Help me write my next book 🙂
As I was idly thinking about what to write today, a fine possibility came into view. It would be great to put together a list of simple or short personal finance ‘hacks’ for people in Japan, organised into categories.
I’ll write some but I’m hoping our readers will also chime in with their ideas. If we get enough of them we might even try to put together a new RetireJapan book, possibly on Amazon.
Fun stuff!
Categories
Pretty much anything is fair game, from shopping to taxes to insurance to utility bills to trasportation to food to kids clothes to toothpaste.
The main restriction is that the hacks should be straightforward enough to explain in a short paragraph, and should not be illegal or antisocial.
Today’s hacks
- Reduce your income taxes by declaring life insurance and earthquake insurance, and medical expenses over 100,000 yen on your tax return.
- Buy a ‘used’ home 10-20 years old for maximum depreciation while conforming to modern building standards (and still being eligible for the mortgage interest deduction).
- Use the ‘hometown tax’ (furusato nozei) system to get some meat, beer, furniture, or other stuff for 1,000 yen.
- Go to some supermarkets in the evening for heavily discounted meat, fish, and prepared food (Sunday or holiday evenings are especially good if you are looking for something special).
- Buy incredibly cheap books, sports equipment, clothes, furniture, and more from the ~ Off stores (Book Off, Hard Off, etc.).
- Use iDeCo to reduce the amount of income tax you pay.
- Prepay your kokumin nenkin for a slight discount. Pay with a credit card to get points or air miles.
- Bargain when buying a home or electric goods. You may be able to pay a lot less than the sticker price.
- Book domestic plane tickets a couple of months advance and you might find them cheaper than taking the train.
- Register your ETC card and pay lower highway tolls.
Over to you
Please write your ideas in the comments below this post, or in the forum, or send me an email.
I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can come up with as a community 🙂
J.A. (the Farmers’ association) has fresher, locally-grown (but seasonal) produce, often better in quality AND price, than your local supermarkets. Usually, they open at 09.00. Go early.
For those living in more urban areas, the same goes for local yaoyasan (what is the English for this? Do people in the UK still say green grocer?)
I pay about ¥1300 for a haircut (senior rate), which includes a shave if I want it. Some people cut their own, or have someone like a partner do it.
Cook at home, and plan for leftovers (for lunches, or used as parts of meals on following days).
If you’re writing a book, there should be a whole chapter on eating/drinking.
The standard stuff there is cook more/less eating out, batch cooking, eat less meat, eat/cook more Japanese/Chinese/Korean/Thai food… I could go on for a while. (Could probably just about write a whole chapter myself!)
On alcohol, it can save you to acquire a taste for liquor/cocktails over beer due to how they’re taxed. I can make a highball at home for about 60 yen. A high-end caipirinha might run 200-300 yen (limes are expensive). Still, I’ll often drink beer when out because of how most places water down drinks.
If you are travelling far and in no particular hurry, the seishunjuuhachi kippu for local trains can be a great deal – think it’s about ¥11,000 yen for five days’ unlimited travel.
Don’t move! Between key money and moving trucks and all, moving in Japan is seriously expensive. Find a place that’s good enough and stay as long as you can.
Train and subway fares are slightly cheaper when paying with a Suica or Passmo card rather than buying a ticket.
Some parks, gardens, and other places have discounted rates for seniors (ask for the koureisha rate, if you’e eligible).
Golf courses don’t charge tax for players over 70, but you have to tell them you’re over 70 when signing in to play.
Your local ward/city office should send you a voucher for a discounted flu shot for seniors (2500 yen vs. the usual 4200-4400 yen).
Which credit cards offer the best incentives for Japanese expats..
If you are over sixty, use your community funded sports complex for gym and pool. Our area gives a discount for users over 60 and then at 70, the city provides coupons good for gym, pool, or massage. The coupons are in units of 100 yen that are enough for 6 months of free 3x per week gym use at my facility. If you go on Respect for the Aged day, the gym is free to anyone over 60. On other days, the charge is 240 yen for age 60 (usually 340 yen) and at 70, they accept two 100 yen coupons (200 yen per training room session). And they provide 2 hours free parking every day at a fully attended lot!
Community sports centers are a great deal even if you’re not older. The one closest to us is ¥200, and it would take a lot of visits to equal the typical monthly cost of a sports club membership. And if you’re busy, or gone for a trip, etc., you simply don’t pay–very different from a gym membership! Good for kids, too–ours were in a trampoline club that met there, and used their trampolines.
It’s easy to find someone who is balancing train station access with where to live. Being close to a community gym should be a factor in that planning, too.
What would Community Sports Center be in Japanese? I found one in Shinagawa, but not in Setagaya for example.
It’ll depend. Here in Sendai they are 市立体育館.
Check for discounted days at your local cinema, for example the first of the month, or Ladies Day on a particular day of the week.
Similarly, museums often have one or two free days a month, particularly art museums in Tokyo, e.g.: https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/museums/free-museum-days-at-tokyo-museums
On Sundays, you can rent cycles for free in front of the Imperial Palace, where they close the roads for that purpose. You fill in a form and then get to do two “laps” at your own pace.
If you shop on Amazon, consider getting basic supplies regularly with their 定期おトク便 which gives you 10% or 15% discount by buying certain items on subscription.
If you use Narita Express, they sometimes have special deals for return tickets. E.g. from Oct 2019 to Mar 2020 a return ticket from Tokyo is 5,030 yen instead of 6,140 yen (when returning within 14 days). Useful for both trips abroad and going to pick up friends & family.
Try Yahoo Auctions to buy pretty much anything you can think of cheaply, both new and second hand. You can use it for selling things you no longer need too.
To save on mobile phone costs, get a used but good condition unlocked (白ロム) handset from a reputable seller on Amazon (you get a guarantee of at least 30 days), then get a discount SIM for much cheaper than a monthly contract at Softbank, AU or Docomo. That way you’re not held hostage to their 2-year penalty fees, and even if you need a new phone after a year it’s likely to be cheaper overall.
If you have the extra time, consider taking the bus instead of the shink for business trips, especially if you can do something productive on the bus. The difference is substantial: for trips to Tokyo for me, the difference is 3,000 yen vs. 10,000 yen.
If you do need to shink it, use eki-net.com and book far enough in advance for steep discounts (like 7,000 vs the 10,000 yen prices above).
Try to use ATMs between 9-5 on weekdays, varies bank to bank, to save the 108 yen withdrawal fee of your own money from your own account out of working hours. Is it 110 now?
Cinema tickets are often 1000 yen on the first day of the month.
I’ve doing a lot of reading on buying Japanese stocks that send owners 株主優待 like free rice, gift certificates, cashbacks, etc. Maybe more of that in English would be helpful! Thanks
We wrote abotu yuutai here: https://www.retirejapan.com/blog/only-in-japan-yuutai-shareholder-benefits/
If you commute on the weekends (church etc.)
try out 回数券 for Sat/Sun. It should be about a 20% discount.
Example: 12 tickets for a 280 yen route would cost 2800 yen.
In other words, you get 2 tickets for free.
That’s a good one.