The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Mr Money Mutton Chops on October 13, 2015, 08:57:45 AM
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Hi all, I only just found out about mustachianism, and I plan to incorporate this into my life. I've seen what the typical lifestyle does to people (parents/family friends), so I'm interested in advice on how to avoid it.
I'll give you some information about myself: I'm currently living at home and finishing an undergrad degree in linguistics, ultimate goal speech and language pathology. It requires a masters degree, however I've helped with a clinician and liked the work, and I enjoy working with people in general. Pay is also good (starting salary in my province is about $60000).
This will involve moving to HCOL area however, since the program I need is only offered in a few areas, and I'd like to remain in Canada.
Another thing I'm considering doing is becoming an English teacher in foreign countries. I'm already aware of a program in Japan (The JET Program) that I'm considering doing before my masters.
Anyway, if you'd like to know anything else feel free to ask, and if there's anything you think I should consider/know about, please let me know :)
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Welcome, and congrats on having such a clear vision of the path you've chosen in life!
MMM is like a Chinese menu in that you can pick and choose the concepts that resonate with you and will work in your life: not everything on here will.
The fact that you are already on your way, and your head is already attached to avoiding a conventional "I have to buy everything I see!" way of life makes me think that you'll do exceptionally well.
I've met people who taught abroad and loved it. Japan in the summer is brutal though, with the humidity.
But at 20...it's all before so enjoy the ride!
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I can speak a little about teaching English overseas. I'm American, and I spent 5 years teaching in Taiwan (w/ a BA in English) and 1 year teaching in China (w/ an MA in TESL).
If you have any specific question, let me know.
Personally, I wouldn't do JET. The folks I know that did were worked harder and paid less than people that found their own jobs. In Taiwan, the jobs that would give you a visa tended to pay less than the ones that didn't. So my goal was to get a visa for the least number of hours. I got my work visa from a place where I taught from 6:30-9:30 PM, M-F, and I worked elsewhere in the afternoon for more money. At the time (1999-2004) I got 550NT/hour (~$16) for the visa job and 800NT/hour (~$23) for the non-visa job. I worked about 25 hours a week, and both of these jobs required almost no prep and no grading, because (as the foreigner) was doing conversation / speaking. My non-visa job was at a cram school (bushiban) for elementary aged kids, my visa job was w/ adults. I had no teaching experience prior to moving to Taiwan.
I made ~$24K per year, which may not sound like much, but I saved ~$10K per year, despite spending lots of money on travel (Japan, Thailand, Guam, etc.), music gear and booze. My rent (2 bedroom apt w/ AC) was like $250 per month. I bought a scooter for $300 which I used for 5 years then sold. I ate out every lunch and dinner for $2-3. I certainly could have saved more (if I cut out the booze, for example) and I also could easily have worked more -- almost everyone I knew did private tutoring, etc. People were always offering me additional jobs, I just wasn't interested.
I really liked Taiwan. One cool thing is that you end up getting all sorts of weird opportunities. For example, I was the voice of a speaking dictionary (which paid very well), I launched a magazine w/ some friends, and I had a fairly successful band (way more successful than we would have been in the US, at least). It was great, and I love the fact that I spent my 20's living overseas, because it gets harder as you get older (now 38 w/ wife, house, kid).
China is OK, but the pollution there is really spectacular. Taiwan is somewhat polluted, too, but not like China. One really great thing about Taiwan is it's proximity to other places. I'd certainly recommend visiting China (I biked for a month in Qinghai, which was great) but personally I wouldn't want to live there again.
I'd recommend Taiwan or South Korea. Japan is great if you can find a good job with housing provided, but if you end up paying for housing it can be expensive. I don't really know anything about regions other than Asia.
As far as finding a job, I used Dave's ESL Cafe to find my first job. That said, I only did that job for a year (my boss was nuts). My recommendation (for Taiwan, at least) would be to go there on a 2 month tourist visa, find the city you like, then find a job. In my time, that was very easy to do. And it was also easy to switch a tourist visa to a work visa w/out leaving the country. I assume that hasn't changed, but I'm not sure.
Feel free to PM me (or post here) if you have other questions.
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Sounds like you had a really good deal. I plan to go with the JET program because I really want to see Japan. I already know it'll be a ton of work, but in my opinion it's worth while, considering that I've heard non-JETs have a hard time finding an English teaching job there since the JET program competes with them rather well. I also already know some Japanese, but not a word of Korean/Chinese, so I think it would make more sense to base myself in the country where I can speak the language, right?
Having said that, I think I'll look into Taiwan and South Korea as well, see if I can find anything there. It shouldn't be too hard to go visit Japan, so that's still an option.
I still have more than a year until I graduate, so I still have time to figure this out. Than you for the advice :)
Welcome, and congrats on having such a clear vision of the path you've chosen in life!
MMM is like a Chinese menu in that you can pick and choose the concepts that resonate with you and will work in your life: not everything on here will.
Thank you for the well wishes, and so far most of it has, I don't expect that to continue forever, but I'm already debt adverse and I've always been a bit of a minimalist. I think so far it all looks like it should be common sense. I won't do real estate (landlording strikes me as too risky) but otherwise it all seems to fit.
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Good point -- I have no idea how easy it is to find a job in Japan w/out JET w/out an MA degree.
Japan is a cool place!
As far as knowing the language first, it is helpful (I'd guess) but absolutely not necessary in Taiwan. I knew virtually no Chinese when I moved there, and many of the folks I knew that had been there for years still knew very little. It's definitely better to learn it, but you can learn it there. I had a tutor for the first 6 mos or so, which really helped.
Good luck!