It has taken us years to get where we are. We’re doing okay for the most part. I have to do all the thinking, and DH and I get an allowance, but we have some savings and whatnot so it’s okay. But we have lost so much money along the way. I want to cry at what we have lost. DH had an accident, no supplementary insurance, and his job didn’t pay him, so we were in debt. We keep moving rental places and throwing away moving expenses. We lost a huge chunk when I invested into a retirement scheme on the Isle of Man (don’t do it!). So screwed up a lot of it.

The big challenge for us right now is cutting down expenses so much. I’ll be out on maternity leave for next year which means a big trip home too, but DH’s salary just doesn’t cover our expenses. Basically, it covers our rent, my taxes (since I won’t be a registered unemployed wife I still have to pay taxes even though I have no salary- don’t get me started) and our phone bill. So the rest comes from savings. Which is, of course, why we have them, but I hate hate hate using them.

The other big problem is we cannot decide where to live. We’ve given up great real estate opportunities because we just don’t know where we’ll live 5 years into a 25 year loan. If you can decide that you are on a roll.

Hi Lulu! Above is the link for the 60% Budget info I was talking about.

I would say go for a house, it retains more value, only buy a condo if you can rent it our or make money off of it. Oh… I uploaded the model photos to show how they did the interior and then the after- how I changed it to make it more mono-tone and modern, sorry it was so confusing = ) But I updated.

For editing- I work for JJ Magazine, its money, a job and not a career, if I know and learn more Japanese I can work in the International Division- and hopefully kick teaching English to the curb for GOOD… Whatever you do, continue to add more qualifications and don’t be afraid to dabble about- right with you on the PR and Marketing, I took CIS then took a double in Marketing and PR, took a course at Harvard and trust me… it all looks good on paper. All I know is the more languages you know, the more education you have, the more opportunities present themselves and thus so… no one can ever take those away from you.

My career… haha I’m still fumbling along, doing my best and trying to save up to open a franchise which is my dream- but Lulu.. you are SO ahead of the game, I wish I had your thoughts and way of thinking at 23!!! I envy you!

I will continue to study, and continue to save (probably for a house) and I know once we return to Japan, and are married, that putting money into a pension scheme will be very important. I keep putting it off since I am only 23 but I know I should already be saving for retirement!

Marianne- I am glad I am not the only one. I might end up handing all the finance over to Shun as well (or his mum who is awesome at it- It seems to be something Japanese housewives excel at!)

That 500yen idea is a great one (I can`t beleive it equals up to a trip home! wow!)! Might start that in Australia with 1 and 2 dollar gold coins! It is also good to know that Annie is billingual even though she went to daycare from 7 months. I am really happy to hear that actually as that is a big worry for me but I know I will have to put kids in daycare if I need to work. OPOL seems to be a good option for billingual children?! Hopefully once kids come along we will be able to spend time in Australia for at least a month a year!

Will you go back to work after baby 2?

Sarah- Thanks for stopping by and offering your advice. I read you blog religiously but had no idea you read mine also!

The 60%/40% idea is excellent. I was already talking to Shun about it and he also agrees that if we seperated the money up as soon as we got payed that we might be better at this. It is something we will do once we go back to Japan though because I am saving 40% of my salary at the moment most weeks anyway and he doesn`t currently have any money coming in. Do you have the website with the 60% solution budget on it? I will have a google later as well. Also will check out the MSN site.

I am keeping in mind that we should be trying to save now for starting our life up again when we return to Tokyo and I am going to make a concerted effort to try harder over the next couple of months to save more than I usually do and come up with a budget to see us out til we return to Japan! Once the kids come along I may be in touch for more budget advice!!!

Jessica (Sushitrio)- Hi Jess, thanks for commenting. Since writing this post I am so surprised by the amount of people that have said they are bad with money/saving also! I am glad I wrote it now but was a bit wary at first when I posted however I have had so much great feedback.

You must be excited with the little one coming. Having a baby in Japan is expensive. You do get a lump sum after a baby is born though from your town hall, and I am not sure if you know that so definitely check it out.

Good advice about craig`s list and pregnancy groups. How have you found the pregnancy group? I would be interested in hearing about it. I think in Tokyo people tend not to hang onto all of their kids stuff due to space which is good for expectant mothers because generally good quality things come up for grabs!

Have you discovered 100yen shops yet? They are always great for bargains even some food stuff sometimes- of course it is not the best quality but you can pick up some great stuff there at bargain prices!

I think for the native check work you wouldn`t need Japanese. Another idea I am looking into is content writing?! You might want to look into it also!

