9 months living in Bangkok, I have recorded every single transaction (Really!) Ask Me Whatever You Want.

My Thailand Spending Breakdown (March–December 2025)

I’ve been tracking every baht I spend with borderline-scientific dedication, and the results paint a pretty fun picture of where my money actually goes. Thought I’d share the full breakdown here in case anyone’s curious about real-world cost of living numbers.

These are totals per category:

Housing: ฿119,998.86 - Older condo in Bang Kapi, this includes bills*

Groceries: ฿66,548.00 - 2 People

Transportation: ฿48,338.25

Travel: ฿45,290.93

Eat Out: ฿33,523.07

Education: ฿29,117.48 - Mostly Thai courses at a physical school

Online Shopping: ฿19,848.62 - Damn you Lazada

Take Away: ฿18,502.20 - You too Lineman?

Snacks & Coffee: ฿17,836.82 - Cafe Amazon Simp

Entertainment: ฿14,707.00 - Those damn cinema entries

Clothing: ฿8,141.14

Pets: ฿8,227.45 - I got a cat BTW

General Shopping: ฿8,960.84 - This is like my miscellaneous

Wellbeing: ฿5,763.00 - Massages and Spas, occasionally

Pharmacy: ฿4,584.62

Phone: ฿4,655.00 - True pre paid

Gaming: ฿3,418.00 - Gotta get those fingers working

Online Services: ฿3,123.44 - Your Netflix, Disney and so on

Home Items: ฿1,766.00 - Washing machine coins, stuff for the house and so on

Health: ฿1,585.00 - Out of pocket stuff like dermatologist

A quick snapshot

• Housing was the heavyweight, as expected.

• Groceries quietly took second place, far more than all the “fun” categories combined. Note this number is for 2 people.

• Transport and travel together form a very respectable chunk.

• Snacks & Coffee… well, let’s just call that “mood maintenance.”

• Education also turned out to be a surprisingly big investment. Apparently self-improvement drains more than just mental energy, especially when you trying to learn Thai.

If you’re budgeting for life in Thailand "long-term or nomad style" this gives a fairly realistic sense of how costs balance out once the novelty fades and real habits kick in.

Happy to share more details or monthly averages if anyone’s into expense-tracking nerdery.

PS: I have health insurance and my company paid for it, so it's put of the picture.

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