"Investing in property" is not something I would include in "live well". It sounds like you are assuming everyone should be aspiring for wealth. Regardless, I

"Investing in property" is not something I would include in "live well". It sounds like you are assuming everyone should be aspiring for wealth. Regardless, I was based in Taipei for about 1.5 years and if you just adapt your lifestyle it's still definitely doable to even save a significant portion of a $2k salary. Rough calculations below assuming a single person on a conscious but not frugal lifestyle: * Rent: ~10000 NTD per month if you're not sharing (you can still find decent places for cheaper). This will put you central enough to have easy access to everywhere but not smack in Da'an. * Food: ~8000 NTD per month * Transportation: ~4000 NTD per month * Other: ~20000 NTD per month That leaves > 30% of your salary left over. If you regularly splurge on coffee shops and western-style bars and restaurants (all of which are relatively ridiculously pricey) you will have less of course. I am guessing that in 2 months you might still have had a more of a "tourist life-style" (eating out at expensive places, paying much more for accommodation than if you have a proper contract or own your place, going to work at Starbucks, etc). It's kind of ridiculous just how much of a luxury coffee shops really are. One coffee at hipster cafe will be more than twice of a good meal at the delicious vegan buffet next door. Median salary in Taipei is somewhere around 2k USD IIRC. I love Taiwan and only reason I left was relocating for building a team in Europe.