In order to retire in 10 years, I will need to put away roughly $4,000 every month. I would need a monthly gross salary of $7500 if I lived in Toronto, which leaves me $4k after living expenses and taxes. In China, I have a gross monthly salary of $6100. The incredibly low cost of living here plus some work choices enabled me to dramatically increase my savings rate from 15% in London to more than 75% this year.
I’m incredibly thankful that I have this job and I enjoy it, but I did make sacrifices. I work halfway across the world from most of my friends and family and I usually work 12 hour days in addition to half a Sunday. I also decided to take on an extra course for a total of 4 in order to increase my pay so part of it is my own doing. Teaching in China is not a magical solution to saving buttloads of money that will work for everyone.
What a typical day looks like
6:00-06:15 the first of my two alarms wake me up and I talk myself into some exercise. Sometimes I only lay out the matt and just lie on it to sleep some more.
6:15-7:00 light cardio workout and learn some Chinese. Head in to work at 7.
7:30-8:45 first lesson begins. No, it’s not a typo. Yes, the kids are tired.
8:50-10:20 second lesson plus a short reading period. I do some marking during reading period.
10:25-11:40 Prep period during which I mark, plan lessons, and fight the photocopier. Sometimes I message friends back home since the time difference works out ok. I used to browse social media but through good planning and bad
11:40-12:40 I eat lunch and talk to other actual adults.
12:50-2:05 third lesson of the day. I’m over the hump!
2:10-3:25 fourth and final lesson of the day, I usually get a second wind at this time.
3:35-5:00 prep period until the official end of my work hours. That’s right, from 7:30 to 5:00 are my official work hours.
5:00-6:30 dinner and some relaxing time. I try to read a bit and if I’m lucky, nap.
6:30-9:00 evening class or club on 2/5 days of the week. I stay around the office a bit getting all my papers ready for the next day. Student come and ask for help, I hide behind my desk so they don’t see me 🙂
9:00-11:00 I read, write, catch up with friends, and then sleep by 11. Well, I lie down by 11, whether I fall asleep or not is another matter.
Caveats about my job
It’s definitely not a lifestyle I would recommend to everyone. I do have long breaks during school holidays but most teachers work at another job. That’s not in my current plan but I may choose to go that route if I can use it to speed up my savings. I work a shortened Friday but with my long Mondays and Tuesdays it works out to be 12hrs on average.
My savings rate is not the typical pay for an international teacher either. I currently live in the middle of nowhere and the nearest/only entertainment is a movie theatre. The inventive offered to work here versus more international locations like Beijing or Shanghai is the higher pay. I think about moving sometimes.
I’ve taken on an extra course to increase my salary as well. Typically a full timetable is 3 classes, but I have 4, a 33% increase in workload. Being a first-year teacher in a new curriculum is tough but I find the challenge rewarding.
The effects of being away from family and friends I grew up with cannot be understated. I’ve dealt with it well this year because of my amazing colleagues but couldn’t say the same for this same time last year. I’m making an effort to focus on the things that really matter. Next year, I’ll reduce my vacations and fly back to Canada twice instead of only once.
So here it is, this is the job that lets me save $4,000 every month. If I lived back in Toronto I would need an annual salary of >$90k to support the same lifestyle I have here.
*I actually save $5,000 but that’s before Canadian taxes and expensive vacations 🙂