When you arrive in a foreign country, with hardly any money, no language and a long time before the first pay cheque, there are ways to minimize your expenses until you can afford to start living.
Here are a few tips we have come up with -
Food:
No Western food, as it is foreign they charge a premium.
Noodles and veggies, cheap easy and healthy, instant noodles are your new staple.
Eat on the street, for less than two dollars you can get a meal of soup, meat, two veg and rice from those roadside buffets. It also means that you just have to point at what you want.
Get a job that provides free lunch.
Housing:
If you don't get a job that includes housing in your contract, go for something cheap, maybe on the sixth floor with no lift.
Find something close to where you work which will cut down you transport costs.
Transport:
Just walk, the locals who never move anywhere without burning fossil fuels will look at you like your an idiot in this heat, but it is cheap.
Learn the bus system. Extremely difficult when you cannot read where it is going but just jump on ans see where it goes, you can always get on the same one going the other way.
Borrow a bicycle, good exercise and quicker than walking.
Borrow a scooter, with no registration or brakes, or maybe stick to the bicycle.
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