Konichiwa fellow Simple FI’ers! My family and I made the big move to Japan a few months ago for my job and it’s become a dream come true for us.
We once dreamt about moving to Japan based on the stories we heard from friends who visit often and the many interesting videos online. This just wasn’t probable for us being a single-income family. But lo and behold, we are here and ready to apply the same FI concepts we used stateside.
This is the first post of what I hope to be a very adventurous and financially detailed series of living in Japan. In just these few short months, it doesn’t seem very difficult to stay within a certain amount of spending but only time will tell.
The opportunity for me to work abroad brings a fair share of surprises – some good and some extra surprising. Like the possibility of living on a food budget, eating Japanese convenience store bought food.
Back in the states, convenience store food was used as a quick way to grab a bite to eat but I wasn’t really looking forward to eating it. It was based more on how much time I had before heading to the next event.
Simply put, Japan’s convenience store food, or conbini, is cheaper in price but definitely not cheaply made compared to back in the states. They take extreme pride in the way each item is prepared. You can see, and taste, how much they care about making an impression on their customers.
If that’s not enough, each convenience store is packed with a variety of different foods. Everything ranging from obento (packed meal), sandwiches, salad, snacks, (not really sweet) sweets, bread, ice cream, candy, ramen, and hot foods like chicken karaage, fries, and steamed buns.
Just about every single food I see in the stores look appetizing enough to at least try. The goal is to try close to 90% of the foods in the local conbini. Japanese food is becoming life for me and Mrs Simple FI.
Upon first moving here to Japan, I told myself that I’d refrain from every stepping foot in stores that would tempt me to overspend on anything. That’s what anyone with the FI mindset would do or at least that’s what I’ve absorbed from countless hours spent on blogs, forums, or the like.
The original frame of mind came from our forced lifestyle living back in Hawaii. Everything was expensive from gas to clothing and on. But in this context, I’m referring strictly to convenience store food.
It wasn’t like that food tasted really great plus the cost can run you up a pretty penny. Mix that with a family of five – we could easily spend $25+ per visit. That won’t break the bank by any means but that adds up quick.
Fast forward to here (in Japan) and it’s actually way different. Again, I’m talking about conbini here. Other topics will be discussed in other posts.
There are more choices of foods, much more affordable options, and they are very tasty as well. If we take that same $25 and spend it here, we’d buy enough for a filling dinner and dessert for the entire family.
Crazy to think that parts of the world can charge customers such vastly different prices than what we’re accustomed to. But it is what it is. My goal is to figure out how to make it work without increasing our family budget.
I am fortunate that Japan won’t break the bank so long as I keep our food urges in check. I’ve found huge success by tying the completion of a certain goal to the reward of buying food – specifically from conbini.
For example, we have the option to buy something every morning when Mrs Simple FI drives me to work. I repeat, every single morning! That’d be the easiest-most-low-resistance but very anti-frugal decision to make. We wouldn’t do that but the possibility is there.
Instead what we’ve done is limit our morning conbini adventures to one day a week, usually Friday mornings. If we successfully limited our cravings during the work week, then we are allowed to indulge in one snack on the weekend. Basically applied the same concepts we are teaching our young ones to ourselves.
This limited spending keeps our budget in check while giving us the joy to experience the little things in Japan. Taking this opportunity to work here was to enjoy it with my family, not to be a miser during the entirety of our stay.
As non-FI as it may sound, to allow my family to buy the equivalent of a “latte” discussed widely in the FI community as something to avoid, it’s actually quite liberating. Not in a rebellious sort of way. But more in a way rewarding way.
We earned the reward by first creating the goal and achieving it. The process of creating the goal went like this:
- Think of something that we desire often
- Apply a set checkpoints that push us past our comfort zone
- Follow through on our goal
- Reap the reward for completing the goal
It’s quite simple really. We desire Japan snacks so we limited the amount of visits to just one working day per week. This is pretty difficult to do considering there is a conbini on just about every single block.
There are literally four conbini on our ten-minute drive to work. That means we deny ourselves 16 to 20 times of stepping foot in those stores every week. Talk about torture. The worst part is I don’t really even have a sweet tooth – I have a “Japan snack” tooth.
For some strange reason, Japan prepares their “sweet” foods with much less sugar. The subtlety in every bite triggers something in my brain to want more.
Back to the goal, we set our desire, we set the checkpoints, then we just follow through with the goal. Lastly, we get to enjoy our favorite snack or even try a new one if we’re feeling like it. It’s a great way to keep us tracking towards a goal together plus delay gratification.
Thankfully, conbini are very cheap so it isn’t tough to stay within budget. But it can be very easy to let it slip from under our nose. The ultimate goal is to aim towards increasing our net worth mainly by paying down consumer debt.
Conclusion
Next time you’re in Japan, and in need of a quick meal that won’t break the bank, drop by any conbini. You’ll find something worth trying at least once. If you’re like me, when it comes to money, I’m constantly thinking about my budget. But living here, I’ve found myself easing up on the gas a little. That doesn’t mean I’m buying everything in site. Conbini here makes reasonable spending highly doable.
Are you a frequent shopper at your local convenience store? Have you found ways to cut back on spending during daily commutes to and from work? Plan on visiting Japan sometime soon?