{"id":4507,"date":"2020-10-13T10:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-10-13T01:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vhbloglive.wpengine.com\/?p=4507"},"modified":"2020-10-09T11:17:06","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T02:17:06","slug":"living-on-the-cheap-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/japanese-apartment-life\/living-on-the-cheap-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Living on the Cheap in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Living in Japan\ncan bring with it many great experiences, but it can also be taxing on your\nwallet. Check out our article for cheap living in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan is a\ncountry that has many great aspects of living there. The beautiful seasons, the\ngreat cities, and the outstanding culture. If you decide to live in Japan you\nwill find that the countryside and the city will come with different price\nstandards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living in the\ncity will have more expenses and it will also have the most opportunities. If\nyou find yourself living in the city limits of a major city you may find your bank\naccount gets drained faster than the living in the countryside. You can offset\nthe increase in price by shopping smart and knowing where to get the best\ndeals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have a large\nnumber of places to choose from when you want to save a few dollars. Here are\nsome of the main places you can use to try and cut down your overall costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Inexpensive Food<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the main\nliving costs in Japan is food. You can end up paying large amounts of money if\nyou don\u2019t look for the right foods at the right time. The number one rule is to\nstay away from import foods. It may be difficult since everyone wants to have a\ntaste of home from time to time, but it would be best to keep those purchases\nas few as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way to\nfind the best priced vegetables and fruits is to shop locally. Many places have\nsmall farms or people will take small plots of land and grow various\nvegetables. They usually set a small stand and put the produce in baskets and\nother containers for people to purchase. It is usually on the honor system so\nthere won\u2019t be a person sitting in the booth or shack. Just drop the\nappropriate amount of money in the change basket to cover anything you decided\nto take. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eating out\nregularly can put a strain on your budget as well, and it may not be factored\ninto your cost of living in Japan. The best option is to try to cook at home as\nmuch as possible, but if you have a small kitchen, or in some instances no\nkitchen, there are places you can go to get a reasonably priced, filling meal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are some\nstores that make bentos that are inexpensive and can fill the emptiest of\nstomachs. They sell some boxes for as little as 400 yen. Limit yourself to\ngoing out only once or twice a week and it should leave you with some extra\ncash at the end of the month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Supermarkets will\nusually run specials on their produce and meals in the bakery section at later\nparts of the day. As the day goes on they will begin to mark down the price of\nmeat, vegetable, and other fresh foods that can\u2019t be held for more than one day.\nYou can find discounts as steep as 50 percent or more. You can find some\npre-made meals at discounted prices as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be warned that\nthe locals also know this and they wait for the best time of the day to clean\nout as much food as possible. You will need to learn the best times and try to\nget it before they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Second Hand Stores<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to\nfurnishing your apartment or house, you don\u2019t have to get all new top of the\nline products. The basic price of appliances in Japan tend to be higher than normal,\nand you may think that you won\u2019t be able to fund your basic needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second-hand\nstores are perfect for those looking for appliances and machines that are in\nmoderately good condition and go for a cheap price. Some of the notable places\nfor everyday appliances are Hard Off.  Hard Off carries all types of small to\nmedium-sized appliances like washing machines and vacuum cleaners. You will\neven find some that are almost like new. The same goes for electronics as well.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For other\nfurnishing needs, you can go to Home Off and find furniture and bedding. Some\ndent and scratch stores sell new items that received some punishment during\nshipping too. They can be hard to find but they are worth the time investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same can be\nsaid for clothing as there are a large amount of second-hand clothing stores.\nYou can find many fashions and styles that can fit your specific needs. The\nproblem will be finding things that are in your size. General Japanese clothing\nsizes are smaller than western versions and if your size runs larger than the\nJapanese average you may find it harder to find your size. This is the same for\nshoes, and if your size goes above a US size 10 you will have a hard time in\ngeneral finding shoes that fit anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These shops are\nalso great if you find yourself in a pinch and need some quick money. They will\nbuy almost everything you may want to sell. You will get less than you may have\nexpected, but when you need the cash it can be a lifesaver. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have some\nmachines or appliances that have become broken or junked you can still sell\nthem for parts. There are entire sections of the second-hand stores that have\nall broken devices that people can use for parts or tinker with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Convenience of Konbinis<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Convenience\nstores have all the small things you could need in one place at generally low\nprices. The snacks and drinks stay around 100 yen and some of the stores make\nand sell their own versions of products which makes them even cheaper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find some\nbasic freezer foods and produce there as well, but the vegetables and fruits\ntend to be a little more expensive and in smaller supply. The freezer items\nwill be in smaller amounts as well and there will be fewer choices, but they\nare helpful when you need something fast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The ready-made\nmeals are the best part of the convenience store since they are inexpensive and\ncan be heated in the store. Getting a hot meal is simple and at any will save\nyou money at any store you can find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Buy, Sell, and Trade<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many social media\nwebsites and groups are built around people selling and giving away unwanted\nitems. Facebook alone has groups that you can track and get your entire house\nfinished for only a few thousand yen. These sites aren’t always reliable, though,\nand you need to be extremely careful when using them. It is recommended to set\nup meetings in public places and try to get as much information as possible\nabout the items in question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are some\nbasic things you can do to try and bring down your cost of living in Japan. It\nwon\u2019t be the same for everyone, some people will have an easier time dealing\nwith cutting costs than others. Look carefully at where your money is going,\ncreate a budget and stick to it as much as possible.  This will give you the best chance at keeping\nyour wallet full.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Living in Japan can bring with it many great experiences, but it can also be taxing on your wallet. Check out our article for cheap living in Japan. Japan is a country that has many great aspects of living there. The beautiful seasons, the great cities, and the outstanding culture. If you decide to live […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese-apartment-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}