Bug free beds with air-con in 4 people dormitories in Bangkok cost maybe 5 bucks per day. Single rooms are bit more expensive but not much. Must be cheaper when not in the capital. Food is also nearly free. So is transportation. The only expensive part is the flight, which still is below 1000 CHF. Can recommend, would do again.
It will be my 3rd time there. Went in February 2020 for 2.5 weeks and February 2024 for 4 weeks. When I look back: the most amazing parts were those that didnât cost much or were free. I think 3k including 1k for flights should be plenty for 3 weeks.
Thailand next year? You can then spend all those 1200chf you plan to spend for clothing in one go and buy several nice dress for work (and deduct from taxes).
Otherwise 100chf/pm seems high. Maybe you destroy your gym/tennis shoes every couple of months? 
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Your comment gave me âEarly Retirement Extremeâ vibes (in a good way!).
I totally support your points but I see some problems, like:
- having flatmates is cool and all but at some point I guess you want to have your space. What happens the day you want to invite someone (âOh you still live with friends at 35?â)?
- not having lunch with colleagues makes sense to save, but will also probably hurt you in the long run for lack of network and image (being seen as the cheap guy that makes 130k per year but canât affort a 25-30 CHF meal)
I know that the main philosophy is âwe adaptâ, and in this reply Iâm playing the devilâs advocate.
I will never judge someone that does what you write (Iâm doing it as well 
), but sometimes I feel the âsocial pressureâ and itâs important to consider also this aspect.
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No need to explain, its a conscious decision and there can be reasons for that - all good.
In my view - your budget is TeaGhost approved. You could save more if you wanted - but every additional cost reduction will impact your quality of life, and ultimately, your ability to keep up the race to FIRE. This is a marathon and not a sprint, it doesnât help if we starve ourselves to close-death and then realize we had the financial mean to continue such starvation for the remainder of our crippled lives.
I am a bit older than you and put some emphasis in a few different budget items but fundamentally, you have the budget I kept for the last 10+ years.
Quality food is important for your menal wellbeeing. 900 per month is not excessive in Switzerland. Personally, I do buy bio meat whenever possible, and I buy any Veggies that contain significant amounts of water (Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbres, âŠ) as well in Bio. Clearly, Aldi & Lidl as well offered Bio Products (at cheaper prices) but just getting into such a sad place means walking to suburbia and exposing myself to a depressed shopping experience (vs. Migros and Coop where somewhat pleasant and walking-distance/central experiences for me).
Overall: Your main job is to find a reasonable lifestyle that keeps you happy. Saving only comes as a next point. Whats the point of saving if you live a crippled live. Clearly - I am not talking about excessive spending but (other than the slightly high but in my view understandable) vacation budget, there is nothing excessive in your list.
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âSuch a sad placeâ is quite a statment here. 
At least in ZH, Aldi and Lidl are located as central as Migros & Coop.
The experience is different from Coop and Migros, but I actually enjoy it. Always something going on in these places (also Denner). 
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Or start interviewing for jobs and get a big jump immediately.
Its probably a matter of where you live but in my area, Aldi and Lidl are both at crappy locations⊠and yes, in my view trully sad places to be.
It wouldnât make sense from a CV-perspective. 1.5 years retail, 5 years affluent and now 4 months wealth management. Why am I looking for a new employer after doing the new job for only 4 months? I think I should stick with it for at least 3-4 years.
But yes, the impact is high. Getting 2k more after taxes each month? Savingsrate increases from 1.6k to 3.6k without doing anything.
Are you in the office 5 days/ week?
Consider halbtax PLUS savings potential.
Iâm in the office 3 days/ week and the âhalbtax plusâ and easy ride single fairs save me quite a bit compared to an Abo.
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I bike to work. It saves me the SBB Abos and the Gym membership
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âHumans are social animals. You wouldnât know someone better?â
But for real, who doesnât know that the granny downstairs keeps more accurate records then my friends ever will.
I will receive their criticism when they can do the same as I do. I am proud of my ability to live well below my means, I am proud of the mountains of money that I amass.
To stay socially compatible and non-confrontational you can use white lies for many things, but still participate:
- You are dieting, so you take something small (and cheap).