Jessica- In Japan I never saved cos I had only one account but when I go back that will change. Luckily in Australia I have two accounts one without a card so I can`t access it without transferring money out which is definitely a good thing. Shun had a savings account in Japan but it was all depleted from trips to Australia over the last couple of years and then moving here for the year with school expences etc. He is much better at saving than me though as he is quite happy to stay home all weekend and doesn`t like to shop- COMPLETE OPPOSITE TO ME!

I am currently putting about 40% of my salary into savings which has been good. I have used some of it to pay off some wedding bills (and my half of the wedding rings!) so it has gone down a little but there is still a bit in there which is making me happy!

Good luck with your saving too!

Thanks again to everyone who has commented- you have no idea how helpful it has all been and I am not so worried about our monetary problems in the future now!

Money is such a pain - it causes us so much stress and so many problems! The worst thing is we can’t do anything without it…grr!

I used to have a bit of a hard time saving money when I was a bit younger. As soon as I got some money, I’d want to spend it - on anything and everything!!

Then my parents stopped supporting me so much! Big Shock! So when that happened I started my own savings plan. First, I got a saving account that isnt connected to my normal cash card. The only way I can access it is through internet banking. This was good because it meant that I could only use what was in my cash card account. So whenever I got paid/some extra money I’d put $20 into my savings account, then leave the rest in my cash account until the end of the week and if there was anything left over, I’d put that into the savings account. It doesn’t sound like much, just $20 a week, but you’ll be surprise at how fast small amounts turn into big amounts really quickly! Now I’m quite good at saving and I put $50 into my account at the start of the pay period.

So I think that if you start with a little change (even $10 a week to start with), you will slowly get into the habit of saving something and then you can just increase it when you need to. And if you both start doing that now, by the time the kiddies come along, you should have a nice little nest egg!

We keep 30,000 yen a week in cash, and try to stay within that budget. It makes us much more conscious of dropping change on the “little items” that we don’t necessarily need. As far as saving money goes, we have found really cheap deals on baby things from Craigslist and through the English-speaking Pregnancy/Mothers groups here in Tokyo. Our crib was even free! Having a baby here is super expensive, compared to Europe and the US (providing you have insurance in these places), so I feel your monetary woes. I’m also going to try to find some part-time/stay at home English teaching - but I’d like to look into that native checking as well - do you need to know any Japanese for that? Or is it just spelling and grammar editing?

Good luck!

One thing I’m trying now is the 60% Solution Budget. The idea is to live on 60% of your salary and then the other 40% is divided up four ways (fun money, irregular expenses, long-term savings and retirement). I think that we’re at a point where we can do this although living on 60% still means we need to make sacrifices. But it’s worth it when I think that eventually we’ll need to pay for four weddings and help four girls go to college (we already decided we’re not going to pay for the whole thing).

My parents were crap with money and they still are even though they both work full-time jobs. They’re always looking for an easy way to make money and although it happens sometimes, in reality you need to plan, work and make sacrifices. It’s good to start early so I hope you find the advice that works for you! Good luck!

About work,you could work part-time with small kids.Or teach eikaiwa from home with the kids there with you(if your students don’t mind).As for the bilinugual part of child raising,even if your kids aren’t submerged in English when the are little,there is a lot of hope; Annie started full time daycare at 7 months old as I had to go back to work.We do the OPOL thing at home and between that and long trips back to the UK,she is bilingual now.I would say a 6 week trip back to Australia with your kids annually would be enough to keep their English skills at a very decent level.And we pay with our trips home with,surprise surprise the 500 yen piggy bank fund:)

It is really frustrating to have all these talents that one posses and not be able to do anything with them. I love children but HATE teaching them, I just don’t have the patience, its tiring so I always think of my main goal. So my only regret is not learning Japanese, which now I am struggling with or studying insanely fast.

Over the years I’ve invested into some business that did okay, some failed and I took a huge dent but I would do it again just for the experience, know-how. One thing I noticed is I became the Jane of all trades in Japan, getting this qualification for this, that but………. without my husband I would not be able to dabble like that… Yeah.. he rolled his eyes when I lost 30 grand but I wanted to stress having a goal plan, your personal and career goals should be priority and learning Japanese. Sorry I am babbling here… A. Keep taking classes, as education never depreciates. B. Set up a goal plan with your yen… be it to open a franchise (my goal) or save for ??? but have a goal plan, this will help you stick to the awful jobs you may come across.

C. Save for retirement for yourself not just your husbands.

Sorry… I ended up babbling than giving your advice..