American vs Thai Spending Habits
- Sep 9, 2015
- 3 min read
By Phunthila Rakvit
SPENDING HABITS IN AMERICA
From my perspective, Americans are spenders. They have too much debt on their credit cards. In December 2006, President George W. Bush said that the best thing Americans could do for the country was “to go shopping”. Americans just don’t save as much as they are supposed to. Most of Americans I know, they like to go out to the restaurants at least once a day, every day. They also go to the coffee shop every morning. Over 30% of their income goes to housing. They like to spend money on clothes as well, but they don’t tend to buy clothes from expensive brands. I always see my Americans friends drink almost every day. One friend of mine likes to drink a glass of red wine every night before he goes to bed. Americans like to go out to the concerts, museums, or other events. They have to pay for the fees and admissions. They also like to go to other states or other countries. They like to buy gifts for their family and friends on special occasions like Christmas or birthdays. They always have lots of electronic equipment in their houses. Most Americans have health insurance because medical bills are very expensive if they don’t have insurance. They spend a good amount of money on buying passes for buses and trains. If they have cars, they have to pay for gas, maintenance, car insurance and etc. Americans don’t spend much money on personal care. They like to buy shampoo, soap, or cosmetics from drugstores, not from the department stores.
SPENDING HABITS IN THAILAND
Thai people like to spend money on designer clothes and bags. Thai people like to look good all the time and like to impress others that they have money to buy expensive stuff. Thai people spend only a little bit of their income on housing because most of them still live with their parents and they may or may not help their parents with the rent. Most Thai people don’t own the houses they live in. Houses in Thailand are expensive compared to earnings and if a person wants to buy a house, they have to take a loan and be in debt for about 30 years. Thai people like to cook food at home - not because it is cheaper but because it is healthier to cook at home. Thai men like to go out with their friends and drink every weekend night, whereas; Thai women don’t really like to drink alcohol. Most Thai men always have the latest electronic gadgets - they sell their old iPhone as soon as the newest one comes out. Thai people like to take English, Japanese, and Chinese classes. Those 3 languages classes are very popular in Thailand and those classes are not cheap to take. Thai people always believe in good luck so they like to spend money on the lottery. Some Thai people buy lotto tickets every week or month because they believe they are going to be millionaires one day. Thai people like to spend money on their hobbies - like collecting stamps or toys. Every Thai person gives their parents some money every month. If someone doesn’t give their parents money, others will think that that person is mean. In Thai culture, we have to give money to our parents because they raised us and they already spent lots of money on us. We don’t have to pay lots of taxes to the government like Americans so we don’t have any money when we are old. If we don’t have children to look after us, maybe we will end up in a homeless shelter. Thai people like to buy personal care stuff from department stores not from drugstores.
In my opinion, I think that I like the way Americans spend their money. If they want to save money, they can stop going out to eat at restaurants and drinking alcohol. For Thai people, it is hard to save money because they have to look like they have money all the time. They have to spend money on designer bags and also on the personal care products from department stores. Thai people who graduate from the college only make about $3,500 a year whereas Americans make about $50,000 a year. I love the U.S. and like the way they spend money even though they make a lot of money compared to Thai people.
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