- You donât have a big car, because driving a bicycle is more healthy, and taking the train more green.
- You buy one drink, but never empty it for the whole evening. You donât want to drink to much alcohol because it isnât healthy, but you really want to thoroughly enjoy a good drink (this one). Or just take a non-alcoholic one and say you are not thirsty.
But of course, you might not become best friends with people that need to one up each other by spending more than they can afford. But maybe there are different interests that can connect you to interesting people. An interest in investment can still connect you to people that have money but donât do frugality.
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You should chill
In my view, based on your responses, you are doing fine. Your budget is a good balance of wealth, health and fun.
Focussing only one first bucket is never good. In long run, a balanced life is more fulfilling
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My 5 cents: with 900chf a month of eating (I assume this includes eating out), 8k in vacations, and 2.4k in gift and clothes, I donât think is thaaaaat frugal as a normal lifestyle for a single person.
But you can afford it for sure, so not blaming you. I am spending more or less same pear year on those items.
But if you want to save more I would focus on these.
You might also be able to optimize your SBB bill if you work more from home.
My personal experience: you can make a lot of travel with less budget, so not compromising on destination (maybe on fanciness of acomodations?).
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LGTM++
The only thing that caught my eye is your electricity bill. Are you mining Bitcoin at home?
We â household of three â living in an oversized old house, charging our PHEV regularly at home, run a large freezer and a second fridge 24/7, dehumidifier in the basement running at least a day per week plus me 24/7 online logged into my computer spamming this forum as we speak, have only a slightly higher bill (maybe 20% higher) than you.
Maybe someone else is mining Bitcoin using one of your electricity sockets �*
* I once had a report on my team in Sydney, about maybe a dozen years ago â hi Phil, if youâre reading along! â who mined Bitcoin on a camouflaged computer running in the car garage of his multi apartment unit housing building on a power socket paid for by the real estate company.
(Almost) Free money (as he probably paid 1/100th of the bill for the electricity used in the car garage).
For those of you who like tech and finance anecdotes: Phil moved on from a Google one-level-below-senior position** to a senior director position at Goldman Sachs (or maybe JP Morgan, I donât remember). When I met with him afterwards to catch up on things, he shared this story: his new finance company had their offices in one of those high rise buildings in downtown Sydney. The director and above positions were all above a certain floor. When going to work, the elevator in said building would require a badge to be swiped to be able to access the director+ floors.
Phil shared with me that it always felt awkward for him entering the elevator with a bunch of floors already pressed, and when he pressed his floor, way above the others, heâd have to additionally swipe his badge.
I guess part of the feeling awkward stems from Google at that time being still very different ⊠you could walk into Larry Page or Sergey Brin or (at the time CEO) Eric Schmidtâs offices just like that when being on campus in Mountain View.
Probably very different these days.
Thanks for reading along.
** âSenior / level 5â being a euphemism for a mid level engineering postion, the first level Google would allow engineers to remain at without having to progress further (at below levels you would be âmanaged outâ if you didnât make progress within, say, a couple of years, in making it to the next level).
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My 2 cents.
- Keep GA
- Reduce food costs
- Reduce vacation costs - book very early to save to ticket prices, use cheaper airlines.
- Increase income
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You can deposit the GA Travelcard for up to 30 days, after which it will cost CHF 3â680. You have to work out for yourself whether the GA is worth it. For me, itâs worth every rappen!
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Wow didnât know that, this is an amazing feature. As Iâm abroad 5 weeks/year anyway, I could get the full CHF 328 refund. Thus GA for CHF 3â667 per year. Iâm getting 1000 Reka per year for CHF 800 from my employer, so net cost of CHF 3â467.
No-brainer right?
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Wait you guys pay for food? One manâs trash is another manâs dinner!
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To give more details about tennis coaching. Itâs CHF 30-40 per hour in a group of 3-4 people. Itâs not like running or hitting the gym as itâs a very complex sport in terms of technique. You can do it on your own and just play for fun, but getting better from month to month makes it way more fun.
Iâm frugal when it comes down to things like owning a car, buying expensive clothes and shoes or owning a watch. I donât do that. I try to spend my money on things I really enjoy doing, on mental and physical health.
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