Is it enough to live in Chiba with 90k yen?

I�fm going to Chiba,Tokyo this coming Nov 2014 with duration of 7 months. My monthly allowance is 90k yen, the accommodation & transportation will bear by company. I didn�ft cook so it will be full meal outside daily and hope will dine at mid-range restaurant sometime during weekend. I�fm not seeking for �eluxury�f but comfortable life.

Question is do me able to enjoy the city with this 90k allowance with some saving?

90K roughly comes to 3K a day. I don't know how decent you expect your weekend meals to be, but if you eat like a poor man on weekdays, you can eat quite well on weekends. You can have a meal for about 500-800yen, depending on the quality of food and quality of life you wish to keep. You can upgrade to about 1000-1200 for a better choice of meals.

I'm not sure what you mean by "allowance." Is that your total salary, or is it just for food? If it's only for meals, then you can certainly get by without self-deprivation (depending you your standards), but you shouldn't expect to save very much, especially if you include alcoholic beverages with any of your meals. If it's your total take-home salary, then you might have some trouble, unless you plan to forego the purchase of hygiene supplies and other basic living costs besides food. On the other hand, if it's just for food, then you can probably save most of whatever take-home salary that you get in addition to this "allowance."

So your housing and transportation is covered by the company, what about utilities (electricity, water bills, and then telephone/communication)?

If 90,000 yen is just for food, you might be able to get by, but note that it is 3,000 yen per day. If you don't cook and you need to eat out every day, and eat at mid-range restaurant, then I don't think you can really save any.

By the way, you know that Chiba prefecture is outside Tokyo - so if you want to go into central Tokyo on your own, you will incur some transportation expenses.

As others are suggesting, 90,000 yen is doable but you really need to be careful with budgeting. Make sure that there aren't any other expenses that you haven't thought of. Usually there are, and you will find out once you get there. You'll need a bit more money if you wish visit tourist places during your stay.

Good luck!!

Thks for all valuable info. I just try to make it clear, I was assign to go to our HQ in Chiba for handling some project with duration of 7 months and the allowance is 90k per month. With this amount are include on daily meal, hygiene supplies and other basic living (not include on electrical and water).

Here the meaning about comfortable life doesn�ft not means that must have organic food, dine at hotel restaurant or fine dining but of course not a fast food/street food/vending machine food. (I don�ft mind to try sometime for experiences on all above mention) But at least have some quality food at restaurant and having happy hour drinking sometime + visit tourist places during my stay.

Back to the question, with the amount would I able to LIVE with comfortably as I wish?

Mind that you don't have to eat every day out. You can buy already prepared dishes at every bigger supermarket (after 7 pm fresh food starts to be discounted). That would allow you to have balanced diet and not to spend so much on everyday live.

Since you say you don't cook, I am referring you to the travel budget page on Travel section (as against Living section) of this website:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2410.html

I you just look at the food section, you can see that it is "doable," but by no means comfy, and now that you've included sightseeing as well into your allowance, that could get tight, even though it really depends on where/what you want to see.

Considering the list of things that you need to cover by this allowance, I expect you could be very frustrated. You will have to manage the money carefully and might often feel that you have to forego things you want in order to make the allowance last until the end of the month. Many people could do it fairly easily, but I expect it would not be at the level of "comfort" you desire. It would be better if you could bring some extra money with you to get through the seven months.

90K is about the range that many university students may live on a month. As such, I'd say that you'd probably need to live quite frugally and won't be able to do much. Also remember that you'll need to include a cell phone, possibly internet and electricity into that amount. Once you include that, 90K could look more like 75K.

It's true that Chiba is quite a bit cheaper than Tokyo, but this is mainly to do with accommodation and more expensive restaurants. I'd expect that stores like Kinomiya (they cook food fresh - but it's not too healthy) will keep your costs down as you can eat for around 400-800 yen a meal.

Note that fruit and veg can be expensive and there is a bit of inflation going on since Abenomics started....

Others may know more that I - but I say it's possible but it will be tight (most likely)

I don't know about Chiba but in Tokyo it's doable. You can live out of the convenience store for about 1000 a day....

http://tokyocheapo.com/food-and-drink/lawson-store-100/

(You can use a microwave right?)

Have nights out in cheap local izakayas for about 3000.....

http://tokyobelly.blogspot.jp/2014/06/ikebukuro-290-yen-takoyaki-at-ko...

A night in an English style "pub" will probably cost you about 5k and be prepared to spend about 10,000 if you're out all night in Roppongi or Shibuya.

Perefectly doable if 90k really is JUST your food and drink budget.

So grateful to have for all your valuable feedback. Based on all the responded, the conclusion I get is 90k allowance may JUST enough for budget living in Chiba.

Thanks once again for all the info.

Hi Howard,

This response might be too late,but I personally think 90.000 yen is very doable.
Let's say you need 5000 yen a month for hygiene (which I think is a lot, but just for argument's sake). That will leave you with 85.000 yen for food and drinks, being around 2800 a day. If you just order food (you will get water or tea for free almost everywhere), then you can spend as little as 300 to 600 for a meal, and 1000 yen can get you a very proper dinner. Add some convenience store beers and teas, and you've spent around 2000. By doing so monday to friday, you have now saved 800 yen a day of your budget for weekend drinking,or 4000 in total.

And you know what, even if you had to spend a little of your own money for fun activities, it will be well worth it!