell wares through a vending machine rather than purchasing a building and opening a business. By the way, cigarette vending machines used to be quite common in the U.S., but were made illegal in many areas because they offered kids an easy way of getting their smokes.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:09:21 +0000

shannon: Great info and amazing way to save money! I am encouraged by your motivation to save by moving into a “inconveniently located old house, with a roomate” living place.

By: shannon

shannon — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 19:59:09 +0000

Nice pictures! My husband and I were living in Japan when we saved to quit. You should have gone into the grocery store to take a picture of the $30 melons!
To put some more things into perspective…it costs about $300,000-750,000 to have a new house built (and it’s very rare to move into a “previously owned house”), not including the land.
However, by living in an inconveniently located old house, with a roommate, my husband and I were only paying ~$275 per month for rent.
Also, transportation costs to work are always covered by your employer.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:49:39 +0000

Credit Blogger: If you look at the picture below the mortgage rate, that’s the interest rate on savings account (savings yield).

J2R: You are correct, it’s hard to find this out though since my friends work in different industries and the same position can vary widely in salary.

By: J2R

J2R — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:32:53 +0000

cool pics, but I think we can’t compare these prices with American prices without comparing salaries. If they make 2x what we make here, then it’s like the soda would cost $0.50 instead of $1.00

But really cool pics and I didn’t know their interest rates were so low.

By: Credit Blogger

Credit Blogger — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:15:24 +0000

Thank you for the article, it’s really interesting to learn how they live in other countries. But you didn’t mention interest rates in Japan, are they high or what? Mortgage rates are low, but what about interest on usual credits and loans?

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 19:02:19 +0000

Golbguru: O Genki desu!

I didn’t have much of a chance to do anything since it was a short business trip.

I also wanted to visit Japan for all my life and I got to go twice already this year! They were both like 2 days trips but it was fun while it lasted.

Good luck on your dream to go to Japan. You have to go though, it’s a really cool place.

By: Golbguru

Golbguru — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:59:01 +0000

David san, O genki desu ka?
Did you pick up some Japanese while you were there?
Nice photos, thanks for sharing.

It’s my long time dream to visit Japan – not any closer to it yet